Fishy changes at Monks

Over the past months I suspect that we have all spotted the ongoing changes to Monks Fishmongers. Since Stacey & Dave took over ownership from Chris Monk, who of course has long been a stalwart of the village, our local Milford on Sea fishmongers has been slowly evolving. Having seen the building work progress & most recently a painting makeover take place, I decided it was time to find out exactly what was going on.

Now, I already knew that there were plans to open a restaurant at the rear of the fishmongers shop, but how this would all look cannot be seen from the front.

I then had a brilliant idea, and decided that I would carry out a ninja operation in a ‘milk tray’ style, I had a black shirt & black trousers in the wardrobe, a black briefcase, a torch & gaffer tape which I could use to stick the torch to my head. (I am not sure what I needed the briefcase for?!) To get over the back fence I decided to take our two dogs, then when in position I would stand one on the other, to create a canine ladder to scale the wooden obstacle. 

My wife had decided she wanted no part of this particular escapade, and just said she wouldn’t visit me in hospital (or prison) when it all went wrong. 

Undaunted my plan remained intact, but I decided that I had better add some gloves ‘so I left no ‘dabs’. To complete the outfit for my undercover spying raid I decided the final component was to wear a pair of my wife’s shoes to leave confusing footprints. (Which should be fun as she is a size 6, & I am a size 12). Once over the fence, I could then quickly see the results of the building work & then return the way I came. (That is as long as I didn’t break a heel). My mission complete, I would then report back to you all without anyone knowing I had even been in there.

I was proud of my meticulously thought out plan, but to carry out such an operation it was obviously necessary to ‘case the joint’ first. So, I popped in to Monks on the pretext that I wanted to buy some cockles. 

As I chatted to Stacey I inadvertently asked how the building work was going? My ‘ninja plan’ was wrecked when she asked if I wanted Dave to show me! All that planning for nothing, plus a missed opportunity to wear my wife’s shoe was destroyed. 

I managed to hide my distraught state of mind & accepted Stacey’s unexpected offer. Dave then took me on a tour of the construction site. What you might not know is that Dave is an accomplished chef & is itching to get behind a stove cooking for the good people of Milford on Sea. He showed me where the new open plan kitchen would be, and the new intimate restaurant area, describing in such detail how everything would be. Anyone who has had a conversation with Dave will recognise that this is never a short experience, but boy!, is this guy passionate. He is passionate about the food he is going to cook, passionate about service standards & passionate to ensure everyone has a great time when the restaurant opens.

The new restaurant will be at the rear of the existing fishmongers, the plan is to open to diners in the early months of next year & I for one am looking forward to tasting Dave’s creations.