‘You can have fun and experiment’: inside the test kitchens where restaurants cook up new dishes

Alessandra Gallier and Ben Russo of Aulis, Cartmel, Cumbria. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer

Aulis, Cartmel, Cumbria

In Cartmel in rural Cumbria, Simon Rogan works in splendid isolation. The owner of L’Enclume, which won its third Michelin star in February, spends little time on social media, seldom talks to other chefs and rarely eats out. As he puts it: “We’ve a long-standing, unique style I don’t want infiltrated by other things.”