About Lydia Kraitman

Lydia Kraitman is a multi-award-winning pastry chef from Somerset, UK. She comes from a long line of bakers and spent her childhood playing on the floor of the family kitchen while her mother and grandmother created elaborate birthday cakes, traditional apple fritters, and other handed-down family recipes made from seasonal ingredients foraged from the local countryside.

 

After university, Lydia moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she completed her pastry chef training with Vancouver Community College, and became a certified 'Red Seal' baker. She graduated top of her class at culinary school, winning the highly sought-after Baking and Pastry Arts Student of the Year award and went on to work at prestigious hotels, The Four Seasons and The Fairmont, where again she was regularly awarded for her work. At these famous hotels, she had the opportunity to create dishes for the likes of Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Aga Khan, as well as catering for many multimillion-dollar weddings and charity galas.

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Upon returning to the United Kingdom in 2019, Lydia continued her training taking courses with highly renowned bakers, Peggy Porschen, Gregory Doyen and Ksenia Pekina. She also obtained a position at another prestigious hotel, The Newt in Somerset, where she worked as the hotel's sous pastry chef before leaving to concentrate on her cake and pastry business, originally called The Cottage Table.

 

Lydia creates beautiful custom cakes and desserts for weddings and events and is a popular choice of baker for many local celebrities and renowned businesses.

 

Following in the footsteps of the generations that came before her, she takes inspiration from seasonal ingredients sourced and forage locally, leading her to create the unique and flavourful combinations for which she has become renowned.

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Lydia lives in Somerset, close to where she grew up with her Ukranian-Canadian husband, Alex and their two dogs, Barley & Oats.