About Wild Edibles Seafood
  
             
  In the summer of 1992, my brother-in-law Michael Reynolds was waiting tables at JoJo, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new bistro. Chef Jean-Georges asked Michael if he wanted to accompany him on a trip to Portland, Maine to hunt for rare and exotic foods. Michael, of course, was glad to go, and even happier when he got there.
 
             
  Among the exotica they found were assorted wild mushrooms, wild raspberries, and fresh-from-the-sea urchins, none of which were readily available on the market. "I can't even get these in New York!" exclaimed the Chef. Then they met some divers who were hand-picking scallops off the ocean floor, and were blown away even more. "If somebody could keep all this coming I'd be a customer for life," remarked Chef Vongerichten.
  
             
  Michael called me when he got back (I was managing Trattoria del Arte at the time) and told me all about it. We smelled a business. We realized that there was a lot of excellent seafood out on the market already, but we also knew that none of it compared to what Michael and Chef Vongerichten had sampled in Maine. The flavor and texture of the freshly caught, wild seafood was light-years beyond the finfish and shellfish most restaurant professionals considered to be the best. We thought we could help New York's top chefs and seafood purveyors navigate their way to a superior product. Turned out we were right.  
             
  In October 1992, we officially opened Wild Edibles, dedicating ourselves to seeking out and making available the finest of all possible fish and more. We put a couple of thousand dollars together, bought a couple of ice chests, and began making deliveries in our own cars. We stored inventory at home.  
             
 
In addition to our now-famous mammoth scallops, other signature items emerged almost immediately: wild Alaskan King salmon, line-caught local fish, hand-picked Maine crabmeat, small-farm organic produce . . . word spread, customers came, customers stayed. By the start of 1993 we'd bought ourselves a van, rented a space, sprung for a 120' walk-in and began buying, processing, and distributing all over Manhattan (no more Atlantic Cod next to the peanut butter and jelly!). In March of that same year we hired our first employee.  
             
  Soon we realized that not everyone demanded or required the most exclusive or exotic product, but the need for top-quality freshness and the service to back it up existed in all categories. We decided to broaden our line to include the best we could find in the most asked-for items as well, such as farm-raised salmon, both conventional and organic, jumbo shrimp, Pacific halibut, mahi-mahi. Filling the needs of our customers never meant compromising on quality.  
             
  In 1998, Jonathan Meyer, a long-time employee who'd worked his way up to being our top salesperson, was convinced we were missing the boat by not using Elizabeth Street as a retail space as well. In June of that year, we opened the doors of our downtown location to the grateful, under-serviced shoppers of Soho, and Jonathan came on as a partner to operate and grow the retail end of our business.

Elizabeth Street-1998
  
             
  The tiny SoHo operation grew into the flagship Grand Central Market store, open since 1999. Now, its four stores, which carry almost no frozen products, are unique both among each other and compared to the typical grocery store.

The Murray Hill location opened in 2001 as primarily a retail store. When sales of the prepared foods took off, the company decided to re-tool and focus on a seafood bistro and oyster bar concept, which re-launched in March 2007.

Wild Edibles’ newest location is a store-within-a-store seafood shop at Forager’s Market in Brooklyn, specializing in artisan, local and organic foods and opened in late February. And, Wild Edibles just opened its fourth seafood shop, located within the Amish Market at 240 E 45th St, New York, NY 		 
             
  Wild Edibles always strives to provide our customers with exactly what they want, when they want it. These key elements are the foundation that have served as our business philosophy since our inception and will always guide our business practices. We look forward to serving you!  
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
   
   
             
 
© 2004-2010 Wild Edibles Inc., All Rights Reserved.
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