heft

High quality cooking

Cumbrian native Kevin Tickle was Simon Rogan’s head forager at L’Enclume then head chef at Forest Side in Grasmere. Heft sits halfway between his two former employers, which he runs with his wife Nicola (front-of-house). The name refers to the seriousness of the operation (an 11-course taster is all that’s available in the dining room for dinner), but it's also an old Cumbrian word for sheep returning to the same fells for grazing and shelter; a reference, perhaps, to what remains of the village pub where locals can return for soup by the fire in the front bar. There’s no doubt, however, that the restaurant is the true destination here, a low-key room of generously spaced Scandinavian-style furniture enclosed by ancient whitewashed walls and, on the other side, an open kitchen partially visible to diners. Some courses are delivered by chefs through the gap in the wall but most by smartly turned-out young locals. An opening shot of ‘Gotty’s squeaky cheese’, a lozenge of Matt Gott's halloumi glazed in thyme honey, sets the tone for much of what is to come – proudly Cumbrian ingredients supplied by producers the Tickles know personally, and transformed into what readers have called 'an intensity of flavour' that transcends their seasonal and local tags. Expect anything from damsons gown in Nicola’s home patch of the Rusland Valley to Herdwick hogget from Town Head Farm in Grasmere – although ingredients from further afield also have their say. Courses arrive in quick succession, so the sensation is less of a tasting menu and more of a constant flow of miniature deliciousness. A dinky bowl of chawanmushi-style egg custard is flavoured with richly savoury oxtail and thyme and topped with an enoki mushroom. Mussels are skewered on a sort of giant toothpick, glazed in XO and mead to deliver a wallop of umami, all smeared with ‘chip shop curry sauce’ that is far more sophisticated than its inspiration. Scorched monkfish tastes smoky but the creamily textured flesh shimmers with a pearlescent sheen. An 'exceptional-value' four-course lunch also wins praise, and they serve a mean sausage roll in the dog-friendly bar, along with pizza on Wednesday nights, local cask beer and a good selection of wine by the glass – plus inspired Sunday roasts that take the traditional theme to ‘a whole new level’. No wonder everyone leaves impressed, whether they’ve come from down the road or the opposite end of the country. Image credit: Jenny Jones