Craig McCathie couldn't imagine the success that lay ahead of his humble Port Lincoln seafood café when he first opened its doors back in 2000.
A commercial fisherman by trade, McCathie started The Fresh Fish Place with the simple aim of working with his wife, sister and brother-in-law to sell great fish and chips.
However soon after launching the team realised there was enormous, largely untapped potential for seafood-related tourism in the Port Lincoln area. They weren’t the only ones.
Approached directly by the South Australian Tourism Commission to be part of an initiative designed to encourage tourism in the less-visited part of the state, they quickly realised the opportunities ahead. “My wife, Sandy, said ‘we can do that’… and that’s where we started,” McCathie says.
The resultant ‘aquaculture trail’ around the South Australian peninsula has been hugely successful. Today The Fresh Fish Place is both the largest supplier of seafood in the region and one of its ‘must see’ tourist destinations.
From a start with fish and chips the business now offers factory tours and tasting experiences, seafood culinary classes, a gallery with home-wares for sale, factory-direct produce and, of course, a café with sensational fresh seafood.
“We started running tours to educate people about seafood – how oysters are shucked, fish is filleted, squid is cleaned. We then give them a taste of our in-house smoked and pickled products”, says McCathie. In April they launched weekly culinary classes, which have already received “a lot of interest”.
A commercial fisherman by trade, McCathie started The Fresh Fish Place with the simple aim of working with his wife, sister and brother-in-law to sell great fish and chips.
However soon after launching the team realised there was enormous, largely untapped potential for seafood-related tourism in the Port Lincoln area. They weren’t the only ones.
Approached directly by the South Australian Tourism Commission to be part of an initiative designed to encourage tourism in the less-visited part of the state, they quickly realised the opportunities ahead. “My wife, Sandy, said ‘we can do that’… and that’s where we started,” McCathie says.
The resultant ‘aquaculture trail’ around the South Australian peninsula has been hugely successful. Today The Fresh Fish Place is both the largest supplier of seafood in the region and one of its ‘must see’ tourist destinations.
From a start with fish and chips the business now offers factory tours and tasting experiences, seafood culinary classes, a gallery with home-wares for sale, factory-direct produce and, of course, a café with sensational fresh seafood.
“We started running tours to educate people about seafood – how oysters are shucked, fish is filleted, squid is cleaned. We then give them a taste of our in-house smoked and pickled products”, says McCathie. In April they launched weekly culinary classes, which have already received “a lot of interest”.
The journey since 2000 has given the Fresh Fish team the time to trial innovative new approaches. “Along the way we realised there was a greater demand for a total retail and tourism experience,” says McCathie. “And so that’s what we’ve done. Along with offering great seafood.”
Certainly this final factor has been a huge part of The Fresh Fish Place’s success. It’s why McCathie wanted only the finest kitchen equipment. “With my fishing background I didn’t know much about that,” he says. “So I asked the better known chefs in the region what they thought, and they all told me that if we wanted the best we should go for the Waldorf Bold Series.”
McCathie says that hosting high profile chefs to cook onsite and being a venue for many travel-focused cooking programs was another important reason to choose quality.
Since launching the venue has attracted hundreds of celebrity chefs including Iain Hewitson, Michael Angelakis, Manu Feildel and Mitch Tonks. “When we get top chefs, we want them to be wowed by our equipment,” he says. “And the Waldorf Bold delivers that wow factor.”
Such a response is typical of all those who travel through the doors of The Fresh Fish Place. And it’s why the business is now justifiably regarded as tourism and hospitality royalty on South Australia’s beautiful Eyre Peninsula.
Certainly this final factor has been a huge part of The Fresh Fish Place’s success. It’s why McCathie wanted only the finest kitchen equipment. “With my fishing background I didn’t know much about that,” he says. “So I asked the better known chefs in the region what they thought, and they all told me that if we wanted the best we should go for the Waldorf Bold Series.”
McCathie says that hosting high profile chefs to cook onsite and being a venue for many travel-focused cooking programs was another important reason to choose quality.
Since launching the venue has attracted hundreds of celebrity chefs including Iain Hewitson, Michael Angelakis, Manu Feildel and Mitch Tonks. “When we get top chefs, we want them to be wowed by our equipment,” he says. “And the Waldorf Bold delivers that wow factor.”
Such a response is typical of all those who travel through the doors of The Fresh Fish Place. And it’s why the business is now justifiably regarded as tourism and hospitality royalty on South Australia’s beautiful Eyre Peninsula.
