No matter how you like your fish prepared, you can get it at Village Fish Market & Restaurant, now open at Summit at Calabasas Shopping Center.
The 5,100 square foot retail market and restaurant offers seafood from all over world, such as walleye from Minnesota and whitefish from Lake Superior.
Co-owners Barry Cohen and Gerald Cigliano, two veterans of the fishing industry, came out of retirement to start the business together in 2010.
"We were both leaving another company, and Barry asked me 'what are you doing next?'" said Cigliano. "I told him I was thinking about opening a fish retail market, and Barry said, 'add a restaurant and I'll be your partner.' So here we are."
Cohen, who used to own Olde Port Fish and Seafood, supplied fish to Santa Monica Seafood, previously owned by Cigliano, for over 40 years.
The partners chose Calabasas, because they felt the area would support the business.
"No other fish restaurant that I've seen offers what we do," said Cohen, who lives in Westlake. "We allow customers to pick out any fish they want from a 35-foot long display case and have us cook it any way they want–asian-style, charbroiled."
Customers have the option to eat at the 230-seat restaurant or take their orders home. The menu changes daily. You can also pick up free recipes created by head chef Jason Segal.
In addition to an oyster bar and sushi, the restaurant offers those with smaller appetites mezze and ceviche.
"Mezze means small plates in Italian," Segal said of the trendy menu. "So we prepare the fish Japanese style using European flavors."
Cohen, a former member of the advisory panel for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, says he is also available to answer questions for those concerned about reported mercury toxicity in fish.
"What people don't know is that mercury is natural in the ocean," he said."The fish that have mercury also have selenium, which is good for you ... Fish actually have higher levels of selenium which bonds with the mercury and neutralizes the toxicity."
In the attached video, Cohen explains how to pick out a good cut of fish.
Village Fish Market & Restaurant is located at 26791 Agoura Road, Calabasas. Ph: 818-871-0500.
