Profiles

Brad Steelman

Brad Steelman is the executive chef of The River Café, a renowned American restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.

What is your favorite seafood to eat?
That’s difficult to answer; for me, it’s really a seasonal thing. Right now, in the middle of the summer, I’m thinking about ice-cold oysters; in the winter it could be something completely different. That’s why I stay in the Northeast, so I can enjoy the variety of the seasons.

What is your favorite seafood to prepare at the restaurant?
We cook everything from gastropods to finfish to crustaceans, so it’s really hard to nail down one favorite. I think everything we prepare is beautiful, so it’s impossible for me to say which one item I like to cook above all the others.

What’s the most popular seafood dish on your menu?
For the main course, it would probably be lobster, which we change quite frequently to incorporate seasonal ingredients. We also sell a lot of char and farm-raised john dory.

How did you get interested in the issue of sustainable seafood?
I’m a scuba diver and originally had hoped to be a marine biologist, so I’m in tune with the undersea world. I also grew up on Long Island and know a lot of fishermen, who have a different view on things. I got involved with Seafood Choices to find out what information was being provided to chefs versus what fishermen say. I’m also trying to get some straight answers between what the government says and what fishermen say, so I can better understand where the conflict lies.

How would you describe your philosophy on ocean conservation?
One thing I’d like to see is more education and cooperation between the fishermen and the government – or whoever the “powers that be” are who put the allotments and quotas on the fish. There could be better communication about what a fisherman could bring back. For instance, if a fisherman’s allotment is 600 pounds of black sea bass and he pulls up 800 pounds, he technically has to dump the 200 pounds. If the fisherman had known beforehand that if he brought the 800 pounds back, then the following season he’d have 200 less on this allotment, then at least he’d have the fish in hand. He’d know that this year would be a good year, and the next he’d have to supplement his income in some other way.

How has your philosophy changed what fish you serve?
Yes. I try to keep myself educated about what’s available and which products work and which don’t. For example, aquaculture has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years – there really is a lot of great stuff out there now being farmed. I also try to educate myself about how the quotas work and the latest on catching wild fish.

Have your diners noticed?
People still like to eat decadent things, particularly in higher-end restaurants – they want the shrimp, lobster, and the caviar. So you can coerce them to try something they weren’t aware of, but they can still be pretty staunch about what they like. I think the answer lies in diversification, but you still have to use and sustain the species that customers are familiar with, because they’re always going to want the scallops, lobster, and shrimp.

Do you feel it limits what you can offer?
It does in certain respects. Frankly, it depends on what kind of conscience you have. If an organization places a moratorium on a fish, we certainly try to do our part. We don’t serve Chilean sea bass or swordfish, even though they may have bounced back. This brings me back to my point about the education between the fisherman and the government: In the case of the swordfish, if they had said don’t use swordfish under 100 pounds or don’t use the pups, it might have been a different approach, instead of saying don’t use the fish at all. It comes down to really knowing what’s going on – to stop using a particular fish but not really understanding why isn’t a great thing either.

Have your seafood purveyors worked with you on getting sustainably caught seafood?
Oh, yes. One in particular purveyor here in Brooklyn is a big advocate of it.

What trends or changes have you seen in the seafood industry in the last 10 years?
I’m seeing new products coming in from places we hadn’t seen before, like Chile or Africa, such as the rouget or the red mullet, which weren’t previously available to us.

Why are you a Seafood Choices member?
Because I really want to understand the information about the issues. I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon just to jump on the bandwagon. It’s important for me to make choices based on good reasons and to take appropriate measures. I subscribe to Seafood Choices to decipher this information. If you talk to fishermen or the purveyors, you get different stories. So it’s nice to get different takes on the issues and get a clear understanding of what’s really going on.