A  MasterChef food critic who grew up in Carlisle and a South Lakes chef have been recognised in a list of the 100 most influential women in hospitality.

Grace Dent was recognised in the comms and media category of the CODE list, which is designed to champion women in hospitality and to shine a light on the diverse range of opportunities and career paths available to women in the sector.

She was recognised for her six-year stint writing a weekly restaurant column for the Evening Standard, and her subsequent appearances in The Guardian as a restaurant critic.

Her frequent billing on MasterChef was also noted as a reason for her inclusion.

The TV food critic recently wrote about the Angel Lane Chippie in Penrith in her weekly Guardian restaurant review.

She described the shop, which has won 30 national awards in the past 10 years, as “a shining example of British brilliance”.

Also flying the flag for Cumbria in the list is Nina Matsunaga, head chef at The Black Bull in Sedbergh, who was recognised in the ones to watch category.

The categories in the 2020 list includes chefs, operators, teams, media, partnerships and, for the first time, a hall of fame.

This year’s judges included CODE founder Adam Hyman and editor Lisa Markwell, as well as Jason Atherton, Claire Koffmann, Hels Cheung and Clerkenwell Boy.

Nina said: “I found out on March 20 that I’d been included in the CODE list as one to watch and I’m still flabbergasted to be honest, especially being listed alongside the likes of Grace Dent and Jancis Robinson.

“I’ve just been doing my thing day-to-day; I don’t consider what I do to be any different to what the next person is doing.

“But that said it does give me a future platform to promote what women are achieving in the industry, to highlight the careers available and hopefully encourage more women into what is still a very male-dominated industry.”