There’s Something Fishy Going On Here
Owner Jim Green and his crew at Fisherman’s Corner have transformed what once looked like a weather-beaten bait shack into an award-winning seafood restaurant.
Years back, when Jim Green first laid eyes on the ramshackle building on Perdido Key that was to become home to Fisherman’s Corner, it looked more like a bait shack than the popular dining establishment it has become. Today, it still looks a bit like a bait shack from the outside, but appearances are deceiving. Green, who had sold the renowned Tipitina’s in New Orleans, was looking for a new opportunity on the Gulf Coast, and when the building came available, he jumped at the chance.
“For more than 10 years, we have focused on procuring the finest ingredients, hiring the best people, and providing our patrons with the finest service,” says Jim. “It’s as simple as that. We are a fine dining restaurant with a rustic, casual atmosphere and very high standards.” So high, in fact, that the National Restaurant Association and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association once named Fisherman’s Corner the number one small restaurant in the state. Tourists and locals alike flock to the eatery for classic Creole cuisine and innovative seafood preparations, and the reasonably priced, award-winning wine list.
The best cuisine is the sum of great ingredients and well-trained people in the kitchen. Executive chef TJ Green, one of the few female executive chefs in the area, has been with the restaurant almost from the beginning. “I just love TJ,” says Jim. “She has pure grit, burning passion for what she does, and she shares my commitment to quality. TJ moved up quickly from fry station to executive chef. She and chef Andy Brown, who trained in the Wolfgang Puck restaurant group, orchestrate a great rhythm in the kitchen. They’re backed up by J.J. Hicks, who is a real workhorse and knows how to keep things running smoothly.” Jim’s son, Sjoerd, is the general manager. “He’s been working in restaurants, mine and others, since he was a kid,” says Jim. “He’s doing a fantastic job running the day-to-day operations. The entire front-of-house crew is an integral part of the Fisherman’s Corner family. Most of them have been with us since we opened, and they’re the all-stars. I’m blessed to have every one of them.”
At the center of it all, always, is the food. “We source the finest seafood, the best meats, and the freshest local produce,” says Jim. “We have a daily special that makes the most of what’s in season. It might be blackened grouper with crawfish sauce on smashed new red potatoes, or it might be one of our steaks from Creekstone Farms that are cut especially for us.”
The restaurant’s signature dish is its unique shrimp and grits, which reverses the usual preparation and puts a generous sphere of deep-fried Gouda grits on top of the shrimp. “This is our way of doing it, and our patrons love it,” says Jim.
Perhaps the most popular entree, day in and day out, is the double-cut pork chop, which is more than 2 inches thick and served with housemade blackberry barbecue sauce. “It is a fabulous preparation,” says Jim. “Heads turn when it comes through the dining room. The aroma is amazing.” The Creole linguini, with its rich Alfredo sauce brimming with shrimp, crabmeat, peppers, and onions, has its own loyal following.
When it comes to dessert, nothing competes with the bread pudding. “People from New Orleans, where bread pudding is king, like it so much they get some to take home with them,” says Jim.
The wine list is extensive and eclectic, and Jim prides himself on keeping the prices reasonable. “I want to serve world-class wine, and I want patrons to perceive value in it,” he says. “I keep the markup minimal, and we sell lots of very nice wine. The wine is a great drawing card, but in the end, it’s the food that keeps customers coming back.”
Summing up his first 10-plus years and looking toward the future, Jim says, “It takes all of us working together, having a great rhythm, great passion, and a fierce work ethic. We’ve become a family. I buy the best raw materials and let them do what they want with them. They create art. Art that nourishes and nurtures. Art that truly feeds the body and the soul.”
Fisherman’s Corner
13486 Perdido Key Dr. Pensacola, FL 32507
(850) 791-6914
facebook.com/fishermanscorneronthekey
