Fresh to Monmouth, recently opened (February 2016) #7 is already attaining excellent reviews. As you can imagine, we wasted no time in sampling their delicious food and chatting to acclaimed chef and owner Mark Turton.
#7
CHURCH STREET
Mark tell us about your background? I’m an established chef; classically trained by Roux Brothers’ School of Culinary Excellence. I’ve worked locally, as well as in London and Hungary. I decided this was the right time to start my own business and I took over the business with my partner, Bea Sebestyen, in February this year. Bea is also highly trained in the hospitality industry. Can you tell us about your concept for #7? This is somewhere we can share our vision for quality food; to cater for the local community and of course for those coming to visit Wales, so that they can all enjoy what this beautiful area has to offer. We’re becoming very popular with the locals. We are overwhelmed by the fantastic comments about our food and compliments about our service too.
Where do you source your ingredients and how important is this to you? This is fundamental to us; we aim to use as much local produce as possible from carefully selected suppliers in Monmouthshire and the surrounding counties. For instance, our meat is from The Welsh Venison Centre near Brecon and we use local drink suppliers such as Ty Gwyn Cider and Bespoke Brewery. We also serve our own home-made Elderflower cordial and lemonade which is very popular, and forage our own ingredients such as Wood Sorrel. What hours do you serve your food? We’re open seven days a week; we serve our seasonal à la carte dinner menu from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, and a choice of à la carte or light lunch menus between 12pm until 2pm. Throughout the day we serve coffees from 10am. 68
Tell us about the accommodation? We have eight en-suite rooms and attract all types of guests from foodies, walkers, golfers, cyclists (we have storage for bicycles) and, of course, theatre goers with the Savoy theatre just opposite us. We are also family friendly. What is the secret of your success? We strive for consistency and to maintain our high quality of food and service. We plan to maintain our restaurant’s great reputation and establish ourselves in Monmouth.
“We recommend the steamed hake fillet with spinach, mussels and taragon broth”