Local heroes – the Good Food Guide’s search for Readers’ Restaurant of the Year

Voting has begun in the annual poll to find the Good Food Guide readers’ restaurant of the year, described in the Guardian’s blog as “both a refreshing outbreak of democracy and a welcome counterweight to the metropolitan bias of Britain’s food media”.

The vote is open until April 21 – and in recent years winners have included local gems from unfashionable areas such as Ramsbottom, Ramsgill and Thornbury, and given much-needed exposre to several small, independent restaurants. “Winning the award changed everything for us” says 2010 winner Ronnie’s chef-owner Ron Faulkner. “It boosted business by 35% on the previous year, despite the recession”.

To register your vote, go to The Good Food Guide website.