Hooked is not your regular fish and chip shop
From the owners of Oliveti and Spread Deli comes Hooked, bringing “restaurant standards in a takeaway setting” on Broadway.
When CityMag sits down with Sam Worrell-Thompson – director of EMBR Hospitality – he said adding another venue to the mix was a no-brainer.
EMBR Hospitality runs the businesses Don’s Deli, Oliveti, Spread Deli Glenelg, Spread Deli Unley, Bar Lune, Dolly and more.
Hooked – the latest venture in the EMBR catalogue – opened at the end of March inside the Spread Deli Glenelg spot.
“The Spread [Glenelg] kitchen doesn’t get used at night, and that’s why we thought we would go down the fish and chip route to give it some kind of use for a takeaway spot,” Sam says.
Hooked offers a more health-oriented menu, reimagining what it means to be a traditional fish and chip shop.
“Obviously, we still do your basic fish and chips,” says Sam.
“But we’re trying to take the salad area to more exciting corners.”
Part of the Hooked offering. This picture: supplied.
Setting Hooked apart from other chippies, Sam says, “there were arguments between owners about whether we have pineapple fritters”.
“But we don’t want to be the same, so some of those things haven’t made the cut,” he says.
Not all the classic offerings got the axe though, with Sam saying that “I really think the potato cakes are awesome”.
Given the location of the upmarket fish and chips shop – directly next door to Italian restaurant Oliveti – Sam admits there’s “crossover in flavours with Oliveti”.
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“There’s a lot of double-up. It’s restaurant standards in a takeaway setting,” he says.
These double-ups include Oliveti’s signature crab toast as well as freshly shucked Coffin Bay oysters.
Despite the long summer Adelaide is experiencing, Sam still understands the confusion of opening a fish and chip shop in the middle of autumn.
“Everyone was like ‘why would you open now?!’ But I generally like just easing into a new concept,” he says.
This picture: supplied.
With plans to slowly find their feet over the winter months, Hooked will only be open Friday and Saturday nights, but plans are to expand hours later in the year.
“Probably around like August or September we’ll work out whether it will be a five-day or seven-day business,” says Sam.
Considering the space now holds three separate restaurants, square footage is a worry for Sam.
“The biggest potential concern is that we outgrow the space… Spread’s definitely getting really busy now that we’re six months in, and there’s an issue of space and storage,” Sam says.
To combat this, Sam mentioned that he’s “potentially looking at a food truck” but “not just for Hooked”.
“Maybe having a food truck that pops up, say with seven different menus and depending what festival or event we go to it will determine what menu is there,” Sam says.
Hooked is located at 43A Broadway, Glenelg South and is open from Friday to Saturday from 4:30pm until 8:30pm.
Connect with the business on Instagram for more.