Mark Poynton: "It's going to be more refined than anything I've ever done"

Award-winning chef Mark Poynton has officially opened his new Caistor Hall restaurant in Norfolk.

Open Wednesday to Saturday, Caistor Hall is a new tasting-menu only restaurant from Mark, offering guests five or nine course menus for lunch and dinner.

The restaurant set to serve 35 covers will serve a wide range of dishes from Mark’s robust and unique offering.

Talking to The Staff Canteen about what dinners can expect from the restaurant, Mark said: "It's my style of food but it's going to be more refined than anything I've ever done. We've got a halibut dish, which is steamed with a roasted shallot puree, we have a barbecued celeriac starter with truffle vinaigrette sauce. It's quite simple classical French food with my twist on it. It's hard to describe it or pigeonhole it, I suppose. It's just beautiful, delicious food."

In the kitchen, Mark

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confirmed that he aims to have a team of seven chefs, including his head chef Byron Franklin who’s been with Mark for the last year at The Shepherds in Cambridge; and a front of house team made up of seven members of staff.

Mark is currently looking to hire a restaurant manager at Caistor Hall, with the chef encouraging applicants to hit him up on social media or via Caistor Hall’s website.

Before opening Caistor Hall earlier this week, Mark Poynton was the chef patron of Cambridge’s Alimentum until 2018.

Since joining the restaurant in 2009, Mark won a star for the restaurant in 2012, which he retained for five years.

Mark was also the head chef of Daniel Clifford's two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge.

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