A new fishmonger, wine shop and seafood bar opens in Highgate later this month.
Famous for their floating seafood restaurants in Paddington, London Shell Co is coming ashore in Swain's Lane with its first bricks and mortar venture.
Hampstead-raised brother and sister Harry and Leah Lobek have plans to maximise the space as a "cultural hub" with seating for 30 diners, an outdoor terrace, and tastings, events and masterclasses.
London Shell Co started in 2015 hosting seafood supper clubs from a rented barge on the Regent's Canal. Its static barge The Grand Duchess and moving barge The Prince Regent have garnered enthusiastic reviews from Fay Maschler and Jay Rayner for menus featuring daily changing British ingredients.
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Grace Bryson, current Sous Chef on The Grand Duchess, will head up the Highgate kitchen with the likes of whole Cornish crab to share, house cured anchovies, and trout sausages & mash on the menu. There will be daily fresh fish to buy for home cooking, and wines by the glass or bottle.
LSC pivoted to become a wet fish retailer during lockdown, which is when plans to create a “permanent” site began. The siblings said they were "thrilled" to be opening in the area they grew up in.
They said: "Even though we have strong sea legs, we’ve wanted to open a bricks and mortar site for many years.
"We source the best fish from around the British Isles and we are terribly excited at the thought of bringing it to a wider audience.
"We love this area and felt it could use a little restaurant like ours - to be able to combine the two concepts is a dream come true. If you know us, you know that we’re bon vivants who love our wine and socialising. This is exactly the vibe we are going for with Swain’s Lane.”
A daily £2 per oyster deal will operate daily from 4pm to 6pm when cocktails and wines will have £2 off the price. There are also plans to serve picnic bundles for Heath walkers in warmer weather.
London Shell Co will open in late March at Unit 4 Sonny Heights, Swain's Lane N6. Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and Wednesday to Saturday for supper. londonshellco.com
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