Exclusive: Inside The Salt Room - the city's smartest new restaurant

With only days to the official opening of The Salt Room, owner RAZAK HELALAT tells Greg Hadfield about his ambitions for the modern fish and seafood restaurant on Brighton seafront.

Tell us about your background?

Coming from a Persian background, eating and food has always been an integral part of daily life.  When I was at university in London, I had a job with Corney and Barrow in my early 20s, and then - when I moved back to Brighton - I had a job at Brown's. Initially, I worked on the floor in the restaurant and then became a manager. I later joined The Ginger Pig, when it first opened in 2007, where again I started working on the floor and later became a supervisor. I always had thoughts of opening up my own place but it was while I was working at The Ginger Pig - and after meeting my now wife - that I decided to actually go for it.

I did a course at Plumpton College and started to look at suppliers for different produce and then started to look for potential sites to open my first restaurant. This whole process took about three years before the doors to The Coal Shed were eventually opened in September 2011.

Tell us a bit about The Salt Room, and the history of the site

As I had looked round so many different sites before finding 8 Boyces Street, where we decided to open The Coal Shed, I had continued to keep my ears close to the ground on other potential sites for good restaurants over the past few years. Having lived in Brighton most of my life and having lived in a flat on the seafront as a child, I have always felt that the key to Brighton's charm is its seafront and the spectacular view of the piers.

On my daily commute into Brighton to The Coal Shed, I would go past Bar 106 and always felt that it would make an ideal place for a really good fish restaurant given its amazing location and great terrace. It was after enquiring about the Hilton's use of Bar 106 (as it had been shut for several years) that their general manager at the time invited me to put forward a business plan and proposition for The Salt Room. After several meetings and discussions, they agreed to give us the lease and so the hard work began

What can we expect on the menu?

The menu will offer a wide selection of sustainably-sourced seafood dishes, including impeccably-fresh cuttlefish, oysters, lobster, sea bass, and our signature whole market fish to share cooked over charcoal. The legendary Coal Shed classic - 35 day dry aged Scottish steaks from the North Highlands cooked on the Josper grill - will also be making an appearance.

What made you decide to open a second restaurant in Brighton?

I felt Brighton needed more restaurants on its seafront so that people can enjoy the "best of Brighton"'¦its unique view and its seafood.

You've already made a success of The Coal Shed. Will you be doing anything differently at The Salt Room?

It's all about great produce, well cooked, good service, and a lot of hard work... And this is what I intend to do. To take every day as it comes, work hard, and push myself to motivate and create a good team of people to produce great food and service.

The Salt Room opens on Friday, February 20. For more information, visit: www.saltroom-restaurant.co.uk. Follow @TheSaltRoomUK. The Salt Room team: Head chef - Dave Mothersill, formerly head chef at The Ginger Pig, sous chef at Terre a Terre, and head chef at The Real Eating Company; General manager - Dariush Tamadon-Nejad, former group general manager for Mark Hix restaurants in London; Bar manager - Alex Palumbo, former bar manager at Hakkasan Group and Zuma, London.