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Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
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Rockfish Brixham
Mitch Tonks
Mitch Tonks
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Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
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Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
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Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
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Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish Brixham
Rockfish has a new addition to its family of fish and chip restaurants, recently opened in Brixham. By The Dart caught up with Mitch Tonks just ahead of its opening in April 2015.
How does the new restaurant fit in with the Rockfish plan?
“We didn’t want a cookie cutter roll out approach for the restaurants so Brixham will bring something new. Dartmouth has it’s own cozy character, Torquay is very local, Plymouth is just fantastic down by the water, and Brixham will have its own identity. We’ve put a big investment of £0.5 million into Brixham but we don’t plan to open a restaurant every month, more likely one a year.
“Our ethos for Brixham is good seafood with a mail order business. We’re launching a gateway from the harbour to businesses in London. We sold 35 per cent of the company the year before last to raise money to expand Rockfish.
“We’re adamant our whole business model is that restaurants should be a big part of a community. That’s why we sponsor local events such as music festivals, and have 100 per cent employment from the town they’re in. Rockfish Brixham will employ 40 staff, all from Brixham.
“We employ 120 to 150 people across the Rockfish group during our peak time. Ninety per cent of our money is made from April to October and so we employ our ‘seasonairs’ who come to us like a ski season and then go back to university.
“It’s hard to find chefs in this environment. Most people don’t want to cook simple food; they want something more complicated. We’re more bespoke than a fish and chip shop but we’re still about good simple food. We create our own seafood cooks within our 12-week training programme. One of our managers Emma – a really bubbly fantastic girl – came to us at 16 as a waitress and we have trained her in the kitchen and up to management. We also send our trainees up to London to experience working in kitchens there with friends of ours.
“We want to create a solid business, not one we’re building up to sell and float its equity. It’s something that is solid here, a real beacon of the towns you go into. People have been very welcoming here. We’ve got lots of support for Brixham.”
Do you think the new Rockfish will attract new visitors to Brixham?
“I think it will. There’s a lot of good will here, probably more in Brixham than we’ve experienced anywhere. And possibly due to our obvious investment in the town.
“The people of Brixham are proud of Brixham and we all want the town to be better. There are great businesses here already and people are now rebranding their shops. Brixham is on the way up and people are talking about it. Different people are coming into the town. I love Brixham.
“When the Fishermen’s Mission was at the harbour two old ladies used to cook seafood taken fresh from the market in the morning and serve it with cups of tea. I’ve taken many people, including Rick Stein, up there until sadly the mission closed. We wanted to bring that tradition back by opening up the seafood café for breakfast at seven in the morning for the market workers and those who want to get up and experience it. And also come along and have a brandy! Market workers around the world have a shot of something with their breakfast.”
Do you get a kick out of this process of refurbishment leading up to opening?
“I adore it, the whole conception, and wouldn’t do it if I didn’t get a buzz from it. We manage the whole project ourselves, and are constantly making decisions. The furniture can be a bit stressful as it’s made off site. We just hope that when it arrives it’s okay.
“This will be my 24th restaurant in 48 years, from small cafes to big spaces, so it’s much easier now. I look at a space and instantly know what’s going to work. I walk around and feel it for a day or two to feel the space. Mat (business partner Mat Prowse) and me have worked together for 20 years. We both think very laterally. I move, he moves; we’re like one body, it’s an invaluable link.”
What makes the restaurant experience successful?
“Detail and trying to create that thing you can’t quite put your finger on. Someone wrote about it recently and called it ‘restaurant umami’, the sixth taste. It’s something in the décor, food and service. Somehow or another there is a feeling of really liking a place, an ethereal feeling. For me it’s creating the invisible, the warmth, in every single detail – from the poster on the wall, to the staff uniform, to what goes on the table. It’s all about attention to detail. We’re only as good as our worst detail. I think the food is 35 to 40 per cent of the experience. Most of it is the service from the minute you walk in their room, including if you’re welcomed well.
“Simple food is the hardest to get right. Cooking a piece of fish smothered in sauce on beautiful crockery in a beautiful setting is easier than just grilling or frying it. Everyone knows a good chip from a bad chip, what greasy batter tastes like, and old fish from new fish.
“We have the same production process in all our Rockfish branches. We keep our detail and consistency right and have the preparation done before people walk through the door. If you’re not prepared, something will go wrong.”
Is the Rockfish brand following a long-term plan or developing as it goes along?
“Our first Rockfish in Dartmouth was simply an opportunity we wanted to develop. We thought ‘we want to do a fried fish restaurant’ and we did it and got stuck into it. We’re always developing new ideas and thoughts. When we thought we’d like another one we expanded and thought about what Rockfish is all about. It’s about restaurants by the sea, fresh fish, family, and making seafood accessible to all.
“Our brand guidelines apply to everything, including t-shirts etc. We ask is it real? Is it authentic? We want to be real about what we do.
“But it’s not calculated – we’ve got no business plan that says this, this and this. I saw a site recently and thought ‘I love it’. I spoke to Matt and we’ve started a consultation process.”
Do you think good food destinations are important in helping regenerate seaside towns?
“Yes, I think they’re key to be honest. Look at Marylebone High Street in London ten years ago. It was a boarded up charity shop. Landlords there realised that to create a neighbourhood they needed great food shops and so brought in a couple of anchor tenants – a great cheese maker, great baker, great butcher. Marylebone High Street is now probably one of the most valuable bits of real estate in London, and one of the most vibrant. Food certainly kicked off what was an area that people didn’t want to go to into something at the top of the tree.
“Everyone knows that living by the sea is fantastic. It’s certainly a better life than the city in terms of quality of air etc. But we don’t tend to live here because there’s not a lot to do, and nothing going on. If you put something in the town it’ll bring other things and people will come. And then more and more will come and before you know it you’ve got Padstow. I love walking around Padstow, with its great wine and food shops. Walking around there, you feel like you’re somewhere in the Mediterranean.”
Could you say you’re now living the dream down here?
“When I moved down to open The Seahorse that was about fulfilling a lifelong dream of living by the sea, being a restaurateur and living here with the kids.
“In reality, two years later, I lost all my money and then there was the stock market crash and we had to rebuild our lives. Fifty was fast approaching and I’d already got the ambition to open Rockfish. My wife and I sat down and reasoned we didn’t want a bigger house, a bigger boat or faster car, so decided we would just build a great business and work in it. We have no great ambitions to sell it on and make millions of pounds from it, but just carry on having a great life here.
“And it’s my 50th year next year so I’m taking my little boat out to the Med and doing a transatlantic crossing in November.”
Visit www.therockfish.co.uk to find out lots more on Rockfish including menus and opening times.