Eden Valley Messenger

TEBAY SERVICE WINS GRAND PRIX OF GASTRONOMY

THE British Academy of Gastronomes has awarded its annual Grand Prix of Gastronomy to the Tebay Motorway Service Station, owned and managed by the Dunning family.

The Grand Prix is annually awarded for anyone or anything that has done most in the preceding 12 months to improve further the quality of food in the UK.

Previous winners in the Award’s nine years’ existence included the Prince of Wales for reviving the interest in British mutton; Michel and Albert Roux for dramatically increasing British restaurant standards; Jane Grigson for her publications’ influence on cooking; “Sommerset Cheddar” for its world-wide appeal; etc.

Sarah Dunning, chief executive of Westmorland Co. Ltd., owners of the award-winning Tebay service station, was handed the Award by Egon Ronay, founder of the British Academy of Gastronomes in 1983, after a celebratory dinner for members of the Academy. He drew attention many years ago to the exceptionally high standards of Tebay’s home cooking. It is still run by the same family and meat from the family’s butchery business for instance is typical of Tebay’s high quality of cooking. 

Sarah Dunning, chief executive of the family Company, said: “Our policy is to sustain local produce and make a constructive impact on the growth of local communities.”            

CAPTION

SARAH and John Dunning.