Where to Buy Local Seafood

In response to last week's article comparing the dining scenes in Florida and New Orleans - and in particular, the relative lack of fresh, local seafood at affordable restaurants - Clean Plate Charlie received a comment pointing us in the direction of FL-seafood.com, a website created by the "Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing" to promote buying and eating local seafood products to both consumers and the industry. And wouldn't you know it, the site is actually somewhat interesting: it has a list of all the restaurants and markets separated by county that sell local seafood. The only problem is that the list isn't exactly complete - at least the restaurant portion of it, anyway. If it were, the 26 restaurants that sell Florida seafood in Broward county would be a shamefully low number. It's also woefully out of date, directing diners to places that are now closed, such as Mark's Las Olas and - holy shit - Black Orchid Cafe, which shut its doors years ago. At least the site has the right idea: there's no reason not to demand local seafood at restaurants, and as consumers we do need to single out the places that sell it and give them our business instead of settling for that branzino or salmon or sea bass.

Another marketing site this one links to, wildfloridashrimp.com, lists local chefs that use Florida shrimp and offers recipes from them. So if you ever wanted to know how to make Dean Max's sesame Florida gulf shrimp with avocado puree and citrus sauce, here you go.