The story
That is the promise at Stark, the Michelin-starred restaurant from chef Ben Crittenden and his wife Sophie. Now located in East Mersea, Essex, after a celebrated run as the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Thanet, Kent, Stark brings a singular vision of Modern British cooking to the coast.
The format is direct: a frequently changing, seasonal six-course tasting menu for £100, with an optional wine flight for £60. There are no substitutions, no accommodations for allergies or dislikes. The kitchen cooks what the season dictates, and diners are asked to trust the process.
Ben Crittenden has been cooking since leaving school, driven by a dedication to quality seasonal ingredients. He and Sophie opened Stark in December 2016 with a clear goal: to create a better work/life balance and allow Ben more time with their three young children. That ethos of simplicity and honesty extends to the dining room. Stark is deliberately relaxed, with no dress code. The only request is that you sit back and enjoy the experience.
Crittenden has also written a book, STARK, which offers recipes from the restaurant’s favourite tasting menu dishes alongside a raw, emotional account of his life as a chef—from apprentice to becoming Thanet’s first Michelin-starred chef.
Stark sits on East Road in East Mersea, on Mersea Island. The island is reached via the Strood, a causeway that can be covered by high tides of 4.5 metres or higher. Diners are advised to check tide times before booking. The experience takes a minimum of two and a half hours, and the restaurant recommends pre-ordering taxis. For those wishing to stay overnight, a glamping site operates next door.
At Stark, the cooking is precise, the menu is seasonal, and the experience is built on trust. That is all that is asked.
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High quality cooking
The menu at Stark is a matter of trusting the chef – a no-choice, no-alternatives, six-course affair that changes whenever ingredients dictate and whenever Ben Crittenden sees fit. That’s fair enough, given that this little restaurant in a roadside building on a quiet road on Mersea Island is essentially a four-hander: Ben cooks while his wife, Sophie, looks after guests with easy warmth. The Crittendens landed in Essex in summer 2024, and fans of the original Stark in Broadstairs will recognise the cocooning dark-painted walls and the bold steampunk art. They’ll also recognise Ben’s thrilling cooking. Duck liver parfait on a puck of confit duck and thin gingerbread, is a luxurious menu fixture, an accompanying fruit purée switching with the seasons between orange, smoked apple and cherries, perhaps. The fish course might be halibut, poached to pearly perfection in butter with dots of freshening cucumber and turnip, commas of ditsy brown shrimps, and seaweed sauce. It’s gentle, restrained, classical. To follow, there might be shoulder of Scottish shh’annu lamb – a method of rearing on grass rather than a breed – with a robust potato-lamb dumpling showered in truffle, matched with a silky, cherry-red Minervois from the optional five-glass wine pairing. Next up, a sensational piece of wagyu rump, perfectly pink and topped with a bright salsa verde. Beetroot, blackcurrant and green peppercorns make the dish sing with sharp, sweet, sour flavours; it’s a masterclass in balance. Ditto the artichoke ice cream, a knockout crossover that’s savoury, but also tangy with goat’s curd, and sweet with honey granola and hazelnut cake. Dulce de leche cake with coffee syrup will seduce the sweet-toothed, though a fabulously bitter dark chocolate sorbet and a dome of aerated mascarpone are welcome counterpoints. Trust the chef? You bet.
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