Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

Halibut from Oceana From Seafood & The Menu’s collection of best-selling seafood menu items of 2018

The halibut is the top seller at Oceana in New York. Here, it’s seared, and served with purple potato, shallot confit, horseradish and parsley.
PHOTO CREDIT: Oceana
Bill Telepan, Executive Chef | Oceana, New York

At seafood-centric Oceana in Manhattan, Bill Telepan approaches mild fish, like his top-selling halibut, from the opposite flavor direction. “Since halibut itself has a low flavor profile with very little fat, we prepare it using more pronounced ingredients,” he says. “The strong flavors we tend to use are: sunchokes and mushrooms in the winter; horseradish and shallot confit in the spring; and cherry tomatoes poached in olive oil and thyme in the summer.”

The volume of seafood brought through Oceana’s kitchen is larger than at many other restaurants, and presents him with a unique challenge. “The biggest challenge we face being a seafood-centric restaurant is the cooking component,” he says. “Finding different ways to prepare each fish while still complementing its individual characteristics takes a lot of creativity and open-minded thinking.”

From the special Sept/Oct 2018 Seafood issue of Flavor & the Menu magazine. Read this issue online or check if you qualify for a free print subscription.

 

About The Author

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Christine Burns Rudalevige is a seasoned food writer and classically trained cook living in Brunswick, Maine. She has worked as a chef, a farmers’ market manager, and a boutique caterer. Christine founded the Family Fish Project (a website dedicated to eating seafood at home) and later worked as a lead culinary instructor at Stonewall Kitchen. The dedicated home cook and food writer has lent her voice to regional and national media outlets, from NPR to Cooking Light.