FSR December 2022

CHEFS & INGREDI ENT S CHEF PROF I LE

was due for a return to his coastal culi nary roots. Seabird’s menus showcase Neff’s deep love for the flavors of the ocean, as well as various other culinary traditions that have inf luenced him. The restaurant offers oysters aplenty; there are usually at least three available raw options, as well as oysters barbecued, broiled with hollandaise, and served Rockefeller style. In other dishes, Neff uses sustainably farmed seafood and more local ingredi ents to bring an innovative approach to classic applications. Take the Eastern Cioppino, which infuses a traditional Italian stew with Southern American coastal flavors by way of clams, black drum, shrimp, scal lops, andouille sausage, and potato fen nel. Or the Swordfish Schnitzel, a dish

inspired by Neff ’s chi ldhood cook ing with his mother, in which breaded swordfish is served alongside marigold spaetzle and lemon jam. “ e schnitzel makes sense to people conceptually, because it has a German sort of direction to it,” Neff says. “But it takes ingredients that are local and gives the schnitzel a new sense of time and place. Sometimes when people see a concept like this, they ask ‘how did you come up with that?’ It’s just really simple once you explain it, because I think peo ple can sense the dish does have some sort of context somewhere else.” At the core of the menu is, of course, seafood, sourced from sustainable sup pliers from North Carolina and other regional markets. e weekend brunch menu includes a crab cake benedict, N.C.

shrimp, and oyster po’boys. And at din nertime, even the grilled steak, one of Seabird’s sole dinner entrées for land lubbers, incorporates oceanic ingredi ents; accompanying sliced tomatoes are briefly placed against Kombu seaweed, which adds a rich, salty flavor. “Even when people order steak, we still give them a little bit of the ocean on their plate,” Neff says. e bar’s robust cocktail program also bears the influence of the ocean, with signature drinks like the Seabird Mar tini, a zesty blend of olive oil–washed gin and plankton brine, adding a marine flair to the drink list. During the day, the bar does double duty as a counter-service coffee spot. Customers can order from a focused yet inspired menu that includes drip and iced coffee, espresso drinks, teas, and a variety of pastries, like olive oil muffins and scratch-made biscuits, from house pastry chef Jim Diecchio. Before opening Seabird, Clopton owned Wilmington’s Love, Lydia Bak ery & Cafe, which specialized in pastries. us, Seabird’s daytime café is nothing new for the couple behind the concept. Although weekday breakfast and lunch are temporarily off the table, the res taurant’s grab-and-go coffee and pastry offerings and weekend brunch menus add extra streams of revenue to Seabird’s dinnertime service. While the concept opened its doors one year into the Covid-19 pandemic, when health guidelines made it diffi cult for restaurants to operate both fully and responsibly, Seabird has developed a strong customer base. Guests seek out not only its thoughtful, local food and beverage programs, but also the atmo sphere that Neff and Clopton curated so carefully. e brand’s downtown location and warm, spacious bar and dining spaces offer an elevated, all-day spot for locals and beach tourists alike—whether they are waking up with morning coffee or toasting a special occasion with a sophis ticated dinner. “People come into Seabird and they order champagne and oysters and they celebrate, “ Neff says.

SEABIRD OPERATES OUT OF A HISTORICAL BUILDING DOWNTOWN.

“During the day, it’s muchmore laidback, and you can post up and dowork in the space and have a baked good and coffee.”

MALLORY CASH

18

FSRMAGAZINE .COM

DECEMBER 2022