Lee Skeet | Seafood Restaurant

Lee Skeet is returning home to the South-West to open his own seafood restaurant and he is asking people to pledge using his Crowdfunder campaign in a bid to raise £50,000 to help finance his first solo project.

The restaurant will specialise in locally sourced British seafood, delivering top level food while remaining approachable and good value. Lee explained: "I like people who cook simply, not too many flavours, textures or ingredients on the same plate. I prefer to take a good quality ingredient, focus on that and make it perfect." Lee hopes the restaurant will be both a destination for travellers and a haunt for locals. Gordon Ramsey, Marcus Wareing, Tom Aikens and Hedone are just some of the top London chefs and restaurants Lee has cooked for while working in the capital. The reason for his success has been simple, he said: The most important thing I have learned is just to work hard, not worry about what anyone else is doing, just keep your head down and work hard". Now, the South West native wants to return to Cornwall, and establish his own gourmet restaurant. "The seafood in Cornwall and Devon is, I feel, the best in the UK," said Lee. "If I can get away from it all and just have my own little space, close to all that great seafood, I could really take my cooking up a level."

>>> click here to support Lee

The restaurant will offer a multi-course tasting menu in the evening, as well as a shorter lunch menu. Brunch will also be offered during the summer. Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular way of funding creative projects, which Lee hopes will give his restaurant that final cash injection to see him up and running. He said: "I'll be borrowing from the bank as well, and putting in any money I do have, I just don't have enough! Although I have set the target for fifty grand, it's not the case that I need to make fifty grand or it won't happen. I'm just trying to raise as much as possible." The money will be used first to buy kitchen equipment, with the remainder being used as financial backup as the restaurant gets on its feet. "What I can see in my head," explained Lee. "I've got such high hopes for, so much so that I'm willing to invest everything I've got into it - I just need a little bit of help on top of that!" By Charlie Calderwood

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