Member of the Month July 2019: Mark Fice

Here at The Staff Canteen, we feature a different member every month who we think deserves to be celebrated - this month’s winner is Mark Fice

• Read more interviews with previous Member of the Month chefs
• Follow Mark on The Staff Canteen for his recipes, news and more

As a regular contributor to The Staff Canteen website via the Chef+ app, Mark will receive a copy of The Tattinger - The Chefs' Prize and a mug from The Staff Canteen.

What is your current place of work, position and can you give us a brief

overview of where you have worked before?

I am currently the head chef at the Ship Inn, based in a small rural village called Ugborough on the outskirts of Plymouth Devon.

I have been here for 8 and a half years and I have held the same full brigade for the past 6 years.

Prior to The Ship I worked for the Tanner brothers at their old flagship Tanners Restaurant inr sous 2AA rosette and Barbican Kitchen jnr sous 1AA rosette.

Prior to this I spent 5 years at Chalk Lane Hotel Epsom Surrey sous 2AA rosette.

What is your cooking style and what can people expect from the food on your menu?

I would say my style is quite classic with a play on modern techniques and flavour profiles.

We have quite an extensive menu ranging from classic dishes such as fish and chips, suet puddings and burgers.

We predominantly sell a lot of fish, having some of the best fish in the country landed in the southwest we take full advantage of what's available (i.e. our latest turbot dish with miso-glazed chickpea, crispy broccoli leaves, turbot roe taramasalata, charred onion and basil).

What is your favourite dish to cook and why?

My favourite dish at the moment would be one of our most popular dishes: hake, crab bisque and scallops purely for the aroma you get in the kitchen from a beautiful bisque cooking on the side.

Name a food item / dish / ingredient that isn’t considered ‘cheffy’ but you love to eat

My biggest guilty pleasure has to be a triple stacked cheddar toastie.

What are your plans for the future?

Like most good chefs, I dream of having my own restaurant in the future but it would be on a more self-sustainable basis as I love to forage for many ingredients it would be great to have my own kitchen garden.

What do you think caused the demise of Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain and do you expect other big names in the industry to suffer a similar fate?

With the current situation with Jamie Oliver, I feel that he expanded too quickly to please investors and it backfired.

I've never been overly keen on chain restaurants as I think they have oversaturated the market and suffocate the independent businesses by buying bulk selling cheap, there is a shortage of skilled chefs around these days because the chains are paying a higher wage than small independent companies could ever afford to.

Do you want to be the next Member of the Month, a feature sponsored by Essential Cuisine? Download the Chef+ app for free now and share your images, videos and recipes for a chance to win a goodie bag and The Staff Canteen mug! 

Please note that shipping fees outside of the UK will not be covered by Essential Cuisine.