Q. What is the best part of doing this show?
A. Getting out there with these guys, seeing how they live and what their day-to-day is like. It’s always been a dream since I was a little boy to get on a boat and experience that.
Q. It seems like the right time for a show like this. People are thinking hard about sustainability and where and how fish is caught.
A. The show has empowered me to realize that as consumers we have quite a bit of power. Our job is to educate ourselves on fish and come in and tell the chef or tell the restaurant owner, “Hey, why do you have this fish on the menu? It’s not supposed to be.’’ I don’t think people quite realize the power they have. It does start with the consumer and trickle down to the chef and, ultimately, the fishermen. If the demand is not there, the fishermen are not going to go after the fish.
Q. Did you get your taste for seafood growing up in New England?
A. I was born in Cambridge and pretty much grew up my whole life in the Cambridge area. My time was split between there and the Cape in the summers. My grandparents had a hunting cabin in Cape Cod. They bought it very early on, when hunting was allowed. They were big into goose and duck hunting, as well as fishing. I grew up fishing, from as young as I can remember. My grandfather was head of fisheries, so it was no joke when we would go out. Everybody was saluting him. You didn’t mess around. He was writing the laws.
Q. New York isn’t usually a destination for people obsessed with fishing and surfing.
A. I’m out fishing or surfing most of the week here in New York. For the past three years, I’ve been fishing seriously in the East River — striped bass, bluefish. I started the Brooklyn Fishing Derby here.
Q. How did you become interested in cooking?
