Tide seafood restaurant opens in Hasketon Suffolk 2023

If you want to know anything about fish– Mike Warner’s your man. Mike is renowned across the east of England (and much further afield) for his expertise on everything that can be summoned from the water, and has built a respected reputation in the field – or, more accurately, the sea! 

From humble beginnings with his A Passion For Seafood blog, more recently Mike put down roots, opening a shop and seafood deli at Grange Farm in Hasketon following a successful pop-up. And he has just announced the creation of a brand-new seasonal restaurant, Tide, in collaboration with chef Hannah Christensen. 

“It’s a concept I've been harbouring for a while now,” Mike says. “It’s been in my head for years really. But now, with the shop, and the fact we’re doing what we’re doing with seasonal British fish, I thought the next logical step was to take the whole story from net to plate. 

“I want to create an experience where we not only serve fantastic food, but educate people along the way. It’s about maintaining a supreme level of quality, while also being inventive and taking people out of their comfort zone, introducing them to ways of eating seafood they might not have considered before.” 

The restaurant (popping up at The Barn Café next to the shop at Haskeston) is to be a seasonal affair, with bookings now open for the first evening on March 24, where eight courses, taking diners on a culinary journey, are promised. 

While Mike is keeping much of the menu under wraps, he does reveal that it will include the best of what’s available from our shores at the time. Local skate. Cornish mackerel. Cromer crab. Cornish day boat scallops. 

The flow of the menu will showcase fish and shellfish in myriad ways, with raw, cured, smoked, nose-to-tail, and oven-roasted courses, as well as a cheese and dessert course (yes, those include fish too). 

“I’m looking forward to the smoked Felixstowe Ferry skate cheeks with sorrel foam and spent coffee and onion granola, finished with a little pinch of trout caviar,” he says, giving a little more insight. 

“Another one that’s a bit of fun is the cured, torched mackerel filet with wild garlic, Butley Creek oyster mousse, compressed local rhubarb and lovage powder.” 

Not your standard fish and chips then. “People have their good, solid favourites when it comes to fish,” Mike explains. “But we want to take them out of their comfort zone. To try something new. One of the dishes will be using part of the fish people wouldn’t be used to eating. But we’ll show them what to do, and give them pointers on how to make some of these things at home as well.” 

Mike, who’s no stranger to talking in front of crowds (he held court at his own stage during the 2022 Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival) will be milling about at the restaurant, introducing the courses and being available for diners to pose all their burning questions. 

“This, really, has given me another platform to speak from the parapet about British seafood and why we should be eating more of it, why we don’t have access to a lot of species that end up getting exported. That’s what we will focus on. There’s a real storytelling and informative element to the whole thing.” 

Spaces are limited, and tickets are £75 per person, with drinks available on the evening from Smashing Wines. 

If you miss out on a table, further bookings can be made for June 23, September 29 and December 8, and more dates may be added to the diary. 

Tickets will be available via Eventbrite. Email mike@apassionforseafood.com to be added to the enquiry list. Find out more at apassionforseafood.com, and follow @apassionforseafood on Instagram for the latest updates.