ROCkFISH has a new addition to its family of fish and chip restaurants, recently opened at Brixham’s harbour.
ROCKFISH BRIXHAM
TQ MAGAZINE CAUGHT UP WITH MITCH TONKS, THE MAN BEHIND ROCKFISH, JUST BEFORE THE BIG OPENING IN APRIL.
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 but Brixham will have its own identity. We’ve put a big investment of £0.5 million into Brixham. “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.
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“Our whole business model is very focused on our aim that our restaurants should be a big part of a community. That’s why we sponsor local events such as music festivals and make sure we employ all out staff from the towin in which we operate e.g. Rockfish Brixham will employ 40 staff, all from Brixham. “We employ 120 to 150 people across the
Rockfish group during our peak times. 90% of our money is made between April and October and so we employ our ‘seasonairs’ who come to us like a ski season and then go back to university. We take great satisfaction in helping to build a proper career for our staff through training and empowerment. “We want to create a solid business, not one we’re building up to sell and float its equity. It’s
ow does the new restaurant fit in with the Rockfish grand plan? “We didn’t want a cookie cutter roll out
something that is solid here; a typical Rockfish should be a real beacon for the town in which it sits. People have been very welcoming and we’ve received lots of support from Brixham.” How is Rockfish different to other restaurants particularly those serving mostly fish & chips? “It’s hard to find chefs that are comfortable with our ethos. Most 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. We also send our trainees up to London to experience working in kitchens there with friends of ours. Do you think the new Rockfish will attract new visitors to Brixham? “I think it will. There’s a lot of goodwill towards us here, probably more in Brixham than we’ve experienced elsewhere, 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 ladies used to cook seafood taken fresh from the market in the morning and serve it
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