A well-known restaurateur celebrated his birthday by opening a new fish and chip shop in Hampstead.

Rinaldo Mollura, owner of popular Italian restaurant Villa Bianca in Perrin’s Court, was greeted by a surprise celebration to mark his 59th birthday as he opened the Fish Café in Hampstead High Street last Thursday.

Family and friends, including Hampstead Town councillor Linda Chung, toasted glasses of champagne with Italian-born Mr Mollura before he opened the doors to his first customers at 3pm.

In December, Labour peer Lord Melvyn Bragg, a long-time Hampstead resident, threw his support behind the new Fish Café, telling the Ham&High it will be run “by the best restaurateur in Hampstead”.

Mr Mollura, who also owns the Coffee Cup café in Hampstead High Street, said the new restaurant offers a variety of fish, including halibut, plaice, mussels and scallops.

However, the traditional cod and chips combination has been a favourite among customers so far.

“The feedback has been great,” he said. “If – which is always a big if – we keep the same standard, then it will be very good for everybody. From now on, we should only get better.”