Ocean Voyage, Mark Jordan, a Book Review 2


After assisting me in getting Michelin starred Mark Jordan to take part in the 5Questions, his PR agent Victoria has stayed in touch. Trying to get a copy of Mr Jordan’s book for review would be a no brainer, it was bound to filled with lovely glossy pictures & tasty recipes, and when the man himself tweets;

Photography starts today 5 days, 60 odd dishes..a lot to get sorted

You know it’s going to be good.

Ocean Voyage at 30cm by 30cm, almost falls into the coffee table book category with plenty of large close up pictures of pretty food taken from the Michelin starred restaurant. Unfortunately I have to say almost, not because of the quality but because of the style of the book. At a mere £30 dust jacket cover price, there is no denying it’s a bargain for the information & images it contains, but to put it into the foodie coffee table book bracket it falls short of books like ‘Quay- Peter Gilmore’,  ‘NOMA – Rene Redzepi’ & ‘Alinea – Grant Achatz’. Books you & your friends can pick up and casually gaze through at the food pornography whilst sipping cocktails.

This said there are a lot more usable recipes in Mr Jordan’s tome than any of the above. Every dish, of which there is 58 in total, is made up of multiple components, so you actually receive probably close to 200 or so usable recipes. Where the most probable obscure ingredient is really only sourced from Jersey, Black butter, for use in the Black Butter ice cream. There is also the dish which appeared on The Appentice last year as a treat for some task winners- The Lobster Surprise with Lobster Macaroni. Whilst there is no earth shattering culinary alchemy(which has been done to death) in what Mr Jordan & his team produce, it is highly refined European fare. With the crossing over of Italian & French cuisines with shades of Marco Pierre White’s often mimicked cooking of 90’s.  As Mr Jordan puts it in some of the opening pages,

My Food is not trendy food, it doesn’t follow fashion – it’s about good quality ingredients and cooking from the heart.

It’s refreshing to see, a chef that believes in what he does rather than what the crowd are doing.

The book also includes a forward written by former two Michelin star chef Eric Chavot, who tells of how the pair met. Mr Chavot gushes with enthusiasm over the quality of produce from the island, even going as far as including details as to how he chose his own lobsters for a dinner he was hosting.

This is a book which will have you salivating at the glossy pictures and possibly booking yourself on the next available flight to Jersey, & The Atlantic Hotel. At a beautifully produced 208pages, this is a book worth buying for the inspiration it will give you, and to redress the the balance of  Modern Cuisine. Food is about the ingredients; the tastes, textures & smells. Not, can we make an edible soil or leather out of this, that or the other. Ocean Voyage extols this virtue of ingredient lead dishes and is smartly packaged with exquisite food photography from Myburgh du Plessis.

Ocean Voyage by Mark Jordan, is available from Amazon.co.uk & all other leading bookshops.

See more about Mark Jordan when he did the ‘5Questions‘ or if you like to see more of him & his team’s food:

Atlantic Hotel & Ocean Restaurant
Le Mont de la Pulente
St Brelade
Jersey JE3 8HE
Channel Islands

Telephone +44 (0)1534 744101
e-mail [email protected]


2 thoughts on “Ocean Voyage, Mark Jordan, a Book Review

  • Murray Noron

    I could agree more with you review. Mark’s work in the book & on the plate in the restaurant is both a comfort to the soul whilst giving inspiration to much lesser mortal cooks like me.

Comments are closed.