The star of BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, the chef Matt Tebbutt, will host the 2025 Cumbria Food Awards.
Matt will announce the winners of the county’s dedicated hospitality awards at the much-anticipated event at Kendal College on Thursday, March 20 2025.
Matt, a favourite guest chef at Westmorland County Show, said he could not wait to be in Kendal again.
“I love Cumbria and I’m a big fan of your restaurants, chefs and fantastic produce, so I was really pleased to be asked to host the Cumbria Food Awards.
“As a chef, I know that what you do in the county is nothing short of brilliant and I can’t wait to hear more about the worthy finalists and winners.
“Most of all, I’m looking forward to celebrating with everyone. I’m sure it’s going to be a fabulous event. Good luck to everyone who takes part.”
Matt, who is known for BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, Food Unwrapped on Channel 4 and more, ran the award-winning The Foxhunter in Monmouthshire for 13 years before concentrating on his TV career.
He has written a number of cookery books and his latest, Pub Food: 100 Favourites, Old and New, published this year, draws on his experience of creating dishes at The Foxhunter, which he ran with his wife, Lisa.
Matt, who will be the fourth host of the annual Cumbria Food Awards, follows the late Dave Myers, Irini Tzortzoglou and Simon Rimmer.
Launched in 2022 to recognise and celebrate excellence in the county’s hospitality industry, Cumbria Food Awards are free to enter and judged by an independent panel of industry experts.
The awards attract more than 1,400 business entries and public nominations. The 2025 awards will include a number of new categories, designed to make them even more competitive.
Categories include Café of the Year, Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Service of the Year and Pub, Bar or Taproom of the Year. There are also a number of special awards.
Caterite has been headline sponsor of the independent awards since their launch.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Caterite has been acquired by Metro, a global foodservice business with annual sales of £25bn and a focus on fresh products and ingredients and innovative tech solutions.
Caterite is now collaborating with Metro-owned Classic Fine Foods to expand its services and boost its distribution centre at Embleton, near Cockermouth.
Managing director Lorcan Byrne said: “There have been some major changes at Caterite which have been announced in the last few months but one thing that has not altered is our commitment and support to Cumbria, local businesses and the hundreds of local people we employ.
“We are still very much a Cumbrian-focused business and being able to sponsor and support this fabulous awards event is something I’m incredibly proud of.
“We hope as many businesses as possible will enter the awards and that the public will nominate their favourites from across the county.”
The awards are returning to Kendal College, one of the country’s leading providers of hospitality training.
Students will cook and serve canapés and dinner for more than 150 finalists, sponsors and guests.
Our sister site, www.cumbriacrack.com is Cumbria Food Awards media partner and Simon Rogan is the event’s patron. Independent northern grocer Booths is again supporting the event by supplying the ingredients for canapés to be served at the event’s networking reception.
Sponsors are Academy by Simon Rogan; Cranstons; Enterprise Answers; Grapevine; Hawkshead Relish; Herdwick Cottages; Lamont Pridmore; More? The Artisan Bakery; Thomson Hayton Winkley and Westmorland Farmshop.
Cumbria Food Awards are organised by Michaela Robinson-Tate and Harry Atkinson.
Harry said: “We’re so pleased to be able to return with the fourth Cumbria Food Awards. We have some new categories to unveil and we’re looking forward to hearing about new places and people from our county’s thriving food and drink scene.
“Matt Tebbutt will be a brilliant host. He’s a star on TV and he has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in our hospitality industry. We can’t wait to be together next March.
“We’d like to thank Caterite, Kendal College, Cumbria Crack and all our sponsors for their support, which makes it possible to run the event.”
Entries for the awards will open in November. See www.cumbriafoodawards.co.uk for details.
