When the Mina Group opened Greek restaurant Estiatorio Ornos in September in San Francisco’s former Michael Mina restaurant, one of the more intriguing bullet points in the news was the introduction of a “fish sommelier.” I have to admit, I met the phrase like a dog meets the word “treat,” though with less salivation on my part. What could it possibly mean?
My first theory: a former fish whisperer from the Monterey Bay Aquarium who would regale diners with stories about the mating habits of sand dabs.
My second: an expert who would sample small tastes of funky, radically raised fish for people who think they hate all whitefish, but really, they just hate oak-aged whitefish.
In actuality, it’s somehow less complicated than that. The role originated within the Mina Group at Mina’s Fish House, a resort restaurant in Kapolei, Hawaii. According to Michael Mina himself, the job came about when he learned that one of the new staff members was a top-rated sports fisherman who lived and breathed the art of fishing. The fisherman and, later, some of his friends, ended up being tasked with bringing fresh whole fish on ice around the restaurant’s tables to share what they knew about the animals and why they’d be prepared it in certain ways. In Hawaii, the role was meant to educate diners on all the intricacies of fishing in local waters.
At Estiatorio Ornos, the role is more buttoned-up: Like a dim sum server, the fish sommelier pushes a heavy, custom-made cart with a fish display through the carpeted dining room. It has the bulk and majesty of a parade float. On top is an ice tray, tilted toward the diners, upon which pristine whole fish and shellfish lie, sleeping beauties waiting for their princes. While each fish on the menu can be served as a grilled entree, with a little bit of oregano and lemon to make it pop, the sommelier is there to walk you through alternative preparations: why a delicate Petrale sole fillet ($62) would actually work well fried in a phyllo crust, for instance. Each item in the cart is available as an entree, with a few, like whole salt-crusted sea bream ($48), portioned for family-style eating.
Here, the fish sommelier works closely with executive chef Daniela Vergara. In the mornings, they chat with their fish and seafood purveyors, like Gulfish and Four Star Seafood, about what’s in the net that day: how it’s caught, what it tastes like and where it’s sourced from. All things that must be imparted to diners later that day.
When I first encountered this on my visit to Estiatorio Ornos, I was struck by the cart’s boldness: At the price point of this restaurant, where fish entrees start at $39, are customers really going to want to see something so gauche as dead fish in the dining room? “The people that don’t, they make it very clear they have no interest in seeing a whole fish,” said Adam Sobel, a chef and partner of the Mina Group. Yet the team was so serious about this, so certain of its importance to the restaurant, that they actually reduced the dining room’s capacity by 22 seats just so the cart could more easily maneuver around.
It’s not at the point where you can gesture at a fish in the cart (or even in a tank) and say that you want that exact one, like you might at a Chinatown fish market. Like a tableside dessert tray, the fish are just for display. But the Estiatorio Ornos team hopes that they’ll be able to use it as an effective advertisement for extremely limited catches, like blackfish and — fingers crossed — Dungeness crab.
Does this seem like a gimmick? A little bit. But in a world where public knowledge of oceanic sustainability is becoming more and more crucial to the future of fish, more chatter about sourcing can only be a good thing.
Estiatorio Ornos. 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 5-9 p.m. Sunday. Bar seating opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. 252 California St., San Francisco. www.michaelmina.net
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October 25, 2021 at 06:03PM
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What does a fish sommelier do, exactly? - San Francisco Chronicle
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