The Man Behind The Chef: Simon Rogan
In the build up to The Staff Canteen Live 2016 – Skillery in association with Westlands and supported by the Craft Guild of Chefs at Hotelympia 2016, we are taking a closer look at the who will be joining us on stage - next up is Simon Rogan.
Simon Rogan has worked with Marco Pierre White, Keith Floyd, Jean Christophe Novelli and John Burton-Race. He established his flagship restaurant L’Enclume in 2002, a forty-seater restaurant which currently holds two Michelin stars, located beside the River Eea in Cartmel, Cumbria. L’Enclume was voted the Best Restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide 2014.
>>> Read more in the Behind The Chef series here
Following the success of L’Enclume, Rogan went on to turn his adopted town of Cartmel into ‘Roganville’ through a series of other ventures, which include Rogan & Company, a more relaxed restaurant venue, and the Pig and Whistle, Cartmel’s traditional local pub. In June 2011, he opened Roganic, a ‘pop-up’ restaurant in London; Aulis, which is his research kitchen; and The French and Mr Cooper’s House & Garden, both in Manchester. In 2014 he opened Fera in Claridges. He has also appeared in several popular cookery programmes including the Great British Menu.
At The Staff Canteen we want to see what makes chefs tick. We asked Simon a few questions about what he gets up to when not in the kitchen:
Would you rather order a starter or a pudding?
Starter.
What would your last meal be?
Probably a Thai meal in a beach restaurant overlooking the southern ocean.
What was the last thing you ate?
Crispy chilli beef and rice from Pause, Claridge’s staff canteen.
If you weren’t a chef what would you be?
Don’t know but it would probably involve music.
If you could choose to dine in any restaurant in the world which would you choose?
Bras..
Who is you celebrity crush?
Scarlett Johansson is pretty hot, although there is something about Connie Beauchamp from Holby City.
If someone was to write your biography what would it be called?
Simon Rogan - Chef de Parrrrty.
What do you listen to in the kitchen?
Don’t listen to anything.
What are you most proud of?
Nothing in particular, very proud of what has been achieved in all my restaurants and the teams that help me run them.
If you could own another chef’s restaurant whose would you choose?
I am very happy with what I have got but I was lucky enough to eat at the Fat Duck now Dinner in Melbourne, unbelievable facilities in a stunning location in an amazing city.
Who would you trust to run your restaurant?
I trust the people who are running them already.
Why did you choose to get involved with TSCLive?
I got involved with TSC Live because I have watched it grow into one of the leading and most important websites for all things in our industry and I will be proud to be part of this prestigious event. And because they asked me of course!
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