Slapfish Features Eco-Friendly Menu

Seafood – As Fresh as it Gets!

A Surfrider Sponsor Story

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

“Sorry, Charlie, only the best will do.”

Remember that classic line from the Starkist tuna ads? Well the same applies to the fish served at Huntington Beach casual dining restaurant Slapfish (Newland Shopping Center at 19696 Beach Blvd.)

Specializing in fresh-from-the-ocean seafood, sourced from responsible sustainable suppliers, Slapfish is as concerned about where your fish comes from as how it tastes.

Owners Andrew Gruel and Jethro Naude describe themselves as “pure ocean-aholics,” noting that “We grew up fishing, surfing, and ultimately making our livings with the ocean.”

Along the way, the pair launched their Slapfish food truck in May 2011…and later the Beach Boulevard restaurant in Huntington Beach.

 

When it comes to the fish they serve, their goal is to “take wisely from the ocean without harming the marine eco-system.” This way, rather than being fished to the brink of extinction, fish have an ability to replenish themselves.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel learned that this means you get the freshest, healthiest, best-tasting seafood imaginable.

Some of the specialties on the Slapfish menu include its trademark fish tacos and more.

  

 

And at a price that won’t bust your budget. Forgoing white table cloths and expensive silverware, Slapfish focuses on providing a “boatload of deliciousness” on your plate.

This extends to the vegetables it serves, too, which are the freshest available, coming from local providers…

including the students in Huntington Beach High School’s sustainability class, taught by social studies teacher Greg Goran.

Goran, the Surfrider Foundation’s Huntington/Seal Beach Ocean Friendly Gardens expert, teaches the class as a way to give his students hands-on knowledge about responsible farming methods…and an opportunity to learn business skills.

By selling their produce to Slapfish and at local events the students, who are part of the school’s environmental Green Team, get to see how all their hard work, planting, nurturing and harvesting, pays off, while generating revenue for the school – a win-win for everyone.

Plus it’s exciting for the students to see their vegetables being enjoyed by the diners at Slapfish. “When we come in they’ll be eating the stuff we brought literally within minutes,” Goran stated.

Jessica Bechtold, Surfrider’s HBSB Ocean Friendly Restaurants chairperson, applauds the work that Slapfish is doing to protect the ocean’s sea life and is actively involved in getting restaurants to join the new OFR program.

Bechtold explained to SurfWriter Girls that restaurants who sign on will be committed to sustainable food practices. Along with how the food is sourced and handled, this includes using biodegradable food containers, cups and utensils. 

Whether you stop by Slapfish to grab a fish taco or an order of fish and chips to-go or opt for one of the restaurant’s definitely gourmet lobster creations, you can be sure that everything on your plate will be fresh and flavorful.

 

And, if something on the menu isn’t available, that’s because it’s either sold out or not in season. 

At Slapfish sometimes even being the best isn’t enough to get on the plate.

“Sorry, Charlie, only the sustainable will do.”

SurfWriter Girls

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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.