Proto Restaurant Group is proud to be a part of the ‘Go Red Campaign’ for the Love Your Hospitals charity which Proto Restaurant Group owner Andy Sparsis is a patron of.

All of our restaurants have been fully supportive of the charity in the past with Food Restaurant hosting the launch of the Cath Lab Appeal back in June 2011 and The Fish Factory sponsoring the Superhero Fun Walk for the same cause in September 2011.

The latest fundraiser in support of the new £1million cardiac cath lab is ‘Go Red in Feb’ and Proto Restaurant Group are doing exactly that on Valentines Day. All members of staff at all three of our restaurants have been invited to wear anything red and donate a minimum of £1 to the charity. Why not book a table on the 14th February and come along dressed in red and support the cause yourself. Call 01903 227780 (Food), 01903 207123 (The Fish Factory, Worthing) or 01903 715000 (The Fish Factory, Littlehampton) to check availability and book a table.

Proto Restaurant Group is calling everybody else to support the Cardiac Cath Lab Appeal and join in with ‘Wear Red in Feb’, even if it’s just a red tie, red socks or red lipstick, it can be absolutely anything red, the important thing is you take part and donate a minimum of £1 per person to the appeal. Proto’s aim is to get as many businesses in Worthing to ‘Wear Red’ to raise as much money as possible for a worthy cause.

There will be a ‘Go Red in Feb’ Wall of Fame at Worthing Hospital, so everybody that get’s involved with be placed on the wall and receive FREE promotion at the same time so please get involved and support your local community.

To get involved please contact Lesley-Anne or Tina at Worthing Hospital at hello@loveyourhospital.org or phone: 0800 028 4890. Check out the website www.loveyourhopsitals.org for more info.

Down Town Cyprus Sandwich

Another new dish on the menu is the “Moscow Merchant’s Kiev” - British chicken breast minced and stuffed with garlic butter, leeks and chives. Oven baked in bread crumbs served with mash potato. This is one of the favourite dishes in the restaurant at the moment and we really recommend you come in and experience it for yourself. Call us on 01903 227780 to book a table and view the full menu online here.

It’s not just the lunch menu that’s had a refresh for the New Year though, we’ve updated our main menu with the amazing addition of our Paella Stuffed Squid for just £14.90! Why not see what else our main menu has to offer?

It’s not just Food Restaurant that is undergoing a menu update though, The Fish Factory will soon be launching it’s new Spoil Menu so keep checking back here for updates on new menus, dishes and events at Proto Restaurant Group.

Call us at The Fish Factory Littlehampton on 01903 715000 or at Worthing on 01903 207123 to book a table or come and see us at Food in Worthing, call us on 01903 227780 to book a table.

Stuart Slevin

How are you finding the role of Executive Chef at The Fish Factory?

It’s brilliant. Obviously there are added pressures being the Executive Chef but im getting to do lots of other things like Health & Safety and Food Hygiene checks which is really good. The NVQ in Management that I completed before we spoke last year has come in really handy and I now have lots of lovely spreadsheets and training documents everywhere, which is nice because it’s what I’m interested in anyway!

Has anything changed in your role during the year?

I’ve basically just gained more and more responsibility as the year has gone on really. I’m now the Premises Alcohol License Holder which means that any sales of alcohol are my responsibility so it’s important I ensure everybody is following the appropriate age laws which to be fair, everybody here is excellent at doing.

The management side of things has really taken a prominent role as well, im doing a lot more consulting with the restaurant managers and other chefs which is also nice.

What does 2012 have in store for the menus?

Well, we are updating the spoil menu for the new year, including bringing back the Bouillabaisse after so many requests! Since we last spoke as well, we have introduced Sunday Roasts at The Fish Factory, offering a choice of either Beef or Pork and we are now selling 30/40 of them each Sunday which is great! Who knows, we might add Lamb to the list too, but for the time being we’ll definately stay clear of Turkey, let everyone recover from Christmas first!

Enough about work then, what do you get up to outside of work?

I love to cycle! This year me and Proto owner Andy Sparsis completed the London to Brighton bike race which was brilliant! It was my 18th time completing the course but my first for 5 years so I really enjoyed getting back into it. As part of that, we initiated a cycle to work scheme for Proto Restaurant Group and now numerous members of staff at Proto cycle into work everyday which is just fantastic!

So, the Olympic year has arrived, being a keen cyclist are you excited?

To be honest, im still quite upset about the ticketing for the event! It’s disappointing that so many people couldn’t get hold of tickets for such a once-in-a-lifetime event in this country, I just feel like we’ve all been scammed!

That said though, obviously not everyone that comes over for the games will be staying in London, so hopefully with our excellent position on the coast with good transport links to London, plenty of people will come and stay in Worthing and Littlehampton and bring us lots more business. It can only be good for businesses in our area.

So there you have it, that’s Stuart Slevin, Executive Chef at The Fish Factory. Why not come in and meet the whole team? Call us at The Fish Factory Littlehampton on 01903 715000 or at Worthing on 01903 207123 to book a table or come and see us at Food in Worthing, call us on 01903 227780 to book a table.

Malcolm Somner, Lady Mary Mumford and Andrew Sparsis

Having been around since 1824, RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea, more than 139,000 to date! They provide a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service around the coasts of the UK and RoI, as well as a seasonal lifeguard service on many of the busiest beaches in England and Wales.

The Fish Factory Team

The RNLI also works to promote sea and beach safety. They rely on more than 40,000 volunteers – on lifeboats, at stations, on beaches, and in fundraising.

If you would like to hear more about our RNLI evening, or simply fancy a great night out with excellent food, call The Fish Factory, Littlehampton on 01903 715000 to book a table. Alternatively come in and visit us in Worthing by calling 01903 207123 or visit us in our fantastic Food Restaurant by calling 01903 227780.

There was an article in the Evening Standard on 12th October, which talks about Worthing’s growth as a town and how it is stepping out of the shadow of it’s big brother, Brighton. The article goes on to explain exactly why Worthing is such a catch, with fantastic architecture, brilliant schools, great pubs and superb restaurants. Proto Restaurant Group’s two Worthing based restaurants – Food and The Fish Factory – are mentioned as the rated places to eat in town by locals.

Proto Restaurant Group, Food and The Fish Factory are all extremely proud to be doing their bit towards putting Worthing on a map. Proto always likes to get involved with the local community with fundraisers and charity events as we feel that Worthing deserves to be regarded as highly as Brighton as it is such a fantastic town.

Not only are Proto pleased to be mentioned in the article, but they are proud to have restaurants situated in a town on the up! To book a table at any of our restaurants, call us on 01903 227780 (Food), 01903 207123 (The Fish Factory, Worthing) or 01903 715000 (The Fish Factory, Littlehampton).

To read the full article, click here.

Meet Tom McCarthy - Proto's Resident Building Contractor

Meet Tom McCarthy – Proto Restaurant Group’s resident building contractor. Tom has been our resident building contractor for many years now and he always finds the time for all work that needs to be done.  He hand-built the bar in The Fish Factory in Littlehampton.

When Tom has some rare time off, he loves to study history. He is particularly interested in Medieval history and geographically, England, Ireland, Scotland and France are the most interesting countries because it is interesting how they all interact with one another. We asked Tom what his favourite piece of history was, and he said: “My favourite King was Richard III, he was a good man but the tudors gave him a lot of bad press. He was a family man and he brought in many good laws including making it illegal to lock a man up without a good reason. Richard III was also the last king to be killed in battle.” We think that Tom has a naturally ability to explain history really well, and we asked him if he had ever thought of becoming a history teacher. Tom confided that he would of loved to have studied to be a history teacher, but he had a wife and family to support so studying was not an option.

Tom is also a keen supporter of Portmouth Football Club and he also likes to woodturn in his spare time. He makes lots of gifts for his family. Lucky family we say!

Why not come down to The Fish Factory in Littlehampton and Worthing, and Food in Worthing, where you can see Tom’s handy-work for yourself. If you like what you see in our restaurants, let us know and we can pass his details onto you.  Tom is currently in the pipeline of launching his website and we will keep you posted on this.

All 27,000 participants, whether taking part as a serious cyclist or a novelty entry set out to achieve the common goal of helping raise £4 million towards the BHF’s continued work.

Andy Sparsis, Warren Bagnall and David Camci.

Andy Sparsis entered the ride as part of a team of 5 including Executive Chef from The Fish Factory, Stuart Slevin and team members David Camci, Warren Bagnall and Daryl James.

Everyone at Proto Restaurant Group is extremely proud of the team and the group’s representatives within. It is just another example of the work Andy does for charity and the community having only just launched the Cath Lab Appeal for the ‘Love Your Hospitals’ charity.

To hear all about the bike ride, come in and see Andy and Stuart at The Fish Factory, Worthing by calling us on 01903 207123 to book a table, or visit either of the other two restaurants  where Andy Sparsis is always likely to be by calling us on 01903 227780 (Food) or 01903 715000 (The Fish Factory, Littlehampton).

Proto sponsors carnival queen

The Fish Factory in Littlehampton sponsored the Littlehampton Carnival Queen Contest for the second year in a row.  This fabulous event was held on Sunday 20th March.

The winners were:

First place (Carnival Queen): Kirsty Alderton who is 17 years old. Kirsty comes from Littlehampton and is a student in the sixth form at Littlehampton Academy. Kirsty studies Sociology and English language. Her hobbies are football, stoolball, cheerleading and modern jive. Kirsty’s ambition is to join the police force. Well done Kirsty! Well deserved!

The Littlehampton Carnival Queen Contest runners-up were:

(Carnival Princess 1) : Jessica Taddick is 16 years old and comes from Rustington came a close second, Jessica is a student at Northbrook College. She is studying Hair and Beauty. Jessica’s hobbies are music, styling her friends’ hair and walking her dogs. Her ambition is to work with catwalk models by styling their hair. We wish we were Jessica’s friend – it would be lovely to have a hair stylist on tap!

(Carnival Princess 2): Last but by no means least, our second Carnival Princess is Nicole Weller who is 15 and is from Littlehampton. Nicole is a GCSE student at the Littlehampton Academy. Nicole loves cheerleading and is a member of Sussex Tournados. Nicole’s ambition is to work with special needs and disadvantaged children.

As we said before, this event was an outstanding success. The Fish Factory at Littlehampton is just the place to hold events and we can create exciting themed menus if you wish to hold a memorable event with a difference. Take a look at our website to see the mouthwatering dishes awaiting you at our fine fish and seafood restaurant in Littlehampton in West Sussex.

Proto Restaurant Group will be involved in the Splash FM Garden Party for the 10th year running when it comes to Worthing on 22nd and 23rd July. The Garden Party provides 10 hours of live music over 2 days from some of the greatest tribute acts around. This year features ‘Ultimately Kylie‘, ‘Achtung Baby‘ (U2 Tribute), ‘Millenium Robbie‘, Melissa Totten (Madonna Tribute) and ‘and finally Phil Collins‘ as well as great local support acts. The Splash FM Garden Party is the biggest tribute festival on the south coast and Proto Restaurant Group has exclusive access.

As the only source of DISCOUNTED TICKETS, Proto Restaurant Group members can enjoy cheaper tickets to this amazing event thanks to all the work that Food Restaurant and The Fish Factory do behind the scenes at the garden party. Visit this link to get access to our exclusive offers including buying tickets for a night in the green room!

Proto Restaurant Group is in charge of the VIP tent at the party which means providing food, drink and service to all of the performers and event organisers. This requires a huge team effort and the brilliant staff from both restaurants help out enormously as well as the restaurants  providing the food and drink for the event. Proto Restaurant Group, Food and The Fish Factory have been involved for the past 9 years in the same capacity and it is an absolute pleasure to be involved again.

“The Fishermen’s Mission fights poverty and despair in our fishing communities by providing emergency and welfare support to fishermen and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Over 13,000 men and women work in the UK’s toughest and most dangerous peacetime occupation: deep sea fishing. At sea, they face death and injury on a daily basis. On land, many face insecurity and debt. And life for the 50,000 retired fishermen and their dependants is no better, with debt, inadequate pensions and scant savings meaning no respite from hardship once the fishing’s over.”
From The Fishermen’s Mission.

The Fish Factory recently held a tea afternoon in aid of the mission to raise some much needed funds to help out with those that have been injured and ill through providing the country with the fish they eat on a daily basis.

The nearest mission to The Fish Factory is located between Portsmouth and Southampton in the Solent Business Park and any help they get is always gratefully received. Everyone at Proto Restaurant Group urges you to help out in any way you can. If you want to help out via The Fish Factory, get in touch on 01903 207123 (Worthing) or 01903 715000 (Littlehampton).