As proprietor of fine dining Lounge on the Green and Japanese and Korean-inspired Oka, James Hill is a well-known local restaurateur.

He studied at Carlisle College, opening his first restaurant, Bijou, in 2007, and is the former owner of Quarter Lounge.

Yet he didn’t come from a background in hospitality and isn’t entirely sure why he was drawn to it.
“My parents were self-employed – they owned Beadle & Hill jewellers,” he said. “It was probably more from my grandparents. One of them always cooked fresh and baked. I honestly don’t know where me wanting to be in the hospitality trade came from.”
As a young lad, James, now 41, got a job at The Crown at Wetheral and found his tribe. 
“I found a family community,” he said. “I think at school you don’t find your real friends. I really felt like I belonged in the hospitality trade. I did a lot of growing up in the three years I was there.”
He moved to the former Rampsbeck Hotel in Ullswater while at college and it was there that his passion for food was really ignited.

“I got the opportunity to do competitions,” he said. “Back in the day we won the Nestle Toque D’Or competition. I did the Gordon Ramsay scholarship as well.”
He employs a team of staff to run Oka, which opened in Carlisle city centre in 2021.

“I oversee the day-to-day stuff and financials,” he said. “It’s a sister restaurant to Lounge on the Green.”

(Image: James Hill)
The latter opened in Houghton in 2017 and is his pride and joy.

It offers a seasonally focused signature Yan (Cumbrian dialect for one) seven course tasting menu, while the La’al (small) menu delivers a taste of the restaurant in four courses.
“We do wine pairings that go with both,” said James.

“Every six to eight weeks the menu changes. We look at produce, we look at what’s in season. How we can be a little bit more sustainable, I suppose. All our cheeses are local.”
In 2022, the restaurant was listed in the Michelin Guide and secured two AA rosettes and, recently, it received a ‘very good’ rating in the Good Food Guide.

A Michelin star has so far proven elusive, but James is working towards this.
“To be fair, having customers walk through the door is what’s important to us,” he said.

“It’s a big badge of honour to have a Michelin star but what I like about what we’ve done is we haven’t got big money backers. We’ve done it bit by bit and we’ve improved over the last seven years. 
“That’s a big badge of honour for me and my family.”
Despite the unsociable hours, James manages to make time for his eight-year-old daughter and girlfriend. 
“You work your way around it,” he said. “It’s actually good as a parent because I drop my daughter off at school and pick her up. She gets to spend quality time with me.”