You wouldnt expect to find Sea Breeze, a fish market thats been in the neighborhood for nearly 100 years and carries over a hundred different varieties of fish and seafood, across the street from Port Authority and down the street from a soup kitchen, but there it is.
Through puffs of a cigarette, Vincent Dimino tells me hes been working the market, passed down from his father and grandfather, for 50 years. Hes 58. You do the math. A formidable man of few words, he seems to enjoy what he does, or at least has no thoughts of leaving. Sea Breeze has a 99 year lease with an option to extend it for another 50.
For his fish Vincent recommends the well worn combo of garlic, lemon, herbs and white wine. Instead of this standard, though, I decide its time to conquer gravlax (see following recipe). It seems like a good way to snub my nose at winter.
• At Sea Breeze Fish Market: Halibut, $11.99/lb; king fish, $5.99/lb; sword fish, $9.98/lb; tuna, $6.89/lb; organic tilapia, $7.49/lb; Spanish mackerel, $2.99/lb (remember the Mark Bittman Minimalist column this week in the NY Times); octopus, $3.99/lb; red snapper, $5.49/lb; whiting, $2.49/lb; salmon, $6.49/lb.
Sea Breeze Fish Market is located at 541 9th Avenue on the corner of 40th Street in Manhattan. It's open Monday - Saturday, 7am - 6:30pm. To get there take the A, C, E to 42nd Street/Times Square.
Very exciting! Prices sound really good, too.
The prices are definitely great. And it's right near a couple of butchers, a green grocer and International Grocery and Meat where you can get a variety of gourmet items like Parmesan, bulk spices and beans, coffee and taramasalata.
This market sounds amazing. How did the gravlax come out? At home we used to do a salmon anisette which was a similar process except that you would cake the filet in fennel seeds in stead of with dill. I definitely recommend it.
The gravlax was a hit at brunch. My three year old nephew could not get enough and had to be cut off. We didn't let him at the Champagne though.