E-Mail This Article to a Friend The fisher king (continued)

Q: Why is lobster so expensive?

A: It’s all supply and demand, and in the last 20 or 30 years there’s been a fair amount of demand from the Asian markets for it, so that has pushed the price of it up. Plus, at times, after a storm or before a storm or something, it can get scarce. But it’s been relatively stable. We’ve been pretty fortunate. Lobster prices actually might sustain themselves well over the next few years in terms of being fairly reasonable and not skyrocketing [because] the catches of cod have been down, and that’s inadvertently had a positive effect, because cod tend to eat the eggs of lobsters. So while the stocks are rebuilding over the short period of time, the next two or three years, there should be enough lobster for a while and prices should be fairly reasonable.

Q: Do you ever go fishing?

A: Yeah. A week ago, I caught 15 bluefish in an hour. Typically I average a half a fish per trip.

Q: Do you feel extra pressure to be good at fishing?

A: [Laughing] Yeah, it’s embarrassing! I have a heck of a time taking a fish off the hook. I can hook it; I just can’t get it off the hook. But my luck is improving.

Q: How often do you eat fish?

A: Oh, seven days a week.

Q: Never get tired of it?

A: I don’t, because there are so many different varieties and so many ways of preparing it. I mean, I eat meat as well; I’m not strictly seafood. It can be shrimp, it can be scrod, haddock, I like swordfish, I like tuna fish, I love gray sole. And there are just so many different ways: you can have it sautéed, you can have it steamed, grilled, fried. I don’t tire of it. Besides, they say fish is brain food, so I want to get as much as I can.

Q: Describe your perfect meal.

A: Oh, boy. Hmm. I would probably start it with steamed lobster, just freshly steamed with a little bit of melted butter, right out of the shell. I love the tomalley; I take the tomalley out, which is the liver of the lobster. It’s really spectacular. I put it on some toast points. I might, if I was really feeling decadent, throw a little bit of caviar on top. Of course I’d be enjoying this with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame to wash it down. My next course ... well, all right, I would really like a fried fisherman’s platter, with lots of tartar sauce, and French fries with malted vinegar. I’d put that on the fried fisherman’s platter as well. Then I would have — this is one of my last meals, right? Calories are not counting? I would have a nice bowl of homemade ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. And a nice cup of coffee to finish it off.

Q: If you’re not eating at one of your own restaurants, what’s your favorite restaurant in Boston?

A: That’s a very tough question. And how can I be diplomatic in answering it? It really depends on what I’m in the mood for, and that can vary greatly. When I’m in a neighborhood mood and just want to kick up my heels and have a mai tai, I would go to the Golden Temple. My wife and I tend to go there fairly often. It’s low-key, they know us, they take care of us. It’s a very comfortable experience. If I’m going out to a fancy restaurant, for a celebratory thing, Gordon and Fiona Hamersley do a nice job at Hamersley’s. If I just want good, solid food, though, in kind of a neat environment, there’s always the Franklin Café. That’s kind of the rotation. Teatro does a nice job over on the Boston Common.

Q: I read that you received the last correspondence from Julia Child before she died. How did that come about?

A: Probably by mistake. I got the date wrong on her birthday, and so I sent [a clambake] early. Julia loves the really simple things: lobster, steamers, ice cream. She loves ice cream. So I sent it out, and it arrived, as it turned out, Thursday, the day before she passed away. She’s really great in terms of correspondence, just gets on it immediately. We heard from Stephanie, her assistant, saying, "Don’t be shocked to find something in the mail [from Julia] on Monday." It was like, whoa, man.

Q: If you hadn’t gone into the restaurant business, what would you be doing now?

A: My gut is I’d probably be in the news business in some way, either writing about it, producing it, or talking about it.

Q: But no regrets?

A: No regrets at all. My grandfather started in the food business in 1904; he had a grocery store. That’s where my father and his brother worked, in the grocery business. My father’s older brother passed away a number of years ago, but it was interesting, because his brother was known as one of the meat authorities in the United States. He started the Certified Angus Beef program. My father came out of that same environment and went into the fish business. So we were always surrounded by food, and it was interesting to see how the passion for food went into the different generations.

Q: Not a lot of vegetarians in your family, I bet.

A: No, not a lot!

Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com