Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2006/January 2007 | Page 73

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Good food with
a conscience
Mark Young, owner of St Helens restaurant,
is passionate about good local food - and even
more passionate about animal welfare
On the face of it Mark Young comes
across as just another good chef
who’s working hard to make his
restaurant in St Helens a success.
He has spent the last year creating
menus that make the most of
mainly local ingredients whenever
practically possible.
Mark explained: “I try very hard to
ensure most of my menu is created
around local produce. For instance,
my chicken and duck come from
Sue Brownrigg, my pork from the
Isle of Wight Bacon Company, my
fish from Captain Stan, and my
Lamb from Island Fresh Lamb and
I’m always looking for new local
suppliers. We are very lucky on the
Isle of Wight that we just happen
to have some of the best producers
here on our doorstep, and I think
that more Island chefs should take
advantage of this.”
Ensuring you use local produce is
one thing, but Mark takes things
one step further, “I also care very
much about the welfare of the
animals” he says, “and because of
that, I visit all my suppliers and
see for myself how the animals are
kept. I was brought up on a farm, so
I have a good idea of how animals
should be looked after. It’s a lovely
sight to see chickens and ducks
roaming around all day rather than
packed into warehouses in their
thousands with no room to move.
Some of the intensively-farmed
animals never see the light of day,
and I would never use produce
that has been subjected to this
torture all its life.”
Because Mark insists on using
local produce, it means that he can
always offer a varied menu to his
customers. For example, whatever
fish is caught that day by his local
supplier Captain Stan is what ends
up on the specials board.

“By using local produce you not
only get better flavours, but you
also know that the animals have
had a comfortable life which to
me is very important. In a way it’s
challenging because I am always
having to change our menu to keep
up with the seasons.”
You may have noticed that this
issue of Island Life is focusing
heavily on the move away from
over-complicated menus and overfussy presentation and towards
simply-cooked, local fresh food.
“I feel that I have a head start on

Island Life - www.isleofwight.net

restaurants that do not use local
produce” says Mark. “For instance,
you can ask us where any of our
produce comes from, and you can
even visit the farm since they are
all local. We are even willing to
let you see the invoices from our
suppliers - how many restaurants
will provide this information?
“However, if you opt for fresh
local ingredients, they have to be
cooked well because they become
the focus of the dish.”
Mark says he intends to continue
his campaign to use local produce
in his restaurant, which he’s been
concentrating on for over a year.
He is proving that it’s possible to
run a profitable and successful
restaurant using local produce, and
hopefully more restaurants on the
Island will begin to follow in his
footsteps.
St Helens Restaurant
Open Tues - Sat evenings 6.30pm
Sunday brunch from 10am
Tel: [phone]

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