Quick Take
Clam chowder is an iconic lunch near the water, especially on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, but most options offer more vibes than flavor. But the made-to-order seafood chowder at Firefish Grill has it all: loads of seafood in a creamy, flavorful broth, plus fried potato wedges and major curb appeal.
Despite the East Coast name, eating a bowl of New England clam chowder – within or without a loaf of sourdough bread – is an iconic culinary experience when visiting the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, the longest wooden pier on the West Coast. But I usually don’t recommend it.
Even at its best, clam chowder is, in my opinion, just OK. Most offer more vibes than flavor, and often, eating it is an exercise of managed expectations. When the marine layer drops the temperature by 20 degrees, nothing sounds cozier than a creamy soup ladled into tangy sourdough. But too often, you end up wading through a thick, underseasoned broth to find a few rubbery clams and milky cubes of potato. My enjoyment of clam chowder is directly related to how cold the weather is, and the quantity of Tabasco and oyster crackers I have access to.
There are better comfort foods to eat out there, I’d tell my friends, and send them to my favorite spots for Dungeness crab cocktail, fresh oysters and fish and chips.
But there is one chowder on the wharf that is paving new ground for this maligned soup, and strutting down it in a pair of heels. The seafood chowder at Firefish Grill, located about halfway down the wooden walkway, is not just flavorful and loaded with seafood – it looks fancy.
The seafood chowder ($28.95) is a flagship item on Firefish’s menu, and it does something I’ve never seen any other chowder do: It makes an entrance. Clam chowder’s visual appeal peaked once it met the bread bowl, but Firefish’s seafood chowder sashays into the dining room like a queen. Clams in their shells and fried potato wedges are artfully arranged around the bowl like a mandala, and the center is festooned with a stalk of leafy celery sticking out of the soup, accented with a purple orchid.
Talk about a glow-up. But this chowder has more than just curb appeal.
The texture of the soup is creamy without being gloppy, and it’s loaded with seafood: prawns, clams, rockfish and bay scallops, as well as a generous handful of bacon. No dull cubes of potato here; instead, fried, salty potato wedges lie along the edges of the bowl, where they can easily be dragged through the rich broth.
What’s the secret? Having respect for ingredients, and making each bowl to order, Firefish owner Mark Gilbert told me. This gives it a freshness of flavor that other chowders, including Firefish’s own house clam chowder, which are made in the morning and sit through the day, thickening with rue – I mean, roux – do not.
When an order comes in, the cook begins by frying bacon, then adding a celery-heavy mirepoix – a mix of onions, carrots, and celery – before adding homemade shrimp stock. Rockfish, scallops, shrimp and whole clams go in next, and once the clams start to open, cream is added and everything simmers together for a few moments.
In the meantime, the potatoes are fried, and just before it comes to the table, the soup is finished with a little bit of sherry, and more bacon, plus the extravagant garnish.
Did my eyes pop at the $28.95 price tag? Yes, but the quantity of fish and the quality of the soup exceeded my expectations. This is a chowder to crave, and return to.
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FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story misstated the price of Firefish Grill’s seafood chowder. It is $28.95 on both the lunch and dinner menus.
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