Christine Blank

Specialty food sales — including seafood items — continue to grow, but some Americans are cutting back on specialty food purchases, according to a new survey.

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) on Wednesday released the results of a survey of 1,500 adults conducted by Mintel International and Greenfield Online.

While the specialty food market is worth USD 60 billion (EUR 40.3 billion), 46 percent of consumers said

Upscale seafood restaurants are among the top rated restaurants in New York, according to Zagat’s 2010 New York City restaurant survey, released yesterday.

Zagat’s “top newcomer” restaurant is Marea in Central Park South, which the publication says offers “inventive” Italian takes on seafood. Other top newcomers include: Porchetta, Buttermilk Channel, Txikito and Char No. 4. Meanwhile, Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin, which focuses

Executive Chef Thierry Meissonnier leads a 65-member culinary team at the 1,400-room Hilton Orlando, which opened in September near the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Meissonnier, who began his career at the Beau Rivage hotel in Paris, oversees Hilton Orlando’s seven dining options, including Spencer’s, a casual contemporary restaurant featuring steaks and chops. Other dining options include: The Bistro, a casual dining

 The Lanesborough, an upscale hotel in London, recently opened Apsleys — A Heinz Beck Restaurant, an Italian eatery that prominently features local seafood. Apsleys is Heinz Beck's first restaurant beyond Italy. The German chef is celebrated in Italy. His restaurant, La Pergola in the Cavalieri Hilton, is Rome's only restaurant to earn three Michelin stars.

SeafoodSource caught up with Beck to talk to about his latest venture, which opened in

John Regan, the new executive chef at Founding Farmers in Washington, D.C., an LEED-certified restaurant owned by a collective of family farmers, is sticking with the one-year-old restaurant’s sustainability initiatives. The upscale-casual eatery, near the White House, features entrées made from sustainably farmed and harvested seafood as well as local seafood. To that end, Founding Farmers and its sister restaurant, Agraria Farmers &

Fisheries in New Hampshire and North Carolina are the latest to form community supported fisheries (CSFs) that sell memberships to local consumers, much like community supported agriculture programs (CSAs).

The CFS launched by Eastman’s Fish has been a success this summer. The Seabrook Beach, N.H., commercial fishing vessel and retail outlet organized the CSF earlier this year to support local seafood.

“With a flood of imported fish coming in

Retailers across the United States are promoting shrimp, swordfish, tuna and other grill-friendly seafood items, as well as snow crab, for tailgating events and Labor Day celebrations this holiday weekend.

This week’s Kroger circular features previously frozen tuna and swordfish steaks for USD 6.99 (EUR 4.90) a pound, Canadian snow crab clusters for USD 4.99 (EUR 3.50) a pound and Alaska cod fillets for USD 3.99 (EUR 2.78) a pound.

Instead

Even as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pledges to help the state’s ailing shrimp fishery, including ordering state agencies to buy domestic shrimp, one retailer is already working to boost sales of the product.

“This year, we are going to eliminate any foreign shrimp out of our stores,” Rick Heatherington, director of seafood merchandising and operations for Rouses Supermarkets, told SeafoodSource on Wednesday. The Thibodaux, La., company

 Rockin' Baja Coastal Cantina, with five Southern California restaurants, is know for its casual Baja-style seafood. But now it's tapping into the popularity of sushi with the launch of a sushi lounge, called Hot Roc Sushi, at its Old Town location in San Diego.

SeafoodSource chatted with Bryce Shepherd, Rockin' Baja's director of operations, about the new concept.

Blank: Why did Rockin' Baja introduce sushi to a casual Baja-style