Learn about seafood, thanks to Prawn On The Lawn cookbook
The story of Prawn On The Lawn is one of constant ingenuity. It started out as a tiny North London fishmonger and seafood bar; just eight seats, a fish counter and no fryer. “The idea was, you could have a glass of fizz and a few oysters while you bought your fish and it was being prepped,” explains Katie Toogood, who runs POTL with her husband, self-taught chef Rick.
The tricky bit was, they didn’t have a licence for hot food. “It forced us into doing something a bit more out there,” admits Rick, describing how their ever-changing menu revolved around curing, pickling, ceviche, oysters, and crab and lobster on ice. “Having all the fish on display, we just wanted to cook it. As a chef it became quite frustrating.”
Five years on, the pair have swapped their stripped-back fishmongers for two restaurants one in London and one in Padstow, Cornwall – and now have their own self-titled cookbook, packed with ‘fish and seafood to share’.
They do seafood without sticking to rigid rules
They might have fryers at both locations now, but don’t expect to find them dishing out portions of salt and vinegar-covered cod. “We don’t do fish and chips,” says Katie, “[but] we could do you some crushed new potatoes and tempura battered white fish.”
Instead, they’re all about small, inventive sharing plates – swayed by whatever their Cornish fishermen have hauled in that day. Rick, who previously worked front of house for a string of high-end restaurants, had never been particularly interested in plodding through meals that predictably went: