Grandfather of food sites crowned by Webby Awards

A Condé Nast website has swept the food and beverage category in the 15th annual Webby Awards, taking out its rivals as both the Webby and People's Voice winner.

As old as the Webbys itself, Epicurious.com is considered one of the pioneers of online food websites, having established an internet presence when cyberspace was still in its infancy. The winners were announced Tuesday.

Considered the leading international online awards, this year the Webbys received 10,000 entries from the US and 60 countries worldwide.

More than 1.25 million votes were also cast in the People's Voice Awards, the largest turnout since the awards began.

Epicurious is no stranger to the Webbys, having been awarded the People's Voice winner in both the lifestyle and food and beverage categories last year, as well as garnering wins in 2009 and 2008.

Since launching in 1996, the site has amassed an impressive canon of recipes: 27,000 professionally tested recipes from sister publications like Bon Appétit and the now defunct Gourmet magazine, and 115,000 member-submitted recipes. Its readers are overwhelmingly female - 73 percent - and 60 percent are between the ages of 25 and 54. The average household income of Epicurious readers is about $95,000.

Other contenders in the food and beverage category included Doritos, King of Ads submitted by the UK, an online competition to shoot the next TV commercial; a Bacardi commercial; and a racy Perrier ad with burlesque performer Dita Von Teese from France.

Meanwhile, in the restaurant category, the Webby Award went to Pure Management Group, a nightlife and restaurant group with multiple properties inside some of the largest casinos in Las Vegas, including the Luxor and Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino.

The People's Voice award in this category went to quick-serve Mexican chain Chipotle. Other nominees included Carls Restaurant of Oslo, Norway and Dishoom in London.

Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a body of 750 web experts and creative celebrities that includes Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and Virgin Atlantic chairman and founder Richard Branson.

The gala presentation will be streamed live on June 13. Check out their Facebook page for an invitation to watch http://www.facebook.com/thewebbyawards?sk=app_215952395085219 .

For a complete list of the award winners visit http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=15 .