The owners of the Bay View restaurant admit that they've never tried to make the restaurant anything more than a packet-to-plate kind of place.
So when new head chef Simon Sweeney moved there from his post as sous chef at the George hotel in Yarmouth, the Isle of Wight's only bearer of a Michelin star, he approached with caution. "My friends told me not to go anywhere near it," he laughs.
They needn't have worried. When the Bay View's owners asked Sweeney - who also spent time in the mid-1990s with John Burton-Race at L'Ortolan - to come on board, he agreed, as long as he could have total control over what came in to the kitchen and what left it.
"I want to educate people about food," he says. "I am trying to be a bit more adventurous but without scaring people."
The dishes are packed with flavour. One best-selling starter is duck ravioli on a bed of bean sprouts with black squid ink (£6.25). The dish is topped with an iced salad, for which Sweeney puts mooli (a Japanese white radish), carrot and beetroot on ice to crystallise it. He then adds coriander and chervil to boost the taste, and surrounds it with an Oriental sauce.
Also on the nine-strong starter list is sautéd chicken livers, arranged around a tarte tatin of red wine and balsamic-braised shallots (£4.95). "The dishes come from all over the world as a result of my travelling," says Sweeney.
Sydney was among his destinations last year, where he ate at famed Sydney restaurants Rockpool and Tetsuya. And, after reading its cookbook, he also admits to a yearning to visit the French Laundry in California.
No surprise, then, that the cooking doesn't shy away from lively combinations. Pan-fried local sea bass comes with a mussel, saffron and vanilla sauce (£13.50), while lobster from the island's fishermen comes "Americaine" - roasted then added to a brandy, garlic, tomato and cream sauce before being put back into the shell, topped with Gruyère and grilled (£16.50).
Surprisingly, other local produce has been less easy to source. "Remember, there is a culture of T-bone steaks and a large portion of chips on the island," says Sweeney.
However, his culinary mission does seem to be working. "When we started we sold half-a-kilo of veal sweetbreads a week; now it's more like four or five."
The sweetbreads are poached in chicken stock, reshaped in clingfilm, then sliced before being pan-fried for a minute on each side. He serves them with pan-fried foie gras to add richness and a serving of dauphinoise potatoes (£16.50).
Sweeney tries to alter a couple of dishes each week, which means the menu is transformed by the end of each month, although some popular dishes, such as the chicken livers, are permanent fixtures.
He can serve 40 covers when fully booked in the evening, and is training his brigade of two other chefs, whom he inherited from the old Bay View, to handle fresh ingredients. His team will expand to three after Easter, when the restaurant will open six days a week instead of the present three.
There are five puddings, including a hot-chocolate fondant with Baileys ice-cream (£4.95) and a pleasing selection of cheeses - among them Vacherin Mont d'Or and Pont l'Eveque, a soft cow's-milk cheese from Normandy - served with figs and dates (£6.95).
Sweeney jokes that the Bay View has been called "the shed on the beach", but it is now a shed with smart white linen and more sophisticated service. Partner Donna, who also used to work with him at the George, commands front of house. That said, Sweeney stresses, people are welcome in shorts and a T-shirt.
Bay View Restaurant, The Promenade, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight PO39 0BQ
Tel: 01983 756969
By Dan Bignold
Chef's cheat
If I cook steak, saddle of lamb or most cuts of meat, when I rest them before serving I wrap them in clingfilm. This keeps the juices in, but doesn't keep the meat cooking. You can let them rest like that for up to 15 minutes.
What's on the menu
* Tempura oysters, tomato provençal with rocket and Parmesan salad, £5.95
* Saffron fettuccine enveloped in smoked haddock and chive, topped with Parmesan biscuits, £4.95
* Saddle of venison with onion confit, turnips and port wine sauce, £13.50
* Caramelised breast of chicken with Oriental spices, vegetable spring rolls and Oriental dumplings, £12.95
* Chocolate pyramid with mint chocolate chip ice-cream and peppermint sauce, £4.95
* Warm lemon meringue pie with citrus sorbet, £4.95