Macgregors Seafood Notes

Back from our little foray into Manhattan slightly wiser, mostly poorer. First off, Manhattan is an imposing Goliath of a city, and despite our best efforts in Toronto to refer to ourselves as "world class", we really don't measure up to a true world epicenter...yet. Our intentions for this trip were to see if there was any opportunities @ the Fulton Fish Market, visit a top fresh seafood supplier to the NYC restaurants, and also to get a feel for the seafood scene in some of the cities best restaurants.

Firstly, the Fulton Market was (when we finally found our way there by 4a.m.) eye-opening in several ways. Initially I thought "wow, quite a lot of fish here - very promising", but as we made our way through it didn't take long to see that this market seemed stuck in the old way of doing things. Boxes upon boxes of fish out on the floor, some of it on ice, some of it not. Some of it looked good, some of it didn't. And as we kept walking it really hit home that no-one is doing anything different from the next guy, and at the end of the day, not much to get excited about.

From Fulton, we headed back to Brooklyn to see the Pierless Fish Corp. operation. Pierless is not dependant on the Market for their fish. Most of it is bought directly and flown into JKF several times a week. Beautiful pristine fish from New Zealand and Australia (same sources we buy from), phenomenal Branzino's from the Canary Islands 600-800grm and 3-4lbs each. French Turbot, #1 Tuna's, Sashimi gr. Flukes and Cobia's, Norwegian Salmon etc. Similar to us, a lot of orders are custom cut by skilled fish cutters, and delivered to the finer establishments of the city. Is there a cost to flying product in from around the world as opposed to running to the market everyday - certainly yes, but to be the best in a town where the pressure on chefs and restaurants is immense, you have leave the pack (Fulton) behind and commit relentlessly to bringing in nothing but the best product possible everyday without fail. The philosophy is: if the next guy is cheaper fine, buy it from him. Just know that it's not the same as ours...bottom line.

The restaurant scene is, as you'd imagine, first rate. The one noticeable menu distinction is that most good restaurants have a raw/crudo section to their menu. Whether it's Italian, French, or American, it's become the way to do things and not just for Japanese style restaurants. Sashimi style fish, minimally altered, and true to form. With maybe a touch of oil, or good salt you'd find raw whole split Scampi from Scotland, Wahoo, Opah, Fluke, Escolar, Razor Clams, Tuna etc. For mains, very simply cooked fish on the bone if possible: Branzino's, Wild Striped Bass, Wild Black Bass, Tilefish (Golden Spotted Bass), Snappers, Mullets and John Dory's.

In a city where outwardly it seems the rule bigger is better, when you're dining it's definitely less is more. Quite simply it goes like this: buy the best, barely do anything to it, and charge a fortune for it. That being said, when you're right in the middle of this enormous one of a kind city, in a perfect restaurant with a perfect drink in front of you, there really is nothing quite like the experience of stunningly fresh, down to earth, simple seafood.

All for now..

Paul

In typical fashion, we're always looking for new ideas to keep our customers at the top of their game in Toronto. Being one of the most culturally diverse cities on the planet, a Torontonians' minimum expectation is that anything and everything in the world be continually available to them, with minimal effort required to find it. That's what makes Toronto special - you really can find it all here. That's our identity. We may not be famous for our own sandwich but we are famous for the fact that if any sandwich exists anywhere in the world, there's a spot in Toronto where you can find an authentic version of it - and probably many.

Hence, we've travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Europe, our own 2 coasts and beyond to bring back the true spirit of many local seafood traditions and make them available here. Now we're headed to NYC, arguably one the top culinary destinations in the world, and quite the seafood town too, to see what's on the menu and where it came from. We'll be at the New Fulton Market when it opens early a.m. sorting through all the fish, we'll be driving out to Long Island to see some top notch Oyster growers, and we'll be eating seafood all over Manhattan. Because, at the end of the day, if we can do anything better here to differentiate our customers and keep them the top dining destinations in not only Toronto, but Canada and the world - then we do it. Besides it keeps things interesting and exciting and that's what life is about.

Paul