Jaffy also must accommodate a clientele that prefers seafood from the north. At least half of the fish at Florida's Finest comes from cold waters. "Smell these scallops," says Jaffy, opening a vacuum-packed vat of giant translucent mollusks. "Smell how fresh they are." They were from New England.
Scallops and lobsters are on just about every seafood restaurant menu in town for $25 to $35 a pound. Jaffy thinks that's reasonable. "The U.S. is a dumping ground for fish because we won't pay top dollar, like they do in Europe and Japan," he says. That we're looking for a deal is what allows unethical vendors to pump past-prime fish with preservatives and food coloring. It's what allows vendors to pass off tilapia as yellowfin.
Fresh fish are kept on ice at Florida's Finest in Lauderhill.
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The Truth Behind Florida Seafood
This is the last of two parts on the lack of local fish in South Florida restaurants.
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And it's tolerated not just by consumers but by the government.
Jaffy tries to stay away from doctored fish. At the stainless-steel table in the walk-in, a man in overalls places his gloved hand on a tuna flank. He expertly dissects the flesh. It smells like the sea. "Look at those veins and that hue," he says of the fish, reeled in by a local boat. "It's a beautiful tuna."
