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A businessman who supplied sea bass for rock legend Sir Elton John is to open a new fish shop in Somerset. Jonny Burnett, who runs the Conscious Food Co, made sure the flamboyant star had fresh fish delivered to his catering team during his UK tour last year.
Seafood supplier Jonny, 26, from Nailsea, also supplied fresh fish to the Capital Radio Jingle Bell Ball at the 02 where stars including Stormzy, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift performed. Jonny set up the Conscious Food Co after lockdown and now delivers fresh fish – bought from Brixham Fish Market in Devon each day – to more than 50 restaurants across Bristol and the south west.
He is now planning to open his first shop – The Conscious Fish Shop – in Nailsea later this summer. Jonny started his career working as an apprentice chef at River Cottage before moving on to work for Raymond Blanc at the two Michelin starred Le Manoir in Oxford.
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He then went on to set up his own restaurant – The Post Box Eatery in Claverham – aged just 19-years-old. After running his own restaurant for a year Jonny decided to take a break from cooking but picked up his chef whites again during lockdown, setting up a community meals scheme in North Somerset.
The scheme, working with 80 volunteers, saw Jonny and his team make meals out of donated food. A massive 17,000 free meals were handed out during the first Covid pandemic lockdown.
When lockdown eased Jonny returned to cooking and spent a year working as a private chef for a billionaire businessman in St Tropez. After returning home he set up the Conscious Food Co and began selling fish door to door and then expanded his business to start supplying local restaurants.
Now Jonny and his team collect fresh fish from Brixham Market each day and deliver to more than 50 restaurants including some of the region’s finest eateries including Escala in Clevedon and the The Lido in Bristol. Work on the new fishmongers in the former BetFred in Nailsea will start this month ready for opening in August,
The new 1,000 sq ft store will sell a wide range of fish from wild sea bass and lobster to turbot and lemon sole – all sourced from the day boat fishermen supplying Brixham Fish Market. “The response to the news of the Conscious Fish Shop opening has been amazing,” said Jonny.
“The fish we source is of the highest quality and comes fresh off the small, independent day boats which means it is sustainable and we can be sure where we are buying it from.” Jonny also plans to run fish filleting and preparation courses at the new shop as well as providing recipes to customers.
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“People love fish but some are not always sure of what to do with it or how to cook it,” he said. “The idea is to provide customers with recipes for their fish.
“We also plan to work with local chefs to come up with some new and exciting recipes for fish dishes.” To find out more about the Conscious Fish Co, visit www.consciousfoodco.co.uk.
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