The Fiddlefish Story
Most common refrain around the Sunday evening dinner table: “We've got to open a restaurant.” It was meant as a compliment to the cook, my mom, but it evolved into a dream and then a serious endeavor. The story starts with the gumbo. Straight-up, hard-core seafood gumbo. We don't have anything against okra and tomatoes, just don't want it in our seafood gumbo. Shrimp and crab, crab and shrimp. Just like mom's sweet tea, we think it is the best.
Over forty years ago, my great uncle, Mayson, gave Mom THE gumbo cooking lesson of her life. I wasn't there, but I am sure there were not many jokes told, as cooking was serious business to Mayson. However, I am certain that there were a few beers consumed (by Mayson, not mom) during the three hour lesson. As everyone knows (or should know), it's all in the roux. Cook it til you almost burn it, cook it a little more, but don't burn it. Easy enough? No way. It is not easy stirring that roux for 45 minutes or so without leaving it. I consider it my workout for the day. Back to the family...growing up, we would fight over the gumbo. I was often accused of filling my bowl without putting any rice in it, a charge I will not confirm or deny. As the years passed, mom tried to get my brother and sister and I to learn to make it, but we wouldn't. It was too hard, too expensive, too much time and trouble. We let her continue stirring over the iron skillet (yes, it was a certain one) until we finally convinced her that the rest of the world needed her gumbo, too. She consented when we agreed to learn the family secret and help her out!
While a restaurant with just gumbo sounds fine to me, we added more delicious homemade recipes on the menu. The crab and corn bisque is not to be missed. We have been told it is the best on the Gulf Coast, and we happen to agree. The cornbread salad and mac and cheese (the real deal) are also family favorites. The bread pudding is my father's favorite food. He has about 37 favorite foods, but this is definitely one of them. My wife Aimee chipped in with a couple of winners—the mushroom rice and a shrimp-stuffed potato that has become a best-seller. We actually sell out of potatoes almost every day, so come early! My sister insisted on fresh (not frozen) broccoli. I don't like broccoli but we put it on the menu anyway and I'm glad we did. Apparently people like their broccoli.
As we were putting it all together, there was still the issue of how to fry the seafood. For the record, there are at least 2,756,913 ways to fry shrimp. I think we tried all of them, but only one is the best and that is how Nan Seas used to fry them. Unfortunately, a hurricane destroyed that Mobile favorite on the bay, but I was able to get in touch with Mr. Robinson, the owner. I told him what we were doing and asked to buy his batter recipe. He came in, taught us how to fry it up, and the Nan Seas tradition is preserved!
You'll also find family touches in the restaurant—decor by Aimee, tables made by Brent, my brother-in-law, pictures of family —and probably a family member or two or three hanging around eating. We take a lot of pride in our food. Mom comes in every day and tastes the food. If it's not right (and I mean, RIGHT), we remake it. We don't cut corners. Our goal is to offer you the best seafood we can put on a plate (or in a bowl) and serve it up with a smile. We cook to order, so it comes out hot and worth the wait.
If you have dined with us, thank you very much and we hope to see you again soon. If you haven't, come on in, give us a try!
Thanks from everyone at Fiddlefish—Funny Name, Serious Seafood.