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L'enclume: GFG #1

5/11/2013

7 Comments

 
Since we last visited L'enclume, the awards have continued to pile up: a second star, overtaking The Fat Duck in The Good Food Guide for the number 1 spot, Restaurant of the Year by several awarding bodies and numerous awards for Simon Rogan personally. And despite the old kitchen being in our view one of the very best we've seen since starting the blog, they've had a kitchen refurb because for the team at L'enclume, there's no standing still, there's a relentless drive to be better and better and better, no easy task given their starting point. Yet the reality is that they do continue to improve, something we see with each of our visits and the food leaves us once again speechless as to the brilliance of the offering.

While much ink has, and will continue to be splashed in explaining the remarkable food served at L'enclume, part of it surely lies in the paradox between the honesty of local ingredients, many from their own farm just up the road, and the cutting edge cooking techniques often employed including the use of centrefuges, blast chillers, low pressure evaporators etc such that the food is not only beyond the realm of the home cook, it's beyond the grasp of many a professional chef also. And as one veteran two star chef said to us the other day, Simon's grasp of ingredients is utterly remarkable, perhaps the best of any chef in the country. Mark Birchall meanwhile continues to head up the kitchen and most of the dishes, while unmistakably L'enclume, are new to us despite having eaten there several times previously. And though the menu extends to 20 odd courses, you always feel that the L'enclume team have many more ideas than a single menu permits and it remains a hub of fertile energy.

The form of the meal will be familiar to all fans of Rogan's food, ten or so canape style bites including the remarkable oyster pebbles, a fantastically indulgent smoked eel with ham fat and a full on ragout of pigeon offal. In the larger savouries, there's the cod 'yolk', the Westcombe (cheese) dumplings that seem to get better every time, venison in charcoal oil, a signature dish now surely, as well as a fish 'main' of butter poached brill with razor clams and a meat 'main' of aged Dexter, cabbage, mushrooms, salsify and dittander. And if you like desserts, there's six of those, though don't expect any chocolate, rather, pear, quince, blackberries, meadowsweet and even celeriac, something only they can get away with. L'enclume offers a menu that in our view is unique in many aspects, even among Michelin starred tasting menus.

L'enclume is our favourite restaurant in the UK and the food there is, in our opinion, without doubt three star. Technically excellent, always surprising, humourous, innovative, wide ranging and let's be clear on this, unfailingly enjoyable to eat. For only a few lucky people is L'enclume close by, but no matter how far it is from where you live, L'enclume is always worth the journey. 
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Oyster pebbles
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Artichoke with truffle
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Cream cheese wafer
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Smoked eel with ham fat (foreground), Ragstone, malt, tarragon (behind)
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squid, chicken, ricotta
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Raw scallop, sea fennel, caviar, rocket
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Pigeon with offal ragout
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butternut, shrimp, mace
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Cod 'yolk' with watercress, salt and vinegar
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Beetroot broth, westcombe dumpling and nasturtium
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Valley venison, charcoal oil, mustard and fennel
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Langoustine, parsnip, black pudding, hazelnut and cured yolk
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Potatoes in onion ashes, lovage and wood sorrel
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Butter poached brill with razor clams, radishes, elderberry capers
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Aged Dexter, cabbage, mushrooms, salsify, dittander
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Burnt pear, fromage blanc, beetroot, anise hyssop
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Iced coltfoot cream with butternut, mint lactose ('slate' on slate)
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Buttermilk custard with caramelised quince, rosehip, muscovado, honey oats
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Blackberries and malt, perilla and pearl barley
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Meadowsweet, granny smith, sorrel and walnuts
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Celeriac, sweet cheese, woodruff, Douglas fir and apple
L'Enclume on Urbanspoon
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7 Comments
Alan Spedding ( cumbriafoodie ) link
5/11/2013 09:32:53 am

Whoaaaaaaa , I need to go back soon....what a feast.
Amazing photos , beautiful.....and yes you were totally spot on , Lenclume is without doubt 3 star in every way.
Oh and yes , I am blessed living up the road from the temple ;-)

Reply
TCC
5/11/2013 09:37:14 am

wish we lived closer

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Fine Dining Explorer link
5/11/2013 09:40:20 am

Great stuff! Looking forward to my first experience there. I just got a table booked for the first Saturday of 2014. Will be a cold but delicious trip!

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TCC
5/11/2013 09:47:39 am

what a great start to the year, you're bound to have an amazing time

Cedric Macpherson
6/11/2013 08:22:42 pm

Not ideal for those who like their food served on plates, then. I look forward to a return to proper cooking when they realise that in fact they have nothing to hide.

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Douglas link
7/11/2013 04:20:59 pm

Pristine pictures. Moreish to the T.

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Neil Cremin
14/6/2014 12:51:20 am

Looks amazing, just booked for the weekend package in May 2015. £595 per couple which includes two night stay bed and breakfast with superior room, first night at Rogan and Co, three course meal of the ala Carte Menu and then the following night the "main event" and l'enclume...

Can't Wait.

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