Alex Aitken Now at The Kings

Alex Aitken is one of Dorset & Hampshire’s most renowned chefs. His first restaurant, Le Poussin, earned a Michelin star in 1995 which it retained for 14 years as it moved to Parkhill in Lyndhurst, then onto Whitley Ridge in Brockenhurst and most recently Lime wood and The jetty in Christchurch.

This is a remarkable achievement, but what makes it extraordinary is the fact that Alex only taught himself to cook when he and his wife first opened the business in 1983 – a fact that Gordon Ramsey noted when he named Le Poussin one of his top 11 favourite places to eat in The Times.

Fast forward to 2012, which saw Alex head up The Kings in Christchurch. While the hotel may have already seen a change of direction, the food and restaurant needed some 'Alex' treatment. When he is asked how long it took him to create the new menus, Alex always replies: “A bottle of wine and an evening!” He explains that the dishes on the menu have been developed over a number of years. “We change very slowly now. If you want to keep standards high, you’ve got to be consistent.” The dishes alter naturally with the seasons and if one ingredient isn’t up to scratch that day, Alex will adapt the dish to showcase something that is.

When you read one of Alex’s menus, it is immediately apparent that local produce is a real passion. “I always take my inspiration from the ingredients. Some chefs let themselves down by writing menus, then trying to find ingredients.”

Alex’s wife, Caroline, does a lot of work on the local food sourcing and she is well qualified, having grown up on a Hampshire farm. “We make the point of visiting the farmers’ markets – Petersfield, Winchester and Romsey are great!”. “We’ve always championed local produce and I’ve befriended fishermen, stalkers, and even in the early days, people with allotments.”

Gone are the days when villagers can wander in and exchange a basket of rosemary for a meal, but Alex’s connection with the producers remains. “A couple of local fishermen asked me to go out with them, so I did a couple of days on the lobster pots.” Alex’s uncle was a lobster fisherman in Scotland and he has some experience himself: “I lived in a little fishing village called Dumbar on the East coast of Scotland and I worked there for two seasons. It gives me a connection with the fishermen because I can understand what they’re doing – I’ve done it myself.”