Essex is definitely not short of drink and food festivals but it seems there will be one more reason for foodies in the area to get excited as the Southend Food Fest joins the fray. This will be the first ever food festival to come to the town of Southend and they have interesting meals coming your way including a Nutella ‘Fluffwich’, posh sausage rolls and mouth-watering crepes. The event was organised by the Southend business improvement district and will be running from June 29 to July 2. The event was organised to give the town’s visitors a chance to experience the delicacies found within.
One of the main features of the event is a Food Trail. This feature will take visitors around the town on a gastronomical journey through 17 different venues. Each of these venues will have three dishes that have been specially prepared for the festival.
At the East Coast Social located on London Road, there will be a little bit of everything so prepare your taste buds. There will be a number interesting desserts like the Harry Potter crepe for those with a love for all things sweet. You can also go for something like a traditional pizza or pasta. If you’re feeling adventurous you can also try something like the roasted butternut squash tagliatelle or the vegan carrot cake. The dishes will be a scaled down version of the usual and won’t go for more than £5 each. There will be dishes custom made for the festival and regular favourites.
The BID manager, Alison Dewey stated that this was the first time an event such as this had been organised in Southend. He pointed that most people didn’t realise that the coastline of Essex stretches for 350 miles and that most of the land is rural which meant that most of the food used for cooking is as fresh as you could want. This was in references to seafood, vegetables, wine and meat.
You too can take part in the food trail during the festival. All you have to do is pick up a guide for the Southend Food Fest and the guide will be stamped after you’ve sampled the food at the different venues. There will be a draw to win a £100 restaurant voucher for those who will have three or more stamps. The voucher will be redeemable at any of the restaurants involved.