Rogan & Co, Cartmel (*)

1 October 2022
roganandco.co.uk

We fancied a bit of a celebration, and when better to celebrate than the glorious month of October? It is, in my extremely well evidenced opinion, the best month of the year - crisp, clear autumn days and vivid, cold nights. Changing leaves, 2000 calorie pumpkin flavoured coffees on the menu at Starbucks, all culminating in Halloween where we gorge ourselves on parkin and 2000 calorie pumpkin flavoured beers. Perfect.

Plus, 2nd October is our wedding anniversary, because why wouldn’t you get married during the finest month of the year?

We treated ourselves to a weekend away in the stunningly beautiful Lake District, which for the benefit of any non-British reader is in the most northwestern part of England. Jane has always loved the Lakes since visiting the William Wordsworth house in Grasmere* as a college student. I took a bit more persuading initially - I found the wide open spaces overwhelming and the billions of tourists eager to follow in the footsteps of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter got right on my nerves - but the older I get the more I come to love it. I mean, look at it…

The Lake District (not my photo - shamelessly stolen from coppermines.co.uk)

*Grasmere is the home of the world’s finest gingerbread, which they sell out of a tiny little cottage dating from the 1600s.

Plus, if you offer to take me to one of Simon Rogan’s restaurants, I’m going. Lake District, Littlehampton, Mars… just let me put on my shoes.

So we jumped in the car and drove up to the south Lakes. Rogan & Co is situated in Cartmel, which is a small village hosting not one but two of Rogan’s restaurants. The most famous is L’Enclume, which won its third Michelin star earlier this year and is one of the finest restaurants in the country. Rogan & Co is much newer, and opened as more of a neighbourhood restaurant. It offers an a la carte menu rather than a tasting menu at a much more affordable price (£79 per person for lunch rather than £250), and has a really lovely, laid back atmosphere. It won its first Michelin star in 2019, bringing Rogan’s total to four.

Simon Rogan is very present in Cartmel. Along with the two restaurants he has a small holding where he grows the vegetables he uses in his restaurants, and sources cheese and meat from local suppliers. He also has a restaurant shop in the market square when you can buy produce and kitchen items. What he doesn’t own is the Cartmel sticky toffee pudding shop, where Jane had a blow out on sticky toffee apple crumble to bring home. She was very pleased.

If you’d like to learn more about Cartmel - which is medieval in origin and very good for a visit - the mighty Cartmel tourist board has a very good website: cartmelvillage.com

Anyway, I’ll stop rambling on. Jane and Sarah approached the restaurant with growing excitement…

The restaurant. Again, not my photo - credit roganandco.co.uk

We were greeted at the door by one of the two senior waiters, who was very friendly and congratulated us on our anniversary (that Jane… she’d have been hoping for a free dessert or something) and showed us to our table. I have to admit, I’d really been looking forward to this one and had spent a bit of time on the website before I got there, so I was pretty sure about what I’d be ordering before I sat down. We ordered drinks - a glass of Austrian pinot blanc for me (Weissburgunder Judith Beck) and a non-alcoholic rhubarb and ginger spritz for Jane - and received a selection of fantastic pre-lunch snacks. A lemony cod’s roe tartlet, a crumbly parmesan sable with rich artichoke cream, and a crispy mushroom and truffle dumpling. The sable was particularly well executed, but the dumpling had loads of truffle so I’d tip that for the win.

The menu. Please excuse the gigantic hand and mobile phone shadow - evidently getting a good camera angle was too much for me at that moment.

Pre-lunch snacks: (l-r) Mushroom and truffle dumpling, artichoke and parmesan sable, cod’s roe tartlet

Actual photo of me sitting down to lunch, complete with impressive beard and my out to lunch hat.

So to the starters. Regular readers will know that if there’s cheese on the menu I’m there, so the Old Winchester dumplings it had to be. Old Winchester is a cheese made in the Cotswolds similar to an aged Gouda, with a slightly crunchy texture and nutty flavour. The dumplings had a subtle cheese flavour (I would have preferred more cheese) and were very light and smooth textured. The onion dashi was fantastic - rich, earthy and sweet, and lifted by the citrusy lemon thyme. To my delight it was served with a surprise cheese scone (which was VERY cheesey) and a delicious sweet onion butter. On reflection, the balance of flavours in the dish was spot on - very cheesey dumplings with a very cheesey scone could, perhaps, have been too much cheese. My only criticism is that I had to let Jane eat some of the scone.

Jane’s starter featured layers of potato caramelised in butter with smoked eel, served in a herby butter sauce. The eel was strongly smoked, which worked really well with the rich potato and butter. Eel is a fantastic ingredient which we don’t see enough in British cooking, despite them being prevalent in our lakes and rivers - they lend themselves to a range of flavours, with smoke working really well. The accompanying butter was infused with ramson (wild garlic) and drops of dill oil created hits of brighter, perfumed flavour.

Old Winchester dumplings, onion dashi, lemon thyme (plus bonus cheese scone with caramelised onion butter)

Caramelised potato, smoked eel, dill and ramson

For the main course I was torn between the two fish dishes. I went for the cod in the end because of the cheese, but not for the reason you’d necessarily think. I’ve never been convinced that fish and cheese are an ideal match, and I wanted to see what cheese crumb on white fish was like when really well executed. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the crumb was thick and generous and provided greater texture. Did it change my mind once and for all about fish and cheese being a great pairing in flavour terms? No, but the overall balance of the dish, with a fantastic deeply flavoured shrimp sauce and bright, summery grilled marrow and watercress was wonderful. I thought the plating of this one was particularly striking too.

Jane’s beef cheek was a fabulous autumn plate of food - soft, almost spoonable slow cooked meat, crispy, buttery kale and a dollop of earthy celeriac puree. There was also onion three ways - rich onion gravy, sweet and sticky caramelised onion and a slightly bitter onion ash. She was in heaven, and particularly commented on the kale, which had a slight hint of horseradish to cut through the richness of the course.

Parmesan crusted cod, grilled marrow, watercress, shrimp sauce

Dry aged Dexter beef cheek, horseradish glazed kale and whey onion

Lots of fabulous autumnal flavours - rich onion, smoke, cheese… Time for a palate cleanser to get us ready for dessert. A bitesize pot of apple sorbet with frozen cucumber and a hint of mint, topped with a sweet and creamy cheese crumble. It was nicely balanced and did exactly what a pre-dessert should. I liked it. Jane loved it.

Pre-dessert: Cucumber, apple and sweet cheese

Here’s a sentence I’ve never uttered before now: I fancied a dessert wine. Over the spring and summer we’d tried a number of wonderful options (see ‘Mana’ and ‘Opheem’) which had given me a whole new appreciation of sweet, boozy drinks. The thing that caught my eye wasn’t wine at all, however, but an ice cider made by the Somerset Cider Brandy Co. I had no idea that ice cider was a thing but I have long had an interest in ice wine, which is made with grapes that have been allowed to freeze on the vine in cold weather to itensify the sugars. Similiarly, ice cider is made from frozen apples, resulting in a deep amber coloured cider with increased sweetness and alcohol content (this one was 11.5% ABV) but losing none of the classic, fermented, almost oily flavour that makes a small cider batch so special. I may have a new thing.

Two things jumped out at us both on the dessert menu, so we agreed to order one each and share them. Jane’s chocolate fondant did not look like much in the bowl (hey, where’s my fondant?) because it was submerged under a layer of apple marigold foam. Apple marigold is a herb hailing from the southern hemisphere (South America and Australia) with a dominant apple flavour and cirtus undertones. Eaten by itself it was fresh and light and eaten with the fondant it made the chocolate flavour even more intense and chocolatey. Definitely clever but, really, I wanted something creamy rather than foamy with the dish.

Our other choice was perhaps the most interesting thing on the menu. A bed of set jasmine cream topped with braised plums, shiso granita and almond crumb, and so pretty that we just kind of sat back and admired it for a moment. But that jasmine cream… oh so delicate jasmine flavour, cool, creamy and super smooth, which worked equally well with the sweet plums, buttery crumb and spicy and minty granita, it was utterly exquisite. I got this dish first and I did actually consider not handing it over to Jane. The things we do for love.

Set jasmine cream, plums cooked in shiso, roasted almond

Dark chocolate fondant with apple marigold

And just when we thought we were done, there was a special anniversary surprise from the kitchen - chocolate pave and sticky toffee pudding madeleines to share. The pave was decadent and delicious, but the madeleines were truly excellent, with a bold bite balanced level of salt to cut through the rich, sticky toffee. We were delighted and grateful for the team’s generosity.

An anniversary bonus treat: Sticky toffee pudding madeleines and chocolate pave

Our lunch at Rogan & Co was a pleasure. Fabulously executed dishes using wonderful local produce, and a steal at less than £80 per head for five courses. The service was a little less polished than we’ve experienced at other Michelin star restaurants, but the staff were friendly and welcoming and there was a real sense of community both amongst them and the customers. We’ll defitely be back to Cartmel. L’Enclume is calling.

And what about the toast sandwich?
Jane: The set jasmine cream - it absolutely blew my mind.
Sarah: Damn, she took my toast sandwich. I can’t not mention the jasmine cream too, which was phenomenal. I was also very taken with the ice cider, which I didn’t know existed before we visted Rogan & Co. You must be able to order bottles online, right?