Living and Smoking with Mark Hix
So, at 28 I was honoured to be starting up HIX Restaurants with and for Mark, alongside his then business partner, Ratnesh Baghdai.
Mark is a wonderful character; he has a very gentle way about him and his knowledge and understanding of British food is amazing, hence why he won Great British Menu, and so it was an honour to be invited to work with him on his newest projects.
We started in Smithfield, opening Hix Oyster and Chop House. London used to be full of oyster and chop houses, and he found the perfect site directly behind Smithfield Meat Market. I think it took just 8 weeks from getting the keys to opening the doors! We were not allowed to employ anyone from Caprice Holdings; so this was an entirely brand new team.
I played an interesting and challenging role at the time - Head Chef, Fixer, FPH, Recruitment, Site Manager.. - the list of jobs goes on!
Oh, and Salmon Smoker was quite a big one....
There was much excitement from the media and food critics about Mark opening up and going it alone; many of whom were luckily friends of Mark’s as well chefs, trades, suppliers and friends who just loved eating out!
A day before we opened the doors, London experienced hail storms and incredibly heavy rain.
This overloaded London’s ancient drainage systems, which in turn flooded the streets along with our brand new kitchen.
And so for the first few days and opening nights we were working downstairs in 3 inches of flood water!
I hate to think. However, we did it, and though it was immensely stressful for us - and probably highly dangerous and illegal due to health and safety reasons - we fed critics, friends, suppliers and people who sneaked past us. It was a roaring success from day one.
Jay Rayner Review “There are four kinds of oysters, four different ways with asparagus, and at the end a simple bowl of English raspberries and strawberries which was the best argument for seasonal eating I've ever tasted. The food is the business.”
It didn’t stop, slow down or let up.... which was fantastic!
the team
So the team was made up of quite a few pirates to begin with and turned over quickly. However, the first head chef we employed - a complete outsider, Stuart Tattersall - stayed the test of time until we gave him another opportunity a few years down the line.
Stuart and his partner Simone went on to open a place Mark and I consulted on, The Gunton Arms, in Norfolk - owned by the marvellous Ivor Brakkah.
the brief
Mark wanted all meats served on the bone.
We looked at fantastic old fashioned cuts from beasts, birds, fish and crustacea. The Porterhouse, the Barnsley lamb chop with kidney, fish collar curry, whole Goosnargh duck…
We then quickly opened our second restaurant in Mark’s homeland of Dorset, - Hix Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
This time the menu focused mostly on fish and shellfish, with a few meaty classics that we borrowed from the Chop House.
I lived down in Dorset for 2-3 nights during the week and Mark covered the weekends. We employed JJ from London and his partner Alan, and our Head Chef, Seldon Curry took the helm.
It was the start of Blackberry smartphones and we would request copies of our daily changing menus from both sites, which we would add to and check over for pricing and spelling mistakes – an arduous task twice daily for us and the chefs!
We went on to open Hix Soho on Brewer Street in a bit of a shady end of Soho but that soon changed.
From there, we opened multiple restaurants in London, including Selfridges.
From day one, Mark insisted on smoking his own salmon. A secret cure I can’t share! The first smoker was in his back garden in Devon which he passed on to me. We started smoking 30 sides a day. Then we put one in Lyme Regis, and a third on the roof of Selfridges. It was a job we all took part in, in the end, smoking around 100 sides of salmon a week if not more!
I left Mark after a while to set up ducksoup Soho, followed by Rawduck in Hackney. I’ll come back to this another time…
Then sadly for Mark during the pandemic all the restaurants were forced to close.
“Since I left school at 16 I’ve never been without a job. But when the news from my partner broke over a phonecall that his senior board wanted to put Hix restaurants group into administration in April, that was it.
We’d been trundling along with our day-to-day business, and had almost got the sale of Hix Soho through - following landlords doubling the rent amid sky-high business rates - but then the virus hit and we were all locked down. We had no choice after 12 years in business — with a few failures, but many successes.
I was done, gone, finished for good.
My initial thoughts was, “Oh f***.” Then it sank in and I thought, “Oh well, this is what I’ve been trying to plan for the last couple years — and maybe it’s an act of God, not to have a restaurant.” Although what a daunting thought — and there were plenty of sleepless nights wondering what the hell I was going to do to keep myself busy and meet all of the financial commitments. Bloody scary when there is zero cash coming through the door.
My other big and scary worry was how the hell I was going to break the news to my 130 staff that they were going to be made redundant — not furloughed like the rest of the industry.”
Mark Hix, 19 August 2020
Mark quickly bounced back with The Oyster and Fish House in Dorset, followed by more writing and overseeing the menu at The Groucho Club in Soho.
Also, a food truck!
Mark taught me so much about the food and foraged foods of the UK, along with rare breeds of livestock, and I am truly humbled by what Mark has achieved, and goes on to achieve.
Thanks Mark
Julian.