Ah, the presidential inauguration!
The pomp!
The fan fare! The...
seafood.
But not just any seafood. When Mobile chef Vince Henderson takes his catering skills to Washington for a big posh political party, it won't be Atlantic crustaceans he'll be serving his guests, and certainly not from overseas!. No, they'll nibbling on the best Alabama seafood the gulf has to offer!
"Beautiful flounder... local stuff," says Vince, lifting the flat fish into the air above a tray of ice. Vince is catering three parties, but the most intricate will be for Alabama democratic notorieties Dr. Vanessa Weaver as well as Alexis Herman originally from Mobile.
"And I'm going to make crab omelets, pancake style that we used to get long ago, and I'm calling that Nanny Helen's for a woman who is a good friend of Alexes down on DIP."
The seafood Vince will use at these inaugural parties must be both fresh, and from Alabama waters. For Vince, and many other Mobilians, when it comes to fresh, right-off-the-boat seafood, many come right here to Southern Fish and Oyster in Downtown Mobile. And they've been doing it for a while, because there's been a Southern Fish and Oyster in downtown Mobile for 75 years!
"It's been in my family since 1952," says the man showing Vince his latest catch. "That's when my grandfather and father actually bought Southern Fish."
Ralph Atkins and his company are located right ont he Mobile River and are well known to chefs of the area. His is one of a few shops of its kind left in Mobile, where the bounty of the sea is still delivered fresh daily, then sold both wholesale and to the public. And eh knows what Vince wants.
"I know what he likes. Fresh... good quality, the best.," says Ralph. "I've got someone that works for me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I've got boats that are out, other dealers I deal with, I get production all the time."
The fresh catch Vince has ordered will be packed on ice and shipped to DC hours before it's put in the pan. In fact, that seafood has yet to arrive.
"Where's that shrimp right now?" I ask ralph.
"It's still out there in the water. It's still out there in the water right now."
Lucky shrimp. Little do they know they have an invitation to one of the biggest parties in US History! In Downtown Mobile, Here's Darwin, NBC 15 News.
SOUTHERN FISH IS LOCATED AT THE FOOT OF ESLAVA STREET ON THE MOBILE RIVER, RIGHT BESIDE THE CRUISE SHIP TERMINAL.
