First published on The Spectator’s Website
Chef Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred L’Enclume restaurant is in Cartmel, one of the most picturesque, remote villages in the Lake District: all cobbled streets, country lanes and babbling brooks.
The course begins with a trip to Rogan’s organic Howbarrow farm, where you’ll pick seasonal bounty like broad bean
flowers, lettuces, herbs and whatever else might be needed for the day’s service.
This is a one-on-one course (with an exception for couples), and you are in the immaculate but tiny kitchen with just Rogan, his exceptionally organised team and the orders. It could feel uncomfortable. It didn’t (except for my feet) — the team are a delight, all very polite, focused and insightful.
If you want extensive, hands-on cooking experience, this is not the course for you. You’re in a Michelin-starred kitchen, which has to turn out Michelin-standard food during service, so while there is much prepping (I peeled radishes and extracted duck sweetbreads), observing and chatting with the esteemed and endearingly ebullient Rogan, there is little actual ‘cooking’.
The day is broken up into stages — the trip to the farm to pick produce (my personal highlight), kitchen prep, service and a tour of Rogan’s technical nerve centre — his development kitchen with extensive gadgets. If, like me, you’re into chef geekery, you’ll love it.
Throughout service, the team will bring you dishes (if you’ve opted for the package, they will be things you haven’t tasted at dinner), and eating delicious creations such as the sublime Chantaray carrots with ham fat and cream in the kitchen as soon as they are made, with an ongoing commentary from the chef, is a culinary coup.
Gaining an insight into the working day of a chef is an experience to remember. I’d recommend the package for a
chance to also enjoy the restaurant’s sumptuous rooms, and make the most of your time in this stunning location.
Like most things of superior quality though, it doesn’t come cheap.
Chef for a day £200 (one or two students). Accommodation from £599 for two. Tel: 015395 36362. www.lenclume.co.uk