Over 500 people have already voted in the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards since it was launched as part of the city's spring harvest food festival last month, according to organisers Natural PR.
Every second Friday of the month, Natural PR will announce the Foodie leaders - those who have received the most votes from the public - until voting closes in September and the final winners are presented with their awards at the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.
In April, in the lead for Best Restaurant is Food for Friends, closely followed by the restaurant at Drake's, with Terre a Terre in third position.
Best Food Pub: The Ginger Pig is leading the vote in the food pub category, with the Sussex Yeoman in second place, closely followed by the Preston Park Tavern and Hop Poles in joint-third place.
Best Cafe: Bill's is in the lead, neck and neck with Temptation and Ground which are in joint second place.
Best Food Shop: Infinity Foods is storming ahead with Taj in second place, followed by the Angel Food Bakery.
"We have had a fantastic start with huge enthusiasm from the public and local food outlets", said Paula Seager, MD of Natural PR. "We hope that by announcing the leaders every month, a spirit of competition and excitement will develop and many other food outlets will join in and encourage their customers to vote for them. It also gives us a great opportunity to highlight our very best food outlets throughout the six months of voting".
"In this first month, it's wonderful to hear vegetarians making their voices heard, with leaders including Food for Friends, Infinity Foods and Terre a Terre and we are also hearing support for some lovely traditional pubs, which have combined great ale and local wines with excellent Sussex food".
"It is also great to learn what huge support there is for Taj; I think this shows that the whole city is rooting for them. The food shop category is attracting votes for all kinds of shops, from grocery stores to bakers; from fish mongers to butchers, which is a great way for us to find out about the quality independent food shops we have in the city".
"We will be publishing the full list of outlets which have been voted for on the website and the competition is still wide open - we have five months of voting to go, so there's plenty of time for others to get involved and we expect the leaders board to change frequently over the coming months".
Find out more and place your vote at www.brightonfoodawards.com - everyone has one vote per category.
