L'Enclume

Home to Simon Rogan's bold and inventive cooking and trademark 'Taste and Texture' menus, this one-time village blacksmiths (enclume translating as anvil) dating back to the 13th century and set in the southern Lakeland, seems an unlikely location for one of the most avant-garde restaurants in the country. Now a smart restaurant with rooms, this northern star is decorated in slick, understated fashion, while retaining original features and a relaxed atmosphere - there's no stuffiness or pomposity here. Exposed ceiling beams, flagstone floor and uneven whitewashed walls are married with dramatic modern artwork, clothed tables and simple but striking flower arrangements. A small conservatory at the back - a real suntrap on sunny days - is the place for aperitifs, while gazing up at the priory and out over the riverside garden. Simon's cuisine has a modern French base, but a highly individual and unorthodox voice; this is bold, precise, sophisticated and complex contemporary cuisine, yet shows restraint. The unique trademarks here are Simon's 'Taste and Texture' menus; three-course fixed-price lunch menu; at dinner, offerings range from the carte menu, seven-course Introduction menu or eleven-course Tour menu. These incorporate many unusual herbs and plants that are a signature of his cooking; think poor man's pepper and sweet cicely, for instance. Stunning flavours, temperatures and textures arrive in well-judged sequence and leave the senses stimulated but not overwhelmed. Innovative and unusual combinations (with some humorous dish names) flow with rhythm and balance, while technique and presentation skills ooze artistry. Think a loin of lamb with kataifi, salsify, plum and cassia, and to finish, perhaps a white chocolate pudding 'gin and tonic'. There's a 3-course carte too (predominantly grown-up versions of the Taste and Texture repertoire) and a value lunch menu. The front-of-house team reflects the quality of the dining experience, highly professional, necessarily well informed, but friendly, too, while the wine list is extensive and impressive, with a good choice by the glass.

10m from M6 junct 36 follow signs for A590 W, turn left for Cartmel before Newby Bridge

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