GLASGOW'S top eateries have been celebrated for their incredible culinary delights at a nationwide awards bash.

A handful of city restaurants and cafes reached the finals of the 20th Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards in Edinburgh last night.

Jordan Russell, chef at Aldomak sweet shop, beat out stiff competition to take home the young talent prize.

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Eat Balanced Glasgow was highly commended for its passata power dish in the healthy choice category, while Equi's Ice Cream's Vanilla98 was shortlisted.

The ice cream shop was also nominated in the business of the year category but lost out to North Lanarkshire's Lazy Day Foods.

The Glasgow Distillery made the final in the distilling category - narrowly missing out on the top spot.

Among the big winners on the night were Loch Fyne Oysters, whose Kinglas Fillet of salmon scooped the top prize in the Product of the Year Category. North Lanarkshire-based Lazy Day Foods was named Business of the Year.

Hosted by restaurant critic, writer and broadcaster, Jay Rayner, the awards ceremony at the Corn Exchange was attended by more than 800 people from across the industry and the wider community - including first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

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The SNP leader attended the glittering event to present the Outstanding Contribution Award posthumously to one of Scotland’s greatest chefs, Andrew Fairlie who passed away earlier this year.

The award was accepted by his wife, Kate Fairlie and acknowledged the impact Andrew Fairlie had on the sector, and the instrumental role he played in inspiring an entire generation of Scottish chefs.

Speaking about the evening, Ms Sturgeon said: “Our food and drink industry is one of Scotland’s success stories, with recent figures showing this growth sector achieved record turnover, so it was fantastic to celebrate the people and businesses who are behind these achievements at the Excellence Awards.”

A total of 52 food and drink businesses from across Scotland were named as finalists across the 19 product and business categories.

The annual awards which recognise the highest quality produce as well as the leading individuals, suppliers and companies, received a record 320 entries across all categories - a 20 per cent increase from 2018.

James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, said: “Winning an Excellence Award is more than simply having a well-written award entry - it’s testament to the commitment and dedication of our producers to creating truly exceptional products and business practices.

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“The passion of the farmers, fishermen and food and drink producers within the industry is inspiring. The pursuit of perfection, combined with a genuine appetite for innovating, means we have some of the best businesses and products in the world and these awards give us the opportunity to celebrate that.

“Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and finalists.”

For the full line-up of finalists visit

here

.