Lesley Graves: Co- Manager of award winning Burton Road Chippy

Des Anastasou (left) and Lesley Graves (right) managers of the Burton road Chippy, their shop was picked from 500 shops nationwide to win the award.

Lincoln’s Burton Road Chippy has just won the prize for being the Best Independent Fish and chip shop in Eastern England at the National Fish and Chip Awards 2013. The family run chippy only opened its doors in 2011, but with 30 years of experience running fish and chip shops behind its owners, it’s been frying up a storm. The shop has garnered glowing reviews since it opened and it seems only fair that their dedication should be awarded with national recognition.

I asked Lesley Graves who co- manages the shop with Des Anastasou, how it felt to have her business voted the best in the region and how they make such tasty fish and chips.

What does it feel like being voted the best fish and chip shop in the East of England?

Absolutely wonderful, we’re just so thrilled it’s a real honour.

Did you think when you first nominated yourselves that you’d ever do this well?

No, we had no idea we’d get this far. Obviously we knew people liked our food and we were getting some glowing reviews, but we never believed we would actually win any awards. Obviously this is our first time in the competition and it’s just a huge shock but very welcome.

So what’s your secret? How did you make your shop the best in the region?

Well to be honest, I really don’t think there is any secret. We just work hard, we have a lot of passion, some really great people on our team and we’re prepared to go the extra mile. We’re obviously dedicated to serving healthy food and protecting the environment but there’s no secret recipe for our batter or anything like that. We just do the best we can and obviously it’s worked well for us.

Are you going to enter the competition again next year?

Yes, we really did enjoy being in the competition and having that atmosphere. We found that the competition kept us on our toes and kept our staff on their toes and pushed us into working harder as a business. Yes we will definitely be entering again next year and hopefully, we will do even better.

Have you been getting many more customers since you won the award?

Yes we get a lot more customers now, winning the award has really raised our profile, but it’s also given us a lot more to live up to. Now that we’ve won the award, we have to work harder to meet people’s expectations but now we have the motivation and the drive to be even better.

Do you have any advice for those looking to start looking to start a fish and chip business like yours?

You have to be very very organised and cleanly. The health inspectors really go around your premises with a fine tooth comb. Keep cleaning rotors for your staff and obviously treat your staff well, respect them and they will respect you. Also, you have to listen to your customers and look into what they want, not what you want to sell. We introduced the Gluten Free Evenings at the Chippy so people who couldn’t normally enjoy fish and chips could enjoy them. The best fish and chips are the customers favourite. Yes, it’s always important to communicate with your customers and listen to what they have to say.

What’s your favourite food?
I think it would definitely be fish mezze. I remember when I was younger, the family would always have big get- togethers and we would cook it together. It would last for hours and we would all have a great time, so I always have happy memories of eating fish mezze, and it tastes great too.

So what does the future hold for the Burton Road Chippy?

Well I don’t think we’ll be making too many changes. Obviously there’s a lot more pressure and expectation on us now, people will be expecting the best fish and chips in the region and we do not want to disappoint them. So we will just be trying to fine tune our customer service and our menu and make sure everything is as perfect as possible in the future. I really get a lot of satisfaction from giving people a good meal and making sure people continue to enjoy our fish and chip shop is all we could ever want.

The Burton Road Chippy can be found at 169 Burton Road in Lincoln, they are open 11:30 – 14:00 and 16:30 – 21:30 Tuesday to Thursday and 11:30 – 21:30 Friday to Saturday.

Visit their website here.