It’s never too early to show love to moms, but you can be too late, so spend the next few days organizing menus and completing checklists to ensure that you are ready to show out for some VIPs.  Mother’s Day is a BIG day for the food service industry and the signs of Spring suggest it will be a lovely weekend.  We have a lot to make up for from last year, so get the bouquets and beignets ready, it’s time serve up something special.
 
If you are thinking of serving Gulf Coast fish this weekend or next, focus on Grouper rather than Snapper.  Red Snapper has become increasingly difficult to consistently source, but we aren’t having any issues with bringing in big, beautiful Red Grouper.  The Gulf seems to be flush with Grouper; fish sizes are ranging from 5 to 25 pounds and are cutting out into pristine white meat. 
 
Halibut is always a marquee item, and it seems like the West Coast fishery is hitting its stride at the perfect time.   Landings have been good this week and we expect that trend to continue.  It is time to feature this highly sought-after option with confidence.
 
Tuna, meanwhile, is proving troublesome this week as we are coming off the full moon.  Supply is expected to improve next week, hopefully in time for the holiday. Bucking this lunar trend, the Swordfish fishery is seeing considerable landings and will be a great buy this weekend and next.  If you are looking for a meaty option, try this pelagic.
 
Oh yes, we have Ono!  This super-fast and incredibly delicious fish is back just in time for the warming weather and grilling season.  This silky, meaty fish pairs perfect with fresh citrus and compliments many different flavors fluidly.  Whether it’s Corvina for the perfect ceviche, or Hawaiian Kanpachi for the perfect bite,  keep your cool this spring and summer by allowing us to help guide you through the sea of choices. 

Gourmet Gab

We here at Fortune Fish & Gourmet pride ourselves in the quality of products that we bring in for our customers. Our pastry category is no exception from food service to retail lines, we have what you need.

In the ready-to-roll doughs segment, we work with Rustic tart, a local Chicago company that uses top quality ingredients with European butter taking the center stage.  Stephanie Lock, founder and creator puts her masterful skill and Midwestern sense into each handcrafted discs of dough to ensure great pies. Whether you are an accomplished pie maker who simply does not have the time to do everything from scratch or a novice just getting the hang of things, this is the next best thing for you to work with to get that perfect crust with a rich butter flavor. We have both the Savory and Sweet Ready-to-Roll doughs here in stock.

Fortune also has ready-to-use Puff Pastry sheets from Dufour Pastry Kitchen based in Bronx, New York. These are all-butter ready-to-use puff pastry sheets, hand made using the freshest and finest ingredients. Dufour Puff Pastry dough is made with care, love and lots of butter.  Their process begins by enclosing a "butter block" in the dough, which is then folded and rolled out numerous times to create hundreds of alternating thin layers of pastry and butter. These are perfect for caterers, clubs, restaurants, hotels and specialty supermarkets.

The final ready-to-roll dough options are for creating danishes and croissants.  Fortune carries doughs in blocks from Lecoq Cuisine which can be rolled to make any style danish or croissants. Also available are already rolled Croissant sheets for customers to make their own croissants. Lecoq Cuisine was established by Pastry Chef/Baker Eric Lecoq in 1991 whose mission was to create a perfect ready to bake croissant for the commercial marketplace.
All these doughs are high-quality products that taste like you have spent all day working your fingers to the bone for your pastry creations. They will save you time and labor, which are at a premium these days.