ROGANIC - London

[sped98]

Looking like it`s all systems go for Simon Rogans new `pop up` in Marylebone , London. Word on the street`s getting through slowly but seems like "Roganics" head chef to be - `Ben Spalding` is now on a familiarity exercise with Rogans cuisine up at Lenclume in Cartmel.

Seems like Ben couldn`t come from better stables , Per Se , Rhodes in the city , Fat Duck , Le Manoir , Ramsay , L`autre pied and Lipp in Gothenbourg ...and now Lenclume....WOW.

Opening dates seem likely to be around early May which has created quite a buzz in the Twittering and foodie communities.

I`ll post more info as i find out......The spies are on the case.

[Harters]

One can only hope that this doesnt mean that Simon is giving up on the north west - although comments on Catersearch such as "It seems you get success and recognition a lot quicker in the South" suggests he might be.

[sped98]

Doesn`t look that way Harters , he loves it up here in the lakes.He always said he wouldn`t leave the flagship so fingers crossed eh ? plus he`s got the kitchen gardens and Rogans bistro to keep in order as well.I would guess Simon will be putting in lots of rail and motorway miles commuting between the two places....it`s only 300 miles, that`s `nowt` to us northern folk.

Mark Birchall is well capable as head chef in Lenclume anyway so it`ll always be in tip top hands in Simons absence.

[david goodfellow]

Bookings are now being taken by e-mail, with telephone lines open on 6th June.

I have my table booked and am really looking forward to it.

Opening day looks on the cards to be 16th June, no idea when the website will be up, although I do know the menus will be five or ten courses. Not sure on prices at all.

Bring it on.

info@roganics.co.uk.

[david goodfellow]

Bloody builders. Grrr.

Why can't they complete on time, eh.

Sack the buggers ,

Opening delayed until 25th June. Bookings now by phone 02074860380. Credit card required?

Good interview with Simon Rogan courtesy of Hot Dinners. Hints at possible London relocation in distant future.

I love London too.

Edited June 7, 2011 by david goodfellow (log)

[whitecat]

Bookings are now being taken by e-mail, with telephone lines open on 6th June.

I have my table booked and am really looking forward to it.

Opening day looks on the cards to be 16th June, no idea when the website will be up, although I do know the menus will be five or ten courses. Not sure on prices at all.

Bring it on.

info@roganics.co.uk.

Read somewhere else on the web it will be £40/£80 ("including all the extras", whatever that means - service in maybe?) but the five course option will be lunchtime only... might be wrong though!

Either way I've got my dinner booking. Super excited.

EDIT: ah, the price info was in that interview you linked to in the subsequent post. There we go!

Edited June 8, 2011 by whitecat (log)

[sped98]

ROGANIC UPDATE - All seems to be nicely on track for the opening date of Saturday 25th June.Ben Spalding will be leading the brigade with Simon Rogan overseeing operations until Roganic finds its feet.I spoke to Simon yesterday and sounds like some exciting things will be happening there so i must make the effort to get down there soon.

Simon will be commuting between Lenclume in Cartmel and Roganic.Spending time in London will also give him time to spend time with family that he hasnt seen a lot of this year due to heavy work committments up in Cartmel.

Fans of Lenclume need not worry about the future of the place.Long term plans are not changing and Lenclume will remain the backbone of the business.Hopefully diners sampling the cuisine of Roganic in London will be tempted to make the journey to Cartmel to eat at Lenclume.Simon will be heading up operations at Lenclume for the forseeable future with no plans to change anything there......Sigh of relief from the West Cumbrian fan club.

[Toufas]

Got a reservation for the 1st of july!

[whitecat]

Announced today that the 25th to the 2nd July will be the soft opening week... 25% off the total bill...

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/view/106274/Roganic

[sped98]

I managed to squeeze in for opening lunch on saturday....Fantastic , batteries fully charged.

[david goodfellow]

Well for me this is the third biggest opening in our great city this year. Following on from Heston's Dinner and Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social, Simon Rogans Roganic, albeit a minnow in comparison size wise (approx twenty five seats), is destined to be on all of the serious foodies hit lists. The vast number of foodies who find it difficult even to cross the city, nevermind take what they perhaps consider a space shuttle of a journey to Cumbria will be well rewarded.

Heading up the kitchen is Ben Spalding, clearly a highly talented chef, who according to his twitter account is, focused, obssessed, into body art, and supports Arry's Spurs.

If you dine during the day try to bag the seat by the open window, its fascinating to watch the world walk by, (if you can take your eyes off the food that is.)

We started with a tasty little amuse.

There is a choice of five or ten courses. Guess what we chose.

Whipped Gloucester butter with Maldon sea salt is lavishly spread over a large pebble. Bread, a choice of three, Spelt, buttermilk and potato, and pumpernickle is made on site, and is special. The best of which is a pumpernickle.

First course proper was Broad bean and hyssop, (no me neither), fresh curds made from buffalo milk, and beetroot.

Hyssop will be one of a number of items on the menu that will be new to us today.

Rubin turnip baked in salt, smoked yolk, sea vegetables and wild mustard.

This dish had us smiling with its simplicity, its freshness, its vitality.

Next up was Seawater cured Kentish Mackerel, orache, broccoli, and warm elderflower honey.

As pretty as it gets, and it ate as well as it looks. Not sure if this was the orache that is in the dish, but it may give you an insight. The mildly sweet elderflower honey drizzled around the plate was a nice addition.

Shredded ox tongue, pickles, and sourdough paper.

Again little chuckles of delight from across the table, and we still have loads of courses to get through.

Flaky Crab and mallow cream, young squid and cucumber.

Pretty mallow flowers and leaves.

Note the croutons made by adding squid ink

The only dish to make its way from L' enclume menu is the popular Vintage potatoes in onion ashes, lovage and wood sorrel.

Roasted Brill, chicken salt, cockles and ruby chard.

Cracking dish, this. Ever so fresh fish, wee salty cockles, nicely sauced, almost raw ruby chard keeping all of its flavour.

Cumbrian hogget, artichoke and chenopodiums ?

Hogget, artichoke, yes. Chenopodiums? Wow this really is a learning curve today. I'm not a bit out of my depth, but a lot. In the nicest possible way of course.

We had a cheese course next. All in prime condition.

Desserts next,

Sweet ciceley with strawberry, buttermilk and verbena.

Warm spiced bread, salted almonds, buckthorn curd, smoked clotted cream.

Well, what can I say really. I thought it best to let the pictures do the talking as I can not really do the food true justice by my commentary. Its been a while since we have been to L'enclume and hand on heart its easy to forget how good that place can be. I was truly bowled over and enchanted by all of the food that came out of this kitchen and will shout from the rooftops that this is some of the best cooking that you are likely to eat anywhere. London now has a top, top contender to challenge the very best on offer.

We have been lucky to enjoy two excellent meals in the last week (Medlar) Both very different in style, but both class acts, nevertheless. Not sure how many days Simon will spend here each week. Truth be told L'enclume is his true love and disciple Ben Spalding is easily capable of spreading the gospel in his absence.

Must not forget to mention service, which is unstuffy, friendly, and relaxed, in a true northern way. Special mention must be made to special lady Sandia Chang who has had tours of duty at Per Se, Noma, and Marcus Waring (who was trying out the food also on the day). She looked after us admirably.

Currently I am typing this in my hotel room trying to finish this report before the fast approaching check out time. We need to decide on where to eat today, but I really am struggling to think of anywhere that will even come close to what we ate yesterday, it has made that much of an impression.

Naturally, a big, big recommend.

Chefs soon to be even more under pressure. It starts today and I think they may have a spare table?

Simon to your left btw.

[tim g]

thanks for yr review david! appreciate it. looks amazing

[sped98]

" Currently I am typing this in my hotel room trying to finish this report before the fast approaching check out time. ".............Are you sure about that David ? A little Marylebone birdy told me you were seen running back to your hotel to get the pics up on the www before i got them up

Glad you enjoyed it , was a fantastic meal for us on saturday lunchtime , 13 courses in all....and of course , my pics will appear this week but i dont wanna go rushing them.

Top marks to the staff by the way....Lovely people , well educated on the food already, didnt see any teething problems and they all managed to smile throughout the wonderful service.

[david goodfellow]

I'm always going to be playing catch up on photography, its a recent thing. Although having said that, and I know its blowing my own trumpet a bit, my recent efforts, and especially the above, have turned out great. I'm looking forward to seeing yours, as I don't use photoshop Mine are straight out of the camera, so to speak.

Apart from the amazing food. As you touched on, great service is absolutely paramount at this level, and they delivered. Must make mention of Jon Cannon (even though he supports Liverpool ) top guy, knowledgeable, full of enthusiasm, obviously not as pretty as Sandia Chang but a valuable member of a very good team.

Edited June 27, 2011 by david goodfellow (log)

[sped98]

Photoshop ???? Erm....rings a bell , itll come back to me over the day im sure.Your pics are definitely improving a lot , looks like you`re thinking lots more about composition...spot on.

And yes...the lovely Miss Chang was definitely more pleasing to the eye

[theakston]

Got a reservation for the 1st of july!

How do you get a reservation? I emailed info@roganics.co.uk last week and did not get a reply.

[david goodfellow]

Got a reservation for the 1st of july!

How do you get a reservation? I emailed info@roganics.co.uk last week and did not get a reply.

I booked online without any problem. I know they are very eager for business.

Try This Link and you should be ok.

Just a further note. They are closed today, so there may be a delay in getting back. Plus, as I understand it they do not answer the phone during service, try before 12 and after 3 and before six in the evening.

Hope that helps.

[sped98]

Hi Theakston...you didnt get a reply because its info@roganic ......you added an "s" by mistake.The website will be up and running this week so i`m told.

Cheers.

[Toufas]

I actually called them for mine!

The phone would go to voicemail for a while, then no answer for a bit more, then 4-5 tries later (spread between 3-4 hours) and I got one.

Just asked me about allergies and that was it.

[sped98]

My pics from opening lunch on opening day at Roganic.Same menu as Davids above , the 10 course meal.

[david goodfellow]

Fabulous photos Alan. Crimes I could eat that all again.

I wish now I had bought the LX5 instead of throwing nearly £500 at my new Nikon which seems not take as good a photo as my S95. However it may be pilot error on my part. I'm still learning.

So what were your favourite dishes?

[sped98]

Well tell you what David , ive got a £2,000 Canon 7D sitting here redundant and that £299 i spent on the Lumix LX5 was the wisest thing ive done for food pics...Cant go wrong with a Leica lens.

As far as faves go , im so much a sweet toothed person ,i love my puds and one of my all time faves is on the menu at Roganic and thats the Sweet cicely , strawberry and buttermilk...Love it. The potatoes and onion ash is fabulous but i have to say that one of the best if not "the best ever" is the Carrot combination with Ham fat and carrot sorbet made with the liquid nitro.Its normally on at Lenclume , it tastes superb , looks like a work of art and is an absolute stunner.The menu is going to change every 6 weeks at Roganic so ill try and get updates as new ones come out.

[Man]

They replied pretty swiftly to my email enquiry. I'm due for July 26th, I've never been to any place so soon after its opening, normally I like to wait until things have settled down, ...but after those photos and reports, how could I resist?

(PS: do you people use Dropbox? it's great for travellers like us. if you join through this link http://db.tt/H8pHo7i we get extra space)

[Toufas]

really solid meal, one of the best ones i had in london.

Kenny atkinson was there when i left, talking with simon rogan.

Front of house was absolutely charming, Sandia's other half must be really lucky

Edited July 2, 2011 by Toufas (log)

[david goodfellow]

really solid meal, one of the best ones i had in london.

Kenny atkinson was there when i left, talking with simon rogan.

Front of house was absolutely charming, Sandia's other half must be really lucky

Some very good reviews coming through now. It must be especially rewarding for Simon Rogan that loads of top chefs are queueing up to eat his food.

Marcus Wareing and his head chef James Knappet (Sandia Chang's husband btw) were there when we ate

Kenny Atkinson was dining with Michelin heavyweight Daniel Clifford both of whom are on today's Saturday Kitchen.