Twenty five years or so ago, when Mark Hix was being lined up to become chef-director at Caprice Holdings — its trio of stars then Le Caprice, the Ivy and J Sheekey — he could not have seen that things would go as they have.
Sixty next month, Hix has, you might say, been around the block. After Caprice came the kind of success that arrived bundled up with book deals and TV spots and wondering which place to open next; but lately there has been the low of losing a restaurant empire and the humiliation of temporarily being barred from using his own name for business. Having first moved to London more than 40 years ago, Hix even left town, scuttling down to Dorset to sling fish from a food truck. Most days, he says, he’d have a small bottle of cider brandy on the go to share with the local fishermen, or he’d go and join them at the harbour.
