Thinking Outside the Fish Box
Blue Ocean Market moves, expands
By Anna Harvey of the Carteret County News-Times
(photo by Dylan Ray: Naasha Sanford pulls fresh, local vermillion snapper from the bountiful display case at Blue Ocean Market at 2400 Bridges Street in Morehead City)
MOREHEAD CITY — Blue Ocean Market officially moved into its new location about two weeks ago and is expanding its services in the fresh space.
The fish market is now at 2400 Bridges St. It was at its former location just a few blocks away since 2004, but needed a better facility and a better location, said owner David Tucker, who owns the business along with Jeff Cox.
The new site is 4,000 square feet, which includes a commercial kitchen, compared with the original site that was about 1,500 square feet. The business now features Chef Tony Garnett to create dishes customers can pick from, including soups, salads, sides, crab cakes and dips and other items.
“We were able to specifically build this for the business,” said Mr. Tucker. “We built the kitchen to bring Chef Tony in to kind of do more things with the seafood.”
He added he’s had the idea of a larger market and more offerings for about 15 years, and the current property was purchased in October 2015 and construction began after that.
Previously, Blue Ocean Market only offered wholesale fish, but with Mr. Garnett on board, it is able to sell ready-to-eat meals, as well.
“One of the things I want to do is use the bounty of seafood that we have here to provide meals ready to eat and get back to some of the grassroots movements of Down East-style seafood, and Southern seafood applications in general,” said Mr. Garnett.
One of the unique offerings planned for this location are DIY sushi kits, according to an opening menu provided to the News-Times.
