Mitch Tonks set to open new restaurant at the National Marine Aquarium

15 January 2013 by
Mitch Tonks set to open new restaurant at the National Marine Aquarium

Chef-restaurateur and seafood aficionado Mitch Tonks is set to expand his Rockfish brand, with the opening of a new restaurant at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.

A planning application has been submitted for a 200-seat seafood restaurant in the building next to the aquarium, representing a £500,000 investment which will create up to 40 new jobs.

It will be the third Rockfish restaurant, as Tonks already has sites in Bristol and Dartmouth, where he also runs a fish and chip shop and his flagship seafood restaurant the Seahorse.

Commenting on the launch, Tonks said: "Plymouth has some of the best fish in the UK which will be reflected on our menu. It's great to have the support of the National Marine Aquarium, as our key ethos of encouraging marine conservation is so closely matched by the work that the quarium does both here in Plymouth and further afield. It's going to be a unique partnership, and one which we are very much looking forward to developing over the coming months."

The National Marine Aquarium is a registered charity committed to promoting a sympathetic understanding of the sea through programmes of education, conservation and research. Opened in 1998, it operates the largest public aquarium in the UK.

Rockfish will be the latest in a string of new restaurant openings in Plymouth, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage, Le Bistrot Pierre's 10th site and Gary Rhodes's forthcoming restaurant at the Dome.

Last autumn, Tonks joined forces with South Devon College to launch a new Seafood Academy. As part of the academy, one of the training kitchens at the college has been designated the "Mitch Tonks Seafood Academy", where the chef and his team at the Seahorse run masterclasses for existing college students as well as for chefs already working in the sector locally.

Mitch Tonks launches seafood academy with South Devon College >>

Le Bistrot Pierre to open 10th site in Plymouth >>

- By Kerstin KÁ¼hn

E-mail your comments to Kerstin KÁ¼hn here.

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