Private Dining Rooms

Overview

Roganic is the latest brainchild of Simon Rogan, owner of the legendary Cumbrian restaurant, L'Enclume, which has garnered a host of accolades including a Michelin star, five rosettes from the AA guide as well as 9/10 in the Good Food Guide 2012 and BMW Square Meal Award for Best UK Restaurant in 2010.

Simon Rogan also runs the 15-acre Howbarrow Farm in the Cartmel Valley, where he grows his own vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers for the restaurants.

With just a two-year lease from the Portman Estate, Rogan has referred to Roganic as “an extended pop-up” since the site will be redeveloped at the end of that period.

Roganic restaurant only has 25 seats, and, in true pop-up style, the conversion has been minimal with wooden flooring, and tables and chairs previously at L’Enclume.

The same hallmark food style as L’Enclume is evident in Roganic’s creative, seasonal, inventive menus.

There is a three-course £29 menu available at lunch (except Saturday), and both a six-course £55 menu (except Saturday dinner) and a ten-course £80 menu are offered at lunch and dinner.

Full vegetarian menus are available. Menus evolve with the seasonality of ingredients. 

Roganic has a selection of approximately 80 wine bins, led by Sandia Chang, previously of Noma and Per se.

Wine prices start from £26 (per bottle) and £5.50 (per glass). The list incorporates a good selection of natural and bio-dynamic wines, which complement Simon Rogan’s food philosophy.

All major credit cards accepted with optional 12.5% added to all bills.

Sandia Chang

How long have you been at the restaurant?

Since the opening June 2011

What attracted you to become a sommelier?

Food did.  I started out as a chef.  My dad always said there could be no party without wine. A meal with no wine is a sad situation.  Now that I understood the food, I needed to understand the wines in order to provide people with a complete experience.

Where did you do your training?

I never had formal training. In the US, especially fine dining restaurants, the captains (equivalent to a head waiter here) is trained to do the sommelier job as well as serving.  At per se was where I learned the most about wines.  It started from a WSET advance course, then volunteering to do stock take every month.  Then it’s all about tasting and reading.  At Noma where I worked next was the same as well.  Waiters did everything from suggesting wines to doing wine matching.  At Per Se I was exposed to the  world of high end wines and at Noma I was able to see and learn all about grower champagnes and small producers. 

What would you say were the essential skills required to be a sommelier?

Having a good wine knowledge is important. But the most important skill is being able to listen and read your guests on what they like, what they don’t like, and what they are willing to try.

What wines complement your personal favourite three course meal and why?

French Fries (or chips) with champagne, lamb with Barolo, followed by cheese with an off dry Riesling. 

What are your thoughts on the "Red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat and fish" age-old debate?

That is the old way of thinking. Perhaps it has to do with the classic way of cooking; a protein, a starch, and vegetables. These days chefs are much more creative and think outside of the box when it comes to creating dishes.  When we compliment wines with food, we always take in consideration the garnishes on the plate. Say a fish cooked in chicken fat served with chicken skin and caramelised celeriac will require a red wine more so than a white wine. 

How does the choice of the right wines complement the different food courses served?

The right wines can act as a contrast to bring out flavours that you don’t necessary get just by eating the dish alone or bring out flavours in wines that you don’t get by drinking the wine alone.  The right wines can also compliment the dish, a wine that has the same flavours and consistency provides harmony. 

What's the best part of your job?

Teaching people; educating the staff about wines and most importantly watching guests walk away from a meal and having an experience of something they’ve never had or tried before. 

And the worst?

Trying to find space to store all the wines in the cellar.

What is the unusual wine that you have ever tasted and why? 

I will always remember the first time I tasted Nicolas Joly 1991 Savennieres Clos Coulee de Serrant. It tasted and smelled like your skin after a day at the beach. It had the taste of sweet ocean water and sea shells. 

What is the most money that you’ve ever seen spent on a single bottle?

$360 (£225)

How many wines do you have?

Around 60 different wines. 

How often do you find that customers complain about wine being corked and - in your opinion - how often do you think that they are right?

Not often at all.  We taste everything single bottle that we open before serving it.  I see it as part of our job to insure the bottle is sound before serving it to the guests.