Fish on the rails: Pulling off seafood on the train

For decades, unhappy travelers and social commentators have bemoaned the standard of the food offerings available on the U.K. rail network. There are a few exceptions, of course, and one that stands out is the increasingly popular Pullman Dining, available on services operated by the First Great Western (FGW) train company.

With food and service that hearken back to the heyday of the railway dining car, the Pullman is billed by FGW as the United Kingdom’s only daily fine dining rail service. The “Pullman” name actually originated in the United States, where industrialist George Pullman introduced luxury sleeper and dining carriages in the 1860s.

On the current FGW service, all meals are freshly prepared by chefs on board the trains and fish takes center stage thanks to a new lunch and dinner menu that uses locally-sourced produce, created by award-winning seafood chef and restaurateur Mitch Tonks.

It’s a relationship that began more than three years ago when the Pullman marketing director enjoyed a meal in Tonks’ Dartmouth restaurant, The Seahorse, and asked the chef if he could produce similar dishes on a train.

“I said, ‘of course,’ and that’s exactly what we did,” said Tonks. “We looked at how best to put it all together in the first year and then went live with it in the second year. We started off with just one Pullman service going out of London, but it has been so successful that we are now up to 12 daily services.”

The menu builds on FGW’s 50:15 pledge, made in 2013, to source products from close to the railway line, including products from Tonks’ local fish market in Brixham, Devon. In line with its pledge, the train company sources more than 90 items from local suppliers.

“Naturally, I wanted to see seafood featured heavily on the train menus as well as other Westcountry products, and I don’t think any other outside catering operation could have done fish so well. We are buying straight from our local fish supplier (the Brixham Seafood Company) – Dover soles, fresh crab, lobster, Devon scallops and salmon smoked especially for us,” he said.

Tonks said that “a love of train dining” attracted him to the project and that the opportunity to put his influence on it “was too good to pass up.”

“The teams onboard the Pullman are the best ever. They are hugely committed people and they have been doing it for years. I was genuinely attracted by the whole package,” he said.

In addition to the Pullman connection, Tonks last week opened his fourth Rockfish restaurant, this one on the Brixham fish market, which together with the town’s harborside, has recently benefited from a multi-million pound upgrade.

The Brixham Rockfish is on two levels. Downstairs it has a breakfast café, a takeaway and a fish preparation area “cutting fish that has just been bought on the market,” as well as the Rockfish Training Academy. The main restaurant is upstairs, with views of the inner harbor and the bay.

“Our seafood is literally straight off the boat and into the restaurant.”

Tonks now has a total of six restaurants, all specializing in seafood. He told SeafoodSource that he believes the secret to ensuring they are successful ventures is “constant attention to detail.”

“As well as serving amazing local and seasonal products, you need to realize that it’s a journey and that every day brings a new challenge and new details that need to be addressed. It’s about selecting the right staff and training those staff in what you want for the business, which is something you have to do every day, so we have a dedicated training program within the company to do that,” said Tonks.

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None