1 Michelin Star Chefs: Liam Fitzpatrick, head chef, Rogan & Co.

Liam Fitzpatrick is the head chef at Michelin-Starred Rogan & Co. in Cartmel .

• More on Simon Rogan and the Roux Scholarship
• Other 1 Michelin Star Chefs

Biography 

Liam Fitzpatrick was born in Widnes, just outside of Liverpool. The chef took interest in cooking from a young age but was inspired to explore it professionally when his uncle turned part of his furniture shop into a restaurant.

Starting off working in the front of house when he was 15, Liam moved into the kitchen as a pot washer, and spent the rest of his teenage years working, and eventually cooking, in pubs in the Liverpool area. 

It is then, he said, that he decided that “if this is what I’m going to do for a living, then I’m going to be the best I can be at it.”

After that, he took some time out and moved to Italy as his partners parents lived in Italy.

He lived there for a couple of years doing odd jobs, and after returning home for a year he went back to Italy once again to try and make it work.

However, he found that he couldn’t really find a kitchen that would take on an English chef, so returned home, and was fortuitously offered a job at L’Enclume as chef de partie.

After working under Tom Barnes at L’Enclume for three years, he was offered the sous-chef position at Rogan & Co. He was there when the restaurant received a Michelin star in 2019, and on Christmas day, he was named head chef.

Since then, he has spent a lot of time working on the Rogan Group farm, ‘Our Farm,’ during the lockdowns, also offering help with the Rogan @ home offering alongside his duties as head chef.

Asked about his plans for the future, Liam said he is happy to take things as they come and keep working up the ladder within the Rogan restaurant group.

Tom Barnes - executive chef across Rogan & Co., L'Enclume and Henrock

Tom Barnes was born in Barrow-in-Furness in the Lake District. The chef took an interest in food when he was in his early teens, so chose to go down the full-time apprenticeship route, which he undertook aged 15 at the Lakeside Hotel near Windermere under the watchful eye of Duncan Collinge - who, incidentally, had previously worked for the Roux brothers at Le Gavroche, meaning he was able to pass on his classical training to Tom from the outset. The young chef stayed for three years, climbing the ranks to the position of chef de partie.

Next, Tom went to work for John Campbell at two Michelin-starred The Vineyard at Stockcross, starting again as a commis and working on all stations until he earned the title of chef de partie. 

After a stint with Phil Howard at The Square in London, Tom joined L’Enclume as a chef de partie in 2011. He was named head chef in 2014 the same year that saw him win the Roux Scholarship. 

As is customary when one wins the Roux Scholarship, Tom was given the opportunity to stage at Peter Goossens' Restaurant Hof Van Cleve in Belgium.

The chef then went to fulfill his ambition of working at a three Michelin star restaurant with a chef de partie position at Rasmus Kofoed's Geranium in Copenhagen, where he stayed for a year and a half before returning to the Lakes as the head chef of Rogan & Co.  He was at the helm when it was awarded a star in the UK's Michelin Guide for 2019.

In April 2019, Tom was named executive chef of Simon Rogan's North West restaurants, starting with Rogan & Co and L'Enclume, and now including Henrock.

After appearing on Great British Menu in 2019 and taking a dish to the banquet, Tom Barnes was named champion of champions of the BBC programme in 2020.  

Simon Rogan – Owner of Rogan & Co. 

Simon got into cooking due to his father working at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. Whilst helping unbox the produce, he would work with unfamiliar exotics his father brought back, such as star and kiwi fruits. Simon credits that this early exposure has sparked his life-long interest in ingredients and seasonal produce. 

At 14, he took a weekend job in a Greek restaurant in his hometown of Southampton. Realising this was an aspiration, he focused on catering college instead and by 17, Simon started working as an apprentice at Rhinefield House Hotel in Hampshire. Simon has worked at many restaurants including: Geddes in Southampton and Adlington Palace in Croydon and has achieved incredible success during his years at the top of British cuisine. Gaining 2 Michelin stars at his flagship Cumbrian restaurant, L’Enclume and has earned 1 Michelin star for Rogan & Co for the 2019 Michelin Guide.  

Rogan & Co. 

The restaurant is housed in a pitturesque cottage by a stream in Cartmel.

Its cosy, rustic interior is hung with Lakeland photography. It offers a casual dining experience while retaining the creativity of Simon's distinctive culinary style, using home-grown Cumbrian ingredients harvested in their prime. 

Menu 

The menu is designed to celebrate the Lake District’s best produce and is inspired by flavours from around the world. 

The menus are regularly reimagined, featuring comfort food that is made with carefully sourced ingredients from trusted growers in the region, whilst some of them are nurtured by hand on Simon’s farm in the Cartmel Valley. Some examples are: butter poached cod, cep, cuttlefish & toasted yeast and in the weekly lunch menu: confit leg of Goosnargh chicken, parsnip & tarragon.  

Videos with Simon Rogan and Tom Barnes: