Restaurateur Nico Simeone is taking a chip off the old block and returning to his roots with his latest venture.
The acclaimed chef will open a new restaurant built from the bones of his first venue in Finnieston, which was home to the first Six by Nico.
Following a substantial investment and refurbishment, the site will reopen later this month as an ‘elevated chipshop’ named Sole Club.
But as well as a traditional fish-and-chip takeaway, the venue will have a 20-seat ‘speakeasy’ restaurant within its premises, hidden behind a fridge door.
Now the head of a restaurant group operating 17 venues in ten cities across the UK including Edinburgh, Manchester, and London, Nico comes from a long line of chippy owners and took a trip down memory lane to net ideas for his latest venture.
He said: “Finnieston is special to us, it’s where it all began for Six by Nico. When we decided to move to a bigger venue in the Merchant City, it was never a question of giving up the venue; it’s too big a part of our story.
“But for me, it’s always about ‘what’s next’? How can we take the ethos, thought process, and creativity behind Six by Nico and channel it into a completely new and original concept?
READ MORE: Glasgow-based Six by Nico to open new city restaurant
“With everything we do, the first goal is how do we get the product and the experience to where we want to be. And then after that it’s how we grow it so more people across the country can experience it. I believe in the Sole Club concept and think it can go on to follow in Six by Nico’s footsteps – but first it’s about making Finnieston a success.”
The entire Simeone family – the chef's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents – all owned chippies, with his brother Vito running Gianni’s in Auchinairn, East Dunbartonshire - the chippie where Simeone first cut his teeth working after school under his mum and dad in the early 2000s.
“At communions and family parties, I just listened to my uncles and dad talking about running chippies and business. I was like a sponge,” the former Young Scottish Seafood Chef of the Year continued.
“The inherent DNA of classic fish and chips won't change, but we also want to elevate certain parts to offer something to people who want to experience something more experiential, more experimental.
“We’ll provide more creative options elevated by some of the cheffing techniques we use at Six, and the menu in the restaurant side of the fridge will change on a daily basis depending on what’s caught that day.”
READ MORE: Six by Nico launches new flagship restaurant in Glasgow
Already planned for the menu are dishes such as monkfish Kiev, the “ultimate” fish finger butty with fennel slaw and tartare sauce, and a lobster roll with saffron and orange emulsion and shellfish butter, as well as traditional fish and chips.
The restaurant will serve under 400 people per week – a similar headcount accommodated by other Six by Nico venues in a single day.
There will be no walk-ins for sit-in dining, and bookings for the venue will be released on a month-by-month basis.
Diners can register to receive alerts, with the first tables available to book from this Friday.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here