Perfection in simplicity

IF Simon Rogan looks a bit ill at ease, it's not without good reason. His is the wary stance of one who's been put through the wringer by the British press who thrust him in the limelight for taking over Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the venerable Claridge's, and systematically took him down with one withering review after another within the first week of the locavore-inspired Fera's opening.

When we meet him in the tastefully pared-down dining room in the historic hotel in Mayfair, he has just returned from L'Enclume, his two Michelin-starred flagship in Cartmel - a five-hour drive from London to the Lake District. It was his first trip after working non-stop for six straight weeks since Fera's opening, serving lunch and dinner seven days a week in keeping with the hotel's 24/7 operations.

With Fera, L'Enclume and The French in Manchester under his wing, there is no free time for the chef who has to grapple with whingeing reviewers, fine-tune his signature multi-course tasting menus to suit time-starved fund managers, and turn in a sound profit at the same time.