Moneo writes: Remembering to share the joy in all that we do

In December last year Mrs Moneo sprang a surprise on me as 2018 was one of those significant age years for me. The surprise was to visit L’Enclume restaurant in Cartmel, Cumbria. This restaurant is owned and run by the esteemed chef Simon Rogan. We had visited there many years ago when the restaurant was just in its early days. Since then Simon Rogan has taken the restaurant to major heights and is certainly among the top five if not the top three restaurants in the country. However, this was not just a normal visit to the restaurant. Mrs Moneo had booked us into Aulis at L’Enclume. This is the development kitchen within the restaurant where up to a maximum of six diners get to share seats at the chef’s table in a kitchen with some of the highest technical facilities of any kitchen in the country. At this table we were given the chance to have a first look at selected dishes that will feature in future menus at the restaurant. These dishes were cooked for us personally by the chef. The reason I tell you all of this detail is not as an advert for the kitchen but by way of setting the scene for what follows.