Philosophy

Opening my own restaurant was my ultimate goal, but I also had a much broader vision centred around using the best ingredients, respecting the seasonality of produce and understanding where each component comes from and how it is grown. Initially, we wanted to work with a local farm to supply directly to the restaurant, but we soon took over the land and started running our own farm, now known as Our Farm.

Our Farm was built with a clear vision in mind: to develop a harmonious relationship between cooking and growing. Our chefs and growers work side-by-side to create the ingredients used in all of our restaurants. By growing the produce ourselves, we can better understand and place more control over the ingredients we use.

The ingredients used in our restaurants come from Our Farm as well as trusted, long-standing suppliers. It’s our intense commitment to fresh, local and seasonal produce that sets our food apart while ensuring a truly traceable dining experience. All our dishes showcase the tastes, textures and fragrances of the surrounding natural world.

I have always championed the farm to fork movement and it’s so refreshing to see it gaining such momentum in the UK and abroad as people are more understanding of their carbon footprint and the impact that imported foods have.

Cartmel

Cartmel is where it all started and is the home of my first restaurant L’Enclume, which I opened nearly 20 years ago.

We now own and operate our neighbourhood restaurant Rogan & Co, 16 bespoke bedrooms and suites, Our Farm, Aulis Cartmel - our development kitchen and chef's table, Our Shop and Simon Rogan at home from Cartmel, which is nestled in the heart of Cumbria and surrounded by rolling green fields.

Since then, the food scene in The Lake District is well established fellow award-winning restaurants and many passionate artisan suppliers.

London

Roganic first opened in 2011 in Marylebone as a two-year pop-up. In January 2018, five years later, Roganic returned to London, bringing elements of L’Enclume to the capital. Roganic will be moving to a new location once we have a better picture of the post-pandemic landscape.

Aulis London, our eight seat chef’s table opened in Soho in October 2017, offers a dynamic and interactive dining experience in which a series of dishes are cooked and explained in front of our guests.

We want to re-create the feeling of Cartmel within all our restaurants.

FURTHER AFIELD

Hong Kong is such an exciting place to be – it’s a modern, buzzing food destination - the ultimate site for a city-centric take on a farm-to-table restaurant concept. I fell in love with the city when I went over there for a collaboration and it seemed like a perfect place to open two new restaurants - Aulis Hong Kong and Roganic Hong Kong – which we launched in 2019.

In 2020 Roganic Hong Kong was awarded a Michelin star, less than ten months after opening. The restaurant was recently recognised with the newly introduced Michelin Green Star, award by Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2021. Roganic Hong Kong is the only restaurant in Hong Kong to receive this prestigious accolade, highlighting Roganic as a leader in the field of restaurant sustainability.

There are lots of organic farms in the new territories, so I've been pleasantly surprised about the amount and quality of organic produce that you can find in the Hong Kong area.

CLOSER TO HOME

In October 2019 we opened our sixth restaurant, Henrock, inside the established country house hotel Linthwaite House in The Lake District.

I love the Lakes, so when I was given the opportunity to open Henrock in a unique setting overlooking Lake Windermere, I jumped at it. I wanted to try something a little different to my usual style and thought this would be the perfect place to focus on different ideas, techniques and ingredients that inspired me from my travels. You’ll find beautiful dishes in our restaurant, next to a comforting all-day dining menu, afternoon tea and seasonal cocktail that are served in the Bar, Lounge & Conservatory.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

My father worked at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market and used to come home every evening with a box of the day’s best, freshest produce. I was a fussy eater at the time and grew quite suspicious of the unfamiliar exotics he used to bring back, but this early exposure definitely sparked my interest in ingredients, seasonal produce and foraging. My mum worked too so I’d cook for them during the week to help out and really enjoyed it. I soon decided to go to college to train as a chef and realized that to be a good cook you can be ambitious, but you should always remain humble and respectful at the same time.

I am extremely passionate about food and I am very lucky to work with an incredibly dedicated team which makes being a chef the best job in the world. Being able to source the freshest ingredients from the farm and turn them into dishes the people will remember for a long time to come is very rewarding.

BEST MOMENTS

L'Enclume, currently holds three Michelin Stars, has been awarded the Good Food Guide’s No. 1 Restaurant in UK 2014-17 & in 2020.

In 2021, our efforts towards sustainability were recognised with the newly introduced Michelin Green Star, awarded to both L'Enclume and Roganic Hong Kong - which means I am the only chef globally to hold a green star in two continents.

Writing my first book ‘Rogan: The Cookbook’ also has to be up there as one of my biggest achievements.

In 2018 I was appointed Bocuse d’Or UK president.

THE PERFECT PRODUCE

It's a case of growing the perfect carrot rather than cooking it perfectly. The produce we’ve got gives us inspiration. It is the driving force and we’re not tampering with it. We’re taking an ingredient and cooking it simply to maximise the flavour.

It's also about the whole menu: the way it flows, the rhythm, the balance. We've always tried to push the boundaries and that's hopefully carried off in all the restaurants that we've opened around the world.

Wild Edibles

When I first opened L'Enclume I was heavily influenced by the works of Marc Veyrat in the Alps, for his use of wild flowers, herbs and roots in his cookery. My chefs have learnt to understand exactly what can be achieved by using produce that has been grown, nurtured and foraged in the natural environment that surrounds many of our restaurants, and while it may not be the Alps, The Lake District offers so much.

At our farm in the Cartmel Valley we grow a fascinating range of unusual and exciting ingredients – all produced organically, to our exacting specifications – such as Japanese wineberries, elkhorn fern and buck’s-horn plantain. With harvest to plate often taking place in less than an hour, the quality and freshness is unbeatable.

Last supper

Would simply be an extravagant roast with all the trimmings at home with all my family and friends around me.

Sundays…

I enjoy walking, cycling, running or swimming in the countryside around my beautiful Lake District home.

Most Memorable Meal

Marc Veyrat’s Ferme de mon Père.

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