L’enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria – shaved truffle, buckwheat, ice & cream and a ’55 bottle of red

I have thought about the moment I would write about our experience in L’enclume. So many thoughts going through my head – will I be able to truly put down in words what an experience this was? How special this place is? the staff? the food? attention to detail? ingredients? the Prep? The execution? Will this entry be a a long piece that the garman vs food family won’t be able to read it all? I posed these questions to Neal, his response was (insert northern accent) “hunny, you can only say how we felt, fingers crossed people will get it. Ultimately, people will need to go and experience L’enclume themselves”. There you have it, L’enclume is a MUST have experience folks! It is a 2 Michelin star restaurant which has also been awarded the AA rosette star not once but 5, FIVE times! Simon Rogan is a food connoisseur, maestro, genius, and a total BAD ASS. This man creates food that not only blows your mind and an experience you will never forget!

Our journey to L’enlcume started from a BBC show with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan called ‘The Trip’. Rob and Steve are fantastic comics and we are fans. Neal watched the show before I did, fast forward 2-3 years later and here we are. Yep, this has been a long time coming. Plus, we felt like we had to ‘train’ our palate a little before coming here because the food here ain’t for kids! Located in the Lake district, we decided to make it a long weekend and fully immerse ourselves in the sights, sounds and food of the region. We stayed in L’enclume (which is what the hotel is also called) and had breakfast & brunch in Rogan & Co – this sister restaurant, also owned by Simon! Yes, uncle has a whole darn colony going on and I ain’t mad at him at all because anything relating to food that my man touches, turns to gold… FACT! 

We rocked up to the restaurant just as the team were finishing up their team brief and putting in place the final touches for the evening’s dinner service (yeah, we were early, we were EXCITED!) Our excitement must have been palpable because, right before we were shown our table, the head waiter asks, ‘would you like to see the kitchen’? Yes! Was the automatic response. There was no way we were going to pass this up. We were ushered into the kitchen and there he was – Simon Rogan!!!! He said he and his team have been busy ensuring that the food was right and then asked us to enjoy the meal. Life made!  Can I just say that, I had a few more ‘life was made’ moments over the course of this meal, Like, our table was the exact same table Rob and Steve sat at in the show! Life made moment number 2! I mean what were the odds? I did ask Neal if he arranged this cos well I won’t put it past him, but he swears he didn’t have anything to do it!  

The menu was in a closed envelope with the L’enclume wax seal / stamp. Our waiter gave us the choice to either open it or not. We decided not to open it, putting ourselves in the more than capable hands of the team. We started with a series of snacks that were beetroot based, never knew beetroot could be turned into mouth-watering delights. Sourdough bread is a hard one to have with butter right? this one came with beef dumpling! The scallops were accompanied with wine that has matured in a Jar? A freaking JAR!!! Interesting fact about the menu, some dishes were so small that Neal and I would look at each other with a WTH? really? And then we taste it, but, before we can process what we just had, the dish is gone, and you are left wanting more!

Tash (one of the sous chefs) came to the table with fresh lamb cuts explaining how she had been busy over the last few days prepping it for our mains! I mean come on folks?! Talk about customer service on STEROIDS! Just as we were ending our chat with Tash, the man himself, Simon, comes over and introduces our next course. It was a truffle dish served with sake. He talked about how expensive truffle was (it costs a grand a kilo) whilst shaving generous amounts of said truffle unto my plate. And pause, I need a moment …  SIMON ROGAN just shaved some truffle to my dish? Whaattttttt! Life made moment nos 3 or is it 5? Then came the artichoke which has got to be the finest artichoke I have seen lol. The Lamb Tash had prepped? It was PERFECT, served with a side of sweet breads, yummy! We love us some sweet bread.

Who knew that buckwheat, ice and cream equal a badass dessert? Simon Rogan that’s who! Served in a bowl with an ice-cold spoon shaped like a tree branch and accompanied with Riesling! Alleliujah! Apparently, that was meant to be some sort of palate cleanser. Well I’ll tell you now, that did not look or taste like the usual palate cleanser. The mint and hazel nut dessert was gorgeous in texture and taste.

Now, the cheese course? Lawwwdddd!!!! This was the course that broke the camel’s back! This the course I keep coming back to when I talk about this food adventure, to validate the reason why L’enclume remains in a league all by itself! The cheese monger, yep, cheese monger came around with a selection of cheeses for us to choose. Once we made our choices, our table was lined with 6 glasses and 6 bottles of wine all paired to each cheese selected. You know you are on a next level ish when the cheese monger pours you a glass from a 1955 Marquis De Baoca red bottle of wine with your cheese selection?! Exactly the CHEESE SELECTION!  Another life made moment folks! I mean WHOA!!!!

Everything about this meal was P R E C I S E! Executed to PERFECTION and on a whole different level of DOPENESS! The food? OMG! the food – EXQUISITE! From the plates, bowls, spoons, all brought together for you to focus on the most important element – the dish before you. As my Nigerian people say, Simon Rogan is not your mate, meaning, he ain’t here to play games. He is a MASTER of his craft and that is that!

It is official I am in food love with Mr Simon Rogan, sorry Neal.

Cheers

Ndidi