A NEW guide to eating out will help promote Lincolnshire's restaurants to food lovers across the country.
The annual Food & Drink guide is coming to the county for the first time, having been successfully launched across the UK over the past 15 years.
It is being spearheaded by businessman Peter Gardiner, who lives near Alford, and has the backing of both North East Lincolnshire Council and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC).
Peter said: "The guides have been successfully launched in dozens of counties so far, and the London edition now features more than 900 restaurants, including those run by chefs such as Michel Roux Jr and Marcus Wareing.
"We will be printing 35,000 copies of the guide and it will be transcribed onto a national website to encourage people to come to Lincolnshire because of the fantastic hotels and restaurants we have here.
"There is also a national Food & Drink app, which all of the restaurants will be listed on, and which is currently the top search engine result for people looking for restaurant guides."
The guide will feature restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs and hotels, as well as profiles of local chefs, when it launches next April.
In a first for Food & Drink, the Lincolnshire guide will be produced by a new company, Food Lincs Ltd, which also aims to promote local producers in the future.
With offices based in Louth's Fairfield Industrial Estate, Peter and his team are keen to hear for anybody who is interested in getting involved.
He added: "This is a great opportunity for restaurants to get involved in something totally new. A unique feature is that there is a freephone number the restaurants can use to monitor if customers have booked through the guide.
"There is nothing else out there promoting Lincolnshire to the national market on this scale.
"We are passionate about what Lincolnshire has to offer to diners and want to promote it the best we can."
Peter, who used to run for Team GB, studied law at the University Of Birmingham before moving into teaching, where he spent a period as head of physical education at Yarborough School.
He later left to establish his businesses, running East Midland events for a number of years, before joining the board of directors of Food & Drink, which is based in Bristol.
Mick Burnett, deputy leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "We are more than happy to offer our support to the Food & Drink Guide for the greater Lincolnshire area and look forward to the formal launch of the guide in 2014."
In a letter to Peter, Colin Davie, Lincolnshire County Council's executive councillor for economic development, environment, planning and tourism, said: "You have our full support for your endeavours and we look forward to participating with the formal launch of the guide."
If you are interested in getting involved, call Ellie on 07712 043180 or e-mail ellie.wade@foodlincs.com
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