FOOD EDITION
A FRESH TASTE FOR FEN DITTON
Mark Poynton and new business partners Gareth and Emma John have recently launched The Ancient Shepherds in Fen Ditton – located on the site of his former restaurant, MJP@The Shepherds. Having just won a Michelin star for his Norwich restaurant, Mark Poynton at Caistor Hall, Mark will lead the kitchen with his new right-hand man Chris Lee – who has held three AA rosettes for more than a decade at multiple places around Suffolk, including The Crown at Bildeston. For summer 2025, the tasting menu includes dishes such as chilled pea mousse, cottage cheese and truffle (amuse-bouche), wakame cured cod with tomato and elder ponzu, loin of hogget with tapenade puree, tomatoes, anchovies and courgette, plus sweet pineapple parfait with fennel sorbet for dessert. The menus come in options of three, five or seven courses, each including bread, snacks and an amuse-bouche.
Find out more and reserve a table at ancientshepherds.com
Bellota opens in Bury St Edmunds
In another new opening, Bellota – a restaurant centred around a chef’s table – has opened its doors in Bury St Edmunds. A joint venture from husband-and-wife duo chef Ruben Aguilar Bel and pastry chef Gabriella Fogarasi, alongside local investor Linda Keenan, the team is aiming to integrate itself into the local community while also becoming a dining destination for gastronomes from across the UK and beyond. Bellota’s nightly tasting menu, for up to 20 guests, focuses on the abundance of local produce that Suffolk is famed for, evolving in accordance with the seasons, while homing in on Ruben’s Spanish roots, with dishes such as Iberian ham croquetas, Suffolk coast wild bass with Catalan calçots parmentier and green asparagus, as well as passion fruit brûlée with chocolate cream. Among its suppliers will be local fisherman Paul Fitch, beekeeper Ian Hart at Beehouse Honey and Tide Mill, a 850-year-old mill in nearby Woodbridge providing flour for the house-baked sourdough.
Culinary updates to whet your appetite
Visit bellotarestaurant.com to view menus and book
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK AUGUST 2025 45
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