Three Michelin-Starred English Restaurant L’Enclume Is Coming to Australia for a Sydney Residency

Visit Balmoral Beach in 2023 and you’ll be splashing around on one of the country’s top beaches this year, no matter when you walk by. However, book a date with the Sydney patch of sand this winter – and with Balmoral Beach’s Bathers’ Pavilion, to be specific – and you’ll also be able to enjoy a meal at a three-Michelin-star English restaurant, with Simon Rogan ‘s L’Enclume making the trip Down Under for the first time ever.

For five weeks between Wednesday, July 19 and Sunday, August 20, in what marks L’Enclume’s debut venture away from its Northern England home, it will set up shop at Bathers’ Pavilion for a residency. British chef and restaurateur Rogan, who is known for his farm-to-table focus, will be bringing a number of the restaurant’s acclaimed dishes our way. In fact, he will transport the entire L’Enclume experience along the beach from its base in the Lake District village of Cartmel in Cumbria, where it resides in a former 13th-century blacksmith’s workshop.

If you’re new to L’Enclume, and to Rogan, both prefer the idea of ​​the perfect ingredient. So, in every small and carefully composed bite that is served, that concept emerges. Over an eight-course menu, plus snacks and petit fours, customers can expect L’Enclume’s favorites – but tweaked to use ingredients from New South Wales and Australian producers. The residence has committed to having a traceable menu, and Rogan is already reaching out to locals, looking for people who can grow supplies specifically for his time at Balmoral Beach.

And yes, Rogan himself will oversee the Bathers’ Pavilion accommodation and lead the kitchen for each service. He will be joined by Oli Marlow, Executive Chef of Roganic and Aulis London and Hong Kong, and Sam Ward, Managing Director of Simon Rogan restaurants around the world, plus a team from the UK that will have up to eight chefs, four of whom house staff and a sommelier.

The intimate venue, which only welcomes a maximum of 80 attendees per sitting, will also bring the L’Enclume style of service, letting diners dine on a version of its preferred crockery that will be handcrafted in Australia .

To help wash down Rogan’s precisely formed dishes, Rogan’s sommeliers create an extensive wine list, complete with wine pairings to match the food. And there will also be a cellar list, with those with cash to splash on budget-busting vino able to pre-arrange rare vintages and bottles ahead of their bookings.

Setting guests back $420 each for eight courses plus snacks and petit fours, and either $190, $290 or $750 per person for wine pairings on top (or $70 for non-alcoholic sips), it’s clearly not the kind of culinary experience Aussies get every day — and it’s also one worth traveling for. If you don’t usually call Sydney home, all you have to do is book a trip to the Harbor City, rather than the other side of the world.

Announcing the residency, Rogan said that “winning three Michelin stars at L’Enclume is a culmination of 20 years of work and evolution by a group of dedicated chefs and front of house specialists”. L’Enclume achieved that feat in 2022, when it also hit that 20th anniversary.

“The Sydney residence is a huge milestone for us as we enter our third decade and our boundary-spanning team couldn’t be more excited to share our strong sustainability ethos and serve up some of our favorite L’Enclume dishes using the outstanding local ingredients which is unique. to New South Wales and Australia,” Rogan continued.

“For me, it’s all about layers and complexity of flavor, creative products sourced with a sustainable ethos, and warm and knowledgeable service. It’s not just the restaurant that makes the L’Enclume experience, it’s also the environment, and even though the setting at Bathers’ Pavilion on Balmoral Beach couldn’t be more different from Cartmel, it feels so similar in its sense of beauty and uniqueness.”

Find L’Enclume at Bathers’ Pavilion, 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach, Mosman from Wednesday, July 19–Sunday, August 20 — open for lunch Tuesday–Sunday and dinner Tuesday–Saturday. Go to the Bathers’ Pavilion website for bookings from Tuesday, February 14.