Mark Poynton on Michelin, perfection & leadership

Even for an experienced chef such as Mark Poynton, used to the highs and lows of a professional kitchen, the past seven years have seen a constant flow of career milestone moments.

The closure of his Michelin-starred restaurant Alimentum in 2018 was followed by the opening of MJP at The Shepherds, opening a restaurant at Caistor Hall, then closing, refurbishing and reopening at the Ancient Shepherds.

In amongst all that, his offering Mark Poynton at Caistor Hall was awarded a Michelin star in 2025, which has seen the spell culminate in Mark operating as chef patron at two restaurants, 52 miles apart.

“It happened by default really,” Mark said, explaining how his current portfolio came to be.

“I set up the Ancient Shepherds five years ago and that was in COVID basically, so I managed to refurbish a restaurant and open it during lockdown.

“During that period, my good friend Nick Mills bought Caistor Hall Hotel with the grand vision of opening a restaurant in the grand hall that wanted to be tasting menu only, pushing towards the accolades, and for some bizarre reason he chose me to go into partnership with him.

“Here we are three years later - two restaurants, 52 miles apart, causing me headaches!”

Two Restaurants, Two Settings

The surroundings of Caistor Hall in Norwich and Ancient Shepherds in Cambridge are very different. But there are clear similarities which Mark carefully brings across both venues.

For example, both restaurants operate only with a tasting menu.

“Caistor Hall Hotel is in an old Victorian manor house, so we're sympathetic to those surroundings and the style in the grand hall - big tables, banquette seating, nice and comfy.

“Ancient Shepherds is a 500-year-old pub, so we're sympathetic to that. We've got wooden floors, beams, slate tables and an open kitchen.

“So, they do the same thing, but just in a different way.”

Mark added: “I employ a head chef at both restaurants, who are both amazing and strong in their own right.

“At Caistor Hall, it's Byron Franklin. We've known each other for quite a long time. He's a Cambridge lad. He worked at Alimentum back in the day as well. He spent a year with me at The Shepherds before we opened Caistor Hall.

“He is the main man. He's the guy that's here four days a week, cooking the food, leading the team. We've had the same team since we opened as well, front and back, which for three years is quite good.

“We change the dishes together. Whenever he wants to do a new menu, he picks up the phone, I come down and see him and we create those dishes together and then they go on the menu. He is the linchpin of the restaurant.

“At Ancient Shepherds, my team is led by Chris Lee. Chris is a guy that I've known for a long, long time - 20-odd years. He used to run the Bildeston Crown, where he had three rosettes. He was Michelin listed. He's worked for many a great chef back in the day.

“When I reopened the Shepherds after the refurb/rebrand, I wanted a strong guy like I've got in Byron. Chris was the man that I spoke to first and he was on board.

“He's very much like Byron. He cooks the food every day. He controls the team. And then we write the menus together, do the dish development together and it leaves me to run the restaurants.”

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An Ingredient-Led Philosophy

So, what defines Mark Poynton’s philosophy when it comes to food?

“Everything is ingredient led,” he said.

“We're all about seasonality and sustainability. Wherever possible, we try to use local suppliers as much as possible, when they're good.

“Obviously we don't buy crap just because it's there. We want to buy the best produce we can and then we cook that as sympathetically as possible to get the best flavour and making sure those ingredients shine.

“Both restaurants are along the same line - the way we use the produce is always the same, we're always trying to use the best ingredients, but we cook differently in style.

“It's a lot simpler at the Ancient Shepherds because it's a pub and it has to reflect the surroundings of the pub, whereas Caistor Hall is a bit more refined.

“I suppose flavour wise, ingredient wise, you'll see the similarities, but they're both different at the same time.”

Food at Mark Poynton at Caistor Hall

Asked how much the food offering has changed since he first opened at Caistor Hall in February 2023, Mark said: “The food has evolved massively.

“We wanted the menu to be grand, we wanted it to be beautiful. And then you get in the surroundings, the kitchen's not quite the way you want it to be. Things don't always work the way that you thought.

“So we've refined it in a way of making it simpler. The kitchen is 27 steps from the restaurant, so we have to make sure the food's hot enough when it arrives at the table. And those are things that you don't really think about when you open.

“We also didn't really know the suppliers when we first opened. So now we’ve got used to the local suppliers, so we've got more synergy with those as well.”

Asked if there is one dish on the menu that best showcases his ideals, Mark said: “Probably my cooking style would be defined in any of the dishes by the simplicity.

“The cheese course is a take on a quintessential British cheese dish. I serve a take on it at both restaurants, so it's both the same but different.

“It's a caramelised Granny Smith apple with Mrs Temple's Binham Blue. At Caistor Hall it's served with various different homemade cheese crackers. And in the Shepherds, it's served with homemade oat cakes.”

Interior of Ancient Shepherds by Mark Poynton

From Alimentum to Michelin Success Again

Mark began his culinary career in the 1990s, working at the likes of the Queens Hotel Chester and Juniper, before a long stint at two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House, under Daniel Clifford.

He took over Alimentum restaurant in 2010, winning a Michelin star in 2012 and retaining it until 2017, and also featured on BBC’s Great British Menu series nine.

Discussing the notion of chasing a Michelin star, having been awarded one at Caistor Hall in 2025, which was retained in 2026, Mark said: “I think chasing a Michelin star for any chef is always going to be a bit of a poisoned chalice.

“You should never chase a Michelin star. You should chase something that doesn't exist, which is perfection.

“If you want to serve the best food you can in the best surroundings, you need to start with the best ingredients and you need to taste your food. Most chefs do not taste their own food.

“It's important that you sit in your own restaurant and taste your food because it's different to set tasting on the pass.

“Once you get over that and do that, then you'll get somewhere close to having a Michelin star.

“I eat in both restaurants at least once a month because it's vital. If you can't taste your whole food from start to finish, you never know where it's going to be.”