Kevin Scanlan's cooking style
Kevin's cooking is flavour-led and built around a small number of standout ingredients in each dish, with balance and seasonality doing the work rather than complexity for its own sake.
He has described the experience he wants at Source as ambitious but approachable, rooted in honesty, simplicity, storytelling and hospitality.
Provenance sits at the centre of it. He has been working to build closer relationships with growers, farmers and producers around the hotel and to widen Source’s network of suppliers, with the ambition of championing hyper-local ingredients wherever he can.
He also draws on his Irish heritage alongside the Lake District itself, and has talked about wanting a stronger connection between what reaches the plate and the landscape immediately around the kitchen.
The restaurant runs two tasting menus in the evening, the longer ‘Source’ culinary journey and the shorter ‘Origin’ dining experience, with a lighter tasting menu at lunch and wine pairings chosen by an in-house sommelier.
Michelin star at Source at Gilpin Hotel
The Michelin star at Gilpin dates back to 2016, when it was won by Hrishikesh Desai a year into his time as executive chef at what was then HRiSHi. Hrishikesh left the business in December 2022 after close to eight years, and went on to win a Michelin star at Cedar Tree at Farlam Hall.
The restaurant relaunched as Source in 2023 under Ollie, previously a sous chef at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck for more than five years, and kept the star at that year's Michelin Guide ceremony.
Ollie said at the time: "For any chef, earning a Michelin star is the ultimate recognition. It's what we're all striving to achieve throughout our careers, so for the team and I to have retained one star at Source under the new name is just fantastic."
Kevin was head chef when the star was confirmed again in the Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2026, announced at the ceremony in Dublin on February 9, 2026.
The guide's inspectors have described the cooking as precise and sophisticated, and credited the kitchen with resisting unnecessary complication. The restaurant also holds three AA rosettes.
Kevin's ambition is for SOURCE to become a destination in its own right within the Lake District, somewhere guests travel for specifically, built on immersive tasting menus and a warm, personal style of service.
He has been equally clear about the kitchen culture behind it, arguing that the best dining experiences come from motivated teams and genuine connections with guests as much as from technique.
With the hotel's Michelin star now a decade old and its executive chef gone, the next stretch of that record is Kevin's to write.
