Mark Hix
Encyclopedia
Career
In April 2008 Hix opened Hix OysterOyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
and Chop
Meat chop
A meat chop is a cut of meat cut perpendicularly to the spine, and usually containing a rib or riblet part of a vertebra and served as an individual portion. The most common kinds of meat chops are pork and lamb. A thin boneless chop, or one with only the rib bone, may be called a cutlet, though...
House, in the Farringdon area of London. He also opened Hix Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and most recently Hix Soho in the West End. He was previously chef director of Caprice Holdings, where he oversaw all the restaurants, menus and events in the Caprice Group, including The Ivy
The Ivy
The Ivy is a restaurant in West Street, near Covent Garden in London. It opened in 1917 and is popular with celebrities and theatre goers. In 2000, the restaurant was awarded the Moët & Chandon London Restaurant Award for excellence....
.
Television and Publications
Hix competed in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series Great British Menu
Great British Menu
Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four course banquet. The first series banquet was for the Queen on her 80th birthday. The second series was to cook for the British Ambassador to France at the British Embassy...
in 2007, winning the South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
heat and beating the reigning champion, Michael Caines
Michael Caines
Michael Andrew Caines, MBE is an English chef, born in Exeter, Devon.He is currently head chef of Gidleigh Park in Devon, the Royal Clarence in Exeter, and developing the Abode hotels concept with Andrew Brownsword.-Biography:...
. In doing so, two of his courses were put forward for the public vote. The main course was a crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
and rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
stargazy pie
Stargazy pie
Stargazy pie is a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards, along with eggs and potatoes, covered with a pastry crust. Although there are a few variations with different fish being used, the unique feature of stargazy pie is fish heads protruding through the crust, so that they appear to be gazing...
and, for dessert, a perry
Perry
Perry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears. Perry has been common for centuries in Britain, particularly in the Three Counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and in parts of south Wales; and France, especially Normandy and Anjou.In more recent years, commercial...
jelly
Fruit preserves
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits and sugar, often canned or sealed for long-term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves today often involves adding commercial or natural pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used, as well. Prior to World War II, fruit preserve...
with summer fruits with an elderflower ice-cream.
Hix has written a number of cookbooks including Fish etc., British Seasonal Food and British Regional Food, reflecting his interest in traditional, local and sustainable produce. He also writes a regular column on food for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper.
Controversy
Popular British television chef, Keith FloydKeith Floyd
Keith Floyd was a British celebrity chef, television personality and restaurateur, who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel...
lunched at Hix Oyster and Fish House hours before he suffered a fatal heart attack in September 2009. After Floyd's death, Hix offered a special on the menu called 'Keith Floyd's Last Lunch' which was seen by some as an appropriate tribute and was criticized by others.