Procuring quality products is always a challenge. Availability, quality, delivery and price are often moving targets. This year alone we have experienced floods in California; freezes in Florida that put a squeeze on tomatoes, bell peppers and lettuce; an earthquake in Chile that interrupted salmon transportation; a volcano eruption in Iceland that hurt salmon transportation from Scotland, and now the Gulf of Mexico oil leak putting shrimp, oysters and everything else it reaches under siege. And, to top it off there is serious consideration to close a large area of the Atlantic off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to protect red snapper.
All of these pressures mean higher prices as inventories dwindle and speculation runs rampant. For us, this will translate into buying more local seafood. You’ll see more wreckfish, wahoo, grouper, dolphin, swordfish, mackerel and amberjack on the specials sheets, but the uncertainty in the market is driving prices higher for local seafood as well.
Chef Lee With a Fresh King Mackerel
To feature a white fish at lunch for under $15 is especially difficult, so we’ve also been sourcing west coast seafood. We received some beautiful marlin yesterday, scallops from New Bedford, and halibut from Alaska and Nova Scotia. Shucked oysters from the Gulf, which we use for frying, continue to be our biggest concern.
Our hearts go out to the people in the oil stricken areas. Not to mention the critters, can you imagine Capers or Bulls Island coated in oil? What a spill like that would mean to our lifestyle here?
On a brighter note PEACHES are back!!! Tomatoes, field peas, figs, squash blossoms, okra —Spoleto and summer have arrived —have a safe Memorial day weekend!
