Few chefs have contributed as much to British food as Simon Rogan over the last two decades. Simon presides over a widespread yet laser-focused restaurant empire that includes Roganic in London, Aulis, Rogan & Co and L’Enclume – the imperious two Michelin-starred jewel in the crown that tempts thousands to the otherwise-sleepy Cumbrian village of Cartmel every year. Provenance and sustainability have become part of common culinary parlance, but it was Simon that ushered in the farm-to-fork philosophy that we all so vehemently believe in now.
When Tom Barnes first joined Simon at L’Enclume in 2011, that farm-to-fork philosophy was still rather unconventional. ‘L’Enclume was still growing when I arrived,’ Tom tells me. ‘I started as a chef de partie, but there were only seven chefs in the kitchen so it was a great opportunity to really get stuck in with the whole business.’ Aside from a few stints overseas – three months at Hof Van Cleve in Belgium and a year at Geranium in Copenhagen – Tom has been with Simon ever since, being there as the stable of restaurants has grown into arguably the most influential in the country. In doing so, Tom has become an indispensable part of his machine.
L’Enclume was a welcome return to Cumbria for Tom, who was born and raised in Barrow and started his career as an apprentice at the Lakeside Hotel near Windermere. ‘I had a great head chef at the hotel – Duncan Collinge,’ he says. ‘He’d worked with the Roux brothers at Le Gavroche so he taught me all the basics – how to use a knife, making stocks, sauces, butchery; stuff like that.’