The recently renovated Linthwaite House, Leeu Collection’s contemporary country house hotel in the heart of the Lake District, is delighted to announce that Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan will take over its restaurant in October 2019, opening Henrock (henrock.co.uk).
With stunning views over Linthwaite’s immaculately landscaped gardens, Henrock will showcase natural, seasonal ingredients in a relaxed and elegant setting. The restaurant is named after Hen Rock (a rocky outcrop protruding from Windermere that is often visible from the terrace of Linthwaite House).
Henrock’s kitchen team will be led by Head Chef Brian Limoges, who joins Simon from San Francisco after working in renowned restaurants such as Quince, Birdsong and Atelier Crenn. Working together, they will utilise produce from Simon’s own farm, Our Farm, located less than a 30-minute drive from Linthwaite House.
However, in a step away from Simon’s other restaurants (L’Enclume, Roganic, Aulis and Rogan & Co.), where the focus is loyally and deeply rooted in British cooking and ingredients, Henrock will lean heavily on influences, techniques and produce discovered on the chefs’ travels around the globe, including Asia where Simon has recently opened Roganic and Aulis in Hong Kong.
The menu will comprise small sharing plates, with signatures set to include: ‘Raw aged beef, elderberry and shiso’, ‘Halibut baked in cabbage leaf, bay shrimp and pink pepper’, and ‘Fried apple pie, miso butterscotch and cassia clotted cream’.
Overseeing F&B operations at Linthwaite will be Nicolas Perdrier, who – coincidentally – began his career at Linthwaite House before working for Simon as Assistant Manager at L’Enclume, so he already has a deep understanding of Simon’s farm to fork ethos and high standards of hospitality, as well as invaluable local knowledge.
Simon Rogan says: ‘Since opening L’Enclume in 2002, it’s been a hugely exciting and humbling journey. Today, we have five UK restaurants holding four Michelin Stars amongst them, and have recently opened Roganic and Aulis Hong Kong. It feels like the right time to be strengthening our offering in the North of the UK, a place we call home, with a fantastic team in place and in such a truly unique and stunning setting.”
Commenting on the collaboration, Analjit Singh, founder of the Leeu Collection, says, “I am thrilled that Leeu Collection will be working closely with Simon and the whole team at Umbel going forward. We share many similar values and, I feel, by aligning our brands, we can elevate the experience at Linthwaite House to a unique level and a cut above other offerings in the area.”
The partnership is similar to several that the Leeu Collection has already initiated with family-run companies around the globe, such as South Africa’s Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, Indian chef Ritu Dalmia’s Riga Foods and Alajmo SpA, run by the Alajmo brothers, one of whom Massimiliano (Max) is the world’s youngest three-star Michelin chef, which will see an Italian restaurant open at Leeu Estates in South Africa later this year.