Chapters is a small restaurant and bottle shop run by Mark and Charmaine McHugo, chef and grower/manager duo. It’s located in the Welsh market town Hay-on-Wye and offers a seasonally changing set dinner menu that celebrates the best the local area has to offer.
It’s been recognised as one of the most sustainable restaurants in the UK by the Eat 360 guide.
Chapters restaurant
Image credit: Ashleigh Cadet
How did you come to grow produce for the restaurant?
{Charmaine} In the early days, we advertised in the local community magazine, asking locals if we could buy any surplus produce they had to use at the restaurant. This was a lovely way to get to know people in the area, to know who the growers are and to also get to know the kinds of things that people were growing. We had some interesting things given to us from shiso and puntarella to aubergines and marrows. Experience showed us just how wonderful the community of Hay-on-Wye is and fully cemented our beliefs that we had chosen the right place to set up Chapters.
We then saw an ad on facebook to share a private residence’s walled kitchen garden just 8 miles from the restaurant and have been growing there for the last 5 years. We use their land in return for them being able to harvest produce for personal use.
Prior to the walled garden, my growing experience was pretty limited, but both sets of grandparents grew vegetables so I think it is in my blood.
I’ve drawn on lots of different resources to progress as a no-dig, chemical-free grower:
Knowledge sharing with other growers who share our approach
Charles Dowding’s garden tour videos on youtube
Alys Fowler’s tips on how to make the most of small spaces and being sustainable
Guides on good seed supplier websites such as vital seeds or Real Seeds – they are invaluable
Image credit: Ashleigh Cadet
What crops do you love growing and why?
{Charmaine} Beans are great as you get high yields for the space and they are really good for the soil. We over winter field beans so get a nice crop between May to June then onto the runners and the French beans. They’re great in chutneys or on the bbq to add to salads. Love Beans!!
Bitter leaves - they have such a great flavour - and are available to use during the winter months when the variety of produce available is less.
Tell us about some of the perennial crops you are growing and why they’re beneficial to you
{Charmaine} We’re lucky because the garden already had various fruit trees like Apples, Pears, Plums, Greengages, Damson, Quince and Figs. We love having perennial jerusalem artichokes, tree cabbage, perennial kale, hard herbs, sorrel and walking onions.
As well as being the restaurant’s manager, I pretty much work alone with all the growing, so perennial crops are great because they largely look after themselves and come back year on year so they’re not labour intensive at all.
How do you collaborate on crop and menu planning?
{Charmaine} It’s really important to keep having ongoing conversations with each other. We try to prioritise growing things we are less likely to be able to buy. We generally plan a few weeks ahead - I let Mark know what will soon be available from the garden so that he can shape his menu around that.
We also talk to other local growers about their plans. Then we can decide whether we want to grow contrasting crops to increase variety, or the same crop, in order to increase the amount we can produce between us.
How often do you visit the farm, Mark, and what do you take from your visits?
{Mark} Every couple of weeks, I help give the compost a turn at the same time!
I’ve gained respect for how long some crops take to grow from a seed to being ready to harvest for the plate. I can see when there’s a glut of something that might be good to pickle and preserve for using later in the year. Sometimes I also spot something that Charmaine wouldn’t have thought I’d use. For example, the sorrel had bolted and I dried the seed heads before blending them and incorporating into our flatbread dough.
How do you communicate your story to your customers?
{Charmaine} We have ‘table talkers’ booklets on the tables for customers to flick through. I also do all of the waitressing so am able to tell the customers what I’ve harvested that’s featured on their plates.
Image credit: Natalie Moore
What are the main challenges you face working in your way?
We make our own compost at the garden but because we operate a set menu, we tend to have very little food waste and could do with more green waste for the compost. We shred our waste paper for the compost too - sometimes driving around waste to be composted feels quite labour intensive.
Because we’re small (26-28 covers) sometimes we struggle to meet minimum order amounts even from small growers - it needs to be worth their time delivering to us. In the future we’re hoping a network of local growers can team up to share a vehicle and make produce deliveries more efficient.
We do our utmost to reduce our impact in every area of our business but sometimes the eco alternatives just don’t work as well so sometimes practical compromises have to be made - its about finding a balance and doing our best. We find NMEP’s tips for eco alternative products and low waste recipes really useful.
What is the one ingredient you think all chefs should be using and why?
Wild venison. It’s plentiful and delicious, lean and healthy. If venison isn’t managed on estates then it can cause problems, like during covid there was an overpopulation problem because restaurants were not ordering it. This has issues for farmers so by using it it’s a win win for everyone.
We work closely with our butcher who has great contacts with local estates and we seek his advice on how to work with lesser known cuts.