John R. wrote:So it sounds like mid week is the best? I just assume that any seafood I get in Louisville, with some exceptions, isn't going to be at the quality as one would get on the coast so eat it at any time is my philosophy.
Obvious, but not necessarily correct. Similar to what Todd pointed out about most deliveries coming in <i>to the supplier</i> Tuesday through Thursday, you need to consider the quality and commitment of the retailer. There's the rub in some coastal cities. When we lived in NYC, I <i>could</i> go down to the then-Lower East Side Fulton Fish Market or to a high-quality vendor like Balducci's or Dean & DeLuca and get outstanding fresh fish from a competent purveyor.
But we lived in Queens, and while a lot of the food options were great (our neighborhood, Astoria, had more Greeks than any city in the world outside Athens, and Greek restaurants to match), the neighorhood fish markets were pretty scummy. They looked nice, just like European markets. But the owners thought nothing of keeping fish around on ice for a week, washing them down with Clorox when they started to get "ripe."
In Louisville, the top vendors are committed to quality, and they get fish fast and move it fast and don't sell old fish as if it were new. We pay for this privilege ... but I'm far happier with my local suppliers (Highland, Seafood Connection) in Louisville than I ever was in Queens.
In this era of high-speed transportation and distribution, distance from salt water hardly matters. <i>if you're willing to pay the price</i>. But quality all along the distribution stream does matter.
(It's also worth noting that Louisville, perhaps because of a significant Catholic population, has always been an unusually fish-happy place for an inland town. Mazzoni's has been rolling fresh oysters since 1884, and the L&N railroad used to have special express trains pulling cars full of fish and ice since that same historical time.