Judges face toughest test as 1884 restaurants go head-to-head

Staff from 1884 Dock Street Kitchen and 1884 Wine & Tapas Bar at the Hull Daily Mail Business Awards. Picture courtesy Hull Daily Mail

Two restaurants which have pioneered the leisure development of Hull’s marina area posed a stiff test for the judges when they both entered the Hull Daily Mail Business Awards.

1884 Dock Street Kitchen and its sister restaurant 1884 Wine & Tapas Bar initially pondered a joint bid for the Mail’s new tourism and hospitality category under the banner of 1884 Restaurants.

In the end they decided to go it alone – and they were left to go head-to-head as the only finalists on a shortlist of two. The judges admitted privately that they had struggled to separate the two after considering such high calibre entries for one of the region’s business leading award schemes.

From 1884 Dock Street Kitchen, the judges heard how the restaurant has become a serial award-winner since opening in 2012 “providing a fine-dining experience for our local clientele on their doorstep rather than in rural East Yorkshire, welcoming the world when they arrive in Hull during 2017 and beyond and showing them that our city is way more than it’s cracked up to be.”

Success came as Yorkshire Restaurant of the Year in Welcome to Yorkshire’s White Rose Awards, and with gold in the Taste of England category of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. In 2015, 1884 Dock Street Kitchen became the first Hull contestant to win the restaurant category of the Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs).

But the judges also heard how the parent company’s investment in the Marina area began back in 2010 with The Wilson gastrobar, which became a real favourite with its combination of café bar by day and fine dining in the evening.

The transformation into 1884 Wine & Tapas Bar in the spring of 2015 brought a splash of the Mediterranean to the Humber Riviera. The restaurant emulated Dock Street Kitchen’s success in the REYTAs and reached the final of the White Rose Awards, with judging for VisitEngland to take place during 2017.

With both restaurants dishing up cuisine of the highest standards, providing jobs for local people and business for local food producers, the judges faced a tough call. They gave the award to 1884 Dock Street Kitchen, whose General Manager James Birch admitted to having mixed feelings.

He said: “The award is about the importance of tourism and hospitality to the local economy and both restaurants have made a big contribution to that. We were the first restaurants to open at Hull Marina and we have been told by others that our success was a big factor in other venues following. We showed them the potential.

“I would have been more than happy for the teams from both restaurants to have walked onto the stage and accepted the award together.”

Deborah Spicer, General Manager of 1884 Wine & Tapas Bar, said: “We’re a little disappointed that we didn’t win but obviously we had a better idea than anyone of the quality of the opposition!

“We had a fantastic week as one of only two restaurants shortlisted in the Hull Daily Mail awards and one of only six in the White Rose Awards, which covers the best restaurants in the whole of Yorkshire. Like Dock Street Kitchen we’ve also won a REYTA, and our aim is to keep working with them, pushing each other to make sure people see Hull Marina as a destination for great restaurants.”