This week's big (tin) opening

A new 'pop-up' restaurant set up shop in Soho this week. Hardly the most exciting of news items, is it? With so many places to eat and drink either springing up or fizzling out around town, whether intentionally temporary or not, it's not really news at all. No sooner has one restaurant or bar opened and become so popular that the queues for a table stretch down the street and round the corner, than another opens round said corner, and those at the back of the queue for the first place find themselves at the front of the queue of the second. This week's opening probably won't attract such huge crowds, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the most important and exciting new venture of the year, if not the decade. The unique selling point of the place? It serves tinned fish. And nothing else.

Yes, as of this Monday, you can visit Tincan on Upper James Street, and pay as much as to £20 for the privilege of having a tin of fish opened in front of you and served up with bread, salad, herbs and other simple accompaniments. That may sound utterly ridiculous, but these aren't just your average supermarket tins of tuna or salmon. Rather, they are tins of gourmet, artisan fish from Spain, Portugal and other countries - "the best tinned fish in the world", the restaurateurs say. The tins themselves are beautifully designed, often with bold colours and eye-catching illustrations, and form an integral part of the overall design of the restaurant, displayed on the walls and in the windows. Indeed the restaurant has opened initially as part of the London Design Festival, but will be open through to March next year

Before you roll your eyes and say "only in London..." - the idea in fact comes from a similar venture in Lisbon, where tinned fish enjoys a far greater respect than in the UK, with many small family businesses spending a huge amount of time and care over the fishing, selecting of cuts, and canning process, to ensure the fish is preserved at its absolute best.

Maximilliano Arrocet, one of the team of architects who are the brains behind the 'project', as they call it, claims that Tincan sets out "elevate the tin to an object of desire". I fear they may have their work cut out on that front, judging by some of the readers' comments that follow an article about the restaurant (and an interesting insight into the canning of food in general) featured on the Guardian website this afternoon - some of them quite hilarious in their utter contempt for the whole idea.

As for me, while the restaurant's gourmet tin menu might be a far cry from some of the products I've tried and written about on this blog, I am very excited about giving Tincan a try, so you can expect a full review of my experience here soon. I certainly intend to visit sooner rather than later, just in case the Guardian comments are indicative of the general public's attitude towards the place, and it ends up 'popping down' earlier than planned - we shall see!