Despite what they may tell you, there is no true farm-to-table restaurant in London. Or in any city in Britain, Europe and perhaps beyond. For all things London offers, a restaurant reflecting the extent of the quality and variety of produce reaped from the British landscape is beyond its reach.
Even the owners of those most closely resembling such a place, like Simon Rogan of Roganic in Marylebone, which is supplied by its own twelve-acre farm in Cartmel, would call it a stretch. ‘The main challenge with opening Roganic was sourcing sustainable and local produce for the restaurant,’ he tells me, ‘and transporting the ingredients grown up at the farm to London while ensuring they’re at optimum quality and freshness.’ Maybe it’s no surprise Simon’s newest, Henrock at Linthwaite House, has opened in the Lake District, a twenty-minute drive from the farm.
More tellingly, there’s been something of a country-bound exodus of London chefs of late – Merlin Labron-Johnson, Luke Mackay, ex-Rogan protégé Dan Cox and Dan Fletcher are a few who have recently, or are primed to, leave London to set up a restaurant in the British outback. In January, Dan Fletcher and former Soho House director Ben Crofton opened 28 Market Place in Somerton. Despite business being notoriously difficult for hospitality in the first month of the year, it’s the locals who’ve had difficulty – in finding a seat. I’m speaking with Dan on a Friday, and they’re booked up for lunch. ‘There are some lovely pubs and small tea rooms around here, but I think this is giving [the locals] a new dynamic,’ he says. ‘It’s something they were looking for and didn’t have.’