There’s a first time for everything

First time frier Les Tesdale and his mentor Georgios Kalogerou speak to KFE about Nostell Plaice

Les Tesdale came into the frying industry by chance. He’d been involved in building and roofing. And, when one of the builders found itself in possession of a retail outlet - an ex estate agents in the Doncaster suburb of Bessecarr - he saw an opportunity. “There were around 35 applicants to buy it,” he explains, “and a lot of them were people wanting to open a fish and chip shop. So, I thought to myself, they can’t be all wrong.” So, he took the plunge and decided to open his own chippy – Nostell Plaice - in Autumn last year. “It’s in a pretty good position,” he explains. “The nearest rival is three miles away. It’s in the most salubrious part of Doncaster. The area’s got a bank, a post office, a vets and a doctors… and there are about 2,000 houses around. And you don’t have to pay to park. Plus there are three schools surrounding us.”

Due to his lack of experience in frying, he brought in Georgios Kalogerou who was already running three fish and chip shops in South Yorkshire including The Athenian in Mexborough.

Georgios , who has been in the business “since I was a kid” (and is described by Les as “the best fryer in the country”) agreed the site was ideal for a chippy. “There was nothing else around,” he says. “Well, there was a pizza place and a Chinese but not another fish and chip shop.”

The launch has proved a success, backed by flyers and advertising in local papers. Les says that no expense was spared on the shop and “customers came in and they’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“There we so many people when we first opened,” says Georgios, “that they were queuing down the street. We couldn’t get rid of them,” he quips.

While most of the customers come from a three mile radius, others come from farther afield. Les mentions a Pole. “He was over here and enjoyed the food so much that, on the way to the airport, he came in and ordered two fish to take home with him.”

When it came to selecting the range for the shop, Les says he saw the three pan Kiremko, in Peterbrough. “I think that Georgios picked it because it was a range designed to be used by idiots – because of me.”

Georgios, a tad more tactfully, agrees. Though more used to “the old style of range”, he thought the computerised Kiremko was ideal for Les “who had never fried before”.

The range is a three pan. Georgios is one of those members of the industry that believes that frying fish and chips in the same pan produces the best results. That means one pan – or two during busy periods – for fish and chips. The other pan is for baskets. Maintaining quality is very important, insists Georgios who, despite previous work as a chef, does not feel frying is below him. “There are good restaurants and rubbish restaurants. There are good fish and chip shops and rubbish fish and chip shops. If you know about food and love food, you provide quality. When it’s quiet, we fry to order. There might be a five to six minute wait for the fish but you expect to wait longer than six minutes in a queue on a busy night.”

As to the future, Les is looking to expand. Lakeside Restaurants, the family company that owns Nostell Plaice, is planning to open more chippies in South Yorkshire and beyond. “We’re going to start from scratch,” says Les, “rather than buy an existing fish and chip shop. We’re looking at four to five sites at the moment.” Looks like Kiremko might be busy.

Fish & Chips and Fast Food - March 2010.