The Old Shed café opens next to The Green Dragon in Ryhall

Cake-lovers beware - a new chance to satisfy sweet-tooth cravings is opening and it’s claiming to offer the best carrot cake around.

Having recently become landlords of their village pub, Ania and Simon Lambert have added another string to their bow by opening The Old Shed cafe in the courtyard behind The Green Dragon in the centre of Ryhall.

The venture is quite within the couple’s capabilities - they already run Lambert Rustic Foods, which supplies cakes, bakes and pastries to shops and cafes.

And having bought the pub a couple of years back from fellow Ryhall residents Nick and Janine Gilchrist, they are now catering for a range of tastes, from coffees and breakfasts through to ales, lunches and evening meals.

On Friday morning last week, Ania and Simon were testing out their new venture, serving a flurry of customers keen to enjoy cafe culture in the sunshine, including some visitors from Australia.

Ania’s freshly baked cakes and Simon’s steaming hot sausage rolls were being carried through from the pub kitchens to be served in the sheltered seating area of The Old Shed and in the sunshine of the courtyard.

Ania loves baking, and says her carrot cake is the one to try, although for those less sold on such a healthy-sounding option, the chocolate brownie is Simon’s tip.

Having worked in a Polish bank before coming to England 15 years ago, pub landlady and catering queen has been something of a career change for Ania.

But it’s something she has taken in her stride.

Simon said: “We took over the pub in 2022 from Nick and Janine, who had bought it from Burghley Estate. They’d had it for about nine months and after a couple of drinks in the pub I went home and told Ania, “I think I just bought a pub”.

“All she asked was whether I meant The Green Dragon, and when I said ‘yes’, her reaction was “Good!”.

“We’ve not looked back.”

He added: “Ania is a sensation in the pub and makes people feel so welcome.

“She looks after the front of house, and the beers in our 16th Century cellar, while I cook the meals in the kitchen.

“The other Sunday we served 65 lunches, which is great for a little village pub.

“We’re proud of what we have done and grateful for all the support we have received from the community, and especially our locals.”

Ania admits she wasn’t a beer-lover before they took on The Green Dragon.

“For me the pub is a completely new experience,” she said. “In fact, I’d never even drunk a pint of beer!

“But some of the real ales are really nice and I’ve had help from Rutland Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) member Jon Whowell, who lives in Ryhall and pops in regularly. He’s been exceptional.”

While Ania took some years to develop her taste for beer, there was perhaps something in the water when Simon was growing up that made him a likely publican. His fellow former schoolmate Jamie Betts now owns and runs The Railway Pub in Ketton, named regional Pub of the Year by Camra for a second time.

Following a ‘soft launch’ to see how it would do, The Old Shed is opening from July 31 on Wednesdays through to to Saturdays from 9.15am to 4.30pm.

The Green Dragon is open daily except Mondays, with menus and food service times available on the pub’s website.