Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2006/January 2007 | Page 74

FOOD - DRINK - ACCOMMODATION - Sponsored by - www.holidays2remember.co.uk

Island food goes
back to basics

Food fashions come and go, veering
from the sublime to the ridiculous - but
if there’s one big trend in restaurants
these days, it’s a move back to good old,
honest British cooking, made with the
best quality local produce.

Rich,
overpowering
sauces,
fancy
dressings and fussy garnishes are frankly
unnecessary when cooking with the best
quality produce.
In fact, for the pure, distinctive flavours of the
ingredients to shine through, it’s far better to cook
them plain and simple.
William Bailey, owner of the 2 AA Rosette standard
restaurant at Ventnor’s Royal Hotel, is a firm believer
in letting quality ingredients speak for themselves
rather than smothering them.
It’s for this reason that the hotel runs a “Ventnor
Catch of the Day” as a regular feature of its menu,

offering whatever fish happens to
have been landed by local fisherman
Geoff Blake that morning, simply
pan-cooked with butter, a slice of
lemon and boiled potatoes.
The Royal not only buys its seafood
direct from the old-established
fishing family Blakes of Ventnor,
but also sources free-range duck
and chicken from Sue Brownrigg
in Godshill, and its asparagus and
garlic from Colin Boswell at Mersley
Farm, Newchurch.
The free-range chicken – which
William chooses to buy locally
despite the fact that he sends a
refrigerated vehicle to the worldfamous Covent Garden market
every day and could buy it there
– is offered in the restaurant simply
roasted with potatoes and fresh
vegetables to let the flavour shine
through.
“We would rather buy locally
wherever possible” says William,
“but an Isle of Wight label on its
own is not enough. We have a two
rosette reputation to maintain, and
so the produce also has to be of the
absolute best quality”.

74

Many other restaurants and pubs
on the Island are also re-discovering
the public’s appetite for longneglected favourite dishes such as
fisherman’s pie, bangers and mash,
steak and ale pie and toad in the
hole – and realising that the way
to take such simple fare into a class
of its own is to use superior locallyproduced ingredients to make them.
In an age when many people don’t
have the time, the inclination or the
know-how to cook these traditional
dishes at home, those restaurants
that offer them on their menu are
finding an eager audience.
Of course, by using more local
produce there’s also the real
potential for a beneficial effect on
the Island economy – so do seek
out those restaurants that promote
local ingredients. Not only will
you discover the delights of tasting
honest-to-goodness IW produce,
but you’ll also be ensuring that good
Island producers survive and thrive.
Above Crown of Pheasant with
vegetables and red wine from The
Pointer Inn, Newchurch.

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