A Chelsea chef-led fish shop and seafood bar will be launching a new multi-functional space in Hackney in July.

The Sea, The Sea's new spot will be located within a railway arch on Acton Mews in Haggerston and come September, will house an immersive dining counter led by executive chef Leo Carreira.

The move to Hackney will see founder Alex Hunter build on the brand's success on Pavilion Road in Chelsea, where it operates a premium fishmonger by day and chic seafood bar by night.

He said: "When we lost our restaurant revenue in lockdown, we saw it as an opportunity to cross-train our team and grow our retail trade for which there has been a huge demand. As a result, the team is stronger, we have a better-rounded organisation, and our revenues have grown exponentially.

"With our Hackney facility, we can take this experience into product development, specialist wholesale and expand our online retail services to become a truly London-wide brand."

The Sea, The Sea boasts a commitment to sourcing and delivering high-quality produce having established direct links with fishermen in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.

The company will buy direct from boats and drive its seafood direct to Hackney to be processed and sent out to restaurants that night, meaning they deliver same-day fish direct from the sea.

It will also sell fish and live shellfish from Scotland as well as other exotic overseas produce such as abalones and gooseneck barnacles.

In addition, as pioneers of the dry-aged fish movement in London, The Sea, The Sea's Hackney unit will house a walk-in dry-ageing room for wholesale.

Designer of their Chelsea store and soon-to-be Hackney project, Benjamin Wilkins said that "the arch provides a fantastic canvas" for the project, adding:

"Alex wanted a space that was both highly functional for processing large volumes of fish but also an immersive, sensory experience for diners coming to the counter for dinner, giving them a peek behind the scenes of the business.

"The result is a truly unique space somewhere between art installation, restaurant, laboratory and factory, and we can’t wait to unveil it to the public.”

Details of the upcoming dine-in experience are to be released, with Carreira planning a special menu.