If you haven’t eaten at Mr Simon Rogan’s two-star Cumbrian restaurant L’Enclume, you will certainly have felt its influence. Since it opened in 2002, it has – along with Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire – been leading the way in the simple, locally sourced, ingredient-led cooking that many British restaurateurs attempt to achieve in 2019. But not everyone has the space or energy to set up their own farm in the Lake District, of course.

With that in mind, how does Mr Rogan, who has recently opened Hong Kong arms of his London restaurants Roganic and Aulis, maintain his philosophy? And what inspired him to open L’Enclume in the first place? Find out, below.

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How do you translate your style of cooking to Hong Kong?

“When we opened, a lot of people were questioning how the change would work. Hong Kong isn’t all skyscrapers and shopping malls, though. There are places near the Chinese border that have organic farms and if you look hard enough you can find things to cook with. The seasons are a bit different ,of course – the summer is too hot. But I’m very impressed with the produce. We don’t want to import. There’s a multitude of shellfish around the island and the vegetables are as good as in the UK.”

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What was your inspiration to start cooking in the first place?

“Money. At school, I had a part-time job in a Greek restaurant and it paid really well. I became accustomed to having money. When it came to leaving school I decided I liked money too much so I didn’t go to university. I got a full-time job in the restaurant. I soon realized I was pretty rubbish compared to other trainee chefs as they were working in better places. So I got myself into a nice country house hotel. I was paid absolutely nothing, but I was in love with what I was doing. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to travel the world and see new styles.”

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