The Sea, The Sea has turned a new tide.
If you’ve never been, there aren’t really any other restaurants in the city like it. It’s the sibling to the Chelsea original, which was essentially half seafood restaurant, half fishmongers. This, on the other hand is housed in a huge railway arch, much like Berber & Q next door, only bigger. And all that space is used first and foremost as a giant development lab, where they take day-boat fish, and clean it, fillet it, dry age it, and deliver it to some of the best restaurants in the city – including their own.
Having already established relationships with day boat fishermen down in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, they’re buying fish direct from the boats, then hoisting them into their own vans to drive up to Hackney each day. Then, they’re scrubbed, scaled, filleted, de-boned, and dry aged, ready to be either sent to another lucky restaurant, or straight to the counter. There’s tanks of shellfish, crates of seaweed, and whatever the suitable container is for gooseneck barnacles & their cousins, like a briny, wet Willy Wonka.
The restaurant side of the operation originally launched as a chef’s table-style space where executive chef/wizard Leandro Carreira could road-test his various (and frequently brilliant) ideas. But the time has come for him to move on, and now The Sea, The Sea Hackney is treating the space as an incubator for up-and-coming chefs to come in and do their thing.
Should you fancy a visit, here’s how your evening will proceed: as you enter, you’ll pass down a long, sleek, corridor whose walls are lined with backlit tanks filled with live fish & crustaceans. There’s a faint green glow above you, further evoking the ocean. Mood set, you’ll arrive at the polished countertop, and take a seat in one of the fourteen comfortable, bright orange chairs surrounding it.
What follows will really depend on who happens to be in residence at that time – you might be settling in for a wine-paired feast, a multi-course omakase tasting menu, or a road-test for a chef’s new concept before they open their own site. But you’ll definitely be in for a unique treat – each chef will only be in residence for a short time, with some popping by for one night only.
One thing’s for sure…
…they’ll be making some waves.
NOTE: The Sea, The Sea, Hackney is open Wednesday-Saturday. You can see who’ll be cooking, and book, at their website right HERE.
The Sea, The Sea, Hackney | 337 Acton Mews, E8 4EA
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