A TRIO of county culinary businesses have been toasting success at a prestigious national awards ceremony.

The Garden County was well represented at the Food Scotland Awards on Monday evening, with the Mercat Bar and Grill, Craig Wood Catering and the Chocolate Tree all picking up top prizes.

The awards, which were held in Glasgow, recognise the hard work and effort of the country's food industry.

Among the big winners were The Mercat Bar and Grill, based in Whitecraig.

Graham Blaikie and his team clinched the Restaurant of the Year South East and then held off competitors from Ballachulish, Benderloch, Greenock and Glasgow to be named the overall Restaurant of the Year.

The owner told the Courier he went with “no expectations whatsoever, except for a good night”.

Graham said: “When you look at the list of finalists, there were a lot of really big hitters there.

“It was great to win.

“I think there were 27 different awards throughout the night and they did a bunch before dinner and the others after it.

“It is a credit to the team at The Mercat Bar and Grill who work hard.”

Meanwhile, there was also good news for Craig Wood Catering, who scooped the Caterer of the Year South East award.

Craig, who is originally from Gullane, was thrilled to win the award and told the Courier: “This is the third time we have been nominated for an award this year.

“The last couple of times it was nice to be nominated but we did not win anything.

“This time, they were asking for more evidence to promote your case and I told them we get a lot of thank you cards and e-mails.”

Mr Wood stressed it was the “personal touch” that made a real difference.

He added: “We have had a very busy year this year.

“Next year is looking even busier and we are taking bookings for 2018 – it is going a little bit crazy.”

Finally, The Chocolate Tree, based on Haddington's Knox Place, were also celebrating after being crowned Dessert Outlet of the Year, defeating six other rivals, including S Luca, from Musselburgh.

Alistair Gower, from The Chocolate Tree, was delighted with the award, which recognised the hard work of staff at the company's shop in Edinburgh.

He said: “I was watching the awards on social media – glued to Twitter – and the manager from the Edinburgh shop text me as well.

“Of course, we would always hope to win something but it took us by surprise as well.”

A number of other county businesses narrowly missed out on awards, with The Spice Witch, from Prestonpans, shortlisted for the Ambient Food Manufacturer of the Year, and The Big Blu, of Dunbar, up for Best Street Food.

Yester Farm Dairies Limited, based near Gifford, missed out in the Dairy Food Producer of the Year Award, while Belhaven Smokehouse was in the running for Seafood Supplier of the Year and George Anderson and Sons, of Macmerry, were up for Fresh Produce Provider of the Year.

Councillor John McMillan, the local authority's spokesman for tourism and economic development, was delighted for the winners after following the ceremony on social media.

He said: “That is great news.

“It just confirms our desire to be Scotland's leading food and drink county."