Boy I miss Anderson’s Seafood. Not so much the last one near Barracks Road, but the fresh seafood from the good old days where the Anderson Family sold seafood beneath their make-shift tents at Hardee’s. Most every Friday after work, I’d pull in, ask Mr. Anderson what was good, he’s show me and I’d buy it. Anderson’s had a direct connection to the watermen in the Chesapeake and we enjoyed many great seafood meals from the family owned business.
There is no longer an Anderson’s Seafood in Charlottesville, but there is a Whole Foods, and they, too, have a great selection of fresh seafood. If it wasn’t such a pain in the rear to get in and out of that parking lot, I’d go every week.
Last week, I fought the crowds, squeezed my way inside and found what I was hoping for – fresh black sea bass. Chilean Sea Bass is now a delicacy and an entree for many upscale restaurants, but it costs over $30 a pound. Just as good and a whole lot cheaper is black sea bass.
I had never really eaten black sea bass until a trip to Topsail, NC when we got into a nice school and caught a bunch. They weren’t small runts like I had hooked at Cape Charles and Chincoteague. These were studs: 14- and 15-inchers and they were delicious. I would now order Sea Bass before Grouper or Flounder from a good seafood restaurant.
Bottom line: Whole Foods usually has sea bass on ice. The fish are whole, but the staff will clean them to your specifications. I like them filleted for frying, but last week ordered them whole with heads on. I baked them in a lemon, butter, caper sauce, stuffed them with fresh clams and they were out of sight.
Whole Foods also carries wild caught stripers and many other types of fresh fish in season. It’s a great store, with great fresh seafood. I just wish it was a little easier to navigate.