Joe Baker to open live fire restaurant Pêtchi on Jersey

Called Pêtchi, which translates as ‘to try to catch a fish’ from Jèrriais, Jersey’s traditional dialect, the restaurant will open next month serving a menu of dishes made with locally sourced ingredients.

It will be housed in a historic grade two listed building and will occupy the top floor of what was once the harbourmasters office, overlooking Jersey’s Liberation Square. The open plan restaurant will feature large windows with  a polished concrete pass to the rear of the room.

A separate bar space will be open for drinks and some small plates in a more informal setting.

Seafood and shellfish will be a key feature of Pêtchi, with dishes to include Jersey oysters either served raw with cucumber and sorrel, or fried with citrus and house hot sauce; Chancre crab and seaweed tarts; and a signature of wood-roasted lobster rice for two or three to share as well as an ex-dairy beef chop with smoked olive oil.

Other dishes on the launch menu will include Galician octopus, chilli crunch and gooseberry salsa; Iberico lamb sweetbreads, Tropea onions and sour cherry; and wood-roasted Écréhous scallop with white asparagus and elderflower.

Aside from the raw dishes, the majority of the menu will be cooked over fire on  bespoke grill designed by Rhys Allen, who has also created one-off pieces for London restaurants including Brat and Kiln. Powered by Holm oak wood it will be used for dishes such as flatbreads, smoked butter, and signature desserts such as a smoked Jersey milk ice cream, grilled strawberries and blackcurrant leaf oil.

Jersey-born Baker is a self taught chef who has done stages at kitchens in London, Australia and San Sebastian. In 2016, aged 25, he returned to Jersey to open his debut restaurant, Number 10, which closed earlier this year.

“Number 10 was a great spot to hone our skills and really figure out what we want to be. Seven years later and I feel like we know that now. Pêtchi is a space to showcase and celebrate, with purity, where we are, this beautiful maritime island,” he says. “Cooking over wood is engaging and alive, hard to do but ultimately delicious, it’s a style with nowhere to hide”.

In 2019 he represented the south west region in Great British Menu, returning in 2020 for series 15 to reach the finals.

Pêtchi will open on Friday 23 June.