SOURCE at Gilpin Hotel

We need to talk about Kevin. That’s Kevin Scanlan, the (relatively) new head chef at Gilpin’s on-site Michelin-starred restaurant Source. It’s always a risk when a new chef takes over an established, beloved restaurant – more so when there’s a Michelin star at stake. 

Kevin’s worked at Source for around two years now, starting out as sous chef under Ollie Bridgwater. Even before we sit down for the meal, it’s clear he’s a popular chap, with everyone across the sprawling Gilpin complex speaking of him fondly and proudly. 

In this case, everyone comes out smelling of Cumbrian roses. Source is still the titan of Lake District fine dining it always was, but freshly rebooted with a host of new ideas from Kevin and crew.

The dining space has changed up a bit since our last visit too. The layout feels smarter, and the lighting more sophisticated with a dark, burgundy hue. 

Even the soundtrack has upped its game. It’s a deft blend of low-key soul, old and new, that doesn’t impose. There are some striking pieces of art here and there. I’m seated in front of a piece by outsider artist ‘Autistic Ian’, a figure with a torrid past whose work is a good deal more interesting than ‘watercolour of white horse’. 

But in the end, it’s all about the food, and going off tonight’s spectacular menu, they could shove me in the bin room, and I’d enjoy it as much. 

Previous diners will recognise elegant variations on long-standing Source ideas – the croustade snack, the glazed veal sweetbread, razor clams in roast bone sauce, a spoonful of golden Oscietra caviar. But the best things on tonight’s menu are new.

The standout course is all Kevin, and proof that something special is happening in the kitchen. Cornish bluefin tuna tartare, dressed in grapefruit and kombu, on a pool of ajo blanco, the nutty Spanish almond sauce, under discs of radish. Then beads of grapefruit and marigold frozen in liquid nitrogen that pop in the mouth, with a cup of warm bonito dashi on the side for sipping. There’s so much going on here it shouldn’t be allowed to work, but my word it does.

The pick of the sweet courses is the pre-dessert. A fresh, faintly vegetal fennel mousse layered with yoghurt parfait and pickled green strawberries, sharp and almost savoury. On top sits an ice cream made with milk infused with toasted hay to create something creamy and only lightly sweet. Unlike the rest of the menu, there’s a hazy nostalgia feel to this one – a last look back at the summer harvest before winter closes in.

A lot of these dishes have a real sense of the dramatic, delivering that all-important gasp moment each time thanks to arrangements, colours and textures that all connect with the season. More than anything, Scanlan’s Source is an aesthete’s restaurant. Gilpin, Bridgwater and everyone else involved should be very proud.