Tag Archives: Des Anastasiou

And the winner is…

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One of Lincoln’s fish and chip shops, the Burton Road Chippy, put themselves forward to compete for the best fish and chip shop restaurant in the UK. This was their first time in the competition and after qualification, mystery shoppers and impressing the judges they made it into the top 10. The winner would be announced at an awards ceremony in London.

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In this documentary I follow the owners, Des Anastasiou and Lesley Graves from a week before the results were announced. In the run up to the awards ceremony I met up with Des to find out how he was preparing for the awards ceremony and what it had been like to get to this stage.

You can listen to my special documentary ‘And the winner is…’ here:

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The Burton Road Chippy, who tweet their customers regularly, kept them informed about their time in London.

fish and chip 8The awards ceremony was held at the London Lancaster Hotel and hosted by comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner.

These awards were the 25th of their kind and as one of the judges, Mick Bacon who works for Seafish, said it is a good chance for the restaurant owners to relax.

The night began by celebrating all 10 nominations for the best fish and chip restaurants by giving out the awards and with a video of all the finalists in their restaurants.

The first award of the night was the Fish and Chip Feast Fundraiser Award which the Burton Road Chippy won. The category was sponsored by the charity Seafarers UK who look after sailors and their families.


Throughout the night there were a number of awards all to celebrate the best young frier, contributions to the local community and recognition for staff training.

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Everything though was running up to the main award of the night. Unfortunately the Lincoln chippy did not win the best overall title. Instead the big award of the night went to The Bay in Aberdeenshire.

After the awards Lesley said she is proud of her team and their achievements and said they are still winners. She also said that they would be running in the competition again next time.

So see you all next year.

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Food for Thought serves up haggis and chips

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Burton Road Chippy logoIt’s been a while since a new episode of Food for Thought. I’ve been relaxing since creating my Christmas specials, but now I am ready to continue finding out about the best food in Lincoln.

Over the past year the Burton Road Chippy have been talked about a lot across the city. After winning the title of best fish and chip restaurant in the East of England they are now preparing for Fish and Chip Awards final in London. I went up to the restaurant to talk to the owner Des Anastasiou to see what it takes to be one of the top 10 chippys in the UK.

Also on this week’s programme, how Burns Night is celebrated in Lincoln. The poetry of Robert Burns is celebrated on Burns Night in Scotland with a traditional meal, usually including haggis. The Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste has organised an evening to honour the poet, and I went to find out why.

You can listen to this week’s podcast right here:

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Burton Road Chippy in Lincoln | Photo: Charlotte Reid

The excitement is building for the Burton Road Chippy as they will soon find out if they are the best fish and chip restaurant in the UK. To get to the finals the chippy had to compete in regional competitions. So to be in the final in London they are already the best restaurant in the East of England.

To find out more about the nomination process I went up to the Burton Road Chippy to meet up with owner Des Anastasiou.

Listen to the interview with Des below:

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Next week’s Food for Thought will be following the Burton Road Chippy down to London to see how they do and find out more about the industry too.

St Andrews flag | Photo: Katie Dalton via FlickrThis week also sees Burns Night, a day to celebrate the life of Scottish poet Robert Burns. To commemorate the day it is usual for people in Scotland to have a Burns Supper but this tradition also takes place in England sometimes too.

The Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste, Professor Muriel Robinson, has introduced a Burns Supper to the university campus and this year’s is the biggest celebration so far. I spoke to Professor Robinson to find out how this tradition started.

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If you have enjoyed this episode of Food for Thought then make sure you listen to Siren FM on Wednesdays at 2pm.

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