Liam Rogers joins Northcote as head chef

Liam Rogers has been appointed head chef at Michelin-starred hotel restaurant Northcote in Lancashire, taking over from Danny Young.

Rogers previously worked as chef de partie at two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in Scotland and as sous chef at two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham.

He was a finalist in the 2021 series of MasterChef: the Professionals, where he was judged by Northcote executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen.

His new role sees him head up the kitchen at the 26-room hotel, which hosts the yearly Obsession food festival.

Rogers, who started as head chef in January, said joining Northcote was one of his proudest career moments and the prospect of working with Goodwin-Allen had attracted him to the role.

“Lisa is an amazing person and she’s a great chef and I loved watching her on Great British Menu. She judged me on MasterChef too and she gave me good feedback which really stood out,” he said.

Following Rogers’ appointment, Northcote will return to a seven-day operation from 3 April and begin to offer more of its two-night experiences, Sunday and Monday Champagne Breaks and have space to allow more local guests to dine in the restaurant.

Craig Bancroft, managing director at Northcote, said: “It is brilliant that we have finally managed to achieve a full staff structure. We personally, and the industry as a whole, have faced a very challenging time with recruitment following lockdown, so I’m delighted to be able to say that we have a full team which allows us to return to opening Northcote every day of the week.”

The restaurant at Northcote won its Michelin star in 1996 and since 2019 the hotel has been incorporated into the Stafford Collection family.

Danny Young is now working as head chef at Port Gaverne hotel in Port Isaac, north Cornwall.