Diners may soon spot some unfamiliar fish on restaurant menus across North Carolina, such as sheepshead, scup, ribbonfish and grunts.
That may be the result of Pate Dawson Southern Foods, a North Carolina-based food distributor, making a big push at its October food show in Durham to sell chefs from Asheville to New Bern on buying lesser-known fish.
Not only was the company serving samples of skate wing, spots and spadefish, but it also brought in Barton Seaver, a well-known chef and expert on sustainable seafood, as keynote speaker. Seaver also was the special guest at a private dinner that brought together chefs, fishermen and seafood producers.
Despite the attention local food has gotten in recent years, Joel Sullivan, a Pate Dawson manager, says: “North Carolina seafood has not really had its day yet.”
