Fish at last!

Fish! has opened at last in Borough Market but on the first day there was still a notice pasted on the window saying: "We are not quite ready for you yet."

The much heralded opening had been delayed several weeks which resulted in the opening coinciding with the Borough's monthly Saturday warehouse sale. Fish was sold on tables outside to the first customers.

Fish! is a 90 seat diner with a wet fish shop attached. In the summer there will be space for a further 60 diners on the terrace alongside Southwark Cathedral. The five strong team behind Fish! includes William Black whose interest in fish began 20 years ago when he worked on an oyster farm in Ireland.

Black is co-author with his wife Sophie Grigson of The Fish Cookbook. His aim is to promote fish as a healthy and delicious alternative to meat. The team at Fish! claims to be especially concerned with being sure to maintain an environmentally friendly catch and is selecting from sustainable fisheries wherever possible. "We will use as our guiding principle the FAO (UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation) code of conduct for responsible fisheries" says Black. "We know we cannot solve all the world's fishery problems either easily or quickly but we at Fish! are committed to progress and the active promotion of the good management of the world's last great wild food resource."