Seafood

‘Where should I go for the best seafood with a water view?’’ That’s the question that appears most frequently in my e-mail inbox. Not just any seafood — the best. And not just anywhere. On the water. The assumption is clear, and logical. Given Boston’s location and reputation, why wouldn’t we have multiple great seafood restaurants on the water? We don’t. The city has great seafood, featured mainly at restaurants that aren’t seafood-themed. But when it comes to great seafood restaurants, we come up surprisingly, shockingly short.

High Liner Foods Inc. said it plans to close a plant in Danvers that employs more than 160 people early next year. Fish is coated and battered at the plant for the food-service industry. Nova Scotia-based High Liner said it is also looking to close a plant in Canada. In a news release, the company said it "will be consolidating its North American supply chain as a result of overcapacity at several plants and the acquisition of a more modern plant" in Newport News, Va., in December.

High Liner Foods Inc. said it plans to close a plant in Danvers that employs more than 160 people early next year. Fish is coated and battered at the plant for the food-service industry. Nova Scotia-based High Liner said it is also looking to close a plant in Canada. In a news release, the company said it "will be consolidating its North American supply chain as a result of overcapacity at several plants and the acquisition of a more modern plant" in Newport News, Va., in December.

The public is invited drop by to Lena's Seafood and Captains Corner, 73 Main St. in Salisbury, next Tuesday between 4 and 8 p.m. for food and fun, all to benefit the Amesbury High School Boosters and Grad Night programs. Carnival games, go-karts, batting cages, and a basketball shootout will be featured. A mini-golf tournament with prizes will be held and food will be provided by Lena's. Mini-golf tickets are $7 and available in advance at Amesbury Skate and Sport Shop, Cutter's Plus, and Amesbury High School.

PROVINCETOWN -- If ordinary fish and chips died and went to heaven, they would come back as catfish vinha d'alhos. This Portuguese version, a specialty at Provincetown's Clem & Ursie's, takes the basic idea of fried fish and vinegar and transforms it with a garlicky vinegar-based marinade. When the marinade is applied to ocean catfish, which is then battered and fried, the result is tangy and succulent, flaky to the fork, and surprisingly non-greasy. Served with marvelous hand-cut french fries, it's everything you could want in a fried fish dish.

MAY 15-16 MONTEREY BAY, CALIF. Cooking for Solutions: In Monterey Bay Aquarium's 8th annual two-day culinary and wine event, chefs, winemakers, and educators focus on seafood and other foods that are good for the planet. Alton Brown of the Food Network, Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in the Napa Valley and Per Se in New York, Floyd Cardoz of Tabla in New York, and Jim Dodge, pastry chef and author, and others will have demonstrations. Chefs will lead sustainable culinary tours to farms and restaurants and four of them will compete in a seafood...

The Village Restaurant 55 Main St., Essex 978-768-640, www.wedigclams.com Open Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. All major credit cards accepted Accessible to the handicapped We had driven by the Village Restaurant in Essex’s main intersection hundreds of times but had never gone in. We assumed it was a regular old family restaurant: a...

An expert says restaurants around the world will soon use new DNA technology to assure patrons they are being served the genuine fish fillet or caviar they ordered. In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially approved so-called DNA barcoding to prevent the mislabeling of seafood. Other regulators around the world are also considering adopting DNA barcoding. David Schindel, a Smithsonian Institution paleontologist and executive secretary of the Washington-based Consortium for the Barcode of Life, says he has started discussions with the restaurant industry and...

Some people are just shellfish. State police say a trailer holding more than 16 tons of seafood was stolen over the weekend from a central Pennsylvania truck stop. The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports the refrigerated trailer filled with 33,000 pounds of food was taken late Friday or sometime Saturday. State police at Newport are investigation. The Patriot-News report ( http://bit.ly/voeTM0) says the trailer is owned by California-based Western Star Transport. –– Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews

Coastal Route One is the great American road of Maine. It begins on the north side of the Piscataqua River in Kittery and runs along the convoluted coast all the way to Calais. Sandy beaches in the south give way to a rocky coast around Portland that continues for hours and hours, crossing through towns and hay fields, over tidal rivers, coastal mountains, blueberry barrens, and wild rivers flowing into the sea. Along the way, and along some scenic detours, there is road food galore.

Agar Supply, New England's largest independent food distributor, has partnered with Legal Sea Foods to launch a new label that will allow restaurants and supermarkets to track fresh fish all along the supply chain. Legal Sea Foods' wholesale division, Nor'Easter, will supply nearly all of the fresh fish marketed under Agar's "Nautifish" brand, including haddock, cod, salmon, and tuna. Nor'Easter is creating a bar code label on each package that will include details such as when the seafood was caught, the name of the boat and captain, the region where the fish was caught, and...

Those plump and tempting scallops behind the fish counter glass might be a lot smaller than they look -- a sodium-based compound can bloat scallops well past their actual size. And that pollock fillet isn't such a good deal if the price includes the layers of ice glazed onto it to keep it fresh. This "overglazing" rips off consumers, as does so-called "soaking" of scallops, which can also alter the taste of the shellfish. At the International Seafood Show in Boston this week, a top federal seafood quality officer announced his agency was increasing efforts to stop...

This photo of fishermen in Gloucester was sent to me by Cape Ann Fresh Catch , a program on the North Shore that offers shares in fresh, local fish. A story in today's paper addresses why chefs and fishmongers think the whole sustainability issue is so confusing (some are recreational fishermen and hear the commercial fishermen's side of things). Cape Ann Fresh Catch delivers to 22 communities around Boston. You get ground fish from the Gulf of Maine: monkfish, hake, pollock, red fish.

Sashimi chef Chris Gould admits he never ate raw fish until he was 21. But Gould, now 28, has made up for lost time by training under top sushi chefs, while applying his expertise in French and Spanish cooking to create inventive fusion cuisine. At the helm of the newly redesigned Uni Sashimi Bar in Boston, Gould specializes in avant-garde interpretations of fresh seafood. His creations include Scottish salmon with fermented black beans and ginger, and sea urchin from Maine with quail egg yolk, caviar, and chives.

Six Rhode Island restaurants are participating in a fish dinner series aimed at protecting marine life stocks and introducing diners to a wider variety of seafood choices. Organizers of the "Eating with the Ecosystem" dinner series say that diversifying seafood menus will protect fish stocks that are jeopardized by high demand. The first dinner will be held March 20 at Nick's on Broadway in Providence and feature seafood from southern New England waters. Future dinners will feature seafood from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.

Liberty Grille 8 North Street, Hingham 781-749-2444 Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week Reservations suggested for large parties Accessible to the handicapped Mastercard and Visa accepted If you're looking for a casual and cozy slice of Americana in the heart of Hingham, you can't do much better than the Liberty Grille, the friendly and affordable lunch-and-dinner spot nestled between the more upscale...

ANN ARBOR , Mich. -- Ask a local where to get the freshest seafood in town and out floats the name "Gandy Dancer. " A 30-year-old restaurant located in the handsomely restored 1870 Michigan Central Train Depot here, the Gandy Dancer prides itself on serving top-of-the-catch fish. It goes through a half-million pounds of seafood per year, everything from blue crab and Alaskan halibut to jumbo shrimp and Maine lobster. We never thought we would find high-quality seafood in the Midwest (though I've heard good things about Lake Michigan whitefish)

Agar Supply, New England's largest independent food distributor, has partnered with Legal Sea Foods to launch a new label that will allow restaurants and supermarkets to track fresh fish all along the supply chain. Legal Sea Foods' wholesale division, Nor'Easter, will supply nearly all of the fresh fish marketed under Agar's "Nautifish" brand, including haddock, cod, salmon, and tuna. Nor'Easter is creating a bar code label on each package that will include details such as when the seafood was caught, the name of the boat and captain, the region...

The Boston Globe won four awards in the Society of American Business Editors and Writers' annual Best in Business contest, including three honors for the paper's series on the mislabeling of fish at area restaurants and supermarkets. Reporters Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley won in the feature and explanatory categories for their "Fishy Business" series, the result of a five-month investigation that found Massachusetts consumers routinely and unknowingly overpay for less desirable fish, some of which can cause illness.

KIDS FAMILY FOLK CONCERT FOR MLK DAY Jill Trinka sings, plays, and leads the audience in folk tunes about love and peace. The singalong is presented in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Jan. 15, 3 p.m. Free. New England Conservatory, Pierce Hall, 241 St. Botolph St., Boston. 617-585-1100, necmusic.edu/calendar_event/2012-1-15 DAVID GROVER The Grammy-nominated children's music artist travels from his home turf of Western Massachusetts to Cambridge to present an afternoon of folk-rock for all ages.