The chef behind Lake District restaurant L’Enclume, which was awarded its third Michelin star last month, has said that he’d come back to Manchester ‘in a heartbeat’. Simon Rogan famously took over The French restaurant at The Midland Hotel in 2013, with the hope of securing the city’s first Michelin star since the 70s.
While the restaurant was not awarded a star, despite national notoriety, Rogan is now keen to return, hinting that he might already be in the process of looking for a location.
Speaking at the Northern Restaurant and Bar show, he said: “Well you’ve just got to look around, the development, the bars, the excitement around the place.
Read more: L'Enclume wins third Michelin star
“I’ve always enjoyed my time here. Unfortunately it didn’t work out in the long run at The Midland, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t come back here in a heartbeat if the right proposition fell in our lap.
“I have been sworn to secrecy by [Rogan’s restaurant company MD] Sam Ward about what we may or may not be doing.
"We have lots of propositions going on all over the world at the moment, but Manchester is very much in our thoughts, and it’s something we’d really would love to come back to one day.”
Rogan left The French in 2016, after a three year stint in the kitchens, and went on to open the restaurant Fera at Claridge’s in London. Chef Adam Reid later took over the reigns at The French in 2013 as head chef, and then as chef patron when Rogan left in 2016.
As well as L’Enclume in Cartmel, in the Lakes, he now has restaurants all over the world, including Aulis in London, another Aulis in Hong Kong and Henrock, at Linthwaite House in the Lake District.
Rogan added that now that L’Enclume has received its coveted third star, one of just eight others in the UK including Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck and Core by Clare Smyth, it could open the door for other restaurants in the region.
Moor Hall, outside Ormskirk, currently holds two stars, while The Barn at Moor Hall, its sister restaurant on the same site, was awarded its first in February.
“Anything’s possible,” he added. “It’s taken me 20 years, so keep going, keep patient, have perseverance and determination, and you will get there in the end. And the Lake District is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment.”
Rogan was given a special achievement award at the NRB show yesterday, as part of the NRB Kuits Top 50 list of the most powerful operators in the northern hospitality industry.
Asked where he goes from receiving three stars for L’Enclume, he added that he was likely to make the restaurant evening service only in the future, rather than evening service and lunch, and also has a planned refurbishment.
“There are always more Michelin stars to earn, and always other places,” he said. “The main focus at L’Enclume is keeping the standards up, keep at that level. And I have no qualms about that.”
