To address emerging ethical, environmental and health concerns, chef are getting creative with new and unique fish varieties that are line-caught and sustainably farmed.

 

 

When the National Restaurant Association asked members of the American Culinary Federation to identify emerging trends for 2008, the use of alternative source ingredients, produced according to ethical and environmentally responsible guidelines, was at the top of the list. This has perhaps become most prevalent with seafood, where pressure is mounting to ease up on species that have become alarmingly endangered, and instead feature less well-known but “sustainably” fished and farmed varieties.

And while still in the minority, the number of clubs and resorts in step with this trend is growing.

“Our management surveyed our members about the kinds of restaurants they prefer,” reports Sean Dwigams, Executive Chef for The Vintage Room Restaurant at Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, Ore. “There was a clear interest in places that serve local, organic, natural and sustainable foods. So we decided to move in that direction.”

SUMMING IT UP • More clubs and resorts are incorporating “sustainable seafood” into the menu mix. • Menu and wait-staff descriptions can help members and guests become aware of your kitchen’s efforts to help preserve endangered species. • Associations like Seafood Choices Alliance and the Marine Stewardship Council can be helpful in finding suppliers that fit your needs.

The club’s restaurant, which is also open to the public, now offers only “ocean-friendly” products such as line-caught salmon, wild Gulf shrimp, and in-season halibut on its menu. Response has been very positive, despite an increase in prices. “Our clientele is aware of the issues and cares about the environment,” Dwigams notes. “They value what we’re doing, and are willing to pay more for it.”

At the four restaurants he oversees at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and the affiliated, semi-private Starr Pass Country Club in Tucson, Ariz., Executive Chef Ryan Littman is now working exclusively with sustainable seafood products. As part of the orientation process for diners about the new direction being taken throughout the property, Littman not only relies on menu descriptions, but also an informed and proactively communicative wait staff. Servers now taste dishes made with unfamiliar fish that have been substituted for threatened populations, and are trained how to describe the new varieties to patrons and explain why they’re being featured in place of more familiar offerings.

“Going this route definitely makes my job harder—but it’s the right thing to do,” Littman says. Success, he adds, depends on “finding suppliers you can trust.” He turns to Seafood Watch, sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, to help him decide what and what not to serve, and where to get it. “Their website [www.seafoodwatch.org] is great,” he says. “We use it a lot.”

 

Reeling in New Business
When it’s too cold to play golf, things get slow for Tim Williams, Club Manager and Executive Chef at the Bartlett Country Club in Olean, N.Y. So like a lot of club chefs, he tries to lure members during the offseason with an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.

Bartlett CC still lures members with an

But even this tried-and-true club dining room feature is changing with the times. Williams’ “Seafood Extravaganza,” now offered several times throughout the year, includes varieties supplied by a Honolulu company founded by a former marine biologist who now works with fisheries committed to protecting ocean habitats.

“The product is beautiful,” Williams says. “It’s flown in fresh from Hawaii within a day or two of being caught. I place orders on Tuesday that arrive by FedEx on Friday.”

Williams makes sure that each new “Extravaganza” has something different. One recent discovery that proved popular was monchong, a fish similar to (but not as threatened as) mahi mahi. Frozen Australian lobster tails and blue crab, both rated as good alternative choices by Seafood Watch, are now always included in the Friday night line-up.

The charge for the buffet is $35 per person, plus tax, beverages, and gratuity. Half of the club’s 300 members usually participate. “My food costs are higher than normal—about 40 to 45 percent,” admits Williams. “But we make it up on alcohol and the fact that we’re getting people to use the club, instead of staying home or going someplace else.”

 

Turning the Sea Green
Peter Pahk is an acknowledged leader in what is sometimes referred to as “green cuisine.” The Executive Chef for Silverado Resort and Country Club, located in California’s Napa Valley, has long been a proponent of using local and natural foods that are raised, harvested, processed and packaged in ways that do the least amount of harm to the earth and its resources (a philosophy shared by Xanterra, the company that manages Silverado). Using only strictly sustainable seafood is part of the program.

“We’re a customer-driven business,” explains Chef Pahk. “It’s not good to say no, but I won’t serve Chilean sea bass, even though some guests ask for it. This fish has been exploited for years and is on the verge of extinction. So we educate our customers and offer a large selection of other options. Once they know why we take this stand, they appreciate it. ”

The approach is effective: Pahk reports that he fills every seat in the house for his Tuesday Seafood nights, and people come on Friday because that’s when he gets his kona kampachi in from Hawaii. The sushi-grade fish, a member of the jac family that is similar to pompano, is farm-raised in open ocean pens.

“I’ve been working with it for five years,” says Pahk. “It’s spectacular, very moist, good raw, and ideal for pan-sauteeing or broiling.”

Scott Wraith, Corporate Food Purchasing Director for Canyon Ranch Resorts & Hotels, is also a fan of kona kampachi, and he has high praise for barramundi, too—a mild-flavored saltwater fish that is an aquaculture product from Australia and similar to sea bass.

Canyon Ranch, with properties in Tucson, Ariz., Lenox, Mass. and Miami Beach, has implemented sustainable seafood programs at all of its locations. “It was a conscious decision,” explains Wraith. “We’re a health and wellness resort. Now we’re extending that concept to include the well-being of the planet.”

 

When Silverado Resort educates its guests about its sustainable seafood program, it finds that they appreciate knowing why the resort is taking such a stand

Wraith also uses the resources of Seafood Watch, to show staff a 20-minute training video made available by that organization. He also cites the Seafood Choices Alliance and the Marine Stewardship Council (see box, this page) as helpful organizations.

“There’s a great deal of information to sort through,” Wraith says of the challenging “sea change” process, which has taken about a year to fully implement. “Then we had to build relationships with suppliers that take this as seriously as we do.”

 

Back to Fish School
Wichita, Kan., may be landlocked, but diners at Terradyne Country Club’s Palamino Grill in nearby Andover still enjoy seafood. Chef Randy Davis is increasing their appetite for it by emphasizing quality and freshness.

“I’m featuring Arctic char, opah, scallops, and salmon that I can have in my kitchen 24 hours after the stuff is pulled out of the water,” he reports. “Once they taste it, people get hooked.” When Davis must turn to frozen products, he opts for fish flash-frozen right on the boat.

In the heart of beef country, Davis has already developed good experience working with dry-aged, hormone- and steroid-free beef. Now he wants to apply the same high standards to the fish he uses, but admits he has much to learn.
“I’d like to be better educated about sustainability,” he says.

He should talk to Ken Hamko, Food and Beverage Director for Keystone Lodging in Vail, Colo. Hamko is in charge of implementing a 100 percent-sustainable seafood program for the resort’s five restaurant venues and a conference center that launched in mid-January.

“I’ve had to become much more knowledgeable about our vendors, the type of fish we buy, how each is raised or caught, and where it comes from,” says Hamko, whose organization has already shifted to organic dairy products and all-natural meats. Based on current consumption, he estimates Keystone will use 12,000 pounds of sustainable fish annually.

“Keeping abreast of what we need to know will be an ongoing effort,” he says. “But we have to ask what we can do to ensure that 10, 20 or even 100 years down the road, there will trout and halibut for everyone to eat.”