Lincoln’s award winning 4 star premier restaurant currently holds 2 AA rosettes, received a Toptable 2007 Gold Award and had previously been run solely as bed and breakfast premises, but with a major refurbishment of the kitchens and ground floor, the premises opened its doors as a forty-five seater restaurant on Thursday, 2nd December 2004, in time for the Christmas festivities, parties and New Year celebrations. Work has now been completed in order to create a fully air conditioned garden under glass at the rear of the premises. This has increased the total covers in the restaurant to approx. 85 and will effectively reduce the waiting list from January 2008.
Since opening, amongst the celebrities who have either dined at our restaurant or stayed in our rooms (or both), have been:
Television Sir David Frost Gyles Brandreth Declan Curry Diarmuid Gavin John Kettley (is a weatherman) Julian Richards (BBC presenter) Ken Morley Brian Cant Sherrie Hewson (Emmerdale & Coronation Street) Tony Scannel (The Bill) Phil Harding (Time Team) Gorden Kaye Vicki Michelle and Sue Hodge (Allo Allo) Victoria Bush (Bad Girls) Fraser Hines Peter Byrne Ray Allan James Ellis David Janson Jo Makel (BBC Look North) Chris Kiddey (ITV Yorkshire)
Other Celebrities Sir Peter Tapsell M.P. His Royal Grace the Duke of Rutland Jill Dupleix Laura Csortan (Miss World & Miss Universe) Terry Durack
News Items
On 23rd April 2008, we attended an awards ceremony at St. George's Hall in Liverpool where we collected a Silver Award in the National Finals of Enjoy England 'Taste of England' category. We offer our sincere congratulations to the entire team in Jamie Oliver's 'Fifteen' restaurant in Cornwall who gained the Gold Award. Click on the above award logo or this link to view our video recorded for viewing at the awards ceremony.
Pictured right to left, Steve Brown, chairman of East Midlands Tourism, Ivano de Serio, Alan Ritson and Richard Rowley of The Old Bakery and Andrew Castle, GMTV presenter on the occasion of our being given the Gold Award in the East Midlands Tourism finals of the 'Taste of England' category of Enjoy England Awards.
We are very pleased to have been awarded Lincolnshire Life / House of Townend Restaurant of the year 2007/8 (having also won this in 2005/6) and also Tastes of Lincolnshire highly commended 2007 (in addition to 2006 and winners 2005). We were also named as finalists in the Lincolnshire Star Awards 2007 'Accommodation of the Year - Serviced' having won the 'Profit through Passion' category in 2006.
During September 2007 we featured in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine 'Top 100 Places to Stay in England' as one of 5 establishments nominated in the 'Foodie' section of the booklet.
Following exceptionally positive feedback from our customers to the London based Toptable organisation, we have received a 2007 GOLD award for the achievement of consistently high overall standards.
Following a visit by an inspector on 25th October 2006, The Old Bakery has been awarded two rosettes and four stars by the AA organisation. This was a first for any restaurant within the City of Lincoln and surrounding area and we therefore look forward to providing the very best food quality and service to our customers in the future
Head Chef and partner, Ivano de Serio has provided a recipe for inclusion within "The BBC Children in Need Recipe Book 2006" alongside such celebrity chefs and household names as Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein and Antony Worrall Thompson etc.
Copies of the book are now available within the restaurant at a cost of £10 with proceeds being donated to Children in Need.
We have been informed that due to publishing difficulties, there will not be a 2007 edition, however we are very pleased to have been scheduled for inclusion in the 2008 edition .
On the 27th March 2006, filming took place at The Old Bakery for a program which was screened to 2 million homes in Australia, Fox Cable T.V. and Quantas in flight entertainment.
Featured in this photograph is Laura Csortan - Miss World and Miss Universe, who presents this program entitled 'The Great Outdoors' that was shown during the week of 16th May 2006 to coincide with the preview screenings of 'The Da Vinci Code'.
If you click on the following link you can view the filming that took place which was relative to our restaurant.
During filming of the 'Da Vinci Code' at Lincoln Cathedral during August 2005, the majority of actors, directors, producers and crew dined at our restaurant.
We were really excited that in addition to visiting our restaurant, Tom Hanks, Sir Ian McKellen, Ron Howard and the rest of the cast and crew all kindly agreed to sign and leave personalised messages (such as 'I love the Bakery' by Sir Ian McKellen), within a copy of the book.
Another major piece of news is that the author, Dan Brown has now added his signature to the book which will naturally greatly enhance it's value. We are very grateful to him for agreeing to do this by taking time out of his busy schedule and also for sending a message to The Old Bakery wishing us luck with the sale of book from which the entire proceeds will be donated to the Mayor's Charity helping to purchase neo-natal incubators for premature children born at Lincoln County Hospital.
We offer our sincere thanks to all those involved with the making of the film for this gift to the mothers, fathers and children of Lincoln who will benefit for many years to come.
At The Mayor's Charity Dinner
held on Tuesday 11th October 2005 a cheque for £350 was handed to the Mayor who attended the evening, which having been completely sold out, was hailed as a great success by all who attended and enjoyed this tremendous gourmet event.
THIS SUM WAS DONATED TO THE
MAYOR'S CHARITY FUND FOR THE NEO-NATAL WARD
AT LINCOLN COUNTY HOSPITAL
Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen of Lincoln have a number of carefully selected business partners, each of whom share their commitment to quality. We are pleased to have been selected to proudly display their Beosound 9000 system within our restaurant.
Their business was established in 1982 born out of the Sykes Video Links group of companies, founded by Geoff Sykes in 1969. They became quickly established as one of the UK's premiere Bang & Olufsen retailers with Lincoln serving as group administration centre and Head Office for their further stores in Leeds, Sheffield and Leicester. To learn more about their organisation, click on this link to visit their website http://www.bang-olufsen.com/sw8656.asp
Background
This AA two rosette and 4 star restaurant with rooms is being run as a family concern, with Ivano de Serio, Alan and Lynn Ritson's son-in-law, providing top class, international cuisine as Head Chef and partner in the business.
Ivano, trained in the Italian region of Puglia, attending a specialist Chef School for seven years, followed by a number of year’s gaining a wealth of experience in international high-class restaurants, including a spell on the Princess Cruise Line.
The Old Bakery is ideally situated at the Castle end of Burton Road with car parking outside the restaurant and also close at hand car parks on Westgate and at the Lawn.
Alan says
“We are particularly keen to provide customers at the Old Bakery with a dining experience where keen attention is paid to service and experience coupled with true professionalism amongst the waiting staff really counts."
Although dining in the restaurant will be a multi-cutural experience, another tradition being imported from Italy is ice cream making. Ivano is particularly keen that all ice cream deserts are made in the restaurant kitchens, to ensure that they are totally free from all chemicals and additives and will be made fresh on the premises every day from raw ingredients.
However, the Old Bakery staff are also keen to establish links much closer to home, and to this end have teamed up with the millers at Ellis Mill off Burton Road, who are providing the Old Bakery with flour ground at the four-sail Mill, using traditional milling methods.
The flour is used in the daily production of home made bread for diners at the Old Bakery. Within two months of opening, The Old Bakery was accepted into the membership of Tastes of Lincolnshire which promotes food produced in Lincolnshire and provides information to visitors regarding where they can go to sample these in Lincoln and the county.
A further attraction of the Old Bakery is the completion of a climate controlled Garden Room at the rear of the premises. This room seats approx. 40 diners and contains a variety of herbs, a Wollemi Pine, an olive bush and lemon and orange trees (all bearing plentiful fruit). The herbs grown at The Old Bakery are put to much-needed practical use by being used daily in the preparation of flavourful and delicately prepared meals by Ivano and his team.
The bake house ovens at the restaurant are still in situ and proprietors Alan and Lynn say they are keen to find out more of the history of the Old Bakery, and hope that local residents of Burton Road and Lincoln are able to help provide information and dates from when the Bakery was actually working as Bakery.
It seems fitting that history has now turned full circle with the supply of flour for the restaurant coming once again from Ellis Mill, which is literally only a couple of hundred yards away from the restaurant. The mill, which was one of five running along Mill Road, was worked until the 1940's by the then miller, Frank Ellis. About this time the machinery was disposed of and the structure remained in a derelict condition until a fire in the 1970’s destroyed all remaining woodwork. It was eventually acquired in 1977 by the Lincoln Civic Trust who undertook to restore it to a working condition as their Jubilee Year project. Restoration was finally completed in 1980 and on Sunday 26th April 1981, Lincoln Civic Trust Ellis' Mill, which is now run by voluntary workers and millers, ground it's first flour for 40 years.
We offer our customers meals of an excellent quality, without pretension, and cooked to individual requirements. Meals will be cooked on the premises from start to finish and we wish to offer comfortable, relaxing, well furnished restaurant accommodation with the added bonus of a first class service, where customers can meet up with family and friends for everyday dining, as well as more special occasions, such as family celebrations.
The Old Bakery is also available for private functions and parties and we would be pleased to show people around the premises and discuss individual menu requirements with them.
Christmas, New Year and seasonal menu’s are also available. Over the past 3 years we have established a loyalty with our diners by offering a reputable service on every occasion they visit us, where they can rely on an extremely high level of quality of food and service with a menu that changes regularly.
Spinney Kitchen - A family run, business based in rural North Lincolnshire, Selling a wide range of Olive Oils, vinegars, herbs, spices, tisanes, chutneys, mustards and a wide selection of tea and glassware.
