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 Alex Aitken
Chef/Patron, Le Poussin, Whitley Ridge (coming soon)
I am so pleased to write this foreword about eating and drinking out in Hampshire. There has never been a better time to be a chef or restaurateur here - we have an appreciative audience hungry for quality. Farmers and other producers are putting high standars first and there's an enthusiastic work force who all want to be the next Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver, starring in the kitchen and on television. This guide will help you find the restaurant or pub to suit your occasion and pocket.
You'll find many cooking styles: classic British pub food and restaurants that are happy to serve cuts of meats and fish simply garnished; food that will satisfy all, please many, and upset no one. Hidden in the guide you will also find dedicated exciting restaurants, normally run by chef patrons, which will stretch your food imagination with different combinations and styles. Definitely venues for that celebration meal.
Hampshire is a great county - we have some wonderful producers providing some of the best ingredients from the land. We also have a great coastline with some of the finest seafood: Isle of Wight crab and lobsters are some of the best available in the world. We have one of the best areas for sea bass and sea bream, and in season the sole is fantastic. We are so lucky to have this great resource - a natural larder on our doorstep.
Food trends and styles come and go. Currently 'Molecular Gastronomy' encourages young chefs to experiment with different flavour combinations and textures. The gas-charged synthetic cream foamer of the eighties is now at home in the gastronomic kitchen. It is not dissimilar to what happened in the late seventies and early eighties with nouvelle cuisine. It is a very different style, a new haute cuisine, a source for inspiration. However, it can only work when there is a solid foundation of well-trained skilful chefs.
Thanks to Hampshire Fare, various farmers markets and the Real Food Movement, we are getting better and better produce grown and reared locally. The result is a more free style approach to cooking, but one that is still substantially British. We also see a return to seasonality as we all realise that fresh, organic food tastes so good, not just because it is fresh and organic, but also because it is picked when it's ready to eat and then eaten very quickly.
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