Living a dream

A mix of determination and good fortune has carried chef Alison Yetman and her husband, Peter, through troubles that would have proved the breaking point for even the most experienced of restaurateurs.

Days before work started to convert two Tudor cottages, bought in 1988, to their 32-seat dream restaurant, the builder announced he had "another job on and couldn't fit them in".

Although opening the restaurant was a change of career for the Yetmans, they simply took the hiccup in their stride. Their off-the-job builder became a consultant to the project, and they did the work themselves. "Every morning he would come in and say ‘today you need to demolish that wall. Then you can do this and this'," explains Alison.

Arguably the most trying time of all was when, 18 months ago, their accountant warned them they were not making enough money and would have to consider closing the restaurant. Their lucky break came from an unexpected glowing review from former Times restaurant critic, Craig Brown. It turned their business around.

Facing challenges

Bare-footed and draped over an armchair in the lounge at the back of the restaurant, the self-confessed Essex-girl is undaunted by these near-misses. But then she is used to facing challenges head-on. When she left Westminster College at 19, she took on her first head-chef position running the joint directors' dining rooms for Banque Belge and the European Banking Company in London.

Yetman's is a restaurant oozing with character in the picturesque market town of Holt, north Norfolk. You could be forgiven for thinking it is a pub from its exterior. Inside, however, is a smart restaurant with bright yellow walls, lots of fresh flowers, ash wood tables and chairs as well as crisp, white table linen. Its contrasting features reflect the Yetmans' restaurant philosophy - a clever blend of high standards in a laid-back environment.

The style and presentation of Alison's food balances the refined interiors. There is also an informal atmosphere. "Peter doesn't pour the wine", exclaims Alison, as if describing someone with a peculiar habit, "and he wears jeans and a T-shirt during service." Even Yetman's entry in The Good Food Guide 1995 opens with this act of non-conformity, "We were greeted enthusiastically by a gentleman with jeans and wild hair," it states.

In the kitchen, Alison is far from traditional. Dressed in a long, flowing dress and a pair of large Reebok trainers, she admits she looks more like "Florence from the Magic Roundabout" during service than your archetypal chef with white jacket and checked trousers. "But it gets you talked about - some people come out of curiosity," says Alison.

Running a restaurant

Until recently, the Yetmans did not realise how much they enjoyed running a restaurant. Prior to opening Yetman's, while Alison worked at the two London banks and then subsequently her own outside catering company, Peter worked at the foreign exchange. Rather naïvely, Alison now admits, the couple thought running a restaurant would be easier than their previous careers.

In early 1994 - six years on from opening and still showing no profit - their accountant warned that unless they made headway they would have to close. "The thought of not being able to do this anymore was awful," says Alison.

As a result, the Yetmans sold life assurance policies to keep afloat until they were saved by restaurant critic Craig Brown. He was visiting friends and, when the baby-sitter apparently let them down, they arrived at Yetman's with children in tow.

"We always try to be accommodating with children", explains Alison, "so we left them to play in the lounge and the adults were able to get on and enjoy their meal. He wrote a brilliant article about us - we're still getting customers off the back of it now. I will always be profoundly grateful to him."

Fellow restaurateurs Carla and Bernard Phillips of the Moorings in nearby Wells-next-the-sea are another example of people to whom Alison says she is indebted. Being a similar set-up to Yetman's - a husband and wife team running a privately owned restaurant - it is a testimony to their good nature that they helped the Yetmans to set up their business rather than regarding them as competition.

"Carla even showed me where to buy quality second-hand furniture and crockery. We share suppliers now too. There is a lot of camaraderie up here and as all the restaurants are about the same size, it makes sense to split orders."

Alison says her cooking has evolved from a post-college classical style to a simple appreciation of good ingredients, influenced by excellent local produce. The turning point was when she headed the kitchen at the two London banks, where she says she cooked for directors who knew more about food than she did. "I suddenly realised the importance of ingredients and the more simply you cook food, the better it is. Now I almost feel that formal training is a culinary strait-jacket."

She has come a long way since then and is flattered to hear customers liken her cooking to Alice Waters's of Chez Panisse in California.

Effectively, Alison cooks the components of a dish simply and adds a spicy or piquant accompaniment to jazz it up. "I like good, clean, fresh flavours," she says.

Examples from the daily-changing set-price menu include mousseline of finnan haddock with a fresh mango and coriander salsa; or roasted loin of new season's local lamb with a fresh apricot stuffing and a mint and citrus sauce. Dishes are not charged individually, instead Yetman's offers two courses at £19.75, three for £23.50 and four for £27.

Fillet of local sea bass baked with olive oil, aromatic herbs and garlic, served with a rich tomato sauce - the recipe Alison chose to share with Chef - typifies the food at Yetman's. "I wanted to show something that would be visually appealing and reflects what I am doing here."

The bass, which is caught off the nearby coast, is baked in foil with a little butter. The rough tomato sauce is cooked with a lot of garlic, black pepper, onion and olive oil. "The black pepper and garlic makes the dish taste hot. You could think there is chilli in it, but there isn't," says Alison.

Besides Alison's obsession with freshness and taste, there are moral strands to the ingredients she buys. Where possible it must be local because she believes in a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach to running local businesses. Second, she believes raw materials must be well cared for prior to butchering or being pulled out of the ground.

The only non-local ingredient at Yetman's is duck, which she sources from Hereford. "I am happy to pay premium prices for ducks that have had a pleasant existence," Alison explains. She says the compassionate way the ducks are reared is reflected in the tenderness of their meat.

Unlike many chefs, Alison is keen to point out that much of her inspiration comes from recipes in magazines and cookery books. "Peter says I should write my own book, but it wouldn't be fair to say they're my recipes. But, as Peter says, if I did write a book, I could always call it Stolen and Adapted."

NEXT WEEK: Chef talks to a chef who knew she wanted to open a restaurant when she was still at school and went on to become a legend in her lifetime