The Moonlight Tandoori is the winner of the Scottish section of the 2011 Lyca Tiffin Cup. It beat 61 Scottish Asian eateries to the title of best South Asian restaurant in the contest, held in the Houses of Parliament.

The Moonlight was nominated as the North-east entry by local MP, Eilidh Whiteford.

The home-baking in the Laird's Kitchen tearoom has won a Scottish Home Baking Award, thanks to nominations from happy customers of its delicious cakes and scones. The awards recognise real home baking done on the premises, and consistent quality.

The judge said: “You absolutely must try this castle and the Laird’s Kitchen if in this neck of the woods- not only for the experience but for the chance of eating excellent home baking in the kitchen of this ancient castle. The baking is just the way my Gran taught me many moons ago and is truly fantastic.  We were generously handed a full dark gingerbread to take away which did not last long on the journey home.  An absolute must for Joan’s storytelling and baking alone.  Keep the spirit alive Delgatie!”
Joan Johnson, Trustee of the Delgatie Castle Trust was delighted "To receive such an award following nominations from the public is wonderful.  We have always taken pride in being able to offer fresh home baking every day at the castle since the Laird’s Kitchen opened almost 20 years ago and to have this recognition is a real honour."

Delgatie Castle is open to the public every day from 10a.m. until 5p.m. until the 20th December. Visitors do not need to tour the castle to visit the Laird’s Kitchen.

Great news for the Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership. Our new mobile website is now live on-line, and available to all who use their mobile phones to access the internet.

This is the future! It means that folk in their cars, or in the street can find out where to go, where to shop, where to eat, where to stay etc in our area, just with a few clicks on their mobiles.

The Banffshire Coast mobile website includes some minor mods to make it easier to use and to read on small  phone screens.

Thanks go to our IT gurus at blue square for creating it.

If you don’t have an internet enabled  phone, you can get a look at the mobile website on:  http://m.banffshirecoast.com/  To see how it actually  looks on a phone screen, make your viewing window much narrower. (Of course, it is much smaller on a phone too.)

Top local ice cream maker and retailer, Portsoy Ice Cream are chillin' out after picking up a record TEN awards in the Ice Cream Alliance contest.

Owner Alex Murray says the only previous time he entered, he won a single diploma, so is delighted with his success.

Winning flavours included their green apple sorbet. The firm produce no fewer than 100 flavours, but not all are available at the same time!

Portsoy Ice Cream prides itself in responding to customer suggestions for flavours, and use local producers wherever possible.

The busy shop on Portsoy's main street welcomes visitors from all over Scotland, who have already tasted their fantastic ice cream, or have heard of the shop's reputation.

Work is expected to start soon on a £162,000 development to expand the interior of the Boyndie Trust Visitor Centre.  The popular centre provides training for about 60 people who are either unemployed or have learning difficulties.  It also features a shop, cafe, garden centre and an exhibit on RAF Banff, and its popularity has meant that the work is necessary for it to continue to grow.  The work will be a revamp of the inside of the centre to provide visitors with better access to it.  It will include creating more retail space and training facilities, and it will mean people will get to see a lot more of the centre.  The car park will also be extended to create about 20 extra spaces.  And it is hoped that more work placements for training will be available.  All of the funding is now in place (including almost £70,000 from the rural Aberdeenshire LEADER fund, other grant awards and the Trust itself), and the work is expected to start very early in the year. 

Three organisations in the Banffshire Coast area have won through in the North-east Regional Finals for Scottish Thistle Awards and now go through to the National Finals in November.

Portsoy's Scottish Traditional Boat Festival started as a small community celebration to mark the 300th anniversary of Portsoy harbour almost 20 years ago and has grown in status to become recognised by VisitScotland as one of the region's flagship tourism events.  Although the emphasis of the Boat Festival is on maritime culture and heritage, the event has expanded over the years to reflect a wide range of associated traditional skills.  There is also a hugely popular food fayre and craft tent, an extensive music programme featuring local and internationally-renowned artists, and sports activities from running to rugby.  This year the festival is making history by playing host to the biggest ever St Ayles skiff coastal rowing regatta.  The Festival received the Award for Best Cultural Event in the North-east.

The Deveron Fishing Festival has been recognised for its success in attracting visitors to the area and boosting the local economy.  A lot of the trade now see the festival and its trade fair as a major event on the UK fishing calendar, and it is fairly unique to be able to hold a fair in an environment where equipment can be shown and tried on the river.  The festival ticks all the boxes in showing off the river to anglers and bringing people to the area.  The community also gets a payback in the benefits to the local economy.  The Festival received the award for the Best Nature-based Experience.

The Spotty Bag Cafe in Banff - part of the famous Spotty Bag Shop - received the regional award for the Best Cafe, Bar or Restaurant in the north-east.