Mark Birchall is the chef-owner of Moor Hall, a three-Michelin-star restaurant with rooms in Aughton, Lancashire. Birchall’s CV includes El Celler de Can Roca in Girona and many years at L’Enclume in the Lake District.
Opened in 2017, Moor Hall, housed in a centuries-old Grade II listed building (with an adjacent one-Michelin-star restaurant, The Barn), aims to cook the best of the North-West, with a five-acre kitchen garden on site, locally sourced meat, and fish and seafood from UK waters. The restaurant won its first Michelin star six months after opening, its second in 2018 and a third in 2025.
Hi, Mark, what do you always have in the fridge at home?
Chorizo and parmesan, just for a quick pasta or something.
Are you a chef who likes to eat after a shift?
I try not to. If I eat something, it's usually a sandwich of some kind, perhaps ham, wholemeal or sourdough bread, loads of butter. I never eat processed white bread.
There’s a cliché that chefs never eat breakfast, that it’s just coffee and cigarettes…
No, I eat first thing, in amongst getting the kids ready for school, which is like a war zone in the morning. I have a cup of tea and porridge with a tiny bit of honey every morning and that sees me through, keeps the hunger off for a while. I don't smoke, I don't drink coffee. Maybe I’m not that stereotypical.
What’s the best restaurant you’ve been to lately?
There are two. I was in New York for a wedding and ate at César. Some of the best little bites I've eaten in a restaurant – fantastic food. In London, I went to Yannick Alléno’s Pavyllon at the Four Seasons. I had almost like a wagyu and mushroom terrine – I think they grill and glaze it. They serve you a lobster with I think a choron sauce and crispy potatoes. It was beautiful. So, so good.
