New eco-friendly fish and chip shop

Tom Aikens' bijou Chelsea empire is set to expand this summer with a new eco-friendly fish and chip shop

Tom Aikens is opening a fish and chip restaurant and takeaway in the same area as his two other restaurants in Chelsea in the late summer.

The former Monkeys site will house a 60-cover restaurant on the first floor and a takeaway with some seats on the ground floor.

Aikens said, "We're obviously going to be looking at issues of sustainability and will use fish that aren't as popular as cod and haddock, such as whiting, hake and pollack." He added that the concept would be simple, with a maximum of 10 main courses only, but "because we're in Chelsea we'll serve proper langoustine and there'll be lobster on the menu".

The restaurant will be environmentally friendly with food being served in small wooden boxes, which can be recycled, explained Aikens. "When people go out to eat fish and chips they don't necessarily want to eat off a china plate. It slides around so it's not practical, but also, if we serve 300 to 400 meals a night it would be a complete nightmare trying to wash all those plates."

Aikens said he became interested in opening a fish and chip restaurant last year after the success of his informal restaurant Tom's Kitchen.

"We saw how successful that was and that everyone now wants home-style cooking – we often turn away 60 to 80 people an evening at Tom's Kitchen because we're so full."