IT CAN be hard enough to get some children to even eat their vegetables, but by the age of ten, Max Greenwood had already tucked into snails, frogs legs, smoked salmon, caviar, olives, oysters and much more besides.

This early introduction to unusual food got him interested in becoming a chef himself.

“Mum and dad would host such fantastic dinner parties and barbecues that I wanted to be in a position where I could offer the same, but maybe on a larger scale! So from the age of six or seven I wanted to be a chef and own a pub,” he explains.

He got his first head chef job in 1999 at Blue Hawaii in Kingston upon Thames and worked at a number of different restaurants and pubs in Southampton, including La Cantina, Ennio’s and Lizard Lounge, and also ran the St James Tavern in Winchester before buying The Rockstone in 2011.

The pub used to be The Bevois Castle, but Max set about turning it into a gastro pub, which today is so popular that booking is advisable.

“I just do it for the love of the customers, family, locals and friends,” says Max.

“It’s been so rewarding, and we’ve received tonnes of presents and cards from our customers. The best thing about my job is being top of our game in a quicker time period than we could have imagined. I love bringing good food and high quality spirits to Bevois Valley when everyone said it could never be done.

“The satisfaction of a job well done, and being able to do bespoke dishes for special occasions for clients is also really rewarding. The worst thing is that you’re always on duty, on days off you’re still checking in the order, on the phone all day, answering a hundred emails etc. We like to escape to Yo Sushi! once a week and watch other people working hard!”

Max says that the food customers want has changed over the years.

“We’ve moved on from the ‘cheesy chips and chilli’ era of old and now offer wild boar, venison and pigeon.

"People seem to enjoy the ‘locally sourced, locally caught’ aspect of what we offer, and that’s exactly what we wanted. We’ve also noticed price isn’t a determining factor in what people buy!”

  • The Rockstone is at 63 Onslow Road, Bevois Valley, Southampton.

Contact: 023 8063 7256, therockstone. co.uk