The clear winner of The WC Dish Choice Awards at this year’s Restaurant Festival was Gadaleto’s Seafood. They swept up the competition with a win for best appetizer with their lobster rolls and the best entree with their crab cakes. The people of West Chester have spoken and now it was my chance to sit down and speak with the man behind the winning dishes, Andy Gadaleto of Gadaleto’s Seafood. Here’s what he had to say.
WC Dish: Andy, everyone obviously LOVES your crab cakes; they are just so darn good! Can you share some of your recipe for deliciousness?
Andy: This may sound cheesy but we make our crab cakes with love. We care more about the flavor of the crabmeat than how much we profit from them, so we only buy the tastiest jumbo lump crabmeat. Our crab cakes are made with absolutely no fillers, we use only Hellmann’s real-deal mayo and we have a special spice recipe that gives our cakes a slight bite. We make our cakes fresh every day in batches of 55. Because the batches are so small, we make them 2 to 3 times a day, so you are guaranteed the freshest crab cake.
Andy’s crab cake tip: “Our lobster bisque is a great topping for the crab cake.”
WC Dish: You aren’t a restaurant, but you do offer pre-made foods for the public. Tell us about them.
Andy: Everyone loves our soups. Our most popular is the lobster bisque. We also offer roasted crab and corn chowder, and in colder months we have fish chowder and Jambalaya.
If you want quick seafood options we have a number of oven-ready stuffed flounder and salmon and tortilla-crusted tilapia that takes about 20 minutes to bake. We also have a selection of smoked fishes, like bluefish, trout and salmon. Customers also love our homemade salmon burgers and, of course, our lobster rolls!
We also cook lobster, hard shell crabs and, of course, shrimp with old bay to order.
Some of our grab-‘n’-go gourmet foods include hummus (mild garlic, sun-dried tomato, Tex Mex, roasted-red pepper) and we make our own coleslaw dressing.
WC Dish: When did you open and what was your inspiration to open your store?
Andy: We opened in West Chester August 19, 2003. My grandfather originally opened a seafood store in 1945 (which my uncle took over in 1972) in Highland and New Paltz, New York. I have always admired my uncle and wanted to follow in his footsteps. When I was growing up, we never had a fresh seafood market around the West Chester area, so I decided to create one.
My hope when I opened was to give West Chester residents a place to purchase fresh fish at reasonable prices. I have a passion and love for what I do. My favorite part of each day is dealing with my retail customers, knowing that when they leave the shop they are going to have a great meal.
I also sell wholesale to many of the area restaurants, and I find it fulfilling to help influence their menus based on the freshest fish available.
WC Dish: Can you reveal a little bit about how you get fresh fish and where it comes from?
Andy: Each morning I take an inventory of what I have in stock. Then I call my vendors (who are anywhere from Alaska to Nova Scotia) to find out what they have and when it was caught. Then I place an order.
Our scallops are from Rhode Island and New Jersey; the squid is from Rhode Island; salmon is from Canada, California, Alaska, Seattle and Oregon. We receive fresh (never frozen shrimp) from Apalachicola, Florida. The flounder comes from all along the East Coast; Bee-line Red snapper is from Georgia; and domestic grouper comes from the gulf.
Once the order is placed, the product is quickly packed and loaded on a refrigerated truck and makes the trip to several warehouses. I pick it up, check the quality and bring it to West Chester.
WC Dish: Your lobster rolls were a huge success and won the WC Dish Choice Award for appetizer. How often do you have this on your menu, and how can we get our hands on some more?
Andy: The lobster rolls were something we always wanted to try, and when we entered the competition we started developing the right recipe for them. These are usually available Thursdays through Sundays, but if you call ahead we would be more than happy to make them at anytime.
WC Dish: Where do you like to eat in West Chester?
Andy: Oh wow, that’s a tough one; I really love to eat out. I really enjoy Cajun food from High Street Café and The Big Easy Saloon. I also crave the soups and dishes from Roux 3. I’m an oyster fan, so I enjoy Doc’s raw bar, the baklava and appetizers from The Mediterranean and Orchard’s rack of lamb. Gilmore’s is also a great place to take a date or for a special occasion.
WC Dish: Who would you say is your biggest competition in the world of seafood?
I honestly have to say that I don’t feel like we have any competition. We have such great staff and give amazing service to our restaurants and retail customers that no one can come close to us. We are fair with our prices, and I deal directly with my customers to really understand their needs. I’m proud to say that one else in the area can do that as well as we can.
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For more information about Gadaleto’s check out our restaurant listing page.
Photos on this page by Single Exposure Photography
The Final Dish: What can I say? Good stuff. Period.
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