Chef Lee Caffery has cooked on tour for Sir Paul McCartney and the Merseyside food entrepreneur has now scooped multiple awards for his delicious hand-made pies. Tony McDonough reports

Merseyside chef Lee Caffery has been the ‘tour chef’ for legends such as Sir Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen but decided to take a different direction in 2020.

Lee launched Pullman Jack’s in Waterloo in March 2020, just a week before the country entered its first COVID-19 lockdown, selling his range of delicious handmade pies. As restrictions eased Lee took his pies to artisan markets across the region.

This helped the business build up a strong following online, creating demand for his meat and vegan products. And now his entrepreneurial spirit has been rewarded after he scooped no less than eight awards at the British Pie Awards.

He said: “I was delighted to win the Newcomer Awardalong with many of my pies winning individual awards too. There were 813 pies entered so to achieve the recognition I received is a true testament to my hard-work and my products, I am looking forward to growing my business nationally now too.”

The awards won by Lee included: 

• Gold award for its Cherrywood Smoked Pulled Pork & Bury Black Pudding
• Silver for Pullman’s Tandoori Chicken & Bombay Potato
  Silver for ‘Savoy Truffle’ (a mushroom pie inspired By The Beatles Music) in Class 19: Vegan Pie category 
• Silver for ‘Minced Beef, Onion & Guinness’ in Class 8: Beef & Ale Pie category
• Bronze for ‘Scouse’ in Class 10: Meat & Potato category.

Lee also made history as the first pie maker based in Liverpool to achieve the ‘Class’ award and the ‘Newcomer’ award in the history of the awards.

Pullman Jack’s offers a variety of different flavour pies and weekly specials, so there really is something for everyone. This week’s special is a firm customer favourite, containing its chicken kebab secret recipe, chilli sauce and garlic aioli. 

Lee smokes all the meat he uses for the pies himself. His Cherrywood Smoked Pulled Pork, Smoked Beef Brisket, Smoked Chicken and Smoked Cheese are all in high demand throughout the city, on the menus of multiple restaurants and independents.

In keeping with the global food movement, Pullman Jack’s has witnessed an ever-increasing demand for their vegan pies both locally and nationally, with other food outlets hoping to stock his vegan produce too.

Pullman Jack’s has a production unit in Bromborough and supplies to many outlets throughout Liverpool, as well as stocking the full range in store on Ferndale Road, Waterloo.