ONE of Weymouth’s newest restaurants is celebrating a prestigious award just a year after opening.

The Dorset Burger Company in St Mary Street was awarded the Best South West Cafe in the Taste of the West awards.

The small restaurant in Weymouth town centre beat competition from Gloucester to Land’s End to be crowned the overall winners in awards that celebrate the best of local food and service. Owners of the cafe Emma Cogan and Ross Kay say they are thrilled that their business has seen such success. Emma, who grew up in Weymouth, said: “We are really pleased that we have been recognised and also so welcomed into the Weymouth community.

“We both worked at Weymouth College and this business was a new venture for both of us. We both volunteered during the Olympics and met some great food producers who inspired us to open our own business.

“At the time we looked at the market in Weymouth and found there were a lot of great fine dining restaurants and other places to take food away but not much in between.”

They believe their success is due to the fact they have found a niche in the market with their well-loved cafe.

The food is under £10 for a meal and it is open lunchtimes and evenings apart from Saturdays when it is open all day from noon until 10pm. She added: “We both pride ourselves in using locally sourced ingredients from great suppliers because we are so passionate about the area.”

Emma said that they make everything by hand and that they go for quality ingredients over price.

Ross, who originates from California, has brought his take on barbecue food from across the Atlantic.

The produce is sourced from within Dorset where possible using suppliers such as Little Angus, Shelly’s Bakery, Denhay Farm, Craig’s Farm Dairy, Sea Spring Farm, Piddle Brewery, Dorset Coffee, Dorset Tea and Marshfield Farm.