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Foreword

I turn the corner and see the tables and blue umbrellas in the cobbled square, hear the murmur of contented punters and the clinking of glasses suggesting that just one more glass could be squeezed in before the sun sets, and breathe in the smell of the sea drifting up East Street, as well as the delicious aromas coming from our restaurant kitchen. I get butterflies as I descend the steps as quickly as possible to find the usual chaos of a kitchen in the middle of service. I’m always fascinated to discover what has been brought in that morning and to see what magic Loz and his kitchen staff have worked on the day’s catch.

From the very outset, all of us involved in setting up Fishy Fishy – Paul, James, our better halves Alice and Dee and I – made it absolutely clear that the kitchen had to be the heartbeat of the restaurant. Before anything else was confirmed (including, I recall, the funding!), we were making sure our chef Loz was busy creating a superb menu, with an awful lot of unnecessary help from us five clucking hens. We wanted something that reflected the best Brighton and the Channel has to offer, a feat we’ve since repeated with heartfelt passion in our second restaurant in Poole.

The idea is simple. Well, that’s it exactly, simplicity. We have an incredible larder right on our doorstep, which if fished and managed correctly, can provide us with a varied and delicious menu. I really don’t think that the words ‘local’ and ‘seasonal’ are mere fads – our parents and grandparents (in fact everyone before them) always bought their food this way. Or course they didn’t have as much choice as we do now and you were unlikely to find exotic fish flown half way across the world in your local supermarket half a century ago. But we do have a choice now and buying local produce, in season is both the right and tastiest thing to do.

It’s what we, the Fishy Fishy ‘family’, all passionately believe in, as important as the way the place looks and feels, the welcome you receive, the pleasure you get from what’s on your plate and what’s in your glass.

We really hope you enjoy these recipes – many of these are dishes straight off our menu but we’ve included others from further afield. And perhaps you might come and pay us a visit...

Dermot O’Leary