Banqueting by a Cumbrian fell
HAVE you ever contemplated travelling from London to the Lake District for dinner? Until last weekend, such a suggestion would have puzzled me. Why go so far for an excellent meal when London is replete with high-quality restaurants? Nonetheless, on a Friday at midday, my husband and I put our nightshirts and toothbrushes in an overnight bag and departed London for the north. By 5pm, we found ourselves in the small quaint village of Cartmel in Cumbria. Here lies L’Enclume, an epic, Michelin-starred restaurant presided over by Simon Rogan, considered one of the most innovative chefs in the UK. It is also a charming hotel tucked behind a 12th century priory.
Our room was large, comfortable, tastefully decorated and well-appointed. But before dinner, we needed to stretch our legs. We headed up the fell behind the village, walking through fields and a farm and then upwards to be greeted by superb views of the mountains of the western Lake District on one side and the 19th century seaside resort of Grange-over-Sands and Morecombe Bay on the other.
Then we were ready for dinner. The dining room at l’Enclume is modern yet intimate. Sipping champagne, we consulted the two-choice menu: seven courses or 13? We fancied 13. We learned immediately that most food here is seasonal and local – Rogan favours vegetables are grown in L’Enclume’s garden and the meat and fish comes from nearby.
Each course was served with a detailed introduction – which was no small task given the shape of this complex dinner. Eel, sweet corn, and chive cream was layered into a specially commissioned dish looking like a miniature sack of wheat. “Grown-up yolk from the golden egg” came resting on crispy rice, doffed with a frothy cream of intense chicken essence. We sampled our way through mallow soup, potatoes and truffle, crab and rib, carrot and ham fat, each adorned with pink, blue and green flowers and sculpted to please both eye and palate. Now for the main courses: monkfish cheeks were coupled with cockles and broad beans (a combination that did not rise above the sum of its parts) but both the pigeon and pork dishes, the latter with burdock, kohlrabi, and wood sorrel, worked deliciously. If you have any space left, skip cheese (the trolley was a tad dull and oddly lacking in local varieties) and go for dessert. We had sweet cheese and milk skin, with roasted nut and herb granita. It managed to be both an indulgent treat and a cleansing finale to a three-and-a-half-hour feast. Time had never passed so quickly – and what a break from London. L’Enclume, Cavendish Street, Cartmel, Cumbria. Tel: 01539 536362; www.lenclume.co.uk.