Chef Ricky's Blog - local seafood

 

As a chef, I know that whenever you put seafood on the menu, people will wonder how fresh it is. When you come to Joe's 2nd Street Bistro, though, you have nothing to worry about. We're passionate about supporting our local purveyors, like the shrimp industry here at Fernandina, and we never use frozen fish. 

For example, let's talk about the shrimp we serve at the restaurant. One of our staples is east coast white shrimp, which has become incredibly popular lately. So what makes it so good?

Mainly, it's wild caught. A lot of the imported seafood you can buy at the store has preservatives. Check the back of the box. If you see a lot of ingredients other than shrimp, that should raise a flag. The two seasons for white shrimp are April-June and September-December. So that's when we're looking to buy it for Joe's. The east coast shrimp have a touch of sweetness and are the best in the world.

Next, we use brown shrimp, which can be caught most of the year. They have a naturally salty flavor, which distinguishes them from their east coast brothers.

One of my favorite things it talking with the shrimpers here in Fernandina. I love to get to know the purveyors we work with at Joe's. I think it adds a personal touch that eventually shows up in the dishes we create. Like us, those shrimpers work hard and care to bring the best quality shrimp to their restaurants--which means you and your family will receive the best quality ingredients as well.

All of our seafood is local and varies daily with our specials. We start getting calls around 7:30 a.m. to let us know what seafood has come off the boats on that day. From there, we talk about what to include as specials for the evening and get to work on creating them.

Our staff spends a lot of time to make sure we use only the freshest and highest quality seafood when can get in North Florida. I promise you'll notice the difference in the freshness and quality of the seafood at Joe's 2nd Street Bistro. Come on in and try it out.

Ricky