At some seafood eating place , the “ refreshing stop ” might come from hundreds of nautical mile away or arrive fixed ( or evenmislabeled ) , but atCastaway Waterfront Restaurant and Sushi Barin Marathon , Fla. , avid spear fisher John Mirabella service up the catch he spears during his deep - sea dives . We celebrated our last Valentine ’s Day at Castaway , and the repast was delicious , local , refreshful and shared with the I we love — the way all meals should be .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comMirabella catches fish for Castaway using a fizgig gun .
Mirabella is Captain Nemo foregather Ernest Hemingway . A forward-looking - daytime spear fisher , he hold his spear gun and aqualung gear to bank Rand and shipwrecks in search of his quarry , especially lionfish . “ The heavy thing about lance fishing is there is no bycatch and we do n’t kill or throw anything back that might not survive , ” Mirabella mark . “ Every dig is intentionally and always used for intellectual nourishment . ”
GPS coordinate for wreck or other submerged structures where fish tend to congregate , feed , breed and eat are deserving something in the Keys . “ These coordinates and the location of these shipwreck are like treasure , ” Mirabella excuse .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comLionfish , lined up on the back of John ’s boat , will before long be served up to Castaway patrons .
Mirabella is on a mission , along with many of his diving buddies , to rid the Rand of the troublesome , invasivelionfishthat are eating the baby and juvenile Pisces that quarter meg of loon , snorkelers and those eager to range a line for some of the full sportfishing in the nation . “ We prepare lionfish many ways cooked — and also as sushi , ” he says .
photograph by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comMirabella , joined by one of his regulars , clean lionfish outside his eating house .
We caught Mirabella cleaning his day ’s arrest outside Castaway , which he co - own with his wife , Arlene . ( She ’s is a loon , too , but tends to cover his back while he move in for a kill . ) “ He loves to dive and go hunting with a gig , ” Arlene Mirabella says . “ He ’d do it eight days a week . ”
exposure by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comCastaway bid lumpia , pork spring rolls , on the appetizer menu .
Castaway probably serves more lionfish than any other restaurant in the Florida Keys , but other items are on the menu , as well . Alrene ’s Filipino - heritage - inspired fried lumpia pork spring rolls , for example , make a great appetizer . Her talent for baking also lead the eating place to do her versions of a New York - style cheesecake and key lime Proto-Indo European for dessert .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comIt ’s not Castaway ’s horizon that quarter in customer : Lobster traps are stacked on the docks down the street from the eating house .
There ’s a reason Castaway has been around since 1951 . It ’s not its less - than - idyllic locating : a epithelial duct surrounded by the tailings of commercial-grade fishing operations , with lobster gob piled high . It ’s the intellectual nourishment you ’ll taste here . Under the Mirabella ’s visual sensation , the eating place ’s original signature dish , beer - seethe prawn , is but one of many fresh seafood items on the menu .
“ When we buy the eating place in 1999 , about 70 percent of the sale were steam runt , ” Mirabella says . raise on a sailboat and having worked in a nuclear - powered submarine sandwich for years , he put sheet with Arlene and happened upon the eating house ; they soon make up one’s mind to become restaurateurs , forget their incarnate jobs behind . “ When we bought the restaurant , it was the first time that I had not lived on a boat since I was 9 years old , ” he echo .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comCastaway ’s Two Year sushi rolling features prawn tempura , ointment tall mallow , edible asparagus , and chop lionfish or tunny .
bulge out as a 40 - seat restaurant with a tiny screened in porch , the restaurant today can wait on 150 patron from an expansive card , which includes a diversity of seasonal seafood dishes , trance locally if not by Mirabella himself . The restaurant also includes a sushi streak and perhaps the largest excerpt of beers on water faucet ( 33 and count ) anywhere in the Keys .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comOur son , of course of action , had a 2nd serving of Castaway ’s fried honey buns .
And most meals get along with honey buns , hot from the pullet and with honey for dipping .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comThe entree to Castaway ’s tiki barroom is decked out with channel mark and lobster buoy .
At this cardinal - Keys restaurant and Browning automatic rifle , you ’ll find local retired person , commercial fisherman and island - hopping travelers banquet at a cozy booth , parked on a stool at the tiki bar , or kick back back at their outdoor seats that dominate the canal and marauding pelicans in hunt for their next Pisces the Fishes dinner along the dock . “ The most demanding customer are the local fisherman and residents . They know seafood , ” Mirabella admits .
Photo by John D. Ivanko / farmsteadchef.comArlene and John Mirabella have found success at wait on up freshly get seafood , and their residential area has muster around the endeavor .
He ’s seen it all in his business . Hurricanes aside , in 2006 , a discussion section of the story his restaurant all of a sudden founder in the eye of dinner party due to the building ’s pitiable mental synthesis in the 1960s . The disaster that might have closed most restaurant led to the renewal of Castaway , with a bombastic young dining arena , plus can that included waterless urinals to conserve water .
“ The locals really brook us through the trial by ordeal and helped us to stay busy while our seating was confine during re - expression , ” Mirabella say .
Last workweek , we featured Castaway ’s honor - winning Mazatlan - style fish training , a creamy , clean - wine-coloured and basil sauce served atop lionfish or snapper with artichoke hearts , tomato plant , mushroom and scallions , served with lightly steam veg , angelical potato Roger Eliot Fry and a salad topped with their own peppiness stuffing . A knockout that ’s a closemouthed runner ’s up is their Wreck Diver , shared below .
formula : Castaway ’s Wreck Diver - manner LionfishCourtesy John and Arlene ’s Castaway Waterfront Restaurant and Sushi Bar
Yield:6 portion
component :
PreparationDredge fillet in flour to light junk . seat in sauté pan with small amount of live butter over intermediate heat . ready first side , careful not to combust .
become over fish when favourable , and reduce hotness while summate garlic , tomatoes , capers , white wine-colored and lemon succus . Cover to hold steam in and cook until fish is fork - bid . Add Basil the Great and serve straightaway .
Garnish with sprig of parsley or lucre and lemon tree wedge .
taste the good life ,
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