New addition to Cape May culinary scene

Snowcrab Claw Platter is served with cocktail and mustard sauce.
Snowcrab Claw Platter is served with cocktail and mustard sauce.

The Cape May Fish Market features daily specials, soups and a complete line of seafood fresh, fried or broiled.
The Cape May Fish Market features daily specials, soups and a complete line of seafood fresh, fried or broiled.

Fred Sylvester stands with Nenad Dimitrijevic, Jim Burton, Marko Andjelkovic and Michael Quinn in front of the Cape May Fish Market located on the Washington Street Mall.
Fred Sylvester stands with Nenad Dimitrijevic, Jim Burton, Marko Andjelkovic and Michael Quinn in front of the Cape May Fish Market located on the Washington Street Mall.

Steve Szmak, of Cape May, stops by the raw bar and asks Dan Walsh, of Dennisville, for a shrimp cocktail and smoked Cajun salmon to go.
Steve Szmak, of Cape May, stops by the raw bar and asks Dan Walsh, of Dennisville, for a shrimp cocktail and smoked Cajun salmon to go.

Aidan, 6, Devin, Madison, 5, and Daria Archer of West Chester, N.Y., order burgers and a fried softshell crab sandwich and enjoy lunch outdoors on the Washington Street Mall.
Aidan, 6, Devin, Madison, 5, and Daria Archer of West Chester, N.Y., order burgers and a fried softshell crab sandwich and enjoy lunch outdoors on the Washington Street Mall.

For lunch or dinner guests can enjoy their meal outside or inside.
For lunch or dinner guests can enjoy their meal outside or inside.

September 03, 2008

CAPE MAY -- Fred knows fish. Fred is Fred Sylvester, formerly of the Jersey Shore staple, Sylvester’s Seafood, where he and brother Steve ran a fish market and seafood restaurant from 1978 until 2002, when they sold it to Bill Selgrath, who still owns and operates the popular trademark on the west side of Avalon.
Fred went on to get the Motorboat Club restaurant up and running, and then he helped the Windrift get their raw bar started. After a couple of years of selling real estate, Sylvester is back in his element with the new Cape May Fish Market, on the Washington Street Mall between the Ugly Mug and Jackson Mountain Café, all of which are owned by Michael and Steve Slawek.
It was Michael Slawek and Sylvester who combined heads to come up with this new addition to the Cape May culinary scene.
“I was helping Michael out at Jackson Mountain and I mentioned something to him about starting something like this, and we put our heads together and one thing led to another and here we are,” Sylvester said.
It wasn’t exactly that easy.
“It took awhile to get the construction completed. We thought we would be open for spring but it didn’t work out that way,” he said. “There’s a lot to tearing an old building.apart.”
There is also a lot to starting a new restaurant, let alone in the middle of August.
“I was able to surround myself with some real good quality people that I knew from experience and we hit the ground running,” he said. “We got our CO (certificate of occupancy) on a Friday night and Michael said he wanted to open that Saturday. So we worked all night and early that Saturday and we were able to open by 3:30 p.m. We did 135 dinners the first night and business has been increasing little by little ever since, and it’s all been word of mouth because we haven’t even started advertising yet.”
The Cape May Fish Market is a little like Sylvester’s in that you can buy raw or prepared seafood (or steaks) for takeout, or you can sit down and eat it there. But there’s also a raw bar (that includes the hugely popular Cape May Salt oysters among other selections) and indoor and outdoor (under an awning) seating. They even have a children’s menu.
“We’re shooting for families and we’re getting them. We’re real happy so far. We’re getting real good feedback,” Sylvester said.
He said buying the best quality seafood has been as important as employing the talented people who prepare it.
“We’re buying nothing but the best quality from Sea-lect Seafood (in Mt. Laurel) and Dock Street Seafood (in Wildwood). They really supply us with the goods,” he said.
Selling well so far have been Alaskan snow crab claws, jumbo shrimp cocktail, colossal jumbo lump crab meat, Cajun smoked salmon, Cape May Salt oysters, tuna, flounder, salmon, swordfish, grouper, dry-packed day-boat scallops and a full line of homemade salads, including fresh tuna, crab and shrimp salads that Fred said are out of this world.
“We try to sell all the best stuff we can get our hands on -- jumbo king crab legs, red snapper, wild shrimp, Angus beef filets, Delmonico steaks, cold water South African lobster tails, and we do everything ourselves, except the cole slaw, which we get homemade from Robinson’s Deli, because no one makes better cole slaw than Robinson’s,” Sylvester said.
“Plus we have a to-die-for homemade macaroni and cheese, which we can’t make enough of,” he added.
With the late start, Sylvester was asked how long into the season they’ll stay open.
“We’re going to go as long as traffic bears. Everyone I talk to says around the end of December, so I think that’s what we’re looking at,” he said. “And then we’ll reopen probably around May 1.”
This time, for real.

Cape May Fish Market
408 Washington Street Mall
Cape May
770-3447

Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Seating for 82, includes outdoor seating.

Credit cards accepted.

BYOB.

Street parking.
 



Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed at seitz [at] catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.

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