Cumbria is home to dozens of good restaurants – but what does it really take to make a great one?
We sat down with James Hill, 42, of Carlisle, who is chef patron at The Oak at Curthwaite, to chat about what it takes to stand out from the crowd.
James talked us through the ins and outs of kitchen life behind the scenes, what it’s like to be Michelin rated and if shows like The Bear and Boiling Point are anywhere close to reality.
But it all started for James when he was a teenager working as a pot washer in Carlisle.
He said: “I started my career when I was 15 working in cafes and restaurants pot washing and waiting on.
“Then when I was 18 I got the opportunity to go work at The Rampsbeck at Ullswater and I did two and a half years there and also did my NVQ Level 2’s and 3’s while I was there.
“I also had the opportunity to compete in the Gordon Ramsey Scholarship competition and won the Nestle Torque D’Or competition with college back in 2004, which sounds like many moons ago now!
“But from there I went to work in London with Angela Hartnett in the Gordon Ramsey group, which was a great experience and after that I moved to Leeds and did a few years working for a big flagship hotel and I did a lot of management in the kitchen there.
“Then an opportunity came up in 2007 to open my own restaurant in Carlisle, and the first one I had was called Bijou and off the back of that we opened Quarter Lounge.
“We later opened Oka Tapasu and Lounge on the Green in that period, and Lounge became my baby for about seven years.
“It led us to where we are now with The Oak, which was born in October 2024 from wanting a new professional challenge.”
James’ Lounge on the Green later went on to be Michelin rated after bagging two AA rosettes and ending up in the prestigious Good Food Guide.
He was also rated highly by top Carlisle-born food reviewer Grace Dent who called the restaurant at the time unpretentious and forward-reaching – two qualities that James strives to embody.
Earlier this year, James also appeared on the Great British Menu, and now in his new venture at The Oak at Curthwaite, James is continuing his success story.
He said: “We’ve always struggled to get into the guides, nobody really looks at Carlisle, it’s a bit of a black hole area for guides to come to.
“But we had the Good Food Guide come and they gave us a good rating and off the back of that Michelin came. We didn’t have the team for a Michelin Star, but when they put out a tweet saying they’d dined here and being listed was a lovely achievement.
“We held it for three years until we closed Lounge on the Green and it’s something we do want to work towards at The Oak.”
James said that a typical day in his life as chef patron varies.
He said: “Being a chef patron, you’re not just focused on the kitchen, it’s whole running of place and you need to rely a lot on your team.
“So my day to day is menu development, service, looking at how the team is structured and how we go about everything in the business.
“I also have to make sure the team have what they need and you try instil your passion and ideas and show younger staff how things work and exactly how you want things to be cooked.
“But we have a few typical days, but our first day back is Thursday and we hit the ground running in the kitchen, put away orders and hit the prep.
“The lads are in grafting away getting menu prep together, and then we hit Thursday evening and that rolls us into Friday.
“Our front of house staff come in at around 3.30pm to 4pm and we have a meeting together and then we get into the weekend.
“For me, I love it when we’ve got a busy night ahead and its that period just before service where ready to go.
“That’s when you see the well oiled machine come alive and everyone has their part to play.”
While many films and TV shows paint out kitchen life as very intense and fast paced, James said in reality, it’s not all like the movies.
James added: “It’s funny because I remember when Boiling Point came out a few years ago and I thought it put our industry back 20 years because that sort of atmosphere, we try not to have as much anymore.
“Without a good team around you, you can’t do it and we try to have a calm kitchen and work life balance. That’s why we have two days off so people are off at the same time and don’t worry about what they’re walking back into.
“My two core members of staff have been with me seven years, so our core team is really good and a family in that sense and they look after me and them.
“It is good crack, we like to have a laugh and have stupid questions of the day, we’ve got a good DNA in our kitchen.
“When you going for stuff like The Bear tries to make out with Michelin Stars, there’s places that get Michelin Stars that don’t go to that level of detail they portray on the show.
“You walk in, it’s good food and there’s one or two in the kitchen doing 15 or 16 covers in a small pub and then they end up getting a Star, in reality it’s definitely passion over detail.
“But you do look out for reviewers and at the same time you treat them just like everyone else.”
James said the process of creating or changing a dish at The Oak always starts with the restaurant’s ethos.
He said: “Every dish we put together has to have our pub ethos and DNA in it, so we stick by the fine dining but in a relaxed pub-type atmosphere.
“We try and and use the seasons as best as we can too and what’s around us and we try make sure all our meat is from 30 mile radius.
“Me and my number two Dan Lakin will go through dishes together and think will this work or that work.
“We’ve just brought fish and chips done in a different way to the menu, which is a first for us. It’s a nice piece of beer batter cod, a pea emulsion, dressed with sea herbs and a curry beurre blanc, so its peas, fish and curry sauce done at an elevated level.
“So we look at each dish and think is it pub style enough and how can we elevate it.”
James said that his overall favourite dish is one he’s had on the menu since his Lounge on the Green days.
He said: “Textures of beetroot, it’s a DNA dish, it comes out to the table with a goats cheese snow and it has a little liquid nitrogen involved and comes out with a bit of theatre when we do it at chefs table and it’s a showpiece dish.
“But when it comes down to it, I’m all about produce, I love scallops, I love Lakeland beef, I like nice fell bred lamb. Scallops are one of my favourite things to eat and we’re about to bring them on menu this week.
“Dishes do change now and again, but I wouldn’t say we change the full menu, but we do adapt a dish for a few weeks and things like that.
James added that having passion both in the kitchen and outside it for service and facing customers, is of great importance.
He said: “Something I always ask my staff is what do we share our name with? The word hospitality shares its name with hospital.
“You walk in there not feeling great and you walk out feeling better, and that’s what a hospitality business should be about.
“You might’ve had the worst day ever at work, but now you’re about to meet friends, put those woes to right and say what a great night I’ve had, and that’s our job.
“Our job is to keep communities and cultures and people happy in life, that’s what people go out for a meal for.
“We don’t know what kind of day someone has had before they come to us, so we’ve got to shower customers with kindness, make them feel good about themselves, and hopefully what they eat and drink matches that, so might have had a bad day, but they then have a good night.”
James said that choosing hospitality was less like picking a career, and more like picking a lifestyle.
He said: “It’s a bit like with the Harry Potter sorting hat, it’s like this industry picked me and not the other way around, that’s the case with the people who live and breathe it.
“I had a choice when I was younger to join family jeweller business Beadle & Hill Ltd in Carlisle, which I would have made far more money in and my other option was hospitality. But I picked hospitality, because it’s what I love.
“Sometimes I look back and think do I regret it? Sometimes I think I do, and then I have a really good service and I go no, do I don’t!”
But James said that overall, having a solid team that feels more like a family is the key to a successful kitchen and restaurant.
The idea of family is also quite literal at The Oak, as Dan, who oversees the kitchen team, became real family with James through marriage via James’ third cousin after the pair started out as colleagues in 2018.
James said his daughter Zara has also grown up around the team, spending her time colouring at the chef’s table and watching her dad work hard in restaurants over the years.
He added: “Your team have got to buy into what you’re doing, I can’t speak highly enough of Dan and my restaurant manager Jovita Thompson and Jack my young apprentice, philosophy wise they’ve bought into who we are and what we do.
“You need people, a good team is when you rely on them, in this industry we can work 70 hours in a week and those kinds of people are willing to get you through that period.
“I think the potwasher and kitchen assistants are the most underrated roles in the kitchen and good ones are worth their weight in gold and I won’t have anyone talk down to their assistants.
“It’s like a family and if it’s not, it doesn’t work, you’ve got to buy into it and your team and be passionate.”
