U.S. restaurant equipment and supply sources
Crispy trout rolled into warm corn tortillas. Blue corn fried oysters accented with jalapeño crema.
Quesadillas swimming with shrimp, crab, chorizo and avocado. And the creative, fusion-inspired Ahi Tuna Chimichanga that melds Latin and Asian flavors.
Those dishes might not represent traditional Mexican cuisine to most diners. But they're some of the hottest menu items at Zolo Southwestern Grill, Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, Lola Coastal Mexican, and Jax Fish House, all part of the Big Red F restaurant group.
"Seafood dishes are every bit as popular as our meat dishes on our menu," reports Chef Brett Smith, who mans the kitchen at Zolo Southwestern Grill in Boulder, Colo. "But the Crispy Trout Tacos are our second best overall seller. On weekends in the summer when we run a seafood special it is generally one of our bigger sellers.
 Zolo's Blue Corn Fried Oyster With Jalapeño Crema |
"Seafood dishes at Centro are easily the most popular. We sell more shrimp and fish than anything else," echoes Chef Ian Clark of Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, which was named one of Denver's 10 Best Restaurants soon after its 2007 debut.
The story repeats at Lola Coastal Mexican in Denver, where, according to Chef/Partner Jamey Fader, "Our carne asada sells well, but the fish dishes are always a much bigger seller."
The restaurants in the Big Red F family aren't alone.
In "Menu Alaska" — a 2008 consumer research study The Hale Group conducted for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) — the majority of respondents reported eating more seafood at chain restaurants than they did two years ago, and expressed the desire to see a greater variety of seafood offerings in foodservice establishments.
According to the study, 84 percent of consumers who participated in the survey would like to see a greater variety of fish/seafood items on the menu at fast food restaurants, and 77 percent would order fish/seafood more if offered a choice of side dishes as an accompaniment at casual eateries.
Other interesting findings:
Those findings mesh with the ASMI's data, which reveals that "consumers are also focusing on sides and sauces as their consumption of seafood becomes more frequent.
Concerns about health and environment are fueling the demand for fish and seafood today.
According to the "U.S. Market for Seafood, with a Focus on Fresh" (a Packaged Facts report released in January), "An increasingly health-conscious public eager for heart healthy 'happy fat' and low calorie meals has made seafood one of the fastest-growing food categories." The U.S. seafood industry is now a $20 billion business, with fresh fish and shellfish representing the largest segments, the report says.
Seafood Choices Alliance (SCA) presented similar findings in its report, The U.S. Marketplace for Sustainable Seafood, which includes highlights of market research it commissioned in 2007.
"Many factors are influencing the growth and direction of the seafood market," SCA reports, "not the least of which include a push toward sustainability in the production and retailing of fresh seafood and shellfish and an effort by the industry to educate consumers on the safety of seafood products and the ease of cooking and preparation."
Just what is sustainable seafood? According to information from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it is "seafood from sources, either fished or farmed, that can exist over the long-term without compromising species' survival or the health of the surrounding ecosystem." Consumers and the retailers and restaurants that serve them are embracing sustainable products.
"There is an increased awareness of the impacts our food choices have on the environment and on our own health, and consumers indicate a stronger desire than in previous years to 'know the type of fish they're consuming' and that it is 'caught using responsible fishing methods,'" ASMI reports.
In nationwide surveys of retailers, chain restaurant decisionmakers and wholesalers to find the influences and concerns of those buying seafood for resale to consumers, the SCA found sustainable seafood to be a rising trend, with each sector predicting significant growth in the percentage of their seafood that will be sustainable in five years.
Many restaurants already are doing all they can to menu sustainable fish and shellfish.
Celebrity Chefs Rick Bayless, Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger, for example, are members of AMSI's Wild Alaska Seafood Congress of Conscious Chefs. "At Frontera Restaurants our goal is to live 'sustainability' every day," Bayless told AMSI. "This is why we choose to serve our guests wild Alaska seafood.
Seafood products that are caught in an environmentally sensitive manner not only benefit the health of the oceans, but also provide many opportunities to improve the growth and sustainability of seafood businesses and restaurants such as ours." And Miliken and Feniger focus on sustainability at Border Grill in Santa Monica, Calif., where their Wild Alaska Halibut Veracruzana made with sustainable Alaska halibut is one of the most popular dishes.
Other restaurants, too, are focusing on sustainable seafood, even in these tough economic times.
"Zolo has always tried to be very approachable in terms of menu pricing.
With the downturn in the economy we are making even more of an effort to be affordable," Zolo's Smith says. "We generally try to stay away from 'luxury' items such as lobster, caviar, and rare oysters that can be more expensive. We have an incredible seafood purveyor that sources the freshest and most sustainable fish available that suits our price point. There are plenty of items out there that are fantastic and can be sold for a reasonable price."
"We try to use more 'peasant' ingredients to reflect the soul of Mexican cooking, so for us, we rarely get into the more boutique and thus more expensive fish out there," Fader says of the menu at Lola. "The economy has little effect on our choices, but conscientious consumption rules our every decision. We only deal with sustainable fisheries."
Zolo Southwestern Grill, Boulder: "Our most popular appetizers are the Blue Corn Fried Oysters with jalapeño crema and the Cast Iron Skillet Mussels with house made chorizo and pickled habanero. As for entrees, the Crispy Trout Tacos with house-made corn tortillas and jicama slaw and the seasonal tuna dishes are big sellers. We change most of our dishes seasonally and seafood does sell a little better in the summer as people are looking for lighter preparations." —Chef Brett Smith
Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, Denver: "Our Griddled Shrimp Tacos with garlicchipotle mojo are the most popular entree. We also sell a lot of fish entrees, like the Baked Red Snapper with vinegar-chile-tomato sauce and grilled potatoes or the Quesadilla with shrimp, crab, chorizo and avocado. The Achiote Fish Tacos with charred serrano-orange crema are also a big seller. The White Seabass Ceviche Verde with olive and avocado is the most popular appetizer. The ceviche is more popular in the summer but the shrimp tacos are popular all year." —Chef Ian Clark
Lola Coastal Mexican, Denver: "The best selling appetizer is a Yellowtail Crudo with fennel-jalapeño vinaigrette, avocado and candied red onions. And close behind that is the Mahi Ceviche with plum tomatoes and chiles. The top entree is by far the Whole Fish Veracruz with huitlacoche dumplings and smoked almonds. The lighter fish, like snapper and bass, seem to do well in the summer while salmon, halibut and escolar do exceptional in the winter." —Chef/Partner Jamey Fader