
East Anglia chef Mark Poynton has relaunched his restaurant-with-rooms at Fen Ditton on the edge of Cambridge under new backers and a new name as Ancient Shepherds with Mark Poynton.
He operated the venue – a former village pub dating from 1580 – as MJP @ The Shepherds for five years until May this year, when it closed down for a refurb led by new business partner Emma John.
Emma and Gareth John have lived in Fen Dutton for 20 years and have been fans of Mark’s cooking since he opened his former restaurant Alimentum in Cambridge in 2009. The couple have pledged to donate any profits from the new venture to charity. Mark trained under Daniel Clifford at Cambridge heavyweight Midsummer House, and his restaurant Mark Poynton at Caistor Hall outside Norwich is hailed in this year’s Harden’s guide for its “fantastic” food.
The Ancient Shepherds will serve tasting menus of three, five or seven courses devised by Mark with head chef Chris Lee, based around produce from the kitchen garden at the back of the restaurant along with ingredients from long-term suppliers.
This summer’s dishes include an amuse bouche of chilled pea mousse, cottage cheese and truffle; a starter of wakame-cured cod, tomato and elder ponzu with lemon puree; a loin of hogget main dish with tapenade puree, tomato, anchovy and courgette; and a dessert of sweet pineapple parfait, fennel sorbet, pineapple and fennel pollen meringue.
The 35-cover restaurant will open four days a week, from Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, allowing the single team a good work/life balance. There will be a soft launch at 50% off for a fortnight starting next Wednesday 9 July ahead of full opening on 23 July.