Chelsea's big catch
Alex Hunter, known to London fish lovers as the founder of Bonnie Gull, welcomes the pescatorially curious to The Sea, The Sea, now resident on Chelsea’s foodie Pavilion Road. Photo: Helen Cathcart
“The final piece of the puzzle” is how Alex Hunter, founder of this thoroughly original fishmonger/deli/seafood bar, describes its place on Chelsea’s buzzy Pavilion Road. Known locally as Edible Trail, the street is a delightful mix of independent food retailers and edible potted plants whose QR codes link to recipe inspiration.
Primarily a retail space where the catch of the day is on display until 5.30pm, the fish shop turns into a dine-in seafood bar in the evening thanks to clever convertible tables. Sustainability is key, explains Hunter, who brought in executive chef Leandro Carreira (formerly executive chef at Londrino in SE1) to oversee the careful preparation and presentation of premium fish and shellfish.
“Our product is so fresh and of such high quality that you don’t want to do too much to it.”
“Around 95 percent of what we sell and serve comes from UK day boats,” says Hunter. “The rest we source as specialty items that our customers have asked for, like yellowfin tuna from Japan and Alaska king crab.” A big draw for fish lovers is the on-site dry-ageing cabinet, where fleshier species such as turbot, sea bream, mackerel, salmon, sardines, and wild trout find a deeper, richer flavour for chef Carreira and his expert team to experiment with.
But don’t expect a full menu. “We don’t really ‘cook’ on site,” says Hunter. “Our product is so fresh and of such high quality that you don’t want to do too much to it. So we serve lots of raw, cured and lightly steamed dishes—with a nice glass of wine, of course.”
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