Food & Drink Awards 2019

Page 6 www.lux-review.com LUXlife 2019 Food & Drink Awards Here at LUXlife, we have the chance to share and to know some of the finest restaurants in the world, but very seldom do we get the opportunity to find out more about the excellent suppliers who provide the raw materials for gastronomic perfection. Fortunately, we were able to talk to Bethnal Green Fish Supplies Owner Serge Lea, who knows exactly where to find the real catch of the day. Bethnal Green Fish Supplies: Best Small Family -Run Fish Business 2019 - London A far cry from the big faceless company you might think supplies fabulous food to fancy restaurants, Serge Lea and his team at Bethnal Green Fish Supplies are a small family-run business who have done their utmost to ensure that they deliver only the finest locally sourced fish to their customers. Despite the business being just two years old, Serge has found that the demand for fresh fish is universal. From Michelin Star restaurants to small chain pubs, everyone wants a felicitous fillet to form their culinary centrepieces. From beautiful bass to tantalising tuna, from succulent salmon to captivating cod, if you need something a little different to form the heart of your menu, Serge is just the right man to ask. ‘We moved away from a large corporate business to downsize and go back to what we love doing – which is buying more locally sourced fish and getting to handpick fish for our customers,’ Serge tells us. For him and his team, the selection of fish is a vocation, borne of experience and appreciation. As a family-run business, Serge often does this work alongside his father, Bobby. Father- and-son take great pride in sourcing their fish locally and visit the local market daily to ensure the seafood they’ve found is first-class. ‘Both of us are in direct contact with different ports around the UK daily and speaking directly to local fisherman to ensure everything we are buying is to the best quality,’ Serge explains. The personal touch that goes into filleting through to finding the best fish is greatly appealing to Serge’s customers. ‘We have found that nowadays people don’t want to use big corporate companies,’ he says. ‘They want to know who they are dealing with and want to know where there fish has come from.’ The size of the company means that traceability is very easy to find, with all the fish that goes through their doors carefully sourced from regular suppliers. It’s one major difference between them and the larger company that Serge left. At Bethnal Green Fish Supplies, the closeness of the team is best demonstrated by the careful way in which team members are added. Far from entering a nameless company, it’s a