Frankies Fish & Chips - A New Northern Star is Born!

The most northerly fish and chip shop and café in Great Britain has just opened its doors at Brae in the Shetland Isles. Frankies fish and chips is owned by Garry & Valerie Johnson and ably managed by Iain Mills, who is also the head chef, and has received rave reviews from the local residents and the many tourists visiting the islands since they opened the doors a few weeks ago.

'The idea of opening a fish and chip shop has been in the planning stages for about 5 years' said Valerie, ' we had very specific ideas about what we wanted and its taken a long time to get to this stage'.

'No expense has been spared' said Iain, 'in getting the best equipment available on the market today; we looked at the options and decided that a Florigo would be exactly what we needed. From the moment I contacted the office they were extremely helpful and nothing was too much trouble'.

Robert Furey was, as always, pleased to be able to help - after flying up to the Islands Rob advised that an electric range would be the best option as there was no mains gas and installing a propane system was cost prohibitive - Iain and Garry decided on a 4 pan island range, with flotronic computer controls for the basket pans, integral filtration, mirror glass doors and a bespoke stainless steel counter complimented with an African Teak front.

'Its is vitally important that we have the Rolls Royce of equipment here' said Iain ' We need to establish and maintain a good quality reliable service and, as the ingredients we use are all local products and cooked fresh daily, obviously we want to have the best equipment so that we can do justice to the food we produce.

In order to help Iain get the best from his range Florigo arranged for him to spend a week at Roland's Happy Plaice in Porthleven in Cornwall - 'It was great to meet someone as enthusiastic as Iain' said Roland Lowery 'I know that he will make a huge success of the venture, In fact I am even planning on flying up to try his fish and chips very soon!'

Steve Beckett, the chief engineer from Florigo's service division, was on hand to ensure that the delivery and installation was as smooth as possible - in fact the only thing that wasn't was the 12 hour ferry crossing in a force 8 gale!

Following the install Florigo arranged for Graham Kennedy, from Bells in Durham, to spend a week at Frankies to ensure that the opening week went as smoothly as possible and help Iain get the best from his new range, Graham is well known for the excellent product he produces on his Florigo and its testament to him that he helps and advises new friers too!

The café has room for 22 covers and the décor is bright and welcoming, clean and functional - each day Iain and his team will offer daily specials, including a selection of fabulous pizzas cooked in their brand new TurboChef oven which was also supplied, along with the full range of Bold Equipment, by Florigo UK Limited.

Frankies Fish & Chips has already got off to a great start - on the first day queues had already formed around the shopand into the car park and everyone who had tried the food had nothing but praise for the quality of food and service.

The final word to Iain 'I am delighted with the equipment and the effort the whole team have put in to get us this far, I have been amazed with how busy we are, the range has been fantastic and everyone is doing a great job, we can always improve on what we do but so far so its amazing'

Radio Scotlands DJ Tom Morton popped in to Frankies - see his comments... http://beatcroft.blogspot.com/2008/10/through-snow-yesterday-to-uks-most.html

For more information on Florigo frying ranges, TurboChef ovens or Bold equipment please contact Deborah on 01527 592000.