MEET THE CHEF Three men. Two kitchens
The Bistro in Ventnor is the stable mate of Hillside, the award-winning restaurant and hotel. These establishments are not only remarkable for their style, their food and their stunning art exhibitions, they also house the extraordinary talent of three remarkable chefs. Roz Whistance meets them
WHEN you visit Hillside and its new satellite, the Bistro, you get a warm glow of pride. This is something that people will visit the Isle of Wight for, places visitors won’t forget, which offer locals and tourists dining experiences they’d be hard pushed to find elsewhere.
The quiet decor with stunning paintings at Hillside, and the relaxed and stylish Bistro with its rolling art exhibition provide the perfect night out. No wonder these establishments attracted chefs of extraordinary quality.
Matt Allen is a Wiltshire boy whose ambition has taken him the length and breadth of the country. “I trained in Ballater in the Scottish Highlands,” he says. “It’s a tiny place but when I was there was the food capital of Scotland: it had more AA rosettes than Glasgow and Edinburgh!” He was trained in a strong classic French tradition – “the building blocks on which we base our food here today” – and eventually he was ready to become a Head Chef, in a North Yorkshire restaurant. “I got my first rosette there,
working in a tiny kitchen by myself. After that I went to be Head Chef in a new establishment in Dorset, and won a rosette pretty quickly.”
His next move was as far to the South West as it’s possible to go: to the Isles of Scilly, where he worked until the restaurant owner retired. It wasn’t long after this that the Bistro job cropped up. “There can’t be many people who come to the Isle of Wight and think it’s big,” he jokes.
“I fell in love with the premises, the kitchen – but I also like the intelligent philosophy behind it. Rather than chasing the money and serving good food at high prices, we’re serving good food that the locals will enjoy. The menu structure is simple, the prices are simple: £5, £6, £10. When the owner is Danish there’s a certain amount of that thought process that goes into
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everything: from artwork, to styling, to how the business is run.”
‘I fell in love with the premises, the kitchen – but I also like the intelligent philosophy behind it’
Comparing Matt’s story to that of his colleague James is like comparing bread to cheese. But it’s a classic combination that works. James, aged just 20, has been cooking for less than three years.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride for me,” says James, even now looking as if he can’t quite take it all in. “I was passionate about cooking as a kid. My mum always told me to do it as a hobby – she knows a chef’s life isn’t too great! But I had to follow my heart.”
His apprenticeship at Lakeside, Wootton, saw
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