Lee and Regan-Lefebvre among winners for André Simon Awards 2022

The winners at the The André Simon Food & Drink Book Awards 2022 were announced at a ceremony in London tonight (Tuesday, 14th March), with chef Jeremy Lee and historian Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre both taking awards home.

Lee won the coveted food award for his first book Cooking: Simply and well, for one or many (Fourth Estate), which judges described as “a wonderful companion for cooks who really enjoy the search for good produce and eating”. Meanwhile Regan-Lefebvre scooped the drink award for Imperial Wine (University of California Press), a lesson on the colonial roots of the international wine trade, which was praised as “wide-ranging” and “meticulously-researched”.

The John Avery Award went to Mo Wilde for The Wilderness Cure (Simon & Schuster UK), a diary of a year lived entirely off foraged food in Scotland. The Special Commendation Award showcased the precise art of croissant making in Kate Reid’s Lune: Croissants All Day, All Night (Hardie Grant).

The judging panel was guided by Fozia Ismail, cook, scholar and founder of Arawelo Eats, for the food books and Matt Walls, an award-winning freelance wine writer, author and consultant for the drinks books. All four winners at this year’s awards were first-time food and drink writers.

Nick Lander, chair of the awards, said: "This year’s winners demonstrate the continued evolution of food and drink writing, highlighting the exciting new voices emerging in the industry."