Emily Takes on New Role at Royal
The highly talented Emily Harris has returned to the Island to take over the role of head pastry chef at the Royal Hotel, Ventnor. Although still only 25, Emily (pictured left) gained a wealth of experience during her five years on the mainland where she worked alongside and prepared some of her delicacies for many of the world’s most renowned chefs, and even Royalty. Now she has decided to demonstrate her skills back on the Island where she first arrived from Ipswich with her parents some 17 years ago. Emily attended Ryde High School, but left at 16, and within a week found employment as...
Read MoreIsle of Wight Garlic: It’s the Best You Can Get!
Ask farmer Colin Boswell about his garlic and you’ll come away with a head full of tales about exotic sounding people of the past. From the Sarmatians to the Parthians and the Cathars to the Albigensians there’s a story connected to almost every variety of garlic he produces. “Where there’s a story on the provenance of food I like to bring it out. I think it’s important that people have a feel for the history behind the food they eat,” he says. Colin’s connection with garlic goes back 30 years to 1976 when his mother experimented by growing some in the kitchen garden of the...
Read MoreFlour Power!
Matt Bowman of the stone ground flour company has recently taken residence of Little Duxmore farm and with his team of dedicated staff is taking the Island’s organic flour market by storm. I was introduced to Matt’s flour through a supplier to St Helens Restaurant. Knowing my passion for Island ingredients, Stuart and Phil of Carisbrooke Cuisine (408409), suggested we try it for bread making and since first using the Vectis Malty, customer feedback has been so positive that I have continued to use more products from Matt’s range in the daily menus at the restaurant. Mark: How long have...
Read MoreAn Eminent Victorian
Island Life meets the new owners of the Farringford Hotel, Freshwater. Very few of us get the chance to realize a childhood ambition. Martin Beisly and business partner Rebecca FitzGerald, new owners of the Farringford Hotel in Freshwater, are lucky enough to have done so. “Growing up on the Island, I always dreamed of what it would be like to live at Farringford and when we exchanged contracts in January, I was finally able to say, this belongs to us,” said Martin. Island Life met the couple to find out about their plans for the hotel. A sunny Sunday afternoon found them relaxed and very...
Read MoreLibertys Owner Annie Horne is on the Ball…
Deciding to take on a 90 cover cafe/bar in the middle of Ryde’s busiest area is no mean feat. But that was exactly what Annie Horne and her husband David decided to do… after careful consideration. The building was purchased in June 2005, although Annie had the concept four years earlier in 2001. It was obviously not a decision to be considered lightly as it required considerable investment. Initially, Annie spent over a year looking for the right building as the right amount of covers was key to making her business plan work. Fortunately, she had been in the food, hospitality and...
Read MoreFrom Pasture to Plate
Whilst deciding on the subject for this issue’s column, we were in the middle of the best April I had ever known. Spring was really springing, lambs were skipping around the surrounding fields, birds were returning from their winters abroad and bees were working the swathes of blossom adorning the hedgerows and trees. A general feeling of good was in the air and with all that buzzing, my thoughts turned to honey. My research told me there were eighty-one people registered with the Isle of Wight Beekeeping Association. Some are awaiting eagerly their first swarm, others already producing...
Read MoreAle of Wight
For me one of life’s great pleasures is great beer in a great pub. It is our public duty to support our community pubs lest they close and get converted into housing or offices. Scaremongering? Well, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) an average of 56 pubs close every month in the UK. They’re a cornerstone of British life, as is the great British pint (and thumbs up to the European Union for allowing us to keep the measure and not trying to convert us into 500ml drinkers). This all came to mind the other night as I enjoyed a very fine pint of Yates’ Brewery’s Undercliff...
Read MoreI’m Back…
Mike Green spent 7 years as head chef of the Seaview Hotel until he decided it was time to move on. After spending over a year ‘time-out’ he has now invested all of his life savings into his new restaurant/pub. “The big mistake the restaurant industry makes is to pigeonhole people. You might come in and spend a fiver on coffee and a sandwich. But the next day you might bring six friends to dinner – you’re the same person! I want my customers to feel like a king however much they spend.” So says Mike Green, former head chef of the Seaview hotel. He left the Island for a...
Read MoreSmooth Operator at the Eye of the Storm
“I don’t do wobblies,” says David Rogers of All About Catering. “If you do wobblies you lose control.” You can’t help wondering how David Rogers doesn’t do wobblies. There was never a better example of someone spending his life keeping the plates spinning. Based at the Royal London Yacht Club in Cowes where he runs the hotel services, he also operates the kitchen at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club and at Bembridge Sailing Club. In the summer months his usual staff of 12 swells to 80, and he spends all his time on outside events. And not just one at a time. “I’m quite a...
Read MoreStriving to Keep the Hill Farm Flock at the Top
“Last week we’re all getting more prosperous; this week there are world food riots. Last week crops-for-fuel was the eco-wonder; this week it’s an eco-disaster.” So ponders Tony Coward, award-winning Island sheep farmer. Against the ever-changing economic situation he hopes to achieve success. But it is a fine line to walk. “It is pointless asking sheep to make a cup of tea,” says Tony. “But there is nothing wrong with asking them to be sheep.” That philosophy led to his pedigree flock being awarded “Best Overall Flock” in the southern area by the Lleyn Sheep Society. “I...
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