A brand-new fish and wine restaurant will be opening very soon in Bridport.

The Electric Pub Company is bringing a new offering to the town, based at Bridport Arts Centre

In 2019, Alasdair Warren, owner of the Electric Palace and Electric Pub Company - made up of Pymore Inn, Elm Tree, The Worlds End, The Antelope and wine Merchant Morrish and Banham - was approached to buy Bridport Arts Centre to ensure it continued as it was struggling with financial difficulties.

The arts centre trust is continuing its programme of events - Covid permitting - and the new restaurant will only add to the offering, also ensuring the building will be financially viable.

The restaurant will be in the space of the former café and offices to the back of the building, also using the outside courtyard, as well as the forecourt to the front of the building.

Alasdair said: "I've got all sorts of visions for developing the arts centre, but the first vision was that we could develop a fish and wine restaurant, something that's a bit different from anything in Bridport.

"The idea of sitting there [the forecourt] on a Saturday afternoon, having a glass of wine, a bit of food, listening to somebody play music an watching the crowds go by, I thought was a brilliant idea.

"My vision of what we're calling the Arts Club Restaurant and the Arts Club Café is that it adds something to the existing building, provides a sustainable, economic, commercial future to support the ongoing arts and other activities and things that are important to the social fabric of Bridport.

"By the end of July, we're going to be able to open the piazza café, which will be wine and cold plates on the front during the summer. The restaurant at the back will be ready but we're waiting on some commercial kitchen equipment."

The team, who has worked on the other Electric Pub Company restoration projects, has been busy creating a beautiful art deco restaurant in the arts centre, which will be overseen by Mark Banham.

George Marsh has been with the Electric Pub Company for around a year will be taking up the helm as executive head chef and is excited to be back working in Bridport. He has been head chef at the former Riverside Restaurant, the New Inn at Stoke Abbot and the Bull Hotel and has also worked at the Three horseshoes in Powerstock, the Fox Inn at Corscombe and The Castle at Taunton.

He said: "I can't wait to have a team and get going and just enjoy it."

To begin with, until the kitchen is fully up and running, George will be offering dishes such as croquettes, smoked salmon dishes, oysters, Portland crab dishes, seafood soups and things they can do easily to "give people a taster of what we can offer out here and what we're all about".

He added: "We will have vegan and meat options as well.

"We're using local people, there's a local guy I know who is going to scallop dive for us, there's a fisherman in West Bay who is going to supply us and we're just using all local suppliers.

"We're so lucky where we live' we live on the coast and country so let's use what we've got around us.

"It's not going to be fussy food, it's going to be all about country flavours. It will be a menu that changes all the time - I don't want someone to come on Saturday and then the following Saturday and the same dishes are on the menu. I want to be excited.

"We've got something to offer that nowhere else in the town can."

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