By Neil Sowerby
WE all knew Simon Rogan was a stickler for culinary perfection. You dont get named the Good Food Guides No 1 restaurant for nothing and one of the reasons for his success at LEnclume in Cartmel is sourcing produce from his own 12 acre farm up there. Those same raw materials are the foundation of his protege Adam Reids cooking our own Midland French.
As an added extra, Rogan and Reid have their own kitchen garden underway on the roof of the iconic Manchester hotel, supplying herbs and acclimatising the rare and wonderful veg and salads brought down. It all defines the style of cooking, impressive as ever when the Taste of Manchester team lunched there recently before taking a peek the the roof garden. We looked across at the Radisson Blu Edwardian and couldnt quite see if their longer-established roof allotment is still flourishing.
Rogan says of the whole farming project: By growing everything ourselves, we can better understand and place more control over the ingredients we use. Our aim is to grow near perfect produce in a natural and sustainable way.
The Midland offshoot also offers an occasional refuge in the middle of a hectic day for Adam Reid, on the shortlist in his own right for Manchester Food and Drink Awards Chef of the Year.