Island diners have a unique chance to decide which restaurant is serving Bermuda's finest food and over 160 million households could find out the results.

As part of the inaugural Bermuda Culinary Arts Festival, 17 restaurants are serving special four course menus with selected wines for $99 per person, and food aficionados will be able to vote for the best.

And word has also come that broadcast station CNN International will send a team to Bermuda to shoot this first ever festival. The program will run on CNN's "Food Studio" which promoters say reaches more than 160 million households through out the world.

Customers who take the People's Choice Festival Menu will be given score cards to mark each dish out of ten based on presentation, taste, texture, flair, creativity, visual appeal, service and wine pairing.

All scores will be accumulated, and at the end of the four day festival the restaurant with the top vote will be named the Grand People's Choice.

"The goal of the People's Choice Award is to increase public awareness of the participating restaurants and the Bermuda Culinary Arts Festival," said Jenn Butterworth of Total Marketing, which is promoting the event.

"We also hope that by featuring some of the many great restaurants that are on the Island, we can raise the profile of the many career paths available in the hospitality industry in an attempt to attract young Bermudians into the field."

The restaurants began offering the People's Choice menus last week, and there has already been a flood of enquiries, said Graham Redford of Total Marketing.

"I think $99 including wine and gratuities is great value and the response has been pretty good, and now we are getting tons of calls about it," said Mr. Redford.

The first ever four day Culinary Arts Festival begins on November 1 at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

The event is being sponsored by Gourmet magazine, and the publication's executive chef Sara Moulton and its wine consultant Michael Green will present the event.

The restaurants taking part in the People's Choice Awards are: Ascots, Aqua at Ariel Sands, Barracuda Grill, Bermudiana at Pink Beach Club, Frescos, Little Venice, L'Oriental, Monte Carlo, Port O'Call, Rockfish Grill at Newstead, Seahorse Grill at Elbow Beach, Tamarisk at Cambridge Beaches, The Harbourfront, the Newport Room at the Southampton Princess, Tuscany, Waterlot Inn, and the Whaler Inn at Southampton Princess.