Sustainable Seafood Series #5- Brooklyn Warehouse

The Brooklyn Warehouse is one of several Halifax restaurants who are making an increased effort to purchase sustainable seafood. "We are not currently 100% sustainably sourced here at the Warehouse, yet. " says Chef Graeme Ruppel. "We recently joined on with OceanWise, and just need to do a few modifications to become full members." In order to be fully sustainable, BW will have to revise the seafood dishes on their menu, including dropping some crowd favorites.

As "stewards of dining trends" Ruppel and BW believe that, "it is important that we help support systems that produce food in ways that are less damaging to the environment, and promote with our customers a sense of the importance of maintaining the fish stocks." The preservation of these species helps to maintain the balance of the seas, and preserves this fish for future generations. "We'll take this year off of tuna, " he says, "so that we can still have it down the road."

With regards to suppliers, BW deals with CanAqua (the wholesale arm of Scotia Halibut, a land-based halibut and arctic char farm) for halibut and char, Indian Point Mussel Farm for mussels, and GoldWater Seafood for Hook and Line Haddock, and scallops. Scotia Halibut, Indian Point, and GoldWater are all registered with OceanWise, as well. According to Ruppel, both companies were founded by people with significant fisheries management experience, and know the importance, and methods, of maintaining our fish stocks.

When we start looking at a new product," says Ruppel, "the first question I ask is where it comes from. " He adds that one of his goals is to grow the percentage of locally sourced product on his menu.

Sustainable seafood menu items at Brooklyn Warehouse include:

Lunch:

Fulton Fish & Chips~Pan-fried Hook and Line Haddock, Riverview Herbs and Seared Lemon Wedge, Oven Roasted Potato Wedges and House-Made Tartar Sauce

Dinner:

White Fish Dish~Pan-fried Halibut, Chili Vinaigrette, served on Tarragon-Grilled Potato Salad, with Sautéed Summer Vegetables

Red Fish Dish~Arctic Char served with an Apple & Arugula Salad and Brown Butter Risotto

Red Fish Dish