The Seahorse Restaurant Dartmouth

Love sailing? Join us to support Henry Bomby’s solo sail round the UK

The Seahorse is proud to be lead sponsor for Henry Bomby from Dartmouth, who will be sailing solo round the UK in his Contessa ’26, The Seahorse. Aspiring young offshore sailor, 19 year old Henry Bomby’s voyage will start and finish in his home port of Dartmouth in June. Henry will sail his Contessa 26 ‘Seahorse’ anti-clockwise, along the way competing in the Round the Island Race, the J80 European Championships as well as climbing the three peaks.

The Seahorse restaurant will be holding a series of lunches leading up to Henry’s departure on the 12th June, including a grand leaving and homecoming party. To book a table now to join us for a celebratory meal and a chance to meet and chat to Henry and Mitch, click here to reserve a table. Mitch Tonks is also a keen sailor having also recently acquired a Contessa 26 ‘Nellie’. Mitch will be competing against Henry in ‘Nellie’ in the round the island race before returning home, leaving Henry to continue with the remainder of his incredible voyage.

During the trip Henry will be updating his website with news, pictures and videos as well as writing for magazines on his progress in the hope that he can not only raise awareness of the incredible work of the charity but also inspire other young people to go out and realise their dreams.

Henry said, “Having done quite a bit of inshore racing, I now hope to step up and start competing in more long distance offshore races, so preparing to sail around Britain has been a great way to learn about more offshore orientated skills. Navigationally Britain is one of the most challenging places to sail, the world’s largest shipping lanes, tricky port entries, wind farms, moving sand banks, difficult sea conditions the list goes on. Sailing on my own also means I have to know absolutely every aspect too, giving me an all round knowledge.’ He added, ‘Finding sponsorship to support me in these difficult times wasn’t easy, but I have been extremely lucky, and to have ‘The Seahorse’ come onboard as my main partner is fantastic for the project, they have been a great support and are great fun to work with. Both Mitch and I share a love for the sea and our little Contessa’s, and I cannot wait to get the two boats sailing along side each other! Competing against him in the round the island race will be awesome. The banter for that has already started which is great; I think our friendship will be left on the dock for that one!”

Mitch Tonks said, “Henry is an incredible guy, young, ambitious and with a lot of potential ahead to do great things, it’s great for the Seahorse to be involved with such a worthwhile project and such a great character and my love of my Contessa 26 and sailing will make it even more fun, I hope to beat Henry in my first ever race in her… but probably not!”

In addition to the support from the Seahorse Restaurant, the trip has also been supported by 3 other local businesses, Baltic Wharf, Speciality Fasteners and Foley Steelstock, creating a huge amount of interest within the town. Dartmouth has an incredible history of getting behind sailing projects, and the town is now firmly behind Henry’s voyage.

For more information on the project and to follow Henry’s voyage, check out his website at www.henrybombysailing.co.uk or email him henry@henrybombysailing.co.uk to join his mailing list or see the local press coverage

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February 12th 2010

The exuberant and talented Henry Dimbleby of Leon restaurants joined Mitch and Mat at the Seahorse for a lively night and a celebration of all that is good about local food. Henry caught his first conger eel in Start bay when he was 13 and has been cooking and eating on the Dart all his life, so a fantastic menu with some great stories to match.

January 29th 2010

Xanthe Clay Journalist and food writer for the Daily Telegraph. Xanthe’s travels around the UK in search of the best food have been covered for years in the Telegraph and this was a really entertaining evening, hearing about some of the fun moments on these trips and some wonderful foodie anecdotes. Accompanied of course by a fantastic menu.

New Years Eve 2009

New Year’s Eve at the Seahorse, we celebrated in style with a fabulous 5 course feast and a glass of champagne at midnight when the firework display was on.

October 20th 2009

Fergus Henderson, MBE. The chef famed for attracting the hip art scene at his restaurants in London, for love of good British food using all parts of the produce he uses and for battling Parkinson’s joined Mitch to offer customers a great evening’s food and entertainment.

October 16th 2009

Tom Parker Bowles – food writer (Mail on Sunday, GQ , Tatler) & presenter of Market Kitchen, joined us for a fascinating culinary talk & the best food in town.

October 3rd 2009

Tom Aikens - award winning London seafood chef Tom joined Mitch for a real treat of a night for seafood lovers.

Mitch appeared at the following festivals and events this year:

Pembrokeshire Food Festival - 10 year anniversary. June 27th to July 5th
Mitch is again headlining, this year with Matt Tebbutt from The Foxhunter in Nantyderry and presenter of UKTV’s Market Kitchen. They’ll be on stage at the opening weekend and then running a tutored tasting on the Sunday. http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/

Isle of Man Queenies Festival - 3rd/4th July
Mitch Tonks & Mark Hix to be stars of the show at the annual gathering championing the local Queen scallops.

Bristol Food & Wine Fair Cookery Theatre. 11th July
Mitch Tonks demo at 2.45 - 3.45.

Dorset Seafood Festival - 11th/12th July
Mitch and Mark Hix cooking and chatting with flair and gusto and plenty of fish!

Bristol Organic Food Festival - 13th September
Mitch Demo at the Cookery Theatre.

Abergavenny Food Festival - 19th/20th September
Mitch Cookery Demo.

July 16th 2009

Michael Caines MBE joined Mitch and hosted an evening with a special set menu that reflected their different styles.

June 4th 2009

Riverford Organics' Jane Baxter was our special guest host for the supper club at The Seahorse, with some of the best local produce available to create the menu, a special treat!

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May

Mark Ely - Dartmouth Music Festival

Fabulous music by the fabulous Mark Ely.

May 7th 2009

Champagne and Fruits De Mer night

Start Bay in Dartmouth is the centre of the universe when it comes to British shellfish. We had a fabulous evening and enjoyed a traditional and spectacular fruit de mer.

April 19th 2009

Our First Anniversary ! - We celebrated the first year of the Seahorse. When we opened my friend Norbert from the Braida estate in Piedmonte presented us with a rare 12ltr bottle of Il Baciale , one of his fabulous red wines made form Barbera, we opened it on the day and shared it with all our guests. Mat and I roasted a couple of suckling pigs.

April 16th 2009

Matt Dawson - Matt and Mitch hosted the evening and shared a few laughs from their series. They also cooked a menu based on the recipes from the series.

March 7th 2009

BBC Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace was the guest host for the supper club at The Seahorse

February 24th 2009

Mitch opened the Devon Community Foundation Charity Launch.

Seafood Chef of the Year Awards

Mitch is in the running for the Seafood Chef of the Year award, and Seafood Restaurant of the Year for the Seahorse.

Here are some of the testimonials sent in for this:

Graham Perkes, trawler owner, Brixham
"Mitch’s enthusiasm and knowledge is always inspiring and he’s worked hard to promote fishing and a better understanding of the industry to the general public in all his activities. He has a balanced view when it comes to sustainability and understands all of the issues well, its great to work with him."

Mark Hix, restaurateur (Hix Oyster and Chop House, London and Lyme Regis), food writer and columnist for the Independent
"Mitch is one of the most passionate guys I know when it comes to fish. He gets in amongst it because he believes in it, I mean, he's even bought a house overlooking Brixham fish market for gods sake."

Nigel Ward - Channel Fisheries Buyer and Director
"In all of my 38 years in the industry I have never met anyone with as much energy and enthusiasm for all things fish and sea related. Mitch has also taught me a lot of things about fish from other parts of the planet which have been great to learn. His new restaurant in Dartmouth has lifted the town to a new high gastronomically speaking."

December 2008 - The Seahorse picks up a Terry!

Terry Durack of the Independent awarded The Seahorse a coveted ‘Terry’ award in 2008’s list! The Seahorse won the the 'Service with a Smile' award.

Sunday December 21st

Our very own Mark Ely, complete with acoustic guitar, performed live at the Seahorse.

Thursday November 20th 2008

Tim McLaughlin-Green

Our great friend and award winning sommelier, Tim McLaughlin-Green, was at the Seahorse presenting Mitch and Tim’s favourite Italian producer, the wines from the Braida estate, including the most amazing Barberas. Mitch and The Seahorse created a special menu to complement these wines for the night.

Monday November 3rd 2008

Mitch and Matt’s Big Fish

Mitch and Matt’s Big Fish aired on UKTV Food in early November and picked up some great viewing figures. Look out for the repeats - the series moves to freeview channel ‘Dave’ early next year so look out freeviewers! If you like the recipes check out the Young’s website and Mitch’s podcast showing just how easy some of the dishes using frozen fish are to cook. http://www.youngsseafood.co.uk/ Mitch-Matt-Big-Fish/ recipe-podcasts.asp

Sunday October 19th

Our very own Mark Ely, complete with acoustic guitar, performed live at the Seahorse.

Sunday October 12th 2008

Suckling Pig Roast - A roasted suckling pig cooked gently over charcoal is fit for a celebration, This was the first of our autumn pig roasts and celebrated the great food festival. We aim to make the most of our charcoal fire and will be doing specialist roasts regularly through the Autumn and Winter.

October 8th to 12th 2008

Dartmouth Food Festival - Not only did we have the wonderful Joyce Molyneux joining us (see below) but Mitch also judged the rotary chef competition.

Friday October 10th 2008

Lunch with Joyce Molyneux - This was a fabulous opportunity to meet and lunch with the legendary Joyce Molyneux, cook and doyenne of the original Carved Angel in Dartmouth and Hole in the Wall in Bath and long term supporter of the Dartmouth Food Festival. We had a menu inspired by Joyce’s cooking and a chance to chat to Joyce.

October 4th 5th and 6th

The Seahorse sponsored the 47th Dartmouth Fishing Festival

Sunday September 20th

Our very own Mark Ely, complete with acoustic guitar, performed live at the Seahorse.

Thursday September 18th

Tim McLaughlin-Green was at the Seahorse presenting two of Italy’s famous producers, Primo Franco famed for their Prosecco, and the wines from Conte Brandolini. Mitch and The Seahorse created a special menu to complement these wines for the night.

Saturday September 13th

The fabulous Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver of St John restaurant, London, graced Dartmouth with their presence and shared their expertise for our second guest chef night of the year, after cooking lunnch live at Brixham FishStock charity event with Mitch and Mark Hix.

Left to Right - Fergus Henderson, Trevor Gulliver, Mitch and Mark Hix at Fishstock

Saturday July 5th
Mark Hix.

Mark Hix, previously Executive chef at Caprice and The Ivy in London who writes a regular foodie column for the Independent came to The Seahorse to guest chef and host an evening of fun and food.

Saturday May 17th
Dartmouth Music Festival.

Our very own Mark Ely, complete with acoustic guitar, performed live at the Seahorse.