Right after Eater named his restaurant, Musi, as one of their 16 Best New Restaurants in America, Chef Ari Miller (and his charming mother) join us for a podcast.  Enjoy a captivating story of this one time journalist in Tel Aviv before he began studying under an old school fish monger named “Musi.”  After years of mongering, Chef Ari tells us about the unique style of cooking and storytelling he does at his BYOB located in the Pennsport section of Philadelphia.  We hear about how a monger trains “Rocky style” and goes above “farm to table” to truly embrace seafood from all over the world and claim his spot as one of the best new restaurants in the country.

Visit Musi on Instagram @musiphilly and musiphilly.com

What are the benefits of aquaculture raised Atlantic Salmon?  Being sold exclusively in the U.S. by Samuels Seafood, Jail Island is still innovating as they are giving back to the wild. 

Listen to Adam Sopenoff of Cooke Aquaculture and Dr. Kurt Samways of the University of New Brunswick discuss responsible harvesting of Jail Island Salmon and the Fundy Salmon Recovery Project. This is the first project in the world to collect young fish, care for them in an ocean environment and release them when they are ready to spawn and promote Salmon stock back to healthy levels. 

For every pound of Jail Island Salmon sold, a portion of proceeds is donated to this recovery project.

What a twist we have this week as fishmongers discuss the marvels of Kurobuta Pork.  We sit down with Gregg Mooers of Berkwood Farms.  Berkwood Farms is a coalition of independent Midwest family farmers and one of the largest American suppliers of 100% pure heirloom Kurobuta Pork, also known as Berkshire Pork.

Gregg discusses the healthy and environmentally friendly manner in which Berkwood Farms pigs are raised to provide unbeatable flavor and marbling.  Because of the exquisite quality of Berkwood Farms Pork, Samuels has been proudly providing various cuts including Bellies, Bacon, Baby Back Ribs, Loins and even Burgers! Gregg discusses the Kurobuta Pig lifestyle, Bacon balls and living in Iowa.

Visit Berkwood Farms on Instagram @berkwoodfarms and ask for it here at Samuels Seafood. 

Saidur Rehman, or Sadie as he is known, is the seafood merchandiser for McCaffrey’s Food Markets.  McCaffrey’s has Pennsylvania retail locations in Yardley, Doylestown, Blue Bell and Newtown with one on the way in New Hope.  They also have two New Jersey locations in West Windsor and one in Princeton. 

Sadie has completely raised the bar on being a retail fishmonger.  He tells us about breaking down a 900 plus pound Swordfish to fill his cases and getting his customers to care about the sustainability efforts put into seafood.  He’s joined by his Samuels Sales Agent, Mark Adams. The two have been working together for 30 years.

Visit McCaffrey’s on Facebook @OfficialMcCaffreysSuperMarkets and online at mccaffreys.com

Owners of Bardea, Scott Stein and Chef Antimo DiMeo sit down with us on the one year birthday of their Wilmington, Delaware restaurant. Bardea, named after the Italian term for the goddess of food and drink, earned a James Beard semifinalist nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2019.  We learned that Bardea absolutely masters the art of offering guests a unique variety of fish, provided whole.  You’ll hear why the vibe in Bardea has been electric and they are proving Wilmington is more than just a spot off I -95 between DC and Philly. Here’s the story of fish and fruition in The First State.

 Check out Bardea on Instagram @bardeawilmington or online at bardeawilmington.com

From slinging fish at legendary Ippolito’s in South Philadelphia to becoming top sales reps in top regions all over the east coast, Jessica Digregorio and Anthony Mendicino join us to discuss what it takes in the fish business.  Jessica and Anthony are prime examples of true mongers who started at a young age selling fish to some of the hottest chefs in the country by learning from Sam D’Angelo himself.  Here, they discuss hectic holidays at Ippolito’s, working with all types of different chef personalities, and the possibility of their kids becoming future mini mongers!  This is a great story for anyone looking to become or learn about the life in seafood.

Here is the conclusion to last week’s Chef’s Night Out event in DC.  Samuels and DC’s best chefs partied the night away while learning about the newest responsibly raised aquaculture products around. Listen to Washington Redskin’s Executive Chef, Connor McGuire discuss feeding hungry NFL players with seafood. Chef Gregory Lloyd, Executive Chef of Le Diplomate, sits down with Jazmine Klimpl of Hawaiian Kanpachi and asks her all the questions a chef would ask a fish farmer.  You’ll also hear Executive Chef and partner of The Salt Line, Kyle Bailey, who graciously hosted the event. Chef Bailey discusses a variety of topics from making Lobster Rolls using Live Lobsters to holding a large scale chef event with Susan Bacus Morgan, Chief Creative Officer of Samuels Seafood.  The night got interesting and we’re glad we got it recorded for you. 

Join a party with the best chefs in Washington DC! On Monday, September 9th, Samuels Seafood celebrated sustainable aquaculture with a Chef’s Night Out.  “Farmed to Table” was an exciting night held at Chef Kyle Baily’s The Salt Line in DC.  Samuels and our customers ate, drank and discussed sustainable new aquaculture products well into the night.  After some catching up and a few drinks, many of the chefs made their way to the podcast lounge.  This week, hear from Chef Massimo Vicidomini from RPM explains how he sources the best ingredients from all over the world. Jonathan Taub from Bub & Pops lets loose and shows his Philly roots. The whole gang from Kusshi Sushi tells the story of how they got fired…only to take over the same spot, becoming sushi-rolling entrepreneurs.  Be sure to catch part 2 to be released on 9/18/19

Listen to a tale of crime, redemption and of course, cooking seafood.  Angelo Lutz is the owner of Kitchen Consigliere in Colllingswood, NJ.  He also made national headlines and achieved fame when he was indicted of racketeering and gambling charges in 2001. After serving nearly seven years in federal prison, Angelo was released and worked toward his passion of cooking, eventually opening his old school Italian restaurant, “Kitchen Consigliere.”  Angelo tells us the full story from prison to his time in the media spotlight to finally opening his own restaurant.

Right outside where we recorded this podcast, Swordfish and Tuna were being taken off the boat, graded and sent to Samuels!  Captain Pete Dolan and Danny Mears are captains of fishing vessels for Viking Village, a fishing community in Barnegat Light, New Jersey.  Viking Village supplies some of the highest quality Sea Scallops and finfish in the country.  We caught these captains right after a long trip with their crews in the Atlantic Ocean. It was very exciting to learn about how the captains catch their fish and spend their time at sea.  We also hear about the beautiful and sometimes scary things commercial fishermen experience.  

Check out Viking Village online at vikingvillage.net