Simon Rogan
Our Restaurants
We own and operate a global collection of award-winning, Michelin-starred restaurants founded by acclaimed British chef Simon Rogan. Proudly operating across the UK, Malta, Hong Kong, and Thailand, we set the benchmark in farm-to-table dining and sustainability, collectively holding nine Michelin stars and two Michelin Green Stars.
At Our Core
When I first opened L’Enclume in 2002, twenty years ago, I pursued flavour as my first priority and motive when creating new dishes. I wanted to build a restaurant that was intrinsically connected to the ingredients used in its dishes. However, with where we are located in England, there was, and to a degree still is, a lack of quality ingredients available. Naturally, I changed my thinking and decided I needed to source the best I could find locally. I always knew that I wanted to create something that was tethered to the surroundings and the natural resources of our home, the Lake District.
So when I was given the opportunity to build my own farm, I seized it. I knew I could grow far superior ingredients that would yield amazing flavour for the kind of innovative dishes I wanted to create. A lot has changed since I started running Our Farm. The food we cook has evolved to respect the ingredients and our growing operation. Now, our ongoing aim is to strengthen the link between our food, its development and the environment. By growing everything ourselves, we can better understand and place more control over the ingredients we use, while being led by the rigid seasons of the Cartmel Valley, where their rhythm is at its most apparent.
Over time, my vision has become more closely connected to the environmental issues our society faces. I began to see that farming, and how we approach it, with no pesticides or fertilisers and a focus on small-scale, local production, is the future of agriculture and sustainable dining.
We hope the future brings us closer to operating fully zero waste restaurants, healthier soil, and more ways to compost than before.
Cartmel
Cartmel is where it all started over 20 years ago.
Intertwined and deeply connected to Our Farm in the Cartmel Valley, L’Enclume is situated in a former 13th-century blacksmith workshop where our talented team share my long-standing passion for homegrown, seasonal produce and treat all guests to an ever-evolving dining experience.
It is also in Cartmel where we own and operate our neighbourhood restaurant Rogan & Co, Aulis Cartmel - our development kitchen and chef's table, 16 bespoke bedrooms and suites for those wishing to stay the night, and Our Shop.
In 2020, in response to the global pandemic, we launched Home by Simon Rogan, our very own delivery offering, providing regularly changing three-course 'at home' alongside other edibles and foodie gifts.
London
Aulis London, our eight-seat chef’s table in the heart of Soho, first opened its doors in October 2017. Recently refurbished, the space now features front-row seats to the chefs in action, along with an inviting adjoining lounge for pre- and post-dinner drinks. Intimate and immersive, Aulis is designed to spark conversation and connection.
Recognised as one of London’s most exceptional dining experiences, Aulis offers a rare window into the world of L’Enclume, bringing a taste of our Cartmel home to the capital.
Hong Kong
In 2019, we opened Aulis Hong Kong, our first stand-alone dining destination overseas, followed by Roganic Hong Kong, offering a city-centric take on farm-to-table dining. Roganic earned a Michelin star just 10 months after opening and, in 2021, became the first restaurant in Hong Kong and Macau to receive a Michelin Green Star for sustainability which we hold to this date.
Continuing our ethos of using the best produce at its prime, we worked with local suppliers and exotic ingredients to bring our vision to life. By the time we opened our residency at Bathers' Pavilion, I was ready to embrace new international opportunities while staying true to our values.
In 2025, Roganic moved to a new location with a fresh look and a menu rooted in Zero Waste Dining. Our approach, born at L'Enclume, focuses on sustainability, sourcing locally from regenerative suppliers, and repurposing every ingredient. Through techniques like fermentation, pickling, and making oils and syrups, we preserve the seasons and minimise waste.
Our interiors reflect this same commitment to sustainability, with locally sourced, reclaimed, and upcycled materials. From salvaged wood to oyster shell paint, every detail of the space mirrors our dedication to environmental responsibility.
Our Two Newest Homes: ION Harbour and Aulis Phuket
When we opened ION Harbour in Valletta and Aulis Phuket in Thailand, the first step wasn’t about the building, the menu or the view. It was about the ethos. We asked ourselves: What do we want to create? What have we learnt from Cartmel and Our Farm that we can bring with us?
These are the principles that guide us:
1. Rooted in place
Thailand and Malta are incredibly different in climate and culture, but both places share something really special. There is a deep pride in local produce and a warmth from the community that has been open, generous and welcoming. The variety and quality of ingredients in both locations is exciting and full of possibility.
2. Growers and chefs, side by side
As with all our restaurants, we work closely with farmers, growers and producers to decide what to grow, when to pick it and how we use it. We are lucky to collaborate with some brilliant people, including local foragers. In Malta, our Head of Sustainability, Keith, regularly takes the team out into the wild to find herbs, flowers, plants and much more. These people are an extension of our kitchen, and they bring the same care, passion and attention to detail as our chefs do.
3. Full control, better ingredients
By forming strong partnerships on the ground, we get to know exactly what we are working with and we learn a huge amount from local experts along the way. Being close to the source gives us the control we need to set high standards for the ingredients we use.
4. Provenance, always
Traceability is key for us and it is a standard across all our restaurants. At ION Harbour, most of our ingredients are now sourced from the Maltese islands, with a few coming from Sicily. If we cannot get something, we try to make it. In Phuket, we use all Thai produce apart from one or two ingredients we are still working to replace. Across the board, preserving the seasons is second nature to our chefs. It is something that has been ingrained in us since the early days at Aulis Cartmel, where we learnt how to make the most of the abundant months and prepare for the quieter ones.
These two restaurants are far from Cartmel, but they carry the same heartbeat.
Our Dishes
My cooking philosophy is first and foremost to respect the natural environment, which is evident in the way we grow our crops and how these ingredients are prepared and served.
It’s progressive and deeply rooted in the Cartmel landscape. We want the ingredients to shine and for our guests to be able to taste every single element of each dish. That doesn't mean that our dishes or cooking methods are simple, it's quite the opposite. The amount of thought and detail of each dish is very complex so that our tasting menu has a rhythm, it flows almost like a poem. It’s a culmination of tastes, textures, temperatures, taking our guests on an ever-evolving journey.
I think it’s very important to have your own cooking style and is what makes our restaurants unique. It can’t be replicated because it’s the sum of so many individual elements; our team, the landscape, the produce. This irreplaceable formula is why people travel from miles around to experience our restaurants.
BEST MOMENTS
I opened L’Enclume in 2002 to create food rooted in flavour and place. Early on, sourcing quality ingredients locally was difficult, which led to the creation of Our Farm. It gave us the ability to grow what we needed and has become a foundation for how we cook, train and work across the group.
Over time, our focus on sustainability deepened. We farm without chemicals, minimise waste and work in rhythm with the seasons. In 2021, both L’Enclume and Roganic Hong Kong were awarded the Michelin Green Star. In 2022, as we celebrated twenty years, L’Enclume received its third Michelin star. Today, our restaurants hold nine Michelin stars.
In 2024 I was honoured to receive an MBE for services to hospitality, in the same year I was appointed to support the industry as Vice President of Bocuse d’Or UK.
In 2023, we supported Tom Barnes in opening Skof, his first solo restaurant, which earned a Michelin star in its first year.
That same year, L’Enclume travelled to Australia for a residency at Bathers’ Pavilion on Balmoral Beach, bringing our ethos to a new part of the world.
From Cartmel to London, Hong Kong, Malta, Thailand and Sydney, the goal remains the same: care for our surroundings, care for our people, and a commitment to working with the best ingredients in the most thoughtful way possible.
Daily Inspirations
The relationship between farm and kitchen is crucial when it comes to our menu development - and our chefs know which fruit and veg are approaching harvest and can plan menus accordingly. A team at our development kitchen Aulis works all year round to preserve surplus produce, so we avoid any food waste from the farm.
For me and my team, the farm is also the place for inspiration when it comes to finding new textures or flavours, and our growers help us find new plants and varieties to try.
With this, it is very clear that our menus are heavily influenced by season and ever-evolving, with homegrown produce taking centre stage.
Sustainable Gastronomy
Sustainability for me is not just about nature and our use of resources. It’s also about how we look after and treat each other in the workplace. I like to think we set a good example in our kitchens and offices, we’ve created spaces where all opinions are respected. Hospitality jobs have a bad reputation and we are trying to change that from within.
In the more obvious form of sustainability, we have reduced the number of hours worked by closing our restaurants in The Lakes two days a week. This gives our team the chance to relax and recharge on their days off and to come back to work refreshed. It’s imperative that we look after them, otherwise, where would we be in the future?
In terms of environmental sustainability, I consider my team just as much a mentor to me as I am to them. We are all constantly learning and as I said before, we respect each other’s opinions, so if a junior member of the team wants to propose a new method or process that will help reduce our waste, then I’m all ears. It’s important to push boundaries, and having somewhere like Aulis, our development kitchen and chef’s table in Cartmel, really helps our chefs to challenge themselves. There is so much more information out there now, so I rely on the team to share their knowledge as it might just be game-changing for our operation.
For our diners, our role is more complex. We don’t want to be seen as preaching but we want them to leave understanding the incredibly complex relationship between food and nature. With globalisation, it’s often hard to know where something is originally from, or how it is grown. We want to show people the amazing ingredients that can be grown in the UK and just down the road on Our Farm.