Chef profile - Mark Langton from Wild Sage

Throwing everything they had into their new project, they signed the lease in February 2020 and… well, we all know what happened next. Wild Sage found itself closed down before it even opened.

Mark is a familiar face around Hull and the East Riding having trained in the kitchens of Hull Truck and (after a spell at Chez Bruce in London) becoming head chef at the Wilson on Hull’s marina. He then became part of the late, lamented 1884 empire with a few years at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen before opening the excellent but short-lived 1884 Cucina Italian restaurant in Hessle.

He met Becky while at Dock Street (she has much experience in the kitchen at Beverley’s Cerutti 2 among others) and she became sous chef to Mark at Cucina. After working throughout last summer to get Wild Sage in the best fettle possible, the pair now offer no-nonsense modern British dishes to an increasingly devout clientele.

Can you remember the first dish you ever cooked – and was it a success? It was when I was around eight or nine. I used to make things like chocolate cake and shortbread biscuits. I don’t know if they were any good. I suppose they must have been all right because they all got eaten.

Who is your inspiration in the kitchen and why? Definitely my mum because she was always interested in cooking and everything we ate was always homemade. She made things like lasagne and spaghetti bolognese and she used to show me how to do it. It really inspired me and it was her influence that led to me becoming a chef in my early twenties.

What was the first recipe book you ever owned? It was the classic Good Housekeeping Cookbook. It shows you everything, right from the basics like hygiene and prep through to relatively complex dishes. It’s all done so simply, step by step, and contains techniques you use throughout your life. In fact, I’ve still got my battered first copy.

If you organised a dinner party, which three people would you invite and why? First, I’d go for Marco Pierre White because all the great chefs today have been influenced by him, and I think he’d provide some lively debate round the table. Then I’d go for Nikola Tesla. He was such an amazing inventor and way ahead of his time. I’d love to know what he’d come up with today. And maybe Elon Musk. Just so I could cadge a lift to Mars.

What is your favourite ingredient and why? Lemons. They help enhance so many dishes and can completely transform some. Occasionally, they’re a more savvy alternative to salt.

What have you get up to during the lockdowns? During the first lockdown, me and my partner Becky were doing up Wild Sage, so there was not much lazing around and watching TV for us.

We got it all ready to open in August and then had to close again in November. It’s been incredibly frustrating. For the past couple of months, we’ve been concentrating on offering a takeaway service.

It’s proving very popular, which is encouraging but it creates just as much washing up as normal service. There’s currently only me and Becky in the kitchen so we share the duties. I long for the day we can employ a pot washer.