Southsea restaurant teams up with Isle of Wight gin distillery for evening of gin cocktails and fresh food

Becketts Southsea has partnered up with Isle of Wight-based gin distillery, Mermaid Gin for its Mermaid x Becketts night on Tuesday.

The restaurant will serve up four courses, cooked by head chef Jack Shencherey-Evans, with bespoke Mermaid gin-based cocktails to accompany each course.

The Mermaid Gin team, including its directors, will be there on the night, educating diners on the history of the business, how the gins are distilled and how each flavour is produced.

Jack, who hand-picked locally-sourced ingredients, will also educate guests on how each meal was chosen and the cooking methods that were used.

The bar, restaurant and hotel has supported the gin company for six years, with one of its best-selling cocktails – the Tipsy Mermaid – using Mermaid’s gin.

It goes through around five or six bottles of the popular pink gin every week and is passionate about supporting the company more where it can.

General manager Terence Carvalho decided to bring the event to the venue after taking the team over to the island to visit the distillery.

He said: ‘We’ve been supporting Mermaid Gin for years and their gin cocktail is our most popular one. The team and I visited the distillery recently for a team evening and we decided that our customers deserved to experience what they have to offer, but with a Becketts twist.

‘We’re looking forward to the event and hopefully, if this one is as successful as we’re anticipating, we’ll be able to offer events quarterly to allow more people to experience the amazing food and cocktails that we’ll be offering. Perhaps we’ll even mix it up depending on the seasons, too.’

The Mermaid team is also looking forward to the collaboration.

Head of marketing Ginnie Taylor said: ‘We’re delighted to collaborate with such a prestigious venue. The event promises to be hugely popular with a beautifully curated menu. We are very much looking forward to it.’

Tickets for the event are still available and can be purchased from Becketts by calling the venue on (023) 9286 5000, for £95 per person.