CARTMEL eatery L'Enclume has been named as the number one restaurant in the UK in the 2017 Good Food Guide for the fourth year running.

Owned by renowned chef Simon Rogan, The Good Food Guide awarded the restaurant a perfect ten due to the 'soaring sophistication of Mr Rogan's cooking', highlighting the 17-course tasting menu which offers 'clever elements of technical wizardry to keep the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ going,' with 'the cooking forever breaking new ground'.

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The Forest Side at Grasmere has been awarded 2017’s Best New Entry - entering the chart at 37, while Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside, is at 49.

Elizabeth Carter, Good Food Guide editor, said: “We are delighted that Simon Rogan has once again been awarded a perfect 10 for the fifth year running, and has held the number one spot in our Top 50 for four years now. I love the fact that L’Enclume is so unassuming from the outside, with a discreet entrance that makes you feel you’re in on a secret, but once inside there’s no doubt that you are in a resolutely 21st century restaurant operating on a world stage.

“Service is faultless, striking that magical balance between total professionalism and warm personality, while Simon Rogan is a chef who never stands still – you feel he’s always forging ahead, restlessly inventing and pushing his ingredients to extract maximum flavour and interest.”

Rogan said: "It's amazing news to be number one for the fourth year running. I’m really grateful to The Good Food Guide for their faith in awarding us top spot once more, and appreciative for the enormous effect it has on our business. It’s a huge achievement but could not happen without a massive team effort. For me, it’s a privilege to lead this outstanding group of people. There’s no doubt that L’Enclume is approaching the most creative period in its history, and achieving the quality I dreamed of when I first opened its doors.”

Kevin Tickle is head chef at the Forest Side. He previously worked for L’Enclume as forager and chef.

The top restaurant is located in a “fairytale gothic mansion” in Wordsworth’s village of Grasmere and won the award for the “energy and confidence coming from the kitchen”.

Tickle said: “I'm completely blown away to be entering The Good Food Guide with such a high score on our first year, and it's the icing on the cake to win the Best New Entry award. I am incredibly proud of my team for helping to creating such a strong foundation from which we can progress.”

Ms Carter said: “For the second year running the Lake District has supplied our best new restaurant entry – there must be something in the water! It was the energy and confidence coming from the kitchen that grabbed our attention. Kevin Tickle, former forager and chef for Simon Rogan, is in charge of the ambitious but unstuffy restaurant, a hive of endeavour thanks to the gathering, growing, brewing and preserving that form part of his loving, careful tribute to the flavours of Cumbria.”