“The majority of our menu has been locally-sourced. We’re using local businesses as much as possible and championing local fishermen. It’s all about putting a modern twist on their hard work”.
Leigh Gould is speaking whilst shucking the first scallops of the day at the Loki Seafood Shack, Orkney’s newest takeaway. Multi-tasking isn’t a problem here. Leigh works quickly, using all the skills gathered from more than 30 years working as a chef to three AA Rosette level.
He’s getting plenty of practice at the moment too, not that he needs it. The team at the shack, which is based within the beautiful walled garden at Skaill House, Orkney’s finest 17th century mansion house, are currently shucking around a thousand scallops a week.
“These scallops were taken out of the water in St Margaret’s Hope this morning at 9.30am,” says Leigh. “They were here by 10.30am, they’ll be prepared by 11am, and they’ll be going out to customers around half an hour later. You can’t get faster or fresher than that.”
It’s the core ethos behind the new business. Everything on the menu has to be sustainable. The shellfish is all hand-dived, hand-picked, or caught naturally in creels. For Leigh, it’s about making Orkney seafood accessible to locals and visitors.
“Our islands are full of boats and fishermen, but the majority of their catch comes ashore and heads straight down south to restaurants and suppliers. I just wanted to keep a lot of it here for people to enjoy.”
It seems like Leigh’s dream is very much becoming a reality. The seafood shack opened for business in early April and served nearly 200 customers within the first hour. That success has continued as Orkney’s summer season really gets going, with visitors to Skaill House and nearby Skara Brae joining local folk in the queue, all eager to sample the finest local seafood.
The menu is rotating cast of delicious dishes, all enhanced by the skills and know-how of Leigh and his business partner, experienced chef Alan Skinner. Although it can vary day-to-day depending on availability, you can expect fresh lobster, langoustines, cockles, crab and more. The food comes in various guises – from beer-battered scallops with Thai jam, to griddled monkfish with chorizo and mango salsa. There are taster pots of smoked mackerel pate and sweetcure herring, or you can even grab a pint pot of prawns to enjoy.
Working out in the open, even in the sheltered surrounds of the Skaill House garden, is a real change of scene for Leigh, whose culinary journey has involved kitchens, seafood companies, and even the House of Commons. He arrived in Orkney a decade ago and launched his own private dining business, Loki Chef, before COVID hit and the country went into lockdown. From there, he found himself at the Murray Arms Hotel in St Margaret’s Hope where his Orkney seafood odyssey really began.
“We were finally able to open the restaurant for a couple of hours every day,” he recalls. “Gina Brown, who owns the hotel, had the vision to really focus on seafood for their menu and to make use of all the abundant resources we have here.
“She was looking for someone to drive that forward with her and I spent the next few years helping do exactly that. It’s a partnership that remains to this day too, with Gina supporting the seafood shack from its inception.”
Working alongside Alan, who has been a chef for 30 years and also runs his own local catering company, eSSence Orkney, has helped the new enterprise hit the ground running, although Leigh admits it has been a learning process. “We definitely made a few mistakes on our opening day,” he laughs. “But in hindsight that was the best thing that could have happened as we had the opportunity to put it right for the following day’s service. Since then, we’ve just been driving the business forward, constantly adapting and evolving.”
Leigh has by now worked his way through a large batch of his scallops and the morning’s first customers are beginning to arrive at the hatch, perhaps enticed over from Skaill House by some of the fabulous aromas drifting across the garden on the Orkney breeze.
Before we leave him to fully focus on the day’s menu, we have to ask one more question. The ‘Loki’ name. Where did that idea come from?
“Well,” smiles Leigh. “Loki is one of the Norse Gods and he was a bit mischievous and used to play mind games with people. That’s the kind of approach I take with my food. We have a salmon cheesecake on the menu at the moment which has a seaweed base. We’re trialing seaweed savoury meringues with crab on top, which will look and feel like an Eton Mess, and we’re going to be making our own brand of salmon jerky too.
“It’s mind-changing food, so that’s where the idea of naming it after Loki came from”.
With that, Leigh heads to the hot plate to begin preparing the incoming lobster orders. As some of the first full meals pass us out of the hatch and into the hands of hungry patrons, we’re struck by how much sheer craft and detail has gone into each dish.
“I guess what we do is provide restaurant quality food in takeaway form,” says Leigh over his shoulder. “You can enjoy it in the great outdoors, either in our walled garden, or you can wander over to the beach and peel some prawns with a sea view.
“It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Find out more about Loki Seafood Shack.
The shack is currently open (as of June 2024) Thursday to Monday between 1130 and 1530, April to October. Opening days and hours can change due to special events. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram for the latest opening times, menus and more.