L'Enclume
History
Following many years working as a chef, Rogan was keen to open his own restaurant and in 2002 whilst living in Littlehampton, he was told about an 800-year-old former smithy in Cartmel available to rent. Despite having never considered this location for a restaurant and hoping to open a restaurant closer to London between Brighton and the New Forest, Rogan made an offer for the property on the way home after visiting it and opened L'Enclume in 2002 with his partner Penny Tapsell. The name of the restaurant, meaning "anvil", is homage to the former blacksmith's workshop it is located within.
Most of the produce supplied to the restaurant is grown on Rogan's nearby twelve acre farm. The farm grows a variety of vegetables, herbs, edible flowers and rears meat including cows, chickens and pigs. The farm also has a young orchard which will grow a variety of fruit including apples, damsons and pears. Some of the food is also foraged by the restaurant's full-time forager.
L'Enclume was featured in The Trip, a 2010 BBC comedy starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as fictionalised versions of themselves doing a restaurant tour of northern England.
Menu
The restaurant serves a 20-course tasting menu which has developed from the use of wild herbs and flowers, with Rogan inspired by chefs such as Marc Veyrat who uses plants and herbs from the Alps in his cooking. Rogan places importance on how ingredients are grown, saying: "It's a case of growing the perfect carrot rather than cooking it perfectly. My dream menu would serve 20 raw courses, but I know [he laughs] I'd never get away with that."
Reception
L'Enclume was awarded its first Michelin star in 2005, its second in 2013 and its third in 2022. In September 2010, it was awarded its fifth AA Rosette.
In 2013, Matthew Norman of The Telegraph gave the restaurant 10 out of 10, describing it as "the clearest expression of culinary genius I've experienced since the Fat Duck". In the 2014 edition of the Good Food Guide, L'Enclume was awarded a perfect 10 cooking score and topped the list of the UK's best restaurants. In 2016, Lucy Lovell of the Manchester Evening News rated L'Enclume 5 out of 5. It was voted the second best restaurant in Squaremeal's UK Top 100 Restaurants 2016. In the 2017 Good Food Guide, L'Enclume was awarded 10 out of 10 for the fifth time and was its top restaurant for the fourth consecutive year and retained its perfect 10 score in the 2018 guide, but pushed into second place by Restaurant Nathan Outlaw.
References
- ^ "Simon Rogan - Chef at L'Enclume - Great British Chefs". greatbritishchefs.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Full list of Michelin stars in Britain and Ireland". The Daily Telegraph. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ "L'Enclume - Restaurants - Cartmel - The AA". The AA. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
- ^ Gerard, Jasper (20 November 2009). "Cumbria restaurant guide: L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (15 March 2014). "Simon Rogan: 'The eyes of the world will be on me at Claridge's. That's why I'm there'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Caterer and Hotelkeeper 100: Simon Rogan, L'Enclume, Roganic". thecaterer.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Markwell, Lisa (4 May 2013). "Destination Roganville: Chef Simon Rogan has built a colony of". The Independent. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "L'Enclume - Great British Chefs". greatbritishchefs.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Shinger, Tom. "Simon Rogan's Farm at L'Enclume - Great British Chefs". greatbritishchefs.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "L'Enclume, England, The Trip - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ Johnson, Rachel (29 September 2010). "Simon Rogan "chuffed to bits" with fifth AA Rosette". BigHospitality.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Norman, Matthew (26 November 2012). "10/10 for Cumbria's L'Enclume restaurant". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "The Good Food Guide 2014: The UK's top 10 restaurants announced". The Good Food Guide. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ Lovell, Lucy (1 September 2016). "Review: Is L'Enclume in Cartmel really the best restaurant in the UK?". men. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Staff, SquareMeal (20 July 2016). "UK Top 100 Restaurants 2016". Square Meal. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "L'Enclume in Cumbria tops Good Food Guide list for fourth year". The Guardian. Press Association. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ Smithers, Rebecca (17 August 2017). "Cornish seafood restaurant topples L'Enclume to be named best in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2017.