Despite San Diego’s abundance of fresh, locally caught seafood, not everyone has equal access to it. As both the chef and owner of Craft Catering and a South Bay native, Marcus Twilegar knows this better than most.
“If you’re in a low income area, you can’t afford a fish for $19 a pound,” he explains. That’s part of why he helped create Fish to Families with founder Peter Halmay, president of San Diego Fishermen‘s Working Group.
When the pandemic disrupted life and food supply chains, Halmay saw an opportunity to redirect the fish, who were no longer headed to restaurants and were straight into the hands of people facing food insecurity. After securing funding from grants and donations, Fish to Families was born.
Feeding San Diego estimates more than 350,000 people in San Diego are food insecure, but Fish to Families doesn’t just tackle that issue. At first, the goal was to provide nutritious meals for families and keep fishermen in business during pandemic shutdowns. It’s since evolved to include a training program for chefs.
“[Fish to Families] really connected the fishermen and chefs, and gave them tools to learn, the time, and the funds for the cooks to learn how to break down every single species of fish and how to cook it and turn it into a meal,” he says. “It further grew the relationships between fishermen and chefs, so that was a cool part of it.”
Twilegar estimates they prepared around 19,000 pounds of fish. But four years in, the program is facing what he calls donor fatigue. “After the pandemic slowed, it was hard,” he admits. A recent grant from the Parker Foundation will keep them up and running for now, but there is also a GoFundMe that anyone can donate to. Twilegar hopes that they can keep going if more people support the program.
“The goal is to make it [financially] sustainable,” he explains. “It positively impacts everybody, not just one organization… we’re all helping each other.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Shabu-Works is Opening Second Location This September
Mira Mesa-based shabu-shabu shop Shabu-Works is expanding to San Marcos this September. Owned by brothers Peter Yang and Mike Wu, the all-you-can-eat concept allows guests to customize their hot pot experience with different broths, such as tonkatsu pork bone, spicy curry, and a multitude of other meat-forward, vegetarian, and vegan options. Proteins include beef belly, U.S. Wagyu bottom round, New Zealand lamb shoulder, and more. If you haven’t yet experienced AYCE shabu-shabu, I highly recommend it. Come hungry and without shame.
Japanese Fast-Casual Joint Pepper Lunch Launching In North County
More than 500 Pepper Lunch locations are already sprinkled across 15 countries, but San Diego is (finally) about to get a few of our own. “Since our initial openings in Southern California, we have always known it would be natural to expand into San Diego County,” says Pepper Lunch CEO Troy Hooper. He says they hope to open five locations in North County by early 2025 but have not yet determined specific cities. Their “20 minutes for under $20 concept” is already wildly popular in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, so here’s hoping they add a few more across San Diego.
Beth’s Bites
- Hot chicken mania continues with Houston TX Hot Chicken’s grand opening on Saturday, August 24, at 238 Fifth Avenue. From noon to 3 p.m., the inaugural San Diego location will offer sandwich specials and spice challenges for those brave enough to dare. Go from “Houston; we have a problem” to take one giant leap for chicken kind.
- Food critic Troy Johnson doesn’t want to like brunch, but he can’t help himself. When he told me Sea & Sky at Hotel La Jolla used to be “THE hangout for jazz along the coast,” and then revealed they recently revived their Sunday Jazz Brunch every week from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., I felt, well, jazzed! As long as there are pimento cheese eclairs, I’m in.
- If you thought there was only one type of pad thai, think again. The Pad Thai Stand specializes in regional versions of the Thai favorite and just opened its second location in Pacific Beach at 1136 Garnet Avenue. Can’t make it to Pacific Beach or their Kearny Mesa location? Pick up a pad thai kit from the La Mesa Farmers Market on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Trivia nights are a dime a dozen, but I can count the number of San Diego meadery cideries on one hand. Twisted Horn Mead & Cider in Vista hosts a trivia night every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., so if you’re looking to learn something about pop culture and a new-to-you beverage, check them out!
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