Go Fish - Cloudinary

Go
Fish
in the Ironbound
My favorite meal is on Christmas Eve. The one and only day each year when
dishes like stuffed squid, stewed octopus and salted, dried codfish (baccalà in
Italian, bacalhau in Portuguese, bacalao in Spanish) prepared both cold
and hot, are served as part of my family’s traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes.
O
ver the years, I’ve bonded with
Portuguese and Spanish business
colleagues in Newark’s Ironbound
district over our shared love for
seafood of all kinds. Not surprising
since the Ironbound’s renowned
restaurants and fish markets offer the freshest fish
you could ever hope to find. From the big names like
Casa Vasca, Forno’s, Sol Mar and Spanish Tavern to
more humble neighborhood places like Wilson Café &
Restaurant, you can pretty much count on seafood
that’s always good and sometimes sublime.
70 | SUMMER . FALL . 2014 | NewarkBound
“In the United States, meat is on the menu every day,”
noted Luis Janota, the owner of Ocean Seafood Depot,
a wholesaler and distributor in Newark (retail too), who
counts dozens of Ironbound restaurants among his many
customers. “In Portugal, fish is a daily meal, not once a
week, and that’s reflected in menus throughout the district.”
Sit at the bustling bar at Seabra’s Marisqueira at
lunch or dinner time during the week or weekend
and you’ll understand his point. At the bar, and in
the white and blue tiled dining room, executives from
nearby corporate offices, construction workers from
local job sites, Red Bulls’ supporters and Devils’ fans,
P H oto, fa c i n g pa g e : v i n c e B a g l i v o. Ab o v e , l e f t to r i g h t: V i n c e B a g l i v o ; I B I D ; I r m a B e i r o
By Vince Baglivo