My name is Conor and I am the Head Chef at Fish City. I started working at 16 as a kitchen porter and it is here that my interest in cooking began and I started my journey in becoming a chef. I really enjoyed the fast paced environment of a kitchen, it suited my energy perfectly. From there I started to work my way though kitchens from the bottom up. I began by learning all the basics and developing my skills along the way.

I have a hard working ethic and have always been willing to watch and learn how a kitchen is managed, and menus are executed. Alongside this I was continually reading books on cooking, soon developing good organisational skills and attention to detail, which is crucial to a successfully managed kitchen. I get my inspiration from having a pride in my work at all times, applying my knowledge and experience - I am hard working and have a never give up attitude.

I am well aware that my chosen field of work demands nothing less than giving the maximum effort. I get inspiration from other great chefs at the top of their careers by looking at what they have achieved from all their hard work and efforts. I apply the same work ethic myself and expect the same from the team working with me. But of course cooking with great fresh local ingredients from the supplier to the plate to the customer, always inspires me!

It doesn’t matter to me if the customer is 7 or 70 years old - It gives me great satisfaction to know that maybe I’ve given the customer something that they have never experienced before, hopefully exceeding their expectations in terms of taste and presentation! Straight to the table putting a smile on their face and leaving them with great satisfaction is my ultimate goal. For me it’s all about the customer, inspiring them though the love of good food and a great dining experience. I would like to think I inspire others chefs by leadership - leading from the front, I wouldn’t expect anything from a chef that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.

I have always loved food and was greatly influenced by my grandmother Nony and her traditional cooking methods and recipes, handed down generation by generation. Later I worked in Shengjin as seaside restaurant on the Adriatic sea where my love of seafood became embedded in my DNA. I moved to Belfast in 1998 and worked in a number of restaurants before finding myself at Fish City where I have further enhanced my skills both in frying and in the kitchen. It is so exciting to be part of a passionate and forward thinking team.

My name is Andrew, I started my cooking career in 2005 in busy bars and restaurants. I worked with the same company for a number of years, developing my skills and progressing through the ranks up to sous chef.

I left the company to work in an Italian restaurant where volume and speed, as well as fresh, wholesome food was key. This gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge on different styles of food and cooking.

In 2015 I wanted to get an insight into the hotel industry with the view to possibly transferring to a different location. Here I learnt what it takes to work within a large chain and manage a team of chefs around the clock. I got the opportunity to transfer within the company and moved to Edinburgh where I was senior Sous Chef and then Head Chef.

Within this property, we looked after all outlets in the hotel, as well as catering for functions and weddings among other private events. After 3 years, it was time to settle down and I moved back to Belfast, taking position as Head Chef in the hotel where I had worked previously.

Whilst the hotel industry is great, I wanted to explore working in restaurants once more. The ethos of Fish City is something that attracted me to the restaurant. Their dedication to sustainable fishing and fresh produce is something that I feel more people need to adhere to.

My name is Leif and I’m a chef from Germany who has been working in the hospitality industry for almost 17 years.

After my first cooking experience abroad, where I worked on the tallship ‘Eye of the wind’ around South Africa, the Caribbean (using some of the exotic products, herbs and especially seafood in Sweden. From 2011 onwards my journey brought me in 2014 to France where we cooked seafood in the Normandie on a very high ‘niveau’.

I relocated to London in 2016 where I first cooked in “L’ Atelier “ for Joël Robuchon, later on in the restaurant, ‘Dinner’ by Heston Blumenthal, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and later on in Jason Athertons flagship “Pollen Street“, where I met, amongst others Paul Ainsworth who awoke my interest for England’s beautiful south Cornwall and his bright Seafood gastronomy with restaurants like ‘Nathan Outlaw and the ‘Driftwood Hotel’.

After some fantastic summers in England’s beautiful coast, my journey brought me finally to Northern Ireland where my family and I settled down. Relocating to Belfast in 2018, I worked in the restaurant “Ox” and have since moved on for an exciting career at the seafood restaurant -FISH CITY a frequent award winner and one of the Top 5 Seafood restaurants in the UK. Looking back, my well travelled uncle used to tell me how he had the BEST fish and chips in Northern Ireland so I feel honored to be a team member in Fish City, serving the finest seafood and the best fish and chips.

Growing up in a family of chefs I found myself helping my mother in her restaurant at a very young age, spending time in the kitchen washing pots and pans, I started to gain interest in what was happening around me, the beautiful smells of soups cooking and meat roasting in the ovens. It quickly made me want to learn for myself and decided to make a soup for the staff in her restaurant to try. The feedback was tremendous and the feeling that so many people were so happy, pleased and excited about the food that I had created cemented my passion for cooking.

From then on I have worked hard in many restaurants in Belfast & afar, soaking up as much cooking knowledge as I can and putting that passion into every dish I create, to give the customer the ultimate satisfaction and taste experience. I happened upon Fish City and once I realised the team here share that same attitude and passion for not just the customers, but for the environment, the oceans and the beautiful produce in our wee country I had to join the team.