Lakeside Culinary Events
The Lakeside Brigade of Chefs never stop.....
Cumbria Life Food and Drink Festival - May
In association with the Cumbria Life Food and Drink Festival, Lakeside Hotel are celebrating the finest Cumbrian foods by serving a showcase of the very best of local ingredients for Lunch, Traditional Cumbrian Afternoon Tea and Gourmet Dinner.
Award winning lunch, served in the Lakeview Restaurant
12.30pm - 3pm
3 course lunch menu
£29 per person
A Traditional Cumbrian Afternoon Tea
served in the Lakeview Conservatory
3pm - 5pm
We invite you to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea with a Cumbrian influence.
A feast of sandwiches to include:
Cartmel Valley smoked salmon, Cumbrian sugar baked ham and Foulshaw free range egg with mayonnaise & cress.
Fruit tarts with Lakeside lemon curd, Borrowdale Tea Bread, Toasted Keswick wholemeal fruit and nut bread, Westmorland cherry cake and almond cake, Home made scones with clotted cream and Lyth Valley damson jam, Fresh English strawberries
Farrer's Lakeland Special Tea or freshly ground coffee
£14.00 per person
Cartmel Valley Game Gourmet Dinner
In association with local supplier Cartmel Valley Game
Cumbria Life Food & Drink Fair at Rheged
Sunday 6th May and Monday 7th May, 10am - 5pm
A two day food fair featuring many of Cumbria's top specialist food producers
Lakeside Chef is crowned the 'North West Young Chef of the Year'
Lakeside Chef, Martin Holmes has been crowned with the prestigious title of North West Fine Foods 'Young Chef of the Year 2004'
Martin, age 23, competed in the culinary final at Kendal College on Thursday 9th September 2004 and walked away with the title.
North West Fine Foods invited young, talented and creative chefs throughout the North West to enter the competition. Having already won the Cumbria heat in May 2004, Martin was fully prepared for battle in the exciting final, against chefs from Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cheshire, with a menu of local Cumbrian dishes, including West Coast Crab Risotto, Line caught Barrow sea bass and Lyth Valley Damson Duo.
Martin joined the Lakeside team in June 2002, and as sous chef alongside Executive Chef Duncan Collinge, has been creating gourmet dishes for the hotel's award winning fine dining Lakeview Restaurant and contemporary menus for the John Ruskin's Brasserie ever since.
Already back at work the day after the competition, Martin was busy coaching trainee chefs over the hotplate of Lakeside's Training Academy, Trinity House Hotel. 'Its not really sunk in yet' said Martin, 'but I am thrilled. By the time I get down to work with Rick Stein in his kitchen for a week, then perhaps it will all seem a bit more real!'
Executive Chef Duncan Collinge was ecstatic about the news 'It's fantastic! Martin has worked really hard for this, and deserves every bit of it'. Duncan had hot-footed across Kendal (from the Westmorland County Show, where he had been demonstrating how to cook a three course meal in less than an hour, creating dishes using local produce) to hear the results.
Neville Talbot, Managing Director of Lakeside Hotel was absolutely delighted
'I am thrilled to hear of Martin's success. This emphasises his commitment to the skills of producing quality dishes combined with the use of local fine foods in our restaurants. Very well done Martin'
Why not sample Martin's winning menu, below on your next visit to Lakeside:
West Coast Crab Risotto
with local vine tomato, avocado ice cream and chilli cappuccino
* * * *
Line Caught Barrow Sea Bass
with a local organic summer vegetable cassoulet and a fresh garden herb salad
* * * *
Lyth Valley Damson Duo
A fresh damson and chocolate fondant with damson beer and a cinnamon foam
CONGRATULATIONS to Martin - we are very proud of you!
Wannabe Chefs 2004
Westmorland County Show
Thursday 9th September 2004
Lakeside's Executive Head Chef, Duncan Collinge has been helping the winners of 'Wannabe Chef 2004' prepare for their exciting opportunity where they created a three course menu live in front of the audience.
The competition was organised by Cumbria Tourist Board, as part of a long term initiative to raise awareness of the fantastic opportunities available for careers in the tourism industry. The competition was open to all students who were invited to design a three course dinner menu which could be served at a local hotel with the emphasis on local Cumbrian produce. Entries were received from over 60 students.
For the third year running the winners of Wannabe Chef Competition were boys, this time from Kirkbie Kendal School, Kendal. Martin Frickel (14) was the inspiration behind the menu together with two other students Tom Richards and Ryan Shepherd (both 14). Duncan has met the three boys and is very impressed with Martin's flair and ability for a 14 year old boy. Natalie Ferrie, the Food Technology teacher at Kirkbie Kendal School, says he has the makings of a brilliant chef.
The three students opened up the cooking demonstrations at 11.00 am in the Made in Cumbria marquee. Working with Duncan, they prepared their menu (shown below). At 14 years old they are probably the youngest 'chefs' to carry out a demonstration at the show.
Their winning menu, using produce grown or reared in Cumbria was:
Warm Cumbrian Goats Cheese Salad
served on a bed of Parma ham and rocket
* * * *
Fillet of Plumgarths Beef
with potato Dauphinois and tangy red wine sauce, served with local vegetables
* * * *
Apple and Crème Patissière Crumble Tart
with rich toffee sauce, served with English Lakes Ice cream
The finished three course menu was tasted by TV Pig Farmer Jimmy Doherty, who deemed the delights on a par with the food served by one of his friends, Jamie Oliver.
Delicious.........!
Executive Chef at work
Duncan Collinge demonstrated his own culinary prowess at the Westmorland County Show on Thursday 9th September 2004 in the 'Made in Cumbria' marquee, creating dishes using local produce, to cook the following menu in less than an hour:
Brunch Salad
* * * *
Organic Chicken with a summer herb risotto
* * * *
Warm Soup of mixed berries, blackberry liqueur and marscapone
Volunteer tasters were delighted to sample the dishes on the day!
Our very own Science and Technology Ambassador
Working with SETPOINT Cumbria and Cumbria Tourist Board, Duncan also played a central role in last year's Cumbria's 'Wannabe Chefs' competition - an experience which prompted him to become the county's first Science and Engineering Ambassador from the hospitality industry.
The competition called on Year 9 and 10, GCSE Food Technology students from across the county to design a four-course dinner menu, using produce grown or reared in Cumbria. Up for grabs was the chance to cook their menu live in front of an audience of over 250 people during September's Westmorland County Agricultural Society Annual Show.
Supported by Made in Cumbria, the Westmorland County Agricultural Society and Peter Gott from Sillfield Farm, the teams researched their menus using the internet, local suppliers and local farmers' markets. The winning entry, chosen by representatives from Cumbria Tourist Board, came from four young men from Dallam School in South Cumbria whose menu demonstrated skills learnt on their Food Technology course and an appreciation of the high quality produce available from agricultural suppliers in Cumbria. Working closely with Duncan, the team honed their skills in preparation for the big day.
And what a day it was! Though the students knew a 'mystery judge' was going to taste their cooking, they were stunned when Jamie Oliver stepped forward. In front of a delighted audience, Jamie tasted all four courses and offered constructive and encouraging comments to the four young chefs, before presenting them each with a copy of his latest book.
"It's absolutely vital for the hospitality industry to encourage more of their chefs to become Ambassadors so they can best work with Food Technology students to bring the curriculum to life and encourage them to consider the vast range of career options open to them," said Duncan Collinge.