Mark Poynton to open restaurant at Caistor Hall hotel in Norfolk

Chef patron of MJP At The Shepherds Mark Poynton is partnering with Caistor Hall by Brasted's to open a restaurant within the Norfolk country house hotel 

Byron Franklin, who currently works at Mark's restaurant in Fen Ditton in the outskirts of Cambridge, will take the helm in the kitchen when Mark Poynton at Caistor Hall opens in February 2023, serving "light but flavour-driven dishes" with ingredients dictated by the seasons. 

Open from Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, the restaurant will be a tasting menu only affair, offering five or nine courses at lunch and nine courses at dinner.

Built in the UK's Regency era, Caistor Hall was first converted into a hotel and country club in 1948. The restaurant is now overseen by Brasted's, a fine-dining restaurant, events and catering company based in Norfolk.

Mark, whose Michelin-listed restaurant at The Shepherds opened in the summer of 2020, is well known in the industry, namely for having worked with Paul Kitching at Juniper; for Daniel Clifford at Midsummer House; at Alimentum, where he earned and retained a star for five years; and for competing against Aktar Islam and Jason Hodnett on the BBC's Great British Menu series 9.