Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2016 | Page 113
Food and drink
All welcome in Dan’s Kitchen!
In the five years since they
launched their own restaurant in
St Helen’s, Dan and Carla Maskell
have built a loyal team of staff,
a similarly loyal following of
customers – and a reputation for
great food, friendly service and
scenic surroundings.
Dan’s Kitchen, located on the
south side of the village green with
views across the Solent, has put
its focus on relaxed and informal
dining and creative menus that
make use of as much great quality
local produce as possible.
Owner-chef Dan had previously
worked in Michelin-starred
kitchens before launching out
in St Helen’s in 2011, with Carla
running the front of house.
The couple say they’re
passionate about what they do,
and enjoy providing relaxed and
informal dining, good food and
great wine served by friendly staff.
“We’re happy to have built a loyal
following of customers - but are
always happy to welcome new
faces!” says Carla. To book a table,
call 01983 872303.
Catering to the High Street
It’s best known as the little ‘yellow
deli’ that backs onto Cowes
Marina, but there’s much more to
The Food Hamper than cute looks
and an enviable location.
Owner Sarah Churcher, who took
over the delicatessen business
in June last year, has a 22-year
history in the catering industry,
having worked on private superyachts and a Michelin-starred
restaurant in the New Forest, as
well as for big corporate events.
She moved to the Island 10 years
ago and began providing a catering
service to private and corporate
clients - so when the Cowes
business came up for sale, she saw
it as a perfect fit for her skills.
“It gave me a catering unit with
a High Street frontage, which was
the perfect combination” she says.
“Catering can always morph into
different guises and at The Food
Hamper, there has been a lot of
growth in the office lunch side of
things.”
Having run a staff canteen for
an Island company for several
years, Sarah took this service to
a smaller scale at the shop and
now offers a tempting and very
popular lunchtime takeaway
range that includes salad boxes,
frittata, quiches, local pork pies
and Scotch eggs.
Office and lunchtime food has
since become a major part of
the deli’s trade, but also hugely
popular is the range of convenient
home freezer meals, all made on
the premises by Sarah and her
two staff Sallie and Lindsay and
including favourites such as Beef
Bourginon, Lamb Tagine and
Roast Vegetable Lasagne.
Meanwhile, the shelves of the
deli are stacked with speciality
foods and lots of good local
produce from suppliers such as
the Isle of Wight Cheese Company,
Calbourne Mill, Green Barn Dairy,
Wild Island, Pinks, the Island
Biscuit Company and a selected
range from the Garlic Farm.
Customers buy these products
for home cooking or, as the
business name suggests, often
put together their self-selected
hamper gifts.
Other customers use the service
for their picnic and party catering,
sailing lunches and receptions.
All of which makes for an ultrabusy working life for Sarah and
her staff – but as she says: “Yes, it
gets pretty hectic at times, but you
couldn’t do this if you didn’t enjoy
it. We love food and love bringing
creativity into everything we do”
Contact The Food Hamper on
01983 295680.
www. visitilife.com
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