What does the seasonal seafood obsession look like around New Orleans these day? I’ve been on the trail from Lenten Friday fish fries to upscale dining rooms, and today I’m going to share some amazing finds.
Let’s start with catfish, Williby’s Catfish that is. This is a market and take out shop in Gentilly with a masterful way at frying seafood, and an incredible way of sourcing it. The restaurant has its own catfish farm in Mississippi, and once a week owner Alvin Williby or his dad, also, Alvin Williby, drive back from the farm with a pick up truck trailer full of catfish in a live tank.
These are transferred via a pipe into the restaurant where there’s an indoor catfish pond, where the fish will swim around until they’re harvested. And all that happens in plain view of customers waiting on fresh catfish plates. It’s practically catch and cook.
Now let’s go to the French Quarter to GW Fins, an upscale restaurant which marks 25 years in business this year. It has been evolving all that time and today is a pioneer in fascinating and delicious new techniques with local seafood. That includes seafood charcuterie, or treating swordfish, snapper, tuna and other catches just like a butcher shop would for salami and bacon, pastrami and mortadella, all made with fish. They’re also dry aging cuts of fish, often serving them on the bone, just like beef at fine steakhouses. Phenomenal! Now onto the boil. Bars and taverns all around town host regular crawfish boil pop-ups this time of year. That’s true for Bayou Beer Garden, near Bayou St. John, but here the seasonal mudbug tradition has grown into a beast of a boil. Now, every day but Monday, an operation called Andy’s Crawfish sets up in the spacious open air beer garden and people turn up in droves.
The crawfish consistent in texture, not super spicy but flavorful, and the atmosphere, between the various patios and outdoor bars makes it all feel like a crawfish fest more than a pop up. Pro tip for beverage pairing: Bayou Beer Garden’s dual identity is also Beer Wine Garden, with a wine bar pouring many types including sparking, and remember bubbles are a mudbugs best friend.
