St Albans Retailer of the Year.

This is a post for those local to St Albans.  Nominations are now being taken for St Albans Retailer of the Year and I can think of quite a few specialist shops, cafes and restaurants who deserve the accolade as they provide great vegetarian food and great service.

St Albans is a particularly good place to be a vegetarian.  It is easy to buy fresh locally produced vegetarian food from the market and various farm shops and the city has cafes and restaurants which cater well for vegetarians.  On a Saturday, I like to amble round the city market.  The sights and smells make my mouth water as I browse produce from a wealth of traders selling fresh vegetables, bread, preserves, olives, cheeses and much more vegetarian fare.  The market is definitely worth a visit, although it’s best to arrive as early as possible to avoid crowds. 

There are also some fantastic cafes and restaurants offering delicious vegetarian food in St Albans.  Cote and L’italiana are a couple of my favourites restaurants which consistently provide delicious food and good service. The Courtyard Café on Hatfield Road and The Secret Garden Café are both lovely places to eat and relax.  I also love the Abbey Cathedral Café which is a great place to eat with the kids and has homemade quiches and jacket potato fillings. Worth a mention in the specialist shop category is Flagship wines on Hatfield Road.  Julia from Flagship wines has conducted wine tastings at our local ladies Circle and personally sources beautifully crafted wines from all over the world.  She is very knowledgeable and can recommend excellent wines to go with all types of food.

Anyhow, those are my favourites but I’m sure everyone will have their own favourite retailers to nominate so here’s how to do it:

There are six categories to nominate in

• Restaurants and cafes
• Food and Drink
• Specialist shops
• Markets trader
• Hair and beauty
• Fashion and accessories

Nominations close at midnight on the 13^th of May and can be made through this online form, or by emailing entries to revieweditor@london.newsquest.co.uk.