New restaurant, Seafood at Dawn, opens on Mersea

Paige Bennett, 20, and business partner Steve Prosser have taken on the old premises of Mehalahs restaurant, in East Road, and created Seafood at Dawn.

Seafood at Dawn will offer traditional seaside favourite like skate wings, Dover sole and much more to diners.

Mersea resident Miss Bennett used to work at Mehalahs before it closed.

Paige Bennett inside the kitchen at Seafood at Dawn

She said: "I have been working since I was 15 and I've done all sorts of jobs but I stayed at Mehalahs for three years because I loved it there.

"By luck Steve was a regular customer and and when the lady who ran Mehalahs retired he came to me and asked if I would be interested in taking it over.

"I feel very lucky to have been given this chance. I will be doing the cooking as well of the front of house."

The new business is named after the Nicola Dawn fishing boat, which is used by island legend Tim Cook to catch fresh seafood every day..

Miss Bennett said: "He is very well known and well loved on Mersea.

"We will be doing fresh skate wings, Dover sole, seafood linguine and lots of different goodies.

"We also offer vegan and vegetarian options so we cater for everyone."

Seafood at Dawn has created six jobs for the island, with several members of the team also having worked at Mehalahs.

The restaurant will initially be open between 12noon and 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and will be able to cater for up to 50 diners.

Miss Bennett said: "Four of the staff also worked at Mehalahs and we are like a little family really.

"Hopefully come the spring and summer when it gets a bit busier we will be doing Friday and Saturday evenings as well.

"When it was the old restaurant the business grew and grew as more people heard about it.

"I am hopeful we can pick up where it left off because there are a lot of similarities."

The restaurant opened for the first time on New Year's Day, and despite a few teething problems, got off to a good start.

Miss Bennett added: "It was a bit of a dramatic grand opening as our electric went.

"It was caused by the old oven which caused the power to short so we've now installed a new one.

"But in the end we had quite a few people come along."

Visit facebook.com/seafoodatdawn.