Judith, the couple settled on Providence
for the Fearless Fish location because they
were smitten with the city’s quality of life and
they saw huge potential in the burgeoning
food scene.
“I absolutely love Providence. I thought
this is perfect. It’s so much easier to live here
than Boston. It’s much more affordable, it
has great restaurants and creative energy,”
Meltzer says. “On top of that, there’s excitement
around food here, and it’s the Ocean
State. For a fish market, I was like this is the
place. This is where we’re going to do it.”
Now, Fearless Fish is an around-the-clock
operation. Twice a week, the market sends
out emails to let subscribers know what is
available to start the week and for the weekend.
The newsletter also shares some behindthe-scenes
fish industry talk, such as how
quality is not always determined by when the
fish came in, but how it was handled long
before it arrived at the shop.
“For example, does a boat gut and ice the
fish properly or does it bake in the sun on the
boat deck? This can be the difference between
‘okay’ fish and great fish,” he explains.
In addition, Fearless Fish makes daily
social media announcements (as well as
frequent website and online store updates)
of its list of available seafood, from the usual
suspects of smoked salmon, fluke, scup and
redfish to the more uncommon uni and razor
clams. He also sells whole squid, called “dirty
squid,” while spilling a few squid secrets this
writer never knew.
“A lot of squid might be caught here, frozen,
and then sent to China for processing, and
then frozen again and sent back,” Meltzer
says. “We sell fresh squid or a squid
that is once frozen [dirty] and we
thaw it here and clean it, and the
quality difference is amazing.”
Meltzer works with local oyster
farmers and the Ocean State Shellfish
Cooperative that deliver shellfish,
and he secures other seafood from
dealers who source directly from
fishermen.
On the day we visited, Andrade’s
Catch of Bristol dropped off Narragansett
Bay littlenecks dug hours
earlier by local quahoggers. The goal
is to buy seafood from dealers that
source directly from fishing boats.
“Buying directly from fishermen
is not so easy for a number of reasons,”
Meltzer says, explaining how the fishermen
would have to package, sell and
deliver their own fish for that direct experience,
so it makes sense to work with dealers.
“We try to be as close to that connection as
we can. Another reason is the volume that
a lot of fishermen bring in would be too much
for us to take. It helps us to get in a relatively
small number of high-quality items.”
Not only does the market stock the star of
Whole black bass.
“To Serve Is Our Mission;
To Love Is Our Tradition.”
Even during these
challenging times,
Saint Antoine Community
remains committed to
providing quality and
compassionate care
to those most in need.
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RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020 65