The city seems to have gotten its money’s worth out of the massive Seafood
Expo North America last week, despite cutting its presence short by a day
because of last Tuesday’s nor’easter.
Its VIP, monkfish-centric tasting luncheon last Monday was heavily attended
and widely lauded. The city also got some pretty positive press from some
influential seafood media sources, such as the long story on the
influential Undercurrentnews website on Gloucester’s ocean-to-table
campaign.
The story, however, contained a rather ambiguous reference to the city’s
agreement with the Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub chain to serve local,
freshly landed Gloucester haddock on the menus of its 106 locations.
The piece mentioned how the original supplier in the deal — the dear
departed Gloucester Seafood Processing up in the Blackburn Industrial
Park — walked away when its parent, The Mazzetta Company, shuttered the
facility.
But the piece failed to mention that the successor to GSP as the primary
source of the Cape Ann haddock is another Gloucester seafood processor.
Gloucester’s Finest Seafood, which operates out of the Cape Ann Seafood
Exchange on Harbor Loop, stepped in to fill the void. Folks at the Ninety
Nine wanted to make it clear they remain committed to the agreement.
“Chef George (Tagarelis) and I have been in our restaurants all week long
with general managers and kitchen managers training on our brand-new spring
menu which begins April 2 and features ‘Gloucester Fresh’ simply seasoned
fresh haddock,” Charlie Noyes, president of the Ninety Nine chain and a
Gloucester resident, said Thursday in an emailed statement. “I’m sure our
guests at the Ninety-Nine will be as excited as we are that we continue to
serve this local favorite.”
