This April sees the opening of Fish Butchery on Oxford St in Paddington, Sydney - a take on the modern fishmonger, and a first for the Australian city.
The popular chef behind this new enterprise is Josh Niland, of restaurant Saint Peter, who is hoping to recreate the butchery experience of talking to the skilled butcher about your next meal at home from their fresh produce. Fish Butchery will offer dry handled fish, and is cut to order, mirroring the process used already at Saint Peter. "At Saint Peter, all our fish is handled dry and stored at a very low temperature (0 – 2 degrees celsius) in a static cool room. This process extends the shelf life of most fish species and intensifies the flavour profile which translates in the final cooked product," says Josh
Charles Bank, co-founder of thefoodpeople, said of the new opening: "In line with the food era that we live within, where the rule book, with all its terms of reference is being re-written, Josh is absolutely doing that with Fish. Josh is opening our eyes to a 'new world order' with fish, one that uses and respects every part of the animal including the bits we never talk about like the offal, the skeleton, the skin, eyes, semen, gills and blood. Josh is taking these often discarded by-products and he's smoking them, drying them, making sausages, crisps and curing them.
"He's also challenging the norms of the supply chain and storage by taking learnings from meat, he's aging fish by hanging it where it can't sit in its own moisture and deteriorate over ice, his even experimented with a 41 day aged Albacore! This new renegade new kid on the block is not only a hit with thefoodpeople but with diners and critics alike as he's just scoped Good Food Guide – New Restaurant of the year 2017. Look out for his new Fish Butchery opening in April."
Fish Butchery will open its doors on 1st April and will work closely with suppliers to introduce new fish in a more accessible way.
The news of Sydney's Fish Butchery opening falls within out identified trending area that is seafood revolution, something that we covered this January's foodwatching report - looking at some of the key food trends contributing to the growing popularity of seafood. Read the Seafood Revolution report here.