STARS and royalty have been turning out to join the growing numbers enjoying the Pan Asian fare at the Mizu restaurant near Keswick.

The restaurant is part of the Lodore Falls hotel, owned by the Graves group, which had £13 million spend on it two years ago.

Since then, members of the Saudi Arabian royal family, football stars, and just before Christmas, actor Colin Firth who was filming in the area, have been accommodated there.

And as the county continues on its upward spiral in the world of fine dining, the hotel group’s executive chef Mark Harris is convinced that investment and the weather are both key factors.

“It is becoming more attractive to live in Cumbria so you are getting better quality of chefs coming to the area to work,” he said.

“When you look at a restaurant like this, 10 years ago people weren’t investing in hotels like this, but now they are, so you are attracting a lot better quality of staff. They have always had the produce here, and now we have got staff wanting to work here.

“I would not have thought about coming to the Lake District 10 years ago, and now it is the place to be,” said Mark, who joined the group over six years ago.

He added: “People come to the Lakes all year round now. The weather is a bit milder now, we don’t really have any bad winters. The roads are always pretty clear now.

“You have people from London coming here so they want better quality. This is probably on a level par with Asian restaurants in London. But we would not be getting the people without the investment that Kit and Charles (Graves) have put into it.”

Mizu itself – the word is Japanese for ‘falling water’ – was created in the Lodore Falls, and proved a big hit straight away. Last year it won the ‘Best Newcomer’ award at The Golden Chopsticks Awards in Mayfair, London, hosted by Gok Wan. The awards are one of the largest and most prestigious celebrations of Oriental food in the world.

The kitchen at Mizu is led by head chef, Kasun Jayasooriya, who is originally from Sri Lanka and studied in Tokyo, and chef Antonio De Gracia, who had been working in Birmingham, and who has studied around the world.

They serve a selection of Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Thai specialities. Tony said that one of the most popular choices is the tasting menu. The kitchen can be asked to make four or five of these a day, for groups of people who like to sample a bit of everything.

The most popular single dish is California Maki - perhaps one of the most well known Pan Asian dishes.

“I am learning every time I am here,” admitted Mark. “Kasun and Tony come up with the menus, and we do tastings for the directors.

“We have jellyfish salad. We wanted to put it in so people can see what it is, so we always have one or two dishes like that, that are a bit out there. But the California Maki everyone knows about, so that is popular.”

The £13m hotel revamp also included a spa, which opened in November 2018, and which also benefitted Mizu.

“A lot of spas nowadays have a Pan Asian restaurant. It is due to health,” said Mark.

Mark is in charge of all the food and drink buying for the group’s six hotels – a far cry from 1983 when owners Kit and Charles Graves began with the Kings Arms in Keswick.

“I oversee nine kitchens, and buy for the group as a whole,” said Mark. “We buy local for certain things like lamb, we try and go for Herdwick lamb. I spend about £5 million a year on food and drink, so it is quite a big job.”

Marketing Director of Lake District Hotels, Daniella Hope, said: “Since opening Mizu we are delighted with the feedback which we have received. In the early planning stages of Mizu, we wanted to bring something new to the area.

“The stunning natural beauty of the Lake District makes it a competitive market place but we are confident that we offer something uniquely exciting.”

Mark revealed that the growing popularity of Pan Asian cooking – there is a children’s menu too – prompted the creation of sushi masterclasses in the restaurant last year, and there are plans to re-introduce them this year. The chefs show guests how to fillet a fish and give talks on the different types of sushi.

The group is a major employer in Cumbria, with 67 kitchen staff alone for Mark to manage. In total, the group employs 350.