San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Abalone-focused restaurant headed to Half Moon Bay
Tom Ebert of American Abalone Farms has been growing farmed abalone in different Central Coast locations since the 1980s, but until recently he sent most of the prized sea snails to Japan.
Now, with abalone recreational season banned until 2021, farmed abalone is an increasingly appealing option. After spending a few years refocusing on the local market and realizing how primed it is for fresh, local seafood, Ebert will open a restaurant and seafood market in Half Moon Bay called Pillar Point Fish House.
When it opens in January, its menu will have a “focus on abalone” along with Dungeness crab, oysters, sea urchin and other wild and farmed seafood Ebert already sells on weekends from a store at his Davenport farm.
The idea is inspired by Hog Island Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay, which now has four Bay Area restaurants.
“We’re taking that step from being an aquaculture farm to branching out and running a restaurant,” Ebert says.
Ebert sold American Abalone Farms to an investor last summer so that he could expand the growing business, but he remains the general manager. The same company will operate the restaurant, with Eric Adema as chef. Adema most recently worked in New England restaurants and was a cook and consultant in San Francisco restaurants for about a decade before that.
The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner in a twostory space at Pillar Point Harbor that was home to two different Japanese-themed restaurants with a total of about 200 seats. A raw bar and seafood market with tanks of live seafood will occupy the downstairs, while the upstairs dining room will offer a full menu.
Adema has plans to serve abalone as sashimi, ceviche and fritters, grilled over a salad, and in a chowder or in a po’ boy. His menu will also include regional dishes like artichoke soup, cioppino and whole cracked Dungeness crab.
It’s been illegal to sell wildcaught abalone in the state since 1997. The California Fish and Game Commission stopped allowing sports fishermen to harvest wild abalone this year because of its low population; it recently added two more years to the moratorium.
Meanwhile, last summer Ebert built out a store and raw bar at the farm to sell his abalone and other local seafood directly.
“I sell all the product I have,” he says.
The invertebrates take around three years to grow to market size. He started expanding production a couple years ago and will be able to harvest abalone from that crop this summer.
Pillar Point Fish House (opening January): 260 Capistrano, Half Moon Bay. www.pillarpointfishhouse.com. American Abalone Farms: 245 Davenport Landing Road, Davenport. 831-457-2700. www,americanabalone.com. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.