Familiar fish giving way to new variety?

“George’s of Galilee has been known since we started for really great traditional seafood – the kind that you would expect to be served on the beach here in South County,” said Brian Durfee, the third-generation proprietor of the landmark seaport restaurant.
Seated in a corner banquette of his newly refurbished dining room, Durfee recalled how his business has changed. “We’ve always bought local seafood right out of the port here in [Narragansett], fresh-caught flounder, for example, that would become our fish and chips.”
Durfee had gathered together some key people to talk about the next step in the evolution of the menu and approach at George’s. Chef Yulia Sampson has been creating what she called, “funky, upscale presentations of some unusual fish that some of our guests will be trying for the first time!” She’s referring to such varieties as skate, hake, dogfish, monkfish and sea robin that are flavorful and plentiful.
The sea robin is a mild, white fish that has a sweet taste. It is a small catch, weighing only about two or three pounds. The fillets can be pan seared or the whole fish can be roasted. The chef has used it in a risotto.
Skate is sometimes called “poor man’s scallop.” It is dense and meaty, while monkfish is referred to as “poor man’s lobster.” Foodies are becoming interested in these species and how good they can be when prepared with the right touch. Chef Sampson has been at George’s for seven years after emigrating from Russia.
George’s has partnered with Trace and Trust, a national organization whose mission is to connect restaurateurs and retailers. The network of food professionals – farmers, fishermen, distributors and chefs are all passionate about what they cook and sell and about telling the story of the food from beginning, where it is caught or grown, to end – at the restaurant.
Gaspar Catanzaro was at George’s on a gray, early spring afternoon to tell the story of the unusual types of seafood coming into the restaurant and how to relate the new varieties to guests.
One such type is known as smooth dogfish. Quite popular in the chip shops of London, according to Durfee, this fish tastes like cod or haddock. When I attempted to pin down chef Sampson on which it most closely resembled, she deferred to Catanzaro, who explained that it was similar in appearance and taste to the fish we are accustomed to enjoying as fish and chips, with some flakiness but also a density and meatiness. This is an excellent example of the philosophy behind Trace and Trust. The trust comes from venerable restaurants like George’s that have been serving state-of-the-art Rhode Island seafood since 1948.
The traceability comes from the high-tech methods used by Trace and Trust. Catanzaro describes the organization as a marketplace for a chef to be creative with “product,” industry-speak for main ingredients. “A chef can custom-source from us,” he explained. And some of the chefs with the best reputations for creativity do.
A listing of chefs and restaurateurs who use Trace and Trust is a Who’s Who. David Burke, Derek Wagner and Matt Gennuso are all pictured on the Trace and Trust website.
A diverse group of restaurants are also employing Trace and Trust’s services, from Thames Street Kitchen in Newport to Dante’s Kitchen in East Greenwich, from The Spiced Pear at the Chanler to George’s of Galilee.
What Durfee wants to do is to continue George’s tradition of taking the lead and setting the trends in seaport resort dining. In its 65-year history, George’s is recognized as having been the “first” place on the waterfront to offer “sun deck” dining.
George, by the way, was not a fisherman, nor even a seafood restaurateur. He ran a small coffee shop on the harbor that Durfee’s father would frequent in the post-World War II years in Galilee. They became acquainted and the elder Durfee soon learned that George was ready to retire and sell. The rest is history, as is the iconic name that has stood the test of time, tide, hurricanes, recessions and now endangered seafood species.
Brian Durfee predicts that in our lifetime, as soon as 20 years hence, the familiar fish dishes that we are accustomed to ordering at restaurants like his may no longer be available. He is taking the bold step through his chef and with a trend-setting partnership to familiarize his guests with seafood varieties that may be new to them but taste every bit as good as the familiar favorites and are sustainable, that is, are not in danger of being overfished.
With such a partnership along virtually each step of the food chain, we who dine out often have some exciting meals ahead to enjoy. •

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