Simon Rogan announces two top chef appointments
L'Enclume head chef Mark Birchall and his sous chef Tom Barnes, the 2014 Roux Scholarship winner, have been promoted within Simon Rogan's expanding restaurant empire.
Birchall, who is also a Roux Scholar having won in 2011, has been appointed to the new role of chef director across all of Rogan's restaurants, other than Fera at Claridge's, while Barnes - named Roux Scholar in April this year - steps up into Birchall's shoes as head chef at L'Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria.
Rogan said that he would be "nowhere" without his team and described Birchall and Barnes as "the bright lights for the future of catering" who had supported him over the past few years. "Both are huge assets to my restaurants, and I am so pleased to encourage their talent and reward their hard work."
He was appointed to the position of head chef at L'Enclume in 2006 and was at the helm when the restaurant was awarded a second Michelin star in the 2013 guide.
Following his success in the Roux Scholarship, Birchall undertook a three-month-winning stage at the three-Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, run by brothers Joan, Joseph and Jordi Roca.
Meanwhile, Barnes, who was appointed sous chef at L'Enclume in 2011 and whose career includes posts at the Vineyard at Stockcross and the Square, will undertake his three-month scholarship at Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, Belgium, from September.
Simon Rogan: Fera at Claridge's >>
L'Enclume's Tom Barnes wins Roux Scholarship 2014 >>
2011 Roux Scholar Mark Birchall to complete his winning stage at El Celler de Can Roca in Spain >>
