 Despite those little take-away brochures that tell us what
seafood is safe and what puts a strain on our environment, most of us rarely
think about where our fish is coming from and what the difference in quality or
consistency might be between different sources. With the recent oil spill
disaster in the Gulf, however, it may be past time to consider such things. If
you want to take the guesswork out of your seafood and still feel good about
your impression on the world, Catch 35 can help you make an effortless difference.
Currently about 30 percent of Catch 35 seafood is
farm-raised, a fine development for seafood fans worried about sustainability.
This means that seafood has been raised at a fishery, under controlled
conditions that have been approved by the U.S. government. The quality of this
type of seafood is more consistent because fisheries control everything and
there’s no issue with overfishing. Farm-raised salmon is an example of a fish
that’s often more flavorful than its wild counterpart when salmon is out of
season. Shrimp in the U.S. is also mostly farm-raised; only about 10 percent of
domestically-sold shrimp is wild-caught.
Fish that are caught in the wild, although usually
considered more flavorful, can often be of inconsistent quality, depending on
where they’re caught. And restaurants simply don’t know if the seafood has been
obtained using accepted standards. For example, most of us realize by now that
Chilean bass has been overfished, yet many South American countries still don’t
pay attention to what’s caught in the waters off their coasts.
However, there are a number of wild areas that are still
closely monitored by the U.S., and can therefore be counted on to protect and
sustain wildlife. Georges Banks, which spans an area of the Atlantic between
Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Nova Scotia in Canada, is one of these. These
abundant fishing grounds, full of valuable nutrients in the water that help
nourish sea life, are divided up into grids that protect spawning grounds and
endangered species. Some of these grids are permanently closed; some are off
limits temporarily because they are breeding grounds, and others are open.
Haddock is an example of a now-plentiful fish species that was threatened at
one time, but has been saved by methods
such as these.
Catch 35 gets its scallops dry-packed from Georges Bank, but
has actually sent executive chef Eddie Sweeney out to the scallop boats to make
sure the suppliers don’t add water to the scallops, making them shrink when
cooking, or add chemicals to make them appear bright white. The restaurant can
thus ensure the quality of its product.
 This dedication to quality also shows up in the restaurant’s
other offerings as well. Catch 35 gets its farm-raised tilapia from Costa Rica,
which is more consistently fresh than tilapia from Asia due to distance from
Chicago. Tuna isn’t graded by the U.S. government, which means that suppliers
grade them individually. This can mean major inconsistencies in the products
from different companies. Chef Sweeney has made a point of visiting suppliers’
boats to make sure they are properly catching and treating their tuna; when he
says Catch 35 uses only the highest-grade tuna, it’s because he has checked the
situation out personally.
To enhance your guiltless dining experience, Catch 35 offers
a very carefully-managed wine selection; it offers about 27 wines by the glass,
12 of which are reds—all of them pair swimmingly with seafood (reds go well
with meatier selections like tuna and swordfish). The wine lists features a
good mix of reasonably-priced wines with expensive ones, and Catch 35 changes
the list often so that returning guests can experience a new wine at each
visit. Plus, you can choose from a good selection of German wines,
which pair well with seafood, including a classic dry Trocken Reisling, a
half-dry Kabinnet Reisling, and a sweeter Spatlese Reisling. Wine pairing dinners take place 6-7 times a year, with representatives
of wineries on hand; the Lockwood Winery dinner on 7/19 will feature five
courses paired with California wines at under $60 per person.
 Despite concerns about the environment, we can still enjoy the
fruits of the sea. A restaurant like Catch 35 helps us do that in style,
without reservation.
Catch 35 www.catch35.com
35 S. Washington, Naperville
(630) 717-3500
35 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago
(312) 346-3500 -By Helen A. Lee
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