The MasterChef: The Professionals 2014 winner has launched a new six-week pop-up showcasing the best of Scottish seafood.
Hundreds of people descended on Jamie Scott‘s Fife-based eatery, The Newport Restaurant, to get a taste of what he and his team have on offer at his latest pop-up venture.
Running for the next six weeks until his restaurant reopens on June 10 for lunch and dinner service, Jamie has launched his pop-up, Shipwreck Seafood, and was completely taken by surprise at the number of people who came out to support the new business which is currently based at his restaurant’s car park in Newport.
Offering up a range of produce and flavours of the sea, the popular chef and his team were put to the test to feed as many people as they could, selling out on both days, one of which was within the space of two-and-a-half hours.
“Absolutely crazy”
He said: “It was absolutely mental but it was really, really good. I always prepare for the worst and people not turning up. I was worried about what I would do with all the seafood if we didn’t sell it.
“I think we knew we were going to be a bit busy, but it just ended up being absolutely crazy, which was great.
“I was present on the Saturday as I was doing an event at Arbroath Market for Smoking Barrels on the Sunday, but on the Saturday we must have done around 200 covers.
“We were even busier on Sunday and there must have been around 300 covers – we ended up having to turn around 100 people away because we sold out by 2.30pm. We sold out in two-and-a-half hours. I felt really bad for selling out and I did try to get around everyone but the queue was so long!”
What a weekend! Thank you all and see you for some more next week. Ps will try not to sell out by 2:30 again. 😳😅 also not a bad wee kitchen setup. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qElQfrBbJV
— Jamie Scott (@mrjayger) April 25, 2021
Seafood offering
Scheduled to run from noon until 6pm every Saturday and Sunday for the next month and a half, the venture showcases the very best of local seafood.
Jamie also wants to highlight how easy it is to turn cheaper cuts of fish into top-quality dishes and is determined to work as zero waste focused as possible, ensuring every part of the produce is used.
“We want to have the same ethos as the restaurant and use as much local produce as possible. The origins of the seafood will be outlined on the menu board, and we want to be as creative as we can with cheaper cuts of fish,” said Jamie.
“For example, we had monkfish cheeks at the weekend, salmon bellied fishcakes, turbot head, halibut and we used every bit of it.
“One lucky couple got the whole head roasted on the barbecue, another couple got the collars which was almost like spare ribs on the barbecue, and another person got the tail which was roasted down and finished with barbecue sauce. We want to be as zero waste focused as possible and use all of the produce.
“There’s also staples like Thai green curry mussels and red mullet with a miso barbecue glaze. There was also a mackerel pate and we got beautiful brown crabs in and did them on the barbecue and everyone was loving them.”
Chefs back in the kitchen
Reopening the restaurant in mid-June, Jamie and the team have loved being back in the kitchen and he says it is a good way for the team to get used to a fast pace of working again, with hundreds of customers lining up to be served.
A team of five run the operation over the two days and additional produce has been ordered to make sure more customers can get a taste of the action.
“All of the chefs are buzzing to get back into the kitchen and working so this was a nice way to give them a taste of what is to come,” said Jamie.
“There was one staff member inside working and we had four on the truck, one taking orders, one taking orders out and everyone else helping with the food.
First day and launch of our summer pop up #shipwreckseafood ooft it was busy! Thanks to all who enjoyed the beautiful weather and bog standard fishy grub! #popup #pushon #alfresco pic.twitter.com/TXgVl8b6nX
— Jamie Scott (@mrjayger) April 24, 2021
“It is a big operation of doing two days of seafood. This weekend I have 80 kilos of mussels ordered, three whole halibut, 50 mackerel coming in. To process all of that outside and in the kitchen it takes up a lot of room.
“We’ve ordered one-and-a-half times more food than we had last week. Because shellfish is so perishable, it is important there’s no waste. The best thing really is to sell out I guess.
“If I run out on Saturday, I know our fish guy will get more for us on Sunday and he’ll source as much as he can fresh from the boats that morning.”
Pirate bar
And it won’t just be Shipwreck Seafood pitching up at The Newport Restaurant’s car park this weekend as Jamie also revealed a pirate bar equipped with cocktails, beer, wine and more, will also be in operation to serve up a range of drinks to accompany the food.
He added: “It will be there for the next six weeks until we open the restaurant in June and we’ve also got a pirate bar opening next weekend which will be right across from it.
“We’ll do some nice cocktails, bottled beers and ciders and we’ll have wine as well. There will be some rum cocktails, which I love, available and I think it will be a lot of fun.
“We’re really looking forward to doing it all next weekend. Everything is going really well with the other elements of the business like the bakery, so it is great to have the support we have had already.
“You never know what is going to happen with things until you try and I’m very grateful for all the support. We don’t take shortcuts and everyone will get some great food and drinks.”
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