His career spans more than 20 years, including 13 years working alongside Gordon Ramsay, seven of these as head chef at Claridge’s, as well as two successful solo restaurants Rocksalt and The Smokehouse in his home county of Kent.
The food and vibe at Morden & Lea will draw inspiration from Mark’s wealth of restaurant experience, as well as the diversity in cultures that can be found in Soho and its surrounding areas. The restaurant’s location also inspired its name, which is a nod to historic London cartographers Robert Morden and Philip Lea, who were the first to map out the area now known as Soho, back in the 17th century.
Split across two floors, with downstairs offering a casual and relaxed, no reservations atmosphere, Mark will use the best of British ingredients to create dishes such as ‘mackerel with red onion, capers and parsley’, ‘salt-baked celeriac with parsley pesto’ and the sure fire favourite, ‘seafood sausage roll’. There will also be a selection of open tartines on offer, each served on a choice of fresh bread with creative toppings such as ‘broad bean, pea and pecorino’, ‘garlic purée, roast onion and lardo‘ and the classic ‘pissaladiere’.
Upstairs will have a more refined air, with an affordable fixed priced brasserie-style dinner menu (£35 per person), and set lunch menu, created by Sargeant and Morden & Lea head chef Daniel Mertl (Chez Bruce, The Savoy, Le Gavroche). The dinner menu will deliver stylish contemporary dishes using the best of local and Great British produce. Mains will include ‘roast Goosnargh duck with garlic potatoes, roast peach, broccoli, almonds and chilli’, ‘pan-fried skate wing, cauliflower, bacon and caper polonaise and hispi cabbage’ and ‘grilled Cornish mullet with spelt, mussels and bok choy’. 
The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.
Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.
A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.
Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.
