When Joe Gorrie opened The Wee Chippy in Venice Beach, Calif. in 2013, he had never worked in a restaurant. But growing up in Scotland, the one thing he knew was potatoes.
“We had them for dinner every night,” he said. So he started with fries—or chips as they call them in the U.K.
Naming the 150-square-foot shop The Wee Chippy has a double meaning. “Wee is an endearing term in Scotland, plus the space was very small,” said Gorrie. The name turned out to be very catchy and beach goers would walk by and snap photos. Word spread.
But it was the fresh, hand-cut fries that kept them coming back. After frying the chips to order, guests can choose to toss them in one of The Wee Chippy’s 10 flavored salts, a line that includes applewood-smoked, black truffle, rosemary, lime, Bangkok ginger, curry and jalapeno. “That’s the hook,” said Gorrie.
Gorrie offers a gluten-free breading made with corn flour.
The fish recipe is a differentiator too. Gorrie sources sustainable cod fillets and fries the fish to order in high-quality oil. There’s also a gluten-free version breaded with corn flour—“a game changer,” he said. “I have to follow a special diet and can’t eat gluten or dairy, so I made sure everyone could enjoy my fish and chips.”
The Wee Chippy also does a vegan version, using plant-based fish fillets and frying them in separate oil. Fried shrimp and calamari are also available, and Gorrie is exploring adding vegan shrimp, too. And the Wee Dessert list offers mini frozen chocolate eclairs.
“A fish and chips meal of two four-ounce pieces of cod and lots of fries goes for $16.50, and the plant-based version is priced the same,” said Gorrie. “We don’t penalize vegans.”
There’s also a choice of 13 condiments, including staples like mayo, ketchup, mustard and malt vinegar as well as truffle mayo, vegan mayo, house-made chipotle ketchup and Chippy tartar sauce.
Customers asked for a vegan version and The Wee Chippy listened.
Zero-to-little waste is key to Gorrie’s mission and The Wee Chippy packages food in recyclable branded paper that looks like classic fish & chips newspaper stamped with the concept’s logo. Larger orders are packed in iconic Chinese food paper takeout containers and the cooking oil is recycled to bio-fuel companies.
Ready to grow
“The little shop that could,” as Gorrie calls it, is primed to branch out from its beachfront space with a newly signed franchise development deal with The Tastebuds Group, LLC out of Texas. Expansion is planned across Texas, Florida, Colorado and Tennessee. “The Wee Chippy Food Truck will start rolling in Nashville next month,” said Gorrie.
The brick-and-mortar units will be a bit larger than the original—500- to 1,000-square feet—but equipment costs are relatively low for a quick-service concept. “All you need are a couple of fryers, a freezer and a refrigerator,” said Gorrie.
Prior to the deal, he hired culinary director Doug Farr to scale up the recipes, and franchisees will get the formulas for blending the flavored salts and custom condiments. The new locations can sell beer and wine as well.
“The menu is simple and easy to replicate,” said Gorrie.
As The Wee Chippy expands, he would like to add salts that reflect the region—Cajun in the South, for example. And Gorrie is looking into packaging to sell his signature salts at retail. “Fans are always asking me where they can buy them,” he said.
While there are longtime quick-service chains that sell fried fish and french fries, “we’re elevating fish and chips and bringing an authentic version into the 21st century,” said Gorrie.
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