Hospitality Awards 2021

www.lux-review.com Page 45 LUX 2021 Hospitality Awards from the boats, they can guarantee only the freshest and best quality haddock goes into every fish supper. As part of the experience, there is visual entertainment throughout the restaurant and a takeaway area in the form of their own family’s fishing films, depicting genuine footage of life at sea from the 1950s to the present day aboard their father’s trawler, MFV Argonaut. These popular films give visitors a valuable insight into the heritage and the Scottish fishing industry in the seas surrounding Scotland. This area of Fife is fortunate enough to have some of the world’s best quality seafood right on its doorstep and the Catch of the Day board reflects this. The Fish Bar’s haddock, lemon sole, halibut, monkfish and much more are only purchased from boats that adopt responsible fishing practices or have certified MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) accreditation. This guarantees that the fish have been caught responsibly and with due concern to the marine environment. Alison, Robert and team are wholly The Anstruther Fish Bar is a family-owned fish and chip restaurant and takeaway, with local couple, Alison & Robert Smith at the helm. Their passion in working towards conserving the world’s fish stocks and protecting the marine environment for future generations - not just in Scotland but also across the globe, is evident. The Anstruther Fish Bar Best Traditional Family- Owned Fish & Chip Restaurant - Scotland Sep21118 Generations of this Smith family have lived and worked in the East Neuk of Fife – predominantly in the fishing industry and can be traced back to the late 1600s from father to son – all fishermen from this particular area of Scotland. However, Robert Smith, co-owner of The Anstruther Fish Bar, is colour blind so couldn’t skipper his own trawler. Fortunately, in 1981, Robert and wife Alison set up their own fish processing business – Argofish, in nearby St. Monans producing fresh, hand-filleted haddock to fish and chip shops and retail outlets in East and Central Scotland. By 2003, their dream of expanding into the hospitality sector by supplying their prime Scottish seafood through Argofish to their own family restaurant - The Anstruther Fish Bar, became a reality. Through Argofish, they now confidently source the finest quality seafood for Anstruther Fish Bar, directly from the quayside every day. Argofish has become the leading supplier to the Fish Bar and the traditionally, hand filleted fish are a recognised factor in increased customer confidence and the many recent awards and recognitions that adorn the inside walls. Robert, Alison and team are primarily focused on providing that unique ‘Anstruther Fish Bar Experience’ to every one of their customers through consistently providing them with excellent customer service and local, high- quality seafood and other traditional Scottish produce – all sourced from small, independent suppliers. By purchasing their seafood directly committed to only serving sustainably caught seafood and sourcing everything locally wherever possible Back in 2009, after months of staff training and getting procedures into place, Anstruther Fish Bar proudly became the UK’s first fish and chip shop (from over 11,500 shops) to gain Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody Certification. With help from the MSC, they have made a training video to encourage and assist other UK fish and chip shops in achieving this sustainable seafood certification. Since then, as more and more businesses worldwide have become MSC certified, Anstruther Fish Bar was recently awarded a glass plaque in recognition of becoming the World’s First MSC Certified Fish & Chip Shop. To mark their commitment to sustainable seafood and their work with the MSC, Robert and Alison were invited to join His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, at a lunch reception in Clarence House. They joined a small group of representatives from the MSC and other leaders in the seafood industry to recognise and highlight the critical roles individual businesses play through the supply chain. From fisheries and retailers to the customer, Anstruther Fish Bar are doing their bit in helping to transform the seafood industry into a more sustainable one. Not content with promoting sustainability in the seafood industry, the team at Anstruther Fish Bar are very conscious of their impact on the environment and also ultimately strive for zero landfill waste. They were the first Scottish fish and chip shop to use fully compostable packaging, sourced from a local company, to provide an individually branded ‘newspaper’ style compostable packaging for both the restaurant and takeaway. This range of products, which include cups, lids, restaurant plates, napkins, bowls, takeaway boxes, salad containers and much more, is made entirely from plant starch, and through efficient recycling is 100% compostable, ‘returning to the earth’ in 180 days. Following their bid to reduce the amount of ‘single-use’ plastics at Anstruther Fish Bar, they were also recently presented with the area’s very first ‘Plastic Free Champions’ award. Anstruther Fish Bar is not just a business but a whole life. Robert, Alison, and the entire team at the Fish Bar take a great deal of pride and care in building on its reputation - not just in Scotland but also throughout the world. The long list of awards they have received since 2003 is certainly testament to this. Company Name: The Anstruther Fish Bar Contact Name: Alison Smith Website: https://www.anstrutherfishbar.co.uk