Fish ’n’ chips on menu
ALBERT Town is set to get a new eatery and bar on Monday with the opening of the Albert Town Fish Company.
The Englishstyle fish and chip shop and bar is the newest venture for local restaurateurs Francesca Voza and James Stapley.
The two are wellknown for opening other popular restaurants in Wanaka, including Francesca’s and Kika, among others.
Mr Stapley said both he and Ms Voza had always wanted to open a traditional English fish and chip shop and had missed that kind of food here.
He said Albert Town was an attractive area, as there was a lot of development happening, and the town’s residents had nowhere to go to eat.
‘‘It was a good time to put something really good in for the community here. I think it’ll be really nice for those who don’t feel like going into town. They can just walk here, get a drink and some fish and chips.’’
He said the focus was for ‘‘affordable quality’’.
‘‘The difference with what we’re trying to do is to have fresh fish, handcut chips with local ingredients, so it’s not your standard fish and chip shop. It might look the same on a plate but they’re really good products,’’ he said.
Next to the fish and chip shop will be a fish bar, inspired by similar sitdown fish and chip restaurants often seen at seaside towns in England.
However, Mr Stapley planned to evolve that concept into something greater.
‘‘We’re evolving that a little bit with some other fish. There’ll also be some steak and vegetarian stuff, but it’s a place you can go to get really good fresh fish in a nice environment with good wines and local beers.’’
Ms Voza said they would be serving predominantly local craft beers and wines.
An Englishstyle ‘‘gastropub’’ will also open in the Albert Town tavern next July.
Mr Stapley and Ms Voza have another restaurant opening in Christchurch in March.