Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2007/January 2008 | Page 103

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FOOD & DRINK

life

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 lifes 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 while, but is now
back, with a mission. He
and his partner Paula have
just bought The Battery in
Seaview, and are planning
to open it by February.
For years Mike walked
past the place, thinking that
if someone had the right
inclination, and the right sort
of money, they could make a
proper go of it. “The site is
phenomenal, its right by the
sea, there’s nothing around
it – but it was crying out for
attention.” At the time though,
he could not see himself in the
role of saviour of the Battery.
“If you’re an employee,
everything you do is for the
person you’re working for and
working for yourself doesn’t
seem a reality. But Paula
and I had always meant, one
day, to work for ourselves.”
It was in June that he saw
that the property - a run-down

pub/hotel “limping towards
its death-knell,” - was on the
market. He estimates it wasn’t
turning over as much as £1,000
a week in peak season. “If you
were looking for somewhere
to eat or drink, you would
not have gone in there!”
At present the place is gutted
throughout. A third of the
way through the building
work, they estimate the total

“I believe 110 per cent in what
I do, or I wouldn’t do it.”
And Paula, does she believe
110 per cent in what Mike
does? A pause. Then Mike
says to her: “You probably
don’t. But that’s why you’re
such a good foil to me. I’m
more head-on, Paula is more
contemplative. We’re the flip
sides to each other, which is
why we work so well together.”

spend to be in the region of
half a million, excluding the
purchase of the property. But
how did they raise the money?
Chefs, even head chefs, are
not routinely on Forbes’ rich
list. “By a lot of hard work.
Financially, everything is on
the line,” Mike admits. “Two
houses, funding from friends,
funding from family.”
Do they sleep at night? “Oh
I sleep like a baby,” says Mike.

Paula, his business partner
who will be front-of-house
in the new restaurant, as
well as being his partner in
life and mother of his two
boys Elliott, 14 and Sam 11,
agrees. “I do more thinking.
And I do have sleepless
nights about the money!”
However, they both agree
that their decision to invest
in a business manager/
negotiator from the City of

Island Life - www.isleofwight.net

London was a wise move.
“He’s guided us through all
the pitfalls of dealing with
property, and negotiated
great deals that we as laymen
wouldn’t have been able to.”
But isn’t that a bit, well,
un-cheffy, to pay a premium to
someone to take their advice?
“Absolutely,” says Mi