Celebrating sustainability on Shetland’s shores

Britain’s most northerly fish and chip shop, which prides itself of the sustainability of its produce and can trace its fish from line to plate, has scooped The Best Eatery award in the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards.

Frankie’s Fish & Chips, in the village of Brae, on the shores of Busta Voe in Shetland, emerged victorious after judges said a consistently high quality of produce and the presence of four Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accredited species of fish and shellfish on its menus meant they were operating at a very high level.

Frankie’s Manager, John Gold, said:
“We’re very flattered to have been chosen by the judges as the best eatery in the region. It is judged on such things as customer service, quality of the product and how your shop looks from both outside and inside.”

Other shortlisted businesses were the Bandstand Bar & Restaurant in Nairn, Eilean Dubh Restaurant in Fortrose, The Bothy in Burghead and the Pier Café in Lairg. The winner was announced at a dinner in the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness, hosted by presenter and comedian Fred MacAulay. Frankie’s was highly commended in the same category at last year’s awards ceremony.

2015 is Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink, which offers a chance to spotlight and celebrate Scotland’s natural larder and quality produce - to both Scots and visitors - by promoting increased use of regional and Scottish produce across the tourism and events industry. Launched by Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, the Year of Food and Drink is set to build upon momentum generated in 2014 and enhance Scotland’s global reputation as a Land of Food and Drink.

For John and his staff, running Frankie’s café and restaurant is about much more than simply dishing up fish and chips, it’s about educating people – including local schoolchildren – about where the fish comes from and its sustainability.

John added:
“When we opened, we realised sustainability would play a large part in our business, as we are located in the heart of a fishing community. We are lucky, as a lot of shops don’t get the opportunity to sell really fresh fish like we do. We source ours from Blydoit Fish in Scalloway, run by James John, who has a fishing boat called the Mizpah. I phone up our order first thing and they fillet and skin it and have it back here by about 11am. It doesn’t come much fresher than that!

“We began working with local schools after we were approached by a school who wanted to look round the shop. We made up a ‘Frankie’s fish course’, made a ‘day in the life’ video for our website, a power point presentation around the fish we sell and how they are caught, and James John sends up a box of five round and five flat fish and I take mussels and crabs too to show the children. We teach them about the importance of sustainability and our approach to this.”

The four MSC species sold at Frankie’s, which account for 98% of fish and shellfish sales, are haddock, mussels, scallops and brown crab. To keep his food miles down, John sources his mussels, scallops and brown crab from Michael Laurenson at Blueshell Mussels, half a mile away from the shop.

John said:

“We used to sell skate and monkfish, which were big sellers, but we have taken them off the menu, as they aren’t on the Marine Conservation Society’s sustainable fish guide. If we do our bit, hopefully others will follow suit.
“Our mussels can be from sea to plate in 10 minutes and we serve them steamed, or with Moroccan spices, or a blue cheese sauce. At the Shetland Food Fair recently, we served them with Shetland honey and chilli and with Shetland cheeses.”

VisitScotland Islands Manager, Steve Mathieson, said:
“I would like to congratulate John and his team for maintaining the incredibly high standards at Frankie’s and for really helping put Shetland on the food map.
“As Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink approaches, it is imperative that we sustain and build upon the momentum generated by Homecoming Scotland 2014 to inspire the people of Scotland and our visitors to celebrate our outstanding natural larder and further develop our reputation as a Land of Food & Drink.”

John, along with Carlyn Kearney, Shift Manager at Frankie’s, are now set to travel to London for the national final on 19th January, where they will give a presentation to a panel of judges and the winners are announced the following day.
For more information on Frankie’s and to watch their video, visit: www.frankiesfishandchips.com