In England’s Lake District, Michelin-starred restaurants are turning garden harvests into remarkable drinks.
I’ve just returned from the Lake District in the north of England, one of my favorite places on earth. My family have lived and vacationed there, in the same house, for four generations. It’s a part of the world famous for beautiful landscapes – dry stone walls, woods, lakes, and fells. But what’s less well-known is it also boasts the most Michelin stars of any UK county outside of London.
The restaurant that does a lot of the heavy lifting is Simon Rogan’s three Michelin-starred L’Enclume, which sits in the heart of the ridiculously picturesque village of Cartmel. Reams have been written about the food at this restaurant, but I wanted to highlight the drinks, because they serve as a wonderful showcase for British producers and locally grown vegetables, fruit, and flowers.
See also: A Guide to All Three-Michelin-Star Restaurants in the UK
Most of this produce comes from Our Farm, Rogan’s 12-acre smallholding just a mile outside Cartmel. Between June and September, it hosts pop-up dinners among the fruit and vegetable beds, and tours of the farm with the gardeners and chefs. (An overnight stay at one of the smart B&B rooms they have dotted around Cartmel can also be arranged).
If you, as I do, love gardening – as well as good food and drink – this is an experience not to be missed; a chance to smell, touch, taste, and explore a whole array of new ingredients.
I was shown around by head grower Adam Frickel and Our Farm chef Liam Fitzpatrick (and a very friendly greyhound). They explained how Our Farm helped them to create menus that weren’t just more delicious, but also more sustainable. Instead of using imported lemons, they use lemon verbena, lemongrass, and oaxalis (also known as the butterfly plant) to give their drinks a citrus kick; and make a tropical-tasting kombucha from pineapple weed. I picked juicy Japanese wineberries, raspberries, and gooseberries in an array of hues, pinched rose-scented geraniums and anise hyssop, which has hints of Parma violet, and walked through polytunnels bursting with rhubarb, tomatoes, grapes, and edible flowers all destined for drinks in Rogan’s five restaurants.
At L’Enclume you can sip an Espresso Martini sweetened with vanilla-scented woodruff syrup, and a Dark ‘n Stormy infused with fruity apple marigold. At the more informal Rogan & Co, also in Cartmel, there’s a highball of spruce and coriander seeds topped up with Lakeland sparkling water. At Henrock, in Windermere, non-alcoholic options include a fizz made with Our Farm plums and perilla (aka shiso) and a Virgin Mary made with their own kimchi. There’s also a housemade blackthorn vermouth, fig leaf cordial, and a house tea blend featuring several types of mint including apple, pineapple, chocolate, and yakima (which was a new one on me).
“To reflect our ethos of sustainability, we always aim to produce as much as possible ourselves,” says Rogan, “or to work with suppliers or share our ideas and vision.” To that end, he also serves gin from Shed 1 distillery in nearby Ulverston, a range of local beers and coffee from Dark Woods Coffee, a community-focused roastery in West Yorkshire.
English wine is also a focus. At L’Enclume they list more than a dozen still and sparkling cuvées from standout producers including Hundred Hills in Oxfordshire, Kent’s Gusbourne, Langham in Dorset, and the biodynamic Domaine Hugo. The house sparkler is a pale pink rosé made in collaboration with Sussex’s Wiston winery. Just the ticket for sipping in the garden on a long summer evening.
To find out more, and enquire about by-appointment farm tours visit here.
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