A Cumbrian cake maker has been named The Dave Myers Cumbrian Food and Drink Hero at the county’s dedicated hospitality awards.
Lisa Smith, who founded Ginger Bakers nearly 20 years ago, received the top award at the 2025 Cumbria Food Awards, held in association with Caterite.
The awards took place on Thursday, 20 March at Kendal College, hosted by TV presenter and chef Matt Tebbutt, of BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.
The Dave Myers Cumbrian Food and Drink Hero trophy is for someone who demonstrates excellence in what they do but beyond that, who is a force for good and a great ambassador for the county.
Lisa was recognised as a collaborative, supportive, positive influence, who is always willing to help others. She has shown great resilience to overcome professional and personal challenges and is happy to take part in public events while continuing to push ahead with her business.
The 165 guests heard how Lisa’s Kendal cake making business premises – and her home – were inundated with floodwater almost 10 years ago in the devastating Storm Desmond. She found herself both homeless and without a usable bakery. Soon after that ordeal, she underwent treatment for a serious illness.
She continued in new premises and now has a team of ten. Everything is still made by hand in small batches, for wholesale and retail.
The top award was renamed in honour of the late Hairy Biker and TV star Dave Myers, who was the host of the first Cumbria Food Awards in 2022. Dave’s wife Lili and her son, Sergiu, were special guests at the awards.
The Cumbria Food Awards began with a canapés and drinks reception for sponsors, judges and special guests, followed by a two course street food-style dinner.
Matt Tebbutt hosted the awards ceremony and trophy presentation for 13 competitive categories, including cafés, pubs, producers, chefs and restaurants from throughout the county. The Chef of the Year was Paul Leonard of The Forest Side in Grasmere; the winner of the Casual Dining Venue of the Year was Keswick’s Barua Street Food; Rogan & Co took home the trophy for Acclaimed Restaurant of the Year and The Pie Mill at Threlkeld, near Keswick, was named Food Producer of the Year.
The independent awards, held in association with headline sponsor Caterite and judged by a panel of 15 industry experts, are designed to recognise and celebrate excellence in Cumbria’s hospitality industry. This year they attracted more than 1,000 business entries and public nominations.
Matt, who is a popular guest chef at Westmorland County Show, is known for Saturday Kitchen, Food Unwrapped on Channel 4 and more. With his wife, Lisa, he ran the award-winning The Foxhunter in Monmouthshire and now focuses on his television career and cookery book writing.
He told the audience how he’d had a tour of the college kitchens, met staff and students and had had a sneak preview of dinner, which he said “looked amazing”.
“The students were singing in the kitchens – that’s a good sign isn’t it?”
A team of students from the college prepared, cooked and served the canapés and dinner under the guidance of head of faculty for leisure and service industries Richard Axford and his team.
Cumbria Food Awards are made possible thanks to its sponsors: headline sponsor Caterite; Academy by Simon Rogan; Booths; Cranstons; Enterprise Answers; Grapevine; Hawkshead Relish; Herdwick Cottages; Kendal College; Lamont Pridmore; More? The Artisan Bakery; Porsche Centre South Lakes; Thomson Hayton Winkley Solicitors and Westmorland Farmshop.
Caterite provided the ingredients for the awards dinner and its drinks business, Grapevine, supplied reception drinks and wine.
The event’s media partner is the breaking news website Cumbria Crack and Simon Rogan is CFA patron.
Northern grocer Booths supplied the food for the canapés and drinks reception; Reeds provided printing services; bread was by More? The Artisan Bakery and Shortridge laundry supplied table linen.
The awards are organised by Michaela Robinson-Tate and Harry Atkinson.
Cumbria Food Awards 2025 Winners
The Dave Myers Cumbrian Food and Drink Hero
Sponsored by Caterite
Lisa Smith
The Rising Star
Sponsored by Kendal College
Lewis Jackson
Specialist Retailer of the Year
Sponsored by Hawkshead Relish
Winner: The Meat Hook, Sedbergh
Finalists:
Basecamp North Lakes, Penrith
Roast Mutton, Kendal
The Meat Hook, Sedbergh
Food Producer of the Year
Sponsored by Booths
Winner: The Pie Mill, Threlkeld
Finalists:
Eden Yard Rapeseed Oil, Plumpton
The Pie Mill, Threlkeld
The Toffee Shop, Penrith
Drinks Producer of the Year
Sponsored by Grapevine
Winner: Lakes Brew Co, Kendal
Finalists:
Crooked River Brewing Co, Workington
Lakes Brew Co, Kendal
The Lakes Distillery, Bassenthwaite
Pub, Bar or Taproom of the Year
Sponsored by Herdwick Cottages
Winner: Lake District Wine, Keswick
Finalists:
The Hare &Hounds Inn, Bowland Bridge
Lake District Wine, Keswick
West WallsBrewing Co,Carlisle
Service of the Year
Sponsored by Academy by Simon Rogan
Winner: Stacey Lee Raath, Ramble, Kendal
Finalists:
Craig Blackburn, Old Stamp House, Ambleside
Peter King, The Yan, Grasmere
Stacey Lee Raath, Ramble, Kendal
New Business of the Year
Sponsored by Thomson Hayton Winkley Solicitors
Winner: The Schelly, Ambleside
Finalists:
Billy’s Barr and Restaurant, Hawkshead
Cloud Nine Kitchen,Dalton-in-Furness
The Schelly, Ambleside
Sustainable Business of the Year
Sponsored by Porsche Centre South Lakes
Winner: Torpenhow Farmhouse Dairy, Torpenhow
Finalists:
Basecamp North Lakes, Penrith
Our Farm, Cartmel
Torpenhow Farmhouse Dairy, Torpenhow
Café of the Year
Sponsored by Cumbria Crack
Winner: Mathilde’s, Grasmere
Finalists:
Industry Kitchen, Barrow
Mathilde’s, Grasmere
Whytes Café Bar, Carlisle
Takeaway or Street Food Trader of the Year
Sponsored by Cranstons
Winner: Peace & Loaf Sourdough Pizza, Barrow
Finalists:
British Raj, Kendal
Fish Express, Kendal
Peace & Loaf Sourdough Pizza, Barrow
Casual Dining Venue of the Year
Sponsored by Enterprise Answers
Winner: Barua Street Food, Keswick
Finalists:
Barua Street Food, Keswick
Ramble,Kendal
The Round, Keswick
Contemporary Restaurant of the Year
Sponsored by Lamont Pridmore
Winner: The Oak, Curthwaite
Finalists:
George and Dragon, Clifton
Mizu Pan Asian Restaurant, Borrowdale
The Black Bull, Sedbergh
The Oak, Curthwaite
Chef of the Year
Sponsored by Westmorland Farmshop
Winner: Paul Leonard, The Forest Side, Grasmere
Finalists:
Jack Bond, The Cottage in the Wood, Keswick
Scott Fairweather, Harry’s at Yew Tree Barn, Low Newton
Paul Leonard, The Forest Side, Grasmere
Acclaimed Restaurant of the Year
Sponsored by More? The Artisan Bakery
Winner: Rogan & Co, Cartmel
Finalists:
Farlam Hall,Brampton
Rogan & Co, Cartmel
The Forest Side, Grasmere