From the new ceviche bar at Border Grill in The Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas to the signature Pescado Veracruzano at the iconic location in Santa Monica, you can tell just by looking at the menus that Chef Susan Feniger has a thing for seafood.
We weren’t surprised to learn Chef Feniger’s appreciation for fresh seafood started in her youth. “I have many childhood memories of cooking on Lake Leelanau in Northern Michigan with my uncle,” she told us. “Early morning and early evening, putting the worms and minnows on hooks, sitting and waiting. Then going home and cleaning the fish and grilling them outside on the beach! My favorite was getting up early, early in the morning, going with my uncle into these tiny streams off the lake. Wading in with the tiny boat, going through reeds, and catching trout. It was absolutely amazing. We’d finish about 7 am and come home, make fried eggs on top of crispy trout!”
We asked Chef Feniger to pick a few of her current seafood favorites and she started with Pescado Veracruzano. “I love this dish; its flavor profile is perfectly balanced with chiles for heat, onions for sweetness, oregano and fresh lime, including the zest. It’s comforting and elegant.”
Also on the list? Grilled Fish Tacos. “This is one of our biggest sellers at Border Grill. . It’s typically something like fluke or halibut with lime crema, grapefruit supremes, and a Persian cucumber slaw.”
She finished with Oysters. “We serve these at Border Grill Forum Shops with 3 granitas: chipotle mignonette, spicy cocktail sauce, tomatillo serrano. I love the smooth, rich, salty quality of the oysters topped with the savory spice of the granitas. Great contrast.”
And that’s just in the restaurant! Chef Feniger also finds time to cook seafood off the clock. “Typically at home we might have whole salmon or halibut, wrapped in hoja santa with onions and tomatoes from our garden and then grilled,” she told us.
If you get an invite, bring your appetite! She also added a “big pot of littlenecks, cockles, razor clams with garlic, lime, chipotle with some yummy crispy La Brea Bakery bread thrown in a hot oven with extra virgin olive oil.” Is your mouth watering?
Her tastes may have changed since those early days, but some things remain the same, including her direct connection to the seafood she purchases and a commitment to serving fresh, sustainably sourced fish and shellfish.
We appreciate working with customers who are as passionate about seafood as we are. Chef Feniger describes us a “the company that is pushing the limits.” We love that! “We count on Santa Monica Seafood to help teach our team, bring us interesting fish that are sustainable and that follow Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Criteria. They have helped our team to find the quality we require. It’s all about giving back and that’s part of our company culture too.”
From Lake Leelanau to the Las Vegas Strip, it’s all about caring where your seafood comes from. We couldn’t be happier to be part of that kind of commitment – thanks Chef Feniger!
Border Grill, Santa Monica, Downtown LA, and Las Vegas