Restaurants in Rutland & Stamford: The Good Food Awards

Congratulations this month to our local business as we reveal the winners of our Good Food Awards for 2025. Back in our October edition we invited our readers to vote for their favourite restaurants and food & drink businesses across Rutland & Stamford, and now… the results are in!

Restaurant of the Year 2025
The Olive Branch
The Olive Branch doesn’t just serve food, it celebrates it. Its appearance is a lovely but unassuming country pub, converted from three labourers’ cottages and a cow shed around 1890. Saved from closure by three friends and the local community in 1999, its relaxed and traditional look and feel belies the standard of its dining.
The place has won mentions, awards and titles from Michelin to the Good Food Guide, from Sawday’s to Harden’s… and our Good Food Awards too. The Olive Branch currently holds two AA rosettes for its dining and in October 2025, the Good Food Guide included 
The Olive Branch in its list of the country’s 100 Best Pubs 2025 (it ranked at position 32 and separately appeared in the guide’s Top 50 Best Sunday Roasts in Britain award).
The place is also a pub for all seasons. In winter there are open fires, pantile floors and chunky pine tables heaving with real ale, full-bodied red wine and dishes with duck, venison and slow-cooked beef short rib.
Then, in the warmer months, the pub garden turns it into a place to enjoy tapas on the terrace, a garden with bushy shrubs and English roses clambering over the pergolas.
In the summer months, too, the pub’s kitchen garden opposite yields loads of home-grown produce from herbs and salads to nasturtiums and heritage vegetable varieties.
The reverse of the menu is a map of local suppliers which constitutes a who’s who of food producers, other ingredients like berries and mushrooms are foraged locally. Pickles, preserves, ice creams, sorbets and petit fours are all made in house, and this produce is also available in the Olive Branch’s pub shop.
The team is just as keen to pass on its expertise as well as its ingredients, with regular cookery demonstrations and masterclasses. The place is also a participant in winter’s Lunch for Even Less promotion from January.
In short, there are few more recommendable dining rooms than The Olive Branch. It may look relaxed, but there’s nothing casual about the quality of The Olive Branch’s dishes and nor can you question the warmth of the welcome you’ll receive there either.
Other Recommendations: Hambleton Hall is considered by our readers to be one of the best restaurants in the UK. They love The George of Stamford and West Deeping’s Red Lion too.

Coffee Shop of the Year 2025
The Hayloft at Hunters
Celebrations this year as 2026 will represent the 25th anniversary of Hunters Interiors on the outskirts of Stamford. It’s always been known as the home of creative interior design but with the creation of The Hayloft at Hunters in 2020, it’s not just as well-known for its stylish and inviting coffee shop.
The Hayloft at Hunters was really born out of necessity. As somewhere offering lots of design ideas for your home, it was a place many were inclined to linger to absorb a bit of inspiration. The addition of The Hayloft meant visitors could enjoy delicious home-made cakes, Hambleton Bakery bread and tea cakes whilst mulling over a project.
Part of the appeal of The Hayloft is the chance to see Candida Smith & Georgina Teesdale who took on the business in 2014 and have worked hard to help with clients’ projects, from a single set of curtains or blinds, to a single room or a whole property. The team have access to 1,000s of fabrics and wallcoverings, but can also commission bespoke chairs, sofas and freestanding furniture on behalf of their clients and provide full project management if required.
The addition of a south-facing patio overlooking open farmland and plenty of free parking means that the place is especially busy in the summer months.
Afternoon tea is also available with home-made cakes and in the warmer months, local ice cream producers Ferneleys provide real dairy ice cream made with milk from the dairy’s own Holsteins.
On the menu throughout the year there’s a range of brunch options whilst toasted sourdough courtesy of Hambleton Bakery and homemade soups and salads provide plenty of choice.
The Hayloft is popular as a meeting place for friends to enjoy a coffee, for mums on the school run, and for those who just want to enjoy a look around the studio… little wonder it’s popular all year round, as the atmosphere, and the menu really makes a visit a rewarding experience.
Other Reader Recommendations:   Our readers also love Hambleton Bakery’s Exton café, plus Gates Garden Centre’s Garden Restaurant and The View at Rutland Nursery.

Best Restaurant with Rooms 2025
The George of Stamford
Traditionally, the phrase Restaurant with Rooms was indicative of quality restaurants with a limited number of bedrooms for overnight guests. However, its meaning has evolved a little to indicate destination restaurants, such as The George of Stamford. Dating back to at least 947AD and with 45 bedrooms, it’s a traditional coaching inn environment, in which to enjoy two exceptional dining options. The Garden Room is less formal, with a diverse menu offering everything from pastas and salads to Cornish Lobster and Chargrilled Dry-Aged Steak. Meanwhile The Oak Room offers some phenomenal dishes including a Sirloin of Beef carved from a silver trolley and Dover Sole. Comfortable, consistent, smart and offering up to date hospitality in a venerable, handsome environment.                 
Other Reader Recommendations: Our readers love Hambleton Hall with its peerless service and Aaron Patterson’s exceptional food as well as The Olive Branch’s Beech House accommodation.

Best International Dining Restaurant 2025
Cloisters
Following a change of ownership in 2025, Cloisters in Stamford has quickly gained a reputation as being a must-visit European dining room in the town with its new owners transforming the former Italian bistro into a refined European dining room offering a freshly prepared dining experience driven by classic technique. 
This new chapter is directed by a passionate and experienced team: Proprietor Samantha, Restaurant Manager Laura, and Head Chef Sonny – classically French-trained and with over 15 years of experience. Sophisticated dishes include Pan-Fried Scallops and Chargrilled Beef Fillet with Bordelaise.    
Other Reader Recommendations: Other recommendations include Sarpech of Oakham for authentic Indian cuisine, No23 Uppingham for bistro dining with Mediterranean influences and Stamford’s Sushi & Salad.

Best Food Producer or Retailer 2025
Hambleton Bakery
For folk in Rutland and Stamford, it seems that Hambleton Bakery provides the area with its daily bread. It didn’t come as a huge surprise as the votes began to filter through to our editorial team that Julian Carter and Tim Hart’s bakery was a strong early contender for our Best Food Producer or Retailer title. Julian is a 10th generation baker and spent three years  in Downing Street working as a chef for PM John Major before working at Hambleton Hall from 1996-2008 when Hambleton Bakery was established. The original bakehouse now features a lovely café and shop, whilst producing the bakery’s pastries. A new bakehouse at Stretton produces around 400,000 loaves each year to service six shops and 150 wholesale customers. Hambleton Bakery’s flagship sourdough remains absolutely exceptional… the best thing, we reckon, since sliced bread.          
Other Reader Recommendations: Readers also love Gates Garden Centre’s Farm Shop and Stamford fromagerie, Rennet & Rind.

Best Drinks Producer 2025
The Rutland Vineyard

Rutland Vineyard has gone from strength-to-strength since Tim and Zoe Beaver first planted 13,500 vines on their Ketton farm back in 2021. Having given the vines time to settle in, the couple took their first harvest in October 2023 and from that point on, they’ve created some very good English wine including their latest Second Nature red wine. English wine is no longer a novelty, with the country’s total output last year somewhere in the region of 10.7m bottles, from around 5,000 hectares of vines and over 1,100 vineyards. Tim and Zoe have also had the foresight to open their vineyard to the public with a tasting barn on site providing some great walks and some great scenery. A visit to the vineyard from Wednesday to Saturday provides cheese, wine, homemade cakes and coffee as well as wine to enjoy on site or take home… we also recommend booking a vineyard tour!       
Other Reader Recommendations: Votes also came in for Multum Gin Parvo, Tipplemill Gin and Mallard Point Vineyard & Distillery.