Forget coffee, tea or an icy shower, if there’s anything guaranteed to give restaurant owners Mitch Tonks and Mat Prowse a boost in the morning, it’s their breakfast grappa.

Since travelling around Europe some years ago, on the hunt for culinary inspiration for their celebrated Seahorse restaurant in Devon, the two friends have continued the boozy morning ritual, which is popular in food markets in Italy and Spain.

“We like our little drink in the morning,” says Tonks, laughing.

“It’s quite enjoyable,” adds the award-winning chef, who fronted Good Food series, Mitch And Matt’s Big Fish Recipes, with former rugby star Matt Dawson.

“The secret is, it’s only one drink, and for some reason, some days it’s better than others. Some days you don’t really get it, and other days you get really quite smashed and I’m not sure why.”

While the pair’s customary drink, which they quaff alongside their morning coffee, has raised a few eyebrows, it’s part and parcel of the jovial atmosphere they hope to create in the restaurant, with dancing on tables and musical interludes from their maitre d’ Mark Ely encouraged.

“It doesn’t really sound like it’s a very professional place,” says Prowse with a laugh. “It has a life of its own.”

Friends since the late Nineties, Tonks and Prowse – whose experience in kitchens began with potwashing for a local eatery when he was 13 – have just released a new recipe book, aptly named the Seahorse, based on the dishes they serve in their restaurant.

And while they are both knee-deep in seafood these days, this wasn’t always this case.

“I was working as a head chef at a restaurant in Bath and Mitch came to sell me fish,” explains Prowse of how their partnership began.

“He set up his fishmongers there after giving up his previous life as an accountant in London. He came into the restaurant one day, trying to sell me fish, and that was it, we just hit it off. We decided to start running cookery classes.”

While he and Tonks, who “wasn’t having a great time” as an accountant and quit aged 27, bonded over their love of seafood, they’re well aware that many people don’t share their enthusiasm for fish.

“It smells, it’s full of bone, it’s going to stick in your throat and you’re going to be dragged to hospital to get rid of it,” exclaims Prowse, with a weary sigh.

“Everything you hear about fish, whether it’s sustainability or cooking it, is all negative. But it’s not.

It’s an easy thing to cook. Very simply with the sustainability thing, just find yourself a good fishmonger and trust they’re doing that bit for you.

“Buy the freshest fish you can find, cook it really simply and you’ll have the best meal ever. That’s all we do in the restaurant.

“Sometimes you feel like a fraud because it is so easy, but behind the scenes it’s not!”