A Fair Deal For Your Local Campaign 
Is it right that publicans tied to big pub companies can pay above £110 for a barrel of beer, but independent publicans are able to purchase for less than £70?
Is it right that tied licensees are unable to make a reasonable living due to high rents on top of inflated beer prices?
Is it right that the unbalanced relationship between big property companies known as “pubcos” and their licensees is driving up prices in pubs, restricting investment in pubs and ultimately forcing pubs to close?
After nearly a decade of campaigning and failed self-regulation the Government is finally consulting on the unfair unbalanced relationship between pubcos and their licensees. Now is the time to speak up and get a Fair Deal for Your Local.
Nominations Open for the 10th The Observer Food Monthly Awards
The Observer Food Monthly is inviting you to nominate your favourite food place or person in a wide range of categories. It’s all part of the 10th Observer Food Monthly Awards scheme.
Established in 2003, during the last decade there have been tens of thousands of entries from producers, restaurateurs, chefs and food initiatives from the length and breadth of the country. Notable past winners include Secretts’ Farm in Surrey (2005), The Kitchin in Scotland (2010) and local butcher Johnny Pusztai at J.T. Beedhams & Sons (2011) based in Nottingham.
The panel for this year’s awards, which includes Britian’s finest foodies and chefs who hold ten Michelin stars between them include Tom Kitchin, Sat Bains, Angela Hartnett, Simon Rogan, Nathan Outlaw and Tom Kerridge. Others joining them on the judging panel are Nigel Slater, Matt Tebbutt, Mitch Tonks, Lorraine Pascal, Russell Norman, Grace Dent , Allan Jenkins and Gareth Grundy.
The awards are a mix of judged categories and reader votes and those who nominate also have the chance of winning a beautiful Caribbean holiday at Cuisinart’s Resort and Spa, a luxury 4-day break in the Scilly Isles, and a gourmet hamper and case of wine from Selfridges
You can nominate entries in the following categories:
Best restaurant (over £20 per head)
Best cheap eats (under £15 per head)
Best Sunday lunch
Best ethical restaurant
Best place to drink
Best new cookbook supported by Harvey Jones Kitchens
Best independent retailer
Best food blog (in the UK) supported by Weber
Best readers’ recipe
Best food photography
The Judges will make awards in the following categories:
Young chef of the year (under 30)
Best newcomer in food and drink supported by Selfridges
Best producer supported by Jarlsberg
Best local farmer, supported by Waitrose (new category for 2013)
Outstanding achievement
Chef of the decade supported by Cuisinart
For more information pick up the Observer Food Monthly magazine today and to nominate please click here.
The deadline for entries is Friday 28 June 2013.
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Join us on Sundays evenings for delicious Blas burgers served from
their super Street truck from 6.30pm to 9pm.
Blas Street is also available for private parties, weddings and so on.
You can find out more on 01736 797272.
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The Good Food Guide Readers’ Restaurant of the Year Award, celebrating great food and good service at restaurants, pubs and cafés throughout the UK will be named in May 2013.
There are 10 regional award winners who will all feature in The Good Food Guide 2014. The overall winner of the Readers’ Restaurant of the Year Award is chosen by a panel of experts, led by the editors of The Good Food Guide.
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Our Gift Vouchers are the perfect present. You can choose the amount you would like to 
give.
To order, just phone or call in and we’ll send out your voucher with the name of the recipient on it.
Job done.
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Christmas Tree Lights Switch-On Friday 30th November 2012 
We are delighted to be hosting the village Christmas Tree. The tree lights were switched-on by St Ives Deputy Mayor Colin Nicholls who spoke about the welcome return of a village Christmas TRee after several years absence.
Mince pies and mulled wine and cider were duly consumed and it was lovely to see local families there as well as our first Christmas Feasters and of course, our regulars too.
The St Ives Concert Band played a selection of tunes and people sung along to the Christmas carols. Many thanks to everyone for making the evening so festive. 
A bit more info about the band….the Town band has been in existence since 1879 and has had a home in the bandroom since 1928 which the members built and paid for. In 2004 the band reformed as St Ives Concert Band enabling it to accept woodwind players, electric instruments and percussion. The band are currently playing a variety of Swing music and meet every Thursday, 5.30pm to 7pm at the Town Band Room just behind Trenwith Terrace.
The Band is open to anyone who can play a suitable instrument at about grade 3 level or higher and is happy to practise outside of the band rehearsals. If you played in the past and are rusty, don’t worry you are welcome to come along and join in with as much as you can.
The Band is free to join and there is no attendance fee. Their website is here
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Cool Places have endorsed our good work during the Summer. Here’s their review:
With the crew behind the award-winning Blas Burgerworks now at the helm of The Halsetown Inn, you can expect great things of both the food here and the ethos behind it. Not just another old pub jazzed up by a lick of paint and an over-priced menu, brace yourself for bold flavours, beautifully cooked and ethically sourced. From cider baked ham to twice cooked free range pork with a smoked mackerel croquette, the menu is pub food with a contemporary twist; the dishes don’t look overloaded, but rest assured they’ll be plenty to satisfy a hearty appetite worked up on the nearby coast path stretching between Zennor and St Ives.
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We have been awarded a Gold from Taste of the West Award and we’re in the 2013 Good Food Guide, thanks to a reader’s recommendation. We are well chuffed with these as they’ve been credited in the same year we opened.
Taste of the West Good Food Guide
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We hosted the most fantastic raffle on 4th September. It was for the Big Campaign for Little Harbour. Liz and Laura are aiming to raise thousands of pounds for the children’s hospice near St Austell. The raffle raised getting on for £4,000. Brilliant!
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The Halsetown Inn is a listed building which is part of the planned village of the same name. It was built by James Halse MP in the early 1830s for his growing workforce of miners. The eighty or so cottages of granite, were laid out on a garden city plan with each house having its own very small plot of land.
The first tenant of the pub was Mrs Catherine Hodge in 1831.