Packed lunches served up at Lake District restaurant

Sharrow Bay's Country House Hotel restaurant is showcasing limited edition packed lunches to showcase style dining during the downturn.

The aim is to spread the word that "value for money" is as much an ingredient of the Michelin star rating as fine food, and to showcase to the masses that eating at a Michelin star restaurant is more affordable and inclusive than what we might think.

This "cuisine for the credit-crunch" comes with a recession-busting retail price of £9.99 per packed lunch.

The von Essen-owned Sharrow Bay has won a Michelin star accolade 13 times in as many years.

Each lunch and has to be specially-ordered over a day in advance and is subject to availability. Prepared by a Michelin star chef, it is then collected from the hotel's reception.

The packed lunches are served by Colin Akrigg who became head chef at Sharrow Bay in 1995 and achieved a Michelin star the following year. Akrigg judges himself not on awards but rather on a busy restaurant. "For me that's the real benchmark, it shows that we are doing something right," he says. He always buys the best, freshest produce from the local farms in area; long before buying locally became the industry buzzwords."

Akrigg's lunch includes: Evian Water, a selection of local cheeses, biscuits, homemade chutney, salad (pasta, couscous, savoury rice and potato salad), roast fillet of Beef, Homemade Quiche, Ballantine of Salmon, Terrine of Guinea Fowl, Honeybaked Local Ham and locally smoked Salmon.

Words: Maria Bracken

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