About Us

Our job is to connect those who sell the real “Taste of Cheshire”, our members, with those who want real food made by real people. We feature the best independently run restaurants in Chester and Cheshire, superb local pubs and restaurants that offer home cooked food sourced from local suppliers, we showcase and run outstanding food and drink festivals, and we highlight a wealth of incredible local producers and farm shops.

Visiting our site means you are finding the places and products that the locals know about. You are engaging with events that make being in Chester and Cheshire a special experience and above all, you are in the heart of the County of Food and Drink – Cheshire.

We are dedicated to our members and every year we run the largest voted for by the public hospitality and food awards. Over 58,000 people voted last time. We run the Taste Cheshire Food and Drink festival at Chester Racecourse, with nearly 30,000 people attending.

You’ll find a superb choice of places to eat and drink in Cheshire from a Michelin star restaurant to an idyllic country inn throughout the region.

We accompany most of our Restaurants and Pubs with reviews, take the time to read these. We have spectacular dining deals from our members that are emailed to those who subscribe (which is free) every week. So sign up now on our home page and make sure you get these deals emailed to your inbox. It takes just 30 seconds. They are very special.

This website is the definitive guide to quality Chester & Cheshire food and drink. Explore and enjoy the real food and drink of Cheshire!

Who are We?

Briony Wilson

I am the CEO for Taste Cheshire and in charge of the events that we run. I started with the company whilst on a placement from University of Huddersfield where I studied Events management; and they haven’t been able to get rid of me since. I have now been with the company for 10 years, and over my time have dabbled in pretty much everything we do, but my current role is my favourite because I get to do a little bit of everything I enjoy. I am pretty much the voice at the end of the phone or email for any enquires and the lucky one who gets to go out and meet all our members at events and sign ups.

I am originally from Kendal in the Lake District, so whilst not Cheshire born and bred, I still love the fact that I get to represent the great food and drink that the North West has to offer. For fun I love to go back to Lakes and go walking with friends, I am also a frequent visitor to Chester Races and spend most of my time eating and drinking around the city.

As hard as it is to choose, Gin and Ginger Ale is probably my drink of choice, but you can’t go wrong with a glass of fizz or most cocktails. Personally, I wouldn’t class myself as a picky eater and I love to try lots of different foods, but you can never go wrong with a good burger and skin on fries or any type of seafood. However, my biggest dislike is brunch, for someone that doesn’t enjoy eggs or avocado, brunch is just an occasion I struggle with.

Victoria (Tori) Hayes

Officially, I’m known as Chief Marketing Officer for Taste Cheshire but what it really comes down to is that I do content, social media and networking for the business. Mostly, I just love to talk, write, think about food and drink in this gorgeous county. I landed in hospitality 15 years ago as the marketing manager of a nightclub and just love, love,  love it. The buzz of hospitality is a genuine addiction and although I’m now not on the frontlines, my respect for those passionate about hospitality continues to be a huge influence on what I do. I was lucky enough to be inspired by a fantastic wine educator in the club, and moved on to become a qualified sommelier and then to write professionally about wine and food.

I’m “muuuuuummmmm” to two gorgeous boys and I feel very blessed to have grown up in a foodie family. My mum loves to feed us all pretty much the second we walk through the door and I’m exactly the same, food and family, is there anything better?

I’m always up for a chat over wine or coffee because I love to hear your stories and passion for food and drink as well as sharing my own and others through this incredible platform.

Rick Nieto – Chairman of Taste Cheshire

Rick is a businessman, a family man and a foodie. Rick joins Taste Cheshire as Chairman with over 40 years of experience, including food, beverage, and hospitality. He is an expert in supporting small business into their next stage of development and he is excited to work with Taste Cheshire to continue the work of helping independent food and drink businesses in Cheshire grow and develop into the best in the world.

Rick lives in Chester and is an active member of Chester Business Club, Chester City Club and other networking groups. He is keen to work with other sectors to support the hospitality industry as he believes that if we all support each other, we all do better.

Emma Shawcross

I’m Emma, the Taste Cheshire Home Economist. I love supporting the Taste Cheshire team at their Food and Drink Festival. I work behind the scenes to ensure the chefs have everything they need on stage. I help many chefs as a home economist whilst they are on stage at major events around the area. I have worked in many different kitchens in my time as a chef including the Michelin starred Chester Grosvenor.

I also create recipes for the website; all my recipes are original and things I love to cook. I attend events regularly, as a representative of Taste Cheshire as both a judge, for example in the International Cheese and Dairy Awards and as a mentor, teaching children how to cook.

I love all things food and drink, so this really is the ideal role for me, when I’m not in the kitchen I love spending time with my twin sons, we love to get up to mischief in and outside of the kitchen. Even in my spare time food is a massive part of my life and a current project of mine is training for the Chocolate Olympics, patisserie and anything sweet has always been one of my strengths.

Which is probably why it is my favourite thing to eat, that or Cake, you can’t beat a slice of cake and a cup of Tea. It has to be Earl Grey, and even though it might be wrong, it has to be with milk. One of my biggest frustrations however, has to be that there simply is not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to get involved with, come on world, its time to create a 30-hour day!