L’Enclume on the ascendant

It was a brilliant move by Simon Rogan to take over the lease of Howbarrow Farm  in Cartmel and secure control of the supply of organic produce to L’Enclume.   Raymond Blanc has a kitchen garden at Le Manoir, which supplies his restaurant.  He is forever on TV seen plucking a baby carrot from the ground and gazing at it with intense Gallic admiration. 

I’ve visited the kitchen garden at Le Manoir and I’ve seen the number of covers served every day in their restaurant and one thing is certain- the garden can only supply a tiny proportion of the produce which they use.  With L’Enclume it’s different- not only is the scale of the operation much smaller than at Le Manoir, but the source of supply is many times larger.  There is of course the problem of seasonality, because in England things go in and out of season very quickly, which affects the availability of supply- but this can be overcome to some extent by constantly varying the menu.  Now Simon has leapt into 4th place in the Good Food Guide ranking of the top restaurants in Britain- only just behind Le Manoir.  Well done Simon- this is richly deserved- and watch your back Raymond.