Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center. For more than
fifteen years, this dining duo has been eating their way
through New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you
the inside scoop on where to wine, dine, and spend
your time. So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving
(00:20):
you something to chew on.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, everybody, welcome into Food for Thought, brought to you
by the Box Center. This week, we're going to be
talking about a company that is almost a century old,
and it's from Boston, and it's doing really amazing things
in the world of seafood. The company is called Wolfs
and one of the things I love about it is
(00:50):
their dedication to Boston, where they were founded, and also
to the community. You can find their products in some
of the greatest restaurants in our city, some of the
greatest restaurants in New York City, and really all across
the country. And their president and vice president of sales
(01:10):
is our guest, Bill Weiss, and he is a great
story too. He comes from a lot of different very
well known industry names in Boston. He's a chef and
he has so much passion. So Bill, it's a pleasure
to have you on the program.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Jenny, that was immaculate introduction. Thank you so very much.
It's an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Okay, Well, I'm so excited to chat with you. And
usually we like to start with giving people a little
bit of a background, So to tell us a little
bit about where you come from and how you came
to running this amazing company.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, it's a very certaindifinous journey. And if we had
two hours, I'll give you the whole thing, but in
the essence of time, I'll just let you know that
my background's a bit mixed, you know, Jenny. I got
a colleg I came back to Boston from where I'm from,
and I worked at Morgan Stanley for quite some time.
And Morganstown is a great company, but it just, you know,
(02:09):
my family was in finance and I thought I should
do that and it just kind of like killed me
a little bit every single day. And I'm a constant outdoorsman.
I do a lot of hunting and fishing, and I
love to cook. And so there was a point in
time about eight years into Morgan Stanley. I decided to
take a shift, and I actually became a commercial sword fisherman,
(02:31):
and I moved down to Florida and got on boats
and just kind of trying to figure out what I
wanted to do. And that led me into selling swordfish
because I was a salesperson, and so that got me
to the back door of restaurants, right. And I always
understood that cooking professionally is very different than preparing Thanksgiving
dinner for your family, right, and I wanted to see
(02:53):
if I could do it. So I got into find
dining and after a course of years, became a soux
chef and that was an amazing experience one I'm most
proud of, and backbreaking work as you can imagine, as
we all know. And I decided I wanted to move
back to Boston, and I knew some people at Island
(03:13):
Creek Oysters, and I was fortunate enough to move back
and become their Boston sales rep for Island Creek and
then over time becoming running their wholesale program right and
managing the sales team over there. The distribution world is
(03:34):
just as incestuous and small world as the hospitality world,
so I knew one of the great partners here that
makes Wolf's Wolf's Max Harvey. I've known him for a
very long time and we always joke together and threatened
that we would work together someday. And the opportunity to
come over here and work with arguably the best ownership
(03:54):
team that I've ever worked with, Mike Garrity and Mike Monies.
The opportunity came up to come here and Ron Wolf
and I jumped on it, and it's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Since that's so exciting, I need to backtrack for a second,
because that is an interesting work weipon. It's one of
the things WI I love most because and we hear
this story from time to time. It's like people go
on this track that they feel like is going to
be the either the most successful or the most fulfilling
or the thing that they're supposed to do, and they
(04:27):
find themselves in a place where they're like, h, this
isn't this isn't my calling, this isn't where I'm supposed
to be. So so give me a little bit of history.
Was so food was always a big part of something
you enjoyed, of your curiosity was a big part of
your life and tell us a little bit more about that. Well,
(04:47):
it's a.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Little cliche, Jenny, to be honest with you, but like
most people that have a connection to food, it's really
comes from family, right. And I'm a firm believer that
you know, regardless if someone's bilingual or only loans, knows
one language, the most universal language, if you want to
go to a different place, a different culture and really
(05:08):
know the essence of what that culture is, eat their food, right.
And my family was I'm a battalion and Irish heritage,
and my grandpa, Pastorino, used to as as young kids,
all the grandkids would sit out on on on a
piece of plywood and roll in yoki and he would
make a big, big, massive, massive pile of ricotta yoki
(05:31):
dough and we would go out there and we were
forced to roll the yoki all day long. So, like,
food was very much a part of my upbringing. And
as such, I'm an emotional leader, right, So like happy,
I eat, sad, I eat.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So food is.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Really really essential to my life and the and and
then and then there was that wave, Jenny of celebrity
chefs that came out of Food Network and other other
areas I mean, frankly, you know, we have a really
relationship with Savonors. We purchased Savonors last year, and and
that is an interesting thing because Julia Child used that
(06:09):
on her show as the butcher for the show. So
I remember watching Yanken cook, Julia Child all these things
and became completely just a meshed in food. And so
when I decided to go into kitchens, it was really
to see like if I could do it right, because
at that time, you know, the cooking culture was something
(06:29):
that was coming more and more prevalent in our media,
and it was being romanticized. And you and I and
everybody knows as who's ever been in hospitality, and so
far ast thing from romantic. Right when you're trying to
peel for hunderd pounds of onions before service, it's not
that romantic. But it was certainly something I would say,
Jenny that I'm most proud of.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, I love that, And you're right, it's not always romantic,
but there is a certain camaraderie and a certain talent.
Oh yes that we at least Billy and I say,
in covering this for me twenty years him more than thirty.
There's no more passionate industry and you need it. You
need passion to be able to sustain in it. And
(07:13):
I love hearing the story of your grandfather, which is
one of the things we ask all our guests, because
there's always there's always sort of the person that people
connect to when they think when they.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Found this passion.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Okay, so Bill, we're going to take a break and
we come back. We're obviously going to talk more about you,
more about Wolf's back with more Food for Thought.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought
brought to you by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
Hotel and sweets.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Welcome back to Food for Thoughts brought to you by
the Box Center. So Bill White's president of Wolves, is
with us right now. I love hearing a little bit
of your backstory, which I'm sure we'll dive into deeper
in a bit. And I know that you're from Conquered
right outside of Boston here in Massachusetts, and I think
as a person who's grown up in Massachusetts too, there's
(07:59):
something very unique about I want to say, the loyalty
that people feel to this area. And usually people suggest
they spend some time, they spend some time and they leave,
and then there's just something that draws us back because
there's almost nothing like it, at least that I've found
really anywhere. So talk about that, and then as you parlay,
(08:20):
we'll talk about Wolfs because it's been around for so long.
And I think loyalty is something that plays such a
big role for all of us as New england Ers.
Do you agree?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Absolutely, And there's a very interesting perspective I can give
you on that. I mean, obviously, Boston is an incredibly
loyal city, a deep cultural root in in where we're from,
whether it's sports, whether it's going back to the best
song ever, Dirty Water and the Charles River. Like we
are very much Boston is Bostonians, right, And in my
time servicing hospitality, one of the things that we like
(08:53):
to do every now and again is activate what we
refer to as industry nights, right and Torol For a
very long time, I believe it was on a third Thursday,
and during months it would be an industry night where
like the whole city would show up and it would
be you know, it'll be Jamie Bisonetta, Colin Lynch, Will Gilson,
you know, everybody in town would come over to Toro
(09:15):
and we would party right And interestingly, because of my
exposure nationally right at Island Creek and certainly at Wolffish,
we you know, we're servicing per se, We're servicing people
in Chicago, you know, all over the place. And so
I've done these industry nights all over the country and
in Boston, everybody shows up and everybody is friends. The
(09:38):
network here is so intimate as in comparison to anywhere
else in the country, and there is fierce loyalty within
these chefs to the purveyors and arguably the brands they
work with, right and Wolf's being founded in nineteen twenty
six is a is a just a steadfast constant in
(10:00):
the world of Boston chefs where they know that you know.
And as a chef, when I would go through my
order list at the end of the night or I
found receiving product, there's always issues, right, That's just the
nature of the kitchen. And if as a chef, I
had a purveyor or relationship that I knew when I called,
I didn't have to worry about it. That was one
thing off of my list that day that made my
(10:22):
life easier. And that is something that wolf Fish has
been in the eyes of these Boston chefs for a very,
very long time.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Now, I am curious, because you obviously have spent some
time outside of New England and obviously supposed to chefs
from all over. Do you feel like it's different here?
You know, like, obviously we're biased, we have to sort
of say that from the get go. But do you
do you feel like there is something unique about that
or is that just us saying that as New Englanders.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Clearly there's a bias there, Jenny, But if I could
be as objective as I could possibly be, and this
is this is not growing shade on any other city
in the country. But again, going back to the community
and the network amongst these groups and amongst these chefs,
everybody here has worked with everybody else, right, So somebody
might have come up in Ken and Jamie's restaurants, right,
(11:17):
and then they shift over to Colin and they're picking
up these skills everywhere they go, and it's just such
a tight knit community. And I am so fortunate, if
you know, I'm so fortunate that over the decade plus
that I've been working with these really incredible individuals I
call them friends, right, And we do favors and for
each other all the time. We hang out all the time.
(11:39):
If I was selling somebody some products and I was,
you know, short that day, I would have no problem
calling Chef A and being like, hey, can you give
somebody the chef B and it would do it without
any question. I really do think it's something special here
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I do. I do, and I you know, like we
wouldn't know unless we were immersed in another region. But
we say this all the time. I mean, I was
just out to dinner with Christopher and Joanne and we
were talking about sort of this family tree, right this like, yes,
this this this thing that helps everybody get to sort
of this heightened level of success. And it's pretty awesome
(12:18):
to watch. And it's why we loved doing what we've
done so much. So the Wolf's is a brand that
everyone in the industry has known and trusted, which is
a very big deal, right because obviously there's opportunity for
chefs to get products from a million different places. They're
continuously pitched from a million different places big you know,
ginormous international companies, national companies, and then of course other companies.
(12:41):
And I think one of the amazing things at least
that in the short time that I've been you know,
connected with Wolfs and like, you know, learning a lot
of these stories, is there something about that similar same passion?
And I would say, not only does it go back
to the fact that it's you know, ninety years, but
it's the fact that there's a deep desire to focus
(13:01):
on perfection when it comes to quality, which is the
same that we see from a lot of these chefs.
So talk a little bit about what the sort of
mission of Wolf's is and has been for so long.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Well before I dive into the mission, I just want
to kind of go back to that camaraderie that you
articulated in regards to the kitchen. That camaraderie exists here
at Wolf's. Right, Mike Moni's who is the CEO of
Boston Provisions and Wolf's, And we can get to the
Boston Provisions thing later. He has done a great job
aggregating what I would call the all star team in seafood.
(13:37):
There are over seventy people at Wolfs that have seven
years or more in tenure here. That is unbelievable. So
at the end of the day, what separates us and
if somebody were saying, Bill, who's your direct competitor, And
I say this with all humility, I would say that
there's a ton of really great seafood companies out there,
but I don't think anyone truly competes with us because
(13:59):
we do things very, very differently, and that process is
rooted in the people, the team, in the relationships that
this team has developed, and arguably the most important seafood
city in the world, Boston, right, We have a tremendous,
deep rooted history in seafood, going back to the early
(14:20):
eighteenth century when t Pier was built off a long
wharf and we had our fishing fleet over there, and
then in the early twentieth century when the Fish Peer
was built, which is now a historic landmark. Right. We
are fish in Boston, right, and the people that are
here have developed those that passion, that expertise, and let's
be honest, nobody gets into fish because it's a fast
(14:42):
trap to getting a ferrari, right, like, we are here
for a reason. We are a group of misfits that
love this so much. We get here at two thirty
in the morning and we drive every single day to
get it done. And if you've thought about our mission.
It's really about managing the world relationships and being a
trusted advisor. Right. Let's just say for the same conversation,
(15:04):
the quality and sourcing is a given, that's what we do.
That is our expertise. What we really do is we're
there for our customers. And when you're dealing with a
wild product, mainly you know in seafood, this is not
USDA stamp Prime Choice select. You're dealing with a highly
subjective variable. Mother nature is driving its supply based on
(15:25):
whether wind and all those patterns. That there are moments
when things don't work out well, right. And the thing
that my late father, Jim Weiss once always taught me
is that you pick up the phone when the phone's
the heaviest, right. So it's less about our execution and
a given. It's more about our ability to problem solve
and be proactive in our relationships with the people that
(15:48):
we work with, and that that brings along into the
development of the direction consumer business that Alicia and Judy
here at Wolfe's runs for our ECMM business as well.
They take the same approach making sure they're offering the best,
I mean, in the brightest in all the stuff that
we have in our catalogs.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And as you talking about the passion, I mean this
passion extends beyond just the folks that you work with.
It's the passion that you have for the shafts, for
the restaurant tours who are doing their execution right. So
I think the whole process is one that it all
has to work together. But I want to talk a
little bit about the relationship that you have with the fishermen,
(16:29):
the farmers who also share this passion cool.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I mean, at the end of the day, without them,
we would be nothing right. And they get up and
they do stuff in whether that we would never open
our front door to do. And at the end of
the day, one of the things when they've always been
doing at wolves. But what I've done and kind of
made part of our mantra is we want to pay
(16:55):
the most we can right and whether that's an oyster
farmer out in the cape or right now as the
blue frintuna season is wrapping up locally, if that's paying
a premium for a fish that's coming off the docks
in Glocester, we want to make sure that we're paying
the most we can for that fish because we want
to honor the work that those individuals are doing, but
(17:19):
more importantly, we want to help them understand the quality
that we're looking for. Right and whether a fish is
good or bad on a plate at Zaredo is less
about how we're treating it, and it's more about the
moment it's harvested.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And there's a lot to talk about it as it
relates to sustainability, just the overall conversation about it, the
health of the oceans. We're going to take a break
and we come back. We're going to talk a little
bit more about that, but first I want to know
some of your personal favorite spots in Boston. We'll be
back in just a minute.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
It's the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel in sweets.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Bill Way be president and he have sailed for Wolf
is our guests, and we're going to spend more time
talking about the company and its mission and all the
things that they're doing to ensure sustainability and the health
of our oceans and and and why they are so
committed to this, and then also see how that business
has spanned in a lot of different directions. Including Savnors,
(18:18):
which is the name if you're listening in New England
as one that you certainly know. But we'll get to
that in a few minutes. First, one of the things
we like to do on this very quick break is
to ask our guests their favorite place is to go
to in New England. So people ask us all the time, Okay,
we're coming to Boston, where do we go? I'm going
to even let you extend beyond Boston. So what are
some of your pride and true favorites and tell us
(18:41):
about a few of them.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Well, you're really putting me in the hot seat here.
I don't want to disappoint anybody. But if I if
I had to tell you, if I probably actually.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Wait, I have to say, I have to say, Bill,
it's the worst question anyone can ask us, and we
get asked it all the time. So well, by I
know you love you love hundreds of them, But give
us some personal experiences that maybe you have with some
of them.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Absolutely, if I was coming off the plane at Logan
right and I wanted to sit down and from from
a hospitality standpoint and from a food standpoint, just experience
something that is like innately Boston, Jeff Nace and what
he's done at Neptune is unreal, right, Like that that
is that is a place that if you come to
this city like and you don't go, you're missing out right,
(19:25):
that is very fundamentally Boston. And then you can go
all the way over to like really really cool things
that like Ken's doing over at Facia Facia. Right, so
you have like really cool handmade pastas and small Italian plates, right,
And that's out of the North End, right, that's not
that's not like our Italian in the North End. That's
Ken doing amazing things on Newberry Street with Facia Faccia.
(19:48):
And to talk about a Facia and copa veteran, talk
about Brian Ray at Eastern Standard. Brian, in my opinion
is one of the better, is one of the better,
like you know fresh pass to makers and and and
the things that he's doing is over there is unbelievable.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention somebody that
I am through my network at Island Creek closely connected
(20:10):
to and somewhat biased about, and that's Jeremy Sewell and
at Row thirty four. Uh, you know he is and
talk about a connection to the fishermen and fisher women.
He has his cousin who does all of his lobsters
up in Maine. He is a main he's from Massachusetts,
but really he's a manor at heart. And and he's
doing great stuff with Shore Gregory. And if I were
(20:33):
to pick one place outside of Boston right now that
I recently had dinner with at and and and I
was literally blown away as I brought my new wife
and my new father and mother in law to Jack
and Charlie's in the West Village.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Oh so awesome, Marver, and take a break. We'll be
back with more Food for Thought in just a minute.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
In sweets Bill White and vice president of sales for Wolfs.
It's been such a bloss setting in the show. You
have such passionate, exciting energy. So we just talked about
some of your faiths. I have to say you mentioned
Jeremy Sewell. So I had friends that were coming from
Chicago when they were doing a two week vacation in
(21:17):
New England, and they sent me semiinerary and it looked
like the most absurd itinerary I've ever seen in my
entire life, to which point I said, rip that up
and throw that away, and I will be your travel
agent for this two week trip. And so they were
spending some time in Maine, and you mentioned Jeremy, like
you know, from from Massachusetts, been a Maynard at heart,
(21:38):
and I called him and I was like, hey, I
was like, I really need a really special oyster experience
for this couple that I'm great friends with, and he's
like done. So he connects me with his guy who
takes them. You know, it's not nothing commercial about this experience.
They get like a real behind the scenes experience. And
that's one example of you know what we've been talking
(21:59):
about this whole show, oh, is you know the passion
that people have for this business, the relationships that are
so steeped and deep rooted, and then the connectedness. Right, Like,
I guess in some ways, we're all competitive in the
way of like we're all trying to do the very
best that we can in our business, our individual businesses,
(22:22):
but it never comes across as a way that wants
to separate us from others who are having success. And
so many of the chefs that you mentioned just just
sort of exude that in such a in such a
meaningful way. Okay, so let's get back to Wolf's. We
talked a lot about sort of the relationships that you have,
(22:43):
of course with your own staff, the relationships you have
with the chefs, the relationships that have been you know,
that are decades and decades old, that you have with
the with the fishmongers and the fishermen that are out
there on a day to day basis, talk about your
focus on sustainability because they know that that's something that's
really important for you.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Sure well, you know, sustainability is, you know, a loaded statement,
and really what it comes down to is sourcing the
most responsible way possible. So there is a company that
Mike Whones and Mike Garrity acquired some time ago called
clean Fish, which is essentially now part of Wolf's and
that was their importing division, if you will. And the
(23:27):
vast majority of alguaculture, finfish aquaculture that we experience domestically
is farm salmon, correct, whether it's king salmon from New
Zealand or if it's Atlantic salmon from Europe. And so
clean Fish was really at the tip of the spear
in bringing in really really responsibly sourced finfish aquaculture products.
(23:51):
They led the charge and brought lock to Art to market.
Locked to Art is a premium salmon brand from the
Highlands of Scotland and as an a are the fly fishermen.
I was really drawn to it because they raise a
fish there that is genetically indistinguishable from the wild salmon
that utilize that lock naturally. And I don't want to
(24:15):
go into all the science and bore you about that,
but that in and of itself is a major, major deal.
When we talk about the risk of biocontamination for a
nadromous fish coming back to the river of origin to
spawn and living out in the ocean, that is immensely,
mensely responsible and that is a highly sustainable way of
(24:37):
not only raising fish, but protecting the wild species adjacent
to that, to that farming practice, right, and then you
go into the idea of oysters. Oysters. Oysters are one
of the only farming activities aquatic or terrestrial that have
a netnet zero impact and in some cases a positive
(24:58):
and negative way for the carbon footprint. Right. An oyster
is a filter feeder, a sastroogenica, which is our East
Coast oyster will filter fifty water, fifty gallons of water
a day for the express purpose of filtering out their
food algae. Algae is a plant. Plants do photo synthesis.
They take carbon out of the atmosphere and convert it,
(25:20):
and then the oysters eat it, take that carbon and
utilize them for permanent carbon storage in their shell, which
is calcium carbonate. Right. So, all this oyster proliferation that
we have had in what I believe is one of
the best places on earth to grow oysters, Massachusetts. These
are all incredibly responsible ways of utilizing the responsible farming
(25:44):
techniques as it relates to providing high quality, clean, healthy
proteins to the masses.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And I think that's something that's important to a lot
of people. And while the nitty gritty of it is
sometimes just misunderstood or not understood at all, the idea
is that this is a big focus for you, and
you are the masters in it.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Bill. We know some of the greatest restaurants are serving
Wolf's products and as in forever, but the consumer at
home can access in as well.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Yes, and we have invested for a long time in
our e commerce business, which is an alack carte offering
of food products as well as subscription services. And this
really allows the retail consumer to access to a catalog
of high qualities, even products that for a long time
we're never available, you know, trying to find bluefinro, trying
(26:38):
to find tap tog file at and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I know, it's so nice to be able to have
not only the customer appreciate it when they're in the restaurant,
when they're in their home, and to learn to appreciate
different flavors of fish, the different way to cook fish,
and I know you guys are so great at helping
folks come up with different recipes and that kind of thing.
We're going to take a break, but when we come back,
we're going to talk about how the world for fish
(27:05):
is opening up in a big way, and in fact,
the world for the customer is going to be able
to become so much closer to the infrastructure that you
guys have created. Expansion is on the horizon in big ways.
We're going to take a break when we've back with
more Food for Thought and Bill Weiss.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought
brought to you by the Box Center, and Sale and
Waterfront Hotel and Sweet.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Welcome back to SUSA US, brought to you by the
Box Center, Bill Weiss. So we're talking about obviously the
amazing things that have taken place over the past century
with Wolffish, But you guys are moving into a very
exciting and new chapter where accessibility is going to become
much more of an opportunity for folks in Boston and
(27:50):
where your offerings are going to expand. So tell us
a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Sure, Well, you know, we've developed a parent company that
for Boston Provision, that brings Wolfe's and SA Butchery together
onto one roof really, and it's all about elevating the
legacy of these brands in the Boston area. The new
permanent home for both of those brands will end up
being in Chelsea, Massachusetts. We're opening and we're starting construction
(28:16):
on a state of the art eighty thousand square foot
warehouse which will be the permanent home for both of
these brands, cementing their longevity in the city, you know,
for generations to come. The really exciting thing though, for
the retail consumer is launching in this Fall in Boston.
Staateport is a really unique store that revives the magic
(28:38):
of a true butchery in fish monitoring, a craftsmanship that
has in a lot of ways been lost in our
world as supermarkets perch further and further away from the
art of fabrication. And that is our Boston Provision store,
which will be a retail fish and meat market with
some fast casual stuff, but really it's all about the
access to actual butchers and monitors in the Seaport for
(29:02):
the retail consumer.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
The access makes me so happy you mentioned like this
the customer, because because I think the customer and the
consumer knows when you go into these big grocery stores
there's such a lack of connection to whatever it is
that you're purchasing. And when we say lack of connection,
we're all we're also meaning lack of quality. And I
think that unfortunately on the access for people just hasn't
(29:29):
been there. And so not only are they going to
have access in downtown Boston obviously the vibrant neighborhood of
the Seaport, but they're going to have your expertise, right,
They're going to have that community that we've been talking
about this whole half an hour, the opportunity to connect
with someone who connected with the fishermen who brought that
fish in that morning. You mentioned Chabaners, and we talked
(29:51):
about it a couple of times on this show, but
I think it's worth giving a moment to give a
little history for those who know the name or remember
the name and sort of understand why this was, you know,
such an important acquisition for you guys.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Well, you know, we talked a lot about Wolf's legacy
in Boston, and it's the same story with Savonors. Savons
was founded in nineteen thirty nine in Cambridge and it's
been an institution here for Boston chefs in and around,
sourcing really really cool meats and different cuts, right, not
just your standard rabbi filet, just really interesting fabrication of
(30:26):
whole animals.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
This was also, like I mentioned earlier, Juliet Childs butcher,
so for the French chefs, she sourced all her meats
from Savonors. They focus on whole animal butchery, really a
traditional craft that, like we talked about earlier, that's kind
of being lost in our food scene in general. And
it was a really awesome opportunity for Wolf's and Boston
(30:49):
Provisions to become, you know, a part of that Savonors
world and vice versa. And we were really proud to
be representing under the Boston Provisions umbrella to very strong
legacy brands in Boston that are really at the core
of food distribution, food consumption, and everything that we do
here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
And so basically what's going to happen this coming fall
is you'll be able to walk into Boston Provisions, which
is right there in the seaport, and talk a little
bit more about what that experience is going to be like.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
You're going to walk through the front door and you're
going to be greeted with a beautiful, beautiful display and
counter right and more importantly, the people will be right
up front ready to talk to you. And on the
left side you'll have your fish bonger. On the right
side you'll have your butcher. We will be cutting everything
to order, you know, We'll have you know, portioning and
(31:46):
all the things. We'll have all sorts of different products
in there for you to look at and to talk
about and to utilize and to test in your own homes.
The great thing is we'll also have some fast casual.
On the savon Or side, there'll be some grab and
go sandwiches. On the wolf side, we will have grab
and go sushi made from the finest, finest seafood that
(32:06):
you could ever imagine. And more importantly, it's really about
the experience and the connection. Right back in the day,
when our grandparents were buying food, they would go to
the farmer's market for the corn, they would go to
the butcher for the pork loin, and they would go
to the fish mongor for the fish. And each one
of those individuals, as you mentioned Jenny, had the connection
to the product and understand how to fabricate and cook it.
(32:28):
And that's what we want to bring back to the
Boston food scene for the retail customer.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I mean, it's so important on so many levels and
and and it just makes me so happy because I
think what's happened over the past, you know, many handful
of years, is would become so disconnected from our food
and I think the only industry that still remains so
connected were the chefs. Right We're the chefs, like we've
mentioned over the course of this show, and that's because
(32:54):
they had those relationships and I think at the end
of the day, like this generation recognize it that we're all
dealing with a lot of health issues and part of
that comes from the fact that we detached ourselves from
food in such a big way. And so what you
guys are offering Boston and really any of your customers
who are able to connect through your website, through your Instagram,
(33:17):
all these different places, is an opportunity to connect again
and feel educated again about what is going in your
mouth and why and where it comes from and so
on so many levels. I'm so excited for this and
for you guys, and and for our city and for
I know what will continue to expand into different areas
with these retail concepts. But let's quickly go to Chelsea.
(33:38):
So in Chelsea, which is also I think so awesome
that you guys are staying so close to the roots
of both of these companies, is not only an opportunity
for you know, not only an opportunity for your future customer,
but also an opportunity for Chelsea and for the area.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Absolutely, you know, we are so excited to be going
to this facility on Just and Drive. It allows us
the opportunity to invest just about fifteen million dollars into
that space into the community. We're bringing over you know,
first day, we're bringing over one hundred and twenty five
jobs into Chelsea with a plan to add about one
(34:17):
hundred and twenty five jobs with additional jobs within the
first three years. So it's really about revitalizing that that
space and putting a lot of investment into creating a
modern food facility. Right, this is not just about you know,
processing things. This is being about being a modern food
facility that is going to be kind of the centerpinner
(34:38):
hub for the distribution of you know savn Rst products,
Wolfs's products, and you know down the road specialty gourmet. Right.
We want to really make sure that this is a
one stop shop, as Mike Bonies just likes to say,
so somebody can write their own recipe. Right. You want
to be able to come to a place that you
have experts in each one of these verticals that could
(34:59):
help you get everything and exactly you need. I love it.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I have to ask, as a fisherman and as a
person spend a lot of time on both. Do you
ever get out in the water a lot? Do you
still get on the water at fair amount?
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Oh, Jenny in my past, I have spent every penny
in my savings account traveling the globe, chasing after dreams
in the water, and I do. I'm I'm an avid
duck hunter and my time in the last few years
has really been about training my duck dog, Norman. And
(35:33):
when when you get a chance to meet Norman, he
is a consonant gentleman and he's a really well trained dog.
And training duck dogs is one of my new new
found passions and it basically takes up every amount of
time that I have and I'm not at Wolf's.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I love it so much. That's so fantastic, Okay, And
so I want to give people more information as to
where they can find you because your Instagram is awesome.
You do a great job with bringing in a lot
of the chefs that you work with. Obviously, your website
is very helpful for those who are looking for your
rewards program or looking for your regular subscription.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Where can people find you, Well, it's very easy. It's
at www dot Wolffish dot com. The Instagram is just
at Wolffish and the same for Facebook. You can find
us anywhere and any any one of these cool So
I'm forty three years old, so I'm not that cool.
Any place that has some sort of social media, if
(36:27):
you type in Wolffish you will find it. And by
the way, aware it's Wulf, not wlf wul.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yes, yes, I mean you're doing so many creative storytelling
opportunities for folks to be able to connect with seafood
in a way that I think they connect with meat,
probably a little bit more accessible accessibly. And I think
we know from research how much more we need seafood
in our diet with regularity, and you might as well
do it with people who are both caring about the industry,
(36:59):
caring oft the relationships, and have such a connection to
some of our best restaurants in the area. So, Bill,
it's been such a pleasure to have you on the show.
I'm so excited for all the growth, for all of
the evolution. We can't wait to have you back on
the show when Boston Provisions is open so we can
chat more.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Jennie, thank you so much for inviting us, and I really, really,
really really I was thrilled with the conversation.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Oh you're fantastic, and please give Mike my beast, give
everybody my best. I know it's going to be a
very busy handful of months for you, guys, but we're
so excited. Guys. Make sure you check out Wolf's, learn
more about the seafood, where it's coming from, and just
enjoy the excellence of it all. Okay, thanks Bill so much,
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Have a good day.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
More Food for Thought.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought,
brought to you by the Box Center and Sale and
Waterfront Hotel and Sweet.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
So nice to have Bill on the show. Clearly such
a passionate person and such a great company, and I
think it is true people are seeing more of the
research and why adding a lot more seafood to your
it is something that's very healthy for your overall health.
And it's also important to know where all of your
(38:08):
food is coming from, and we talked about that in
varying capacities throughout the show. But not only does it
bring about more of a community if you know the
people who are sourcing the food for you, but it
also makes sure that what you're putting into your body
is something that's going to be nourishing for you. And
that's something that I know, Billy and I are both
passionate about. Okay, so we're going to do a little
(38:29):
deviation because we want to tell you about this awesome
show that Billy and I recently did for Dining Playbook,
our program that airzon Nesson. We went to the island
of Nantuckets and we took our crew there for the
majority of the week and they shot I think upwards
of fifteen different places on that tiny little island, and
(38:49):
Billy and I came in for the Nantucket Book Festival
where we were promoting our book that we launched this year,
A Taste of Boston, which I know we've talked about
on this show before, but Nantucket is certainly a hot
spot in the summer, and we want to make sure
that we dedicate some time here on Food for Thought
to telling you some of the places that we saw
on some of the places we suggest that you check out.
(39:10):
So for some people, summer may already be scheduled, you
already know where you're going for your vacation. But some
people might be looking for a nice quick weekends get
away or midweek get away, or even something in the fall.
And Nantucket is one of those very special places that
happens to be a part of our very special region.
And so Nantucket can be accessed by two different ferries,
(39:33):
the steamship and the high Line, and those both lead
from the Cape and Hyenas. Of course, another option is
to fly in. We took the ferry and it's just
a great way to come about this island. We landed
on Straight Wharf, which is because we took the high Line.
And two of the places that we checked out were
Straight Wharf Fish, which is the new sister restaurant to
(39:54):
Straight Wharf, and it's owned by our friend Gabriel Fresca,
who has been on the islands for decades and who
is a huge culinary inspiration that came out of some
great Boston chefs. Here in Boston, he worked with Michael
Schlau for a long time and now has been sort
of at the helm of his spot on Nantucket. And
(40:14):
so this place, Straight Warf Fish, is a place you
can't make a reservation, so you've gotta be ready to
get there early as soon as they open, and they're
doing certainly paying homage to the fishing scene in a
way similar to Wolf and in a very delicious way.
And then we also went to Crewe, which is another
one that's right there on Straight Wharf. And this place
(40:34):
is a scene when I tell you, from the moment
they open their doors until they moment they close them,
they are packs. They're known for these these like green
cucumber cocktails that we made sure that we showcased, and obviously,
of course awesome seatfood as well seafood towers. It's a
beautiful atmosphere and certainly very lively. We also checked out
(40:55):
two of our favorite spots, Proprietors and Black Eyed Susans.
Now Black Eyed Susans is a great place to go
for breakfast, but it's also a great place to go
for dinner. I think it's one of the greatest secrets,
although not so secret anymore on the island. Proprietors is
a very special spot, has flavors from all over the
world and is a really unique flavor palette that I
(41:17):
don't think you can find anywhere else. We checked out
the beaches. We checked out some great places tickets, sandwiches
like Fresh Right there in downtown. We checked out Lemon Press,
which my family loves to go to when we visit
the island for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner. It's
such a short season on Nantucket, and so these restaurant
tours have to do something different than the restaurant tours
(41:39):
do in Boston, just because it's such a compressed and
condensed time when there's so many people to service. Anyway,
it was a great show. It's airing again a few
times throughout the season, but you can also find it
on demand. NSSON on Dining Playbook and that is it
for Food for Thought, brought you by the Amazing Box Center.
Hope everybody had a great holiday season and ing this summer.
(42:00):
We will see you next time.
You're listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center. For more than
fifteen years, this dining duo has been eating their way
through New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you
the inside scoop on where to wine, dine, and spend
your time. So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving
(00:20):
you something to chew on.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, everybody, welcome into Food for Thought, brought to you
by the Box Center. This week, we're going to be
talking about a company that is almost a century old,
and it's from Boston, and it's doing really amazing things
in the world of seafood. The company is called Wolfs
and one of the things I love about it is
(00:50):
their dedication to Boston, where they were founded, and also
to the community. You can find their products in some
of the greatest restaurants in our city, some of the
greatest restaurants in New York City, and really all across
the country. And their president and vice president of sales
(01:10):
is our guest, Bill Weiss, and he is a great
story too. He comes from a lot of different very
well known industry names in Boston. He's a chef and
he has so much passion. So Bill, it's a pleasure
to have you on the program.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Jenny, that was immaculate introduction. Thank you so very much.
It's an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Okay, Well, I'm so excited to chat with you. And
usually we like to start with giving people a little
bit of a background, So to tell us a little
bit about where you come from and how you came
to running this amazing company.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, it's a very certaindifinous journey. And if we had
two hours, I'll give you the whole thing, but in
the essence of time, I'll just let you know that
my background's a bit mixed, you know, Jenny. I got
a colleg I came back to Boston from where I'm from,
and I worked at Morgan Stanley for quite some time.
And Morganstown is a great company, but it just, you know,
(02:09):
my family was in finance and I thought I should
do that and it just kind of like killed me
a little bit every single day. And I'm a constant outdoorsman.
I do a lot of hunting and fishing, and I
love to cook. And so there was a point in
time about eight years into Morgan Stanley. I decided to
take a shift, and I actually became a commercial sword fisherman,
(02:31):
and I moved down to Florida and got on boats
and just kind of trying to figure out what I
wanted to do. And that led me into selling swordfish
because I was a salesperson, and so that got me
to the back door of restaurants, right. And I always
understood that cooking professionally is very different than preparing Thanksgiving
dinner for your family, right, and I wanted to see
(02:53):
if I could do it. So I got into find
dining and after a course of years, became a soux
chef and that was an amazing experience one I'm most
proud of, and backbreaking work as you can imagine, as
we all know. And I decided I wanted to move
back to Boston, and I knew some people at Island
(03:13):
Creek Oysters, and I was fortunate enough to move back
and become their Boston sales rep for Island Creek and
then over time becoming running their wholesale program right and
managing the sales team over there. The distribution world is
(03:34):
just as incestuous and small world as the hospitality world,
so I knew one of the great partners here that
makes Wolf's Wolf's Max Harvey. I've known him for a
very long time and we always joke together and threatened
that we would work together someday. And the opportunity to
come over here and work with arguably the best ownership
(03:54):
team that I've ever worked with, Mike Garrity and Mike Monies.
The opportunity came up to come here and Ron Wolf
and I jumped on it, and it's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Since that's so exciting, I need to backtrack for a second,
because that is an interesting work weipon. It's one of
the things WI I love most because and we hear
this story from time to time. It's like people go
on this track that they feel like is going to
be the either the most successful or the most fulfilling
or the thing that they're supposed to do, and they
(04:27):
find themselves in a place where they're like, h, this
isn't this isn't my calling, this isn't where I'm supposed
to be. So so give me a little bit of history.
Was so food was always a big part of something
you enjoyed, of your curiosity was a big part of
your life and tell us a little bit more about that. Well,
(04:47):
it's a.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Little cliche, Jenny, to be honest with you, but like
most people that have a connection to food, it's really
comes from family, right. And I'm a firm believer that
you know, regardless if someone's bilingual or only loans, knows
one language, the most universal language, if you want to
go to a different place, a different culture and really
(05:08):
know the essence of what that culture is, eat their food, right.
And my family was I'm a battalion and Irish heritage,
and my grandpa, Pastorino, used to as as young kids,
all the grandkids would sit out on on on a
piece of plywood and roll in yoki and he would
make a big, big, massive, massive pile of ricotta yoki
(05:31):
dough and we would go out there and we were
forced to roll the yoki all day long. So, like,
food was very much a part of my upbringing. And
as such, I'm an emotional leader, right, So like happy,
I eat, sad, I eat.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So food is.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Really really essential to my life and the and and
then and then there was that wave, Jenny of celebrity
chefs that came out of Food Network and other other
areas I mean, frankly, you know, we have a really
relationship with Savonors. We purchased Savonors last year, and and
that is an interesting thing because Julia Child used that
(06:09):
on her show as the butcher for the show. So
I remember watching Yanken cook, Julia Child all these things
and became completely just a meshed in food. And so
when I decided to go into kitchens, it was really
to see like if I could do it right, because
at that time, you know, the cooking culture was something
(06:29):
that was coming more and more prevalent in our media,
and it was being romanticized. And you and I and
everybody knows as who's ever been in hospitality, and so
far ast thing from romantic. Right when you're trying to
peel for hunderd pounds of onions before service, it's not
that romantic. But it was certainly something I would say,
Jenny that I'm most proud of.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well, I love that, And you're right, it's not always romantic,
but there is a certain camaraderie and a certain talent.
Oh yes that we at least Billy and I say,
in covering this for me twenty years him more than thirty.
There's no more passionate industry and you need it. You
need passion to be able to sustain in it. And
(07:13):
I love hearing the story of your grandfather, which is
one of the things we ask all our guests, because
there's always there's always sort of the person that people
connect to when they think when they.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Found this passion.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Okay, so Bill, we're going to take a break and
we come back. We're obviously going to talk more about you,
more about Wolf's back with more Food for Thought.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought
brought to you by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
Hotel and sweets.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Welcome back to Food for Thoughts brought to you by
the Box Center. So Bill White's president of Wolves, is
with us right now. I love hearing a little bit
of your backstory, which I'm sure we'll dive into deeper
in a bit. And I know that you're from Conquered
right outside of Boston here in Massachusetts, and I think
as a person who's grown up in Massachusetts too, there's
(07:59):
something very unique about I want to say, the loyalty
that people feel to this area. And usually people suggest
they spend some time, they spend some time and they leave,
and then there's just something that draws us back because
there's almost nothing like it, at least that I've found
really anywhere. So talk about that, and then as you parlay,
(08:20):
we'll talk about Wolfs because it's been around for so long.
And I think loyalty is something that plays such a
big role for all of us as New england Ers.
Do you agree?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Absolutely, And there's a very interesting perspective I can give
you on that. I mean, obviously, Boston is an incredibly
loyal city, a deep cultural root in in where we're from,
whether it's sports, whether it's going back to the best
song ever, Dirty Water and the Charles River. Like we
are very much Boston is Bostonians, right, And in my
time servicing hospitality, one of the things that we like
(08:53):
to do every now and again is activate what we
refer to as industry nights, right and Torol For a
very long time, I believe it was on a third Thursday,
and during months it would be an industry night where
like the whole city would show up and it would
be you know, it'll be Jamie Bisonetta, Colin Lynch, Will Gilson,
you know, everybody in town would come over to Toro
(09:15):
and we would party right And interestingly, because of my
exposure nationally right at Island Creek and certainly at Wolffish,
we you know, we're servicing per se, We're servicing people
in Chicago, you know, all over the place. And so
I've done these industry nights all over the country and
in Boston, everybody shows up and everybody is friends. The
(09:38):
network here is so intimate as in comparison to anywhere
else in the country, and there is fierce loyalty within
these chefs to the purveyors and arguably the brands they
work with, right and Wolf's being founded in nineteen twenty
six is a is a just a steadfast constant in
(10:00):
the world of Boston chefs where they know that you know.
And as a chef, when I would go through my
order list at the end of the night or I
found receiving product, there's always issues, right, That's just the
nature of the kitchen. And if as a chef, I
had a purveyor or relationship that I knew when I called,
I didn't have to worry about it. That was one
thing off of my list that day that made my
(10:22):
life easier. And that is something that wolf Fish has
been in the eyes of these Boston chefs for a very,
very long time.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Now, I am curious, because you obviously have spent some
time outside of New England and obviously supposed to chefs
from all over. Do you feel like it's different here?
You know, like, obviously we're biased, we have to sort
of say that from the get go. But do you
do you feel like there is something unique about that
or is that just us saying that as New Englanders.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Clearly there's a bias there, Jenny, But if I could
be as objective as I could possibly be, and this
is this is not growing shade on any other city
in the country. But again, going back to the community
and the network amongst these groups and amongst these chefs,
everybody here has worked with everybody else, right, So somebody
might have come up in Ken and Jamie's restaurants, right,
(11:17):
and then they shift over to Colin and they're picking
up these skills everywhere they go, and it's just such
a tight knit community. And I am so fortunate, if
you know, I'm so fortunate that over the decade plus
that I've been working with these really incredible individuals I
call them friends, right, And we do favors and for
each other all the time. We hang out all the time.
(11:39):
If I was selling somebody some products and I was,
you know, short that day, I would have no problem
calling Chef A and being like, hey, can you give
somebody the chef B and it would do it without
any question. I really do think it's something special here
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
I do. I do, and I you know, like we
wouldn't know unless we were immersed in another region. But
we say this all the time. I mean, I was
just out to dinner with Christopher and Joanne and we
were talking about sort of this family tree, right this like, yes,
this this this thing that helps everybody get to sort
of this heightened level of success. And it's pretty awesome
(12:18):
to watch. And it's why we loved doing what we've
done so much. So the Wolf's is a brand that
everyone in the industry has known and trusted, which is
a very big deal, right because obviously there's opportunity for
chefs to get products from a million different places. They're
continuously pitched from a million different places big you know,
ginormous international companies, national companies, and then of course other companies.
(12:41):
And I think one of the amazing things at least
that in the short time that I've been you know,
connected with Wolfs and like, you know, learning a lot
of these stories, is there something about that similar same passion?
And I would say, not only does it go back
to the fact that it's you know, ninety years, but
it's the fact that there's a deep desire to focus
(13:01):
on perfection when it comes to quality, which is the
same that we see from a lot of these chefs.
So talk a little bit about what the sort of
mission of Wolf's is and has been for so long.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Well before I dive into the mission, I just want
to kind of go back to that camaraderie that you
articulated in regards to the kitchen. That camaraderie exists here
at Wolf's. Right, Mike Moni's who is the CEO of
Boston Provisions and Wolf's, And we can get to the
Boston Provisions thing later. He has done a great job
aggregating what I would call the all star team in seafood.
(13:37):
There are over seventy people at Wolfs that have seven
years or more in tenure here. That is unbelievable. So
at the end of the day, what separates us and
if somebody were saying, Bill, who's your direct competitor, And
I say this with all humility, I would say that
there's a ton of really great seafood companies out there,
but I don't think anyone truly competes with us because
(13:59):
we do things very, very differently, and that process is
rooted in the people, the team, in the relationships that
this team has developed, and arguably the most important seafood
city in the world, Boston, right, We have a tremendous,
deep rooted history in seafood, going back to the early
(14:20):
eighteenth century when t Pier was built off a long
wharf and we had our fishing fleet over there, and
then in the early twentieth century when the Fish Peer
was built, which is now a historic landmark. Right. We
are fish in Boston, right, and the people that are
here have developed those that passion, that expertise, and let's
be honest, nobody gets into fish because it's a fast
(14:42):
trap to getting a ferrari, right, like, we are here
for a reason. We are a group of misfits that
love this so much. We get here at two thirty
in the morning and we drive every single day to
get it done. And if you've thought about our mission.
It's really about managing the world relationships and being a
trusted advisor. Right. Let's just say for the same conversation,
(15:04):
the quality and sourcing is a given, that's what we do.
That is our expertise. What we really do is we're
there for our customers. And when you're dealing with a
wild product, mainly you know in seafood, this is not
USDA stamp Prime Choice select. You're dealing with a highly
subjective variable. Mother nature is driving its supply based on
(15:25):
whether wind and all those patterns. That there are moments
when things don't work out well, right. And the thing
that my late father, Jim Weiss once always taught me
is that you pick up the phone when the phone's
the heaviest, right. So it's less about our execution and
a given. It's more about our ability to problem solve
and be proactive in our relationships with the people that
(15:48):
we work with, and that that brings along into the
development of the direction consumer business that Alicia and Judy
here at Wolfe's runs for our ECMM business as well.
They take the same approach making sure they're offering the best,
I mean, in the brightest in all the stuff that
we have in our catalogs.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And as you talking about the passion, I mean this
passion extends beyond just the folks that you work with.
It's the passion that you have for the shafts, for
the restaurant tours who are doing their execution right. So
I think the whole process is one that it all
has to work together. But I want to talk a
little bit about the relationship that you have with the fishermen,
(16:29):
the farmers who also share this passion cool.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I mean, at the end of the day, without them,
we would be nothing right. And they get up and
they do stuff in whether that we would never open
our front door to do. And at the end of
the day, one of the things when they've always been
doing at wolves. But what I've done and kind of
made part of our mantra is we want to pay
(16:55):
the most we can right and whether that's an oyster
farmer out in the cape or right now as the
blue frintuna season is wrapping up locally, if that's paying
a premium for a fish that's coming off the docks
in Glocester, we want to make sure that we're paying
the most we can for that fish because we want
to honor the work that those individuals are doing, but
(17:19):
more importantly, we want to help them understand the quality
that we're looking for. Right and whether a fish is
good or bad on a plate at Zaredo is less
about how we're treating it, and it's more about the
moment it's harvested.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And there's a lot to talk about it as it
relates to sustainability, just the overall conversation about it, the
health of the oceans. We're going to take a break
and we come back. We're going to talk a little
bit more about that, but first I want to know
some of your personal favorite spots in Boston. We'll be
back in just a minute.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
It's the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel in sweets.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Bill Way be president and he have sailed for Wolf
is our guests, and we're going to spend more time
talking about the company and its mission and all the
things that they're doing to ensure sustainability and the health
of our oceans and and and why they are so
committed to this, and then also see how that business
has spanned in a lot of different directions. Including Savnors,
(18:18):
which is the name if you're listening in New England
as one that you certainly know. But we'll get to
that in a few minutes. First, one of the things
we like to do on this very quick break is
to ask our guests their favorite place is to go
to in New England. So people ask us all the time, Okay,
we're coming to Boston, where do we go? I'm going
to even let you extend beyond Boston. So what are
some of your pride and true favorites and tell us
(18:41):
about a few of them.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Well, you're really putting me in the hot seat here.
I don't want to disappoint anybody. But if I if
I had to tell you, if I probably actually.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Wait, I have to say, I have to say, Bill,
it's the worst question anyone can ask us, and we
get asked it all the time. So well, by I
know you love you love hundreds of them, But give
us some personal experiences that maybe you have with some
of them.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Absolutely, if I was coming off the plane at Logan
right and I wanted to sit down and from from
a hospitality standpoint and from a food standpoint, just experience
something that is like innately Boston, Jeff Nace and what
he's done at Neptune is unreal, right, Like that that
is that is a place that if you come to
this city like and you don't go, you're missing out right,
(19:25):
that is very fundamentally Boston. And then you can go
all the way over to like really really cool things
that like Ken's doing over at Facia Facia. Right, so
you have like really cool handmade pastas and small Italian plates, right,
And that's out of the North End, right, that's not
that's not like our Italian in the North End. That's
Ken doing amazing things on Newberry Street with Facia Faccia.
(19:48):
And to talk about a Facia and copa veteran, talk
about Brian Ray at Eastern Standard. Brian, in my opinion
is one of the better, is one of the better,
like you know fresh pass to makers and and and
the things that he's doing is over there is unbelievable.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention somebody that
I am through my network at Island Creek closely connected
(20:10):
to and somewhat biased about, and that's Jeremy Sewell and
at Row thirty four. Uh, you know he is and
talk about a connection to the fishermen and fisher women.
He has his cousin who does all of his lobsters
up in Maine. He is a main he's from Massachusetts,
but really he's a manor at heart. And and he's
doing great stuff with Shore Gregory. And if I were
(20:33):
to pick one place outside of Boston right now that
I recently had dinner with at and and and I
was literally blown away as I brought my new wife
and my new father and mother in law to Jack
and Charlie's in the West Village.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Oh so awesome, Marver, and take a break. We'll be
back with more Food for Thought in just a minute.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
In sweets Bill White and vice president of sales for Wolfs.
It's been such a bloss setting in the show. You
have such passionate, exciting energy. So we just talked about
some of your faiths. I have to say you mentioned
Jeremy Sewell. So I had friends that were coming from
Chicago when they were doing a two week vacation in
(21:17):
New England, and they sent me semiinerary and it looked
like the most absurd itinerary I've ever seen in my
entire life, to which point I said, rip that up
and throw that away, and I will be your travel
agent for this two week trip. And so they were
spending some time in Maine, and you mentioned Jeremy, like
you know, from from Massachusetts, been a Maynard at heart,
(21:38):
and I called him and I was like, hey, I
was like, I really need a really special oyster experience
for this couple that I'm great friends with, and he's
like done. So he connects me with his guy who
takes them. You know, it's not nothing commercial about this experience.
They get like a real behind the scenes experience. And
that's one example of you know what we've been talking
(21:59):
about this whole show, oh, is you know the passion
that people have for this business, the relationships that are
so steeped and deep rooted, and then the connectedness. Right, Like,
I guess in some ways, we're all competitive in the
way of like we're all trying to do the very
best that we can in our business, our individual businesses,
(22:22):
but it never comes across as a way that wants
to separate us from others who are having success. And
so many of the chefs that you mentioned just just
sort of exude that in such a in such a
meaningful way. Okay, so let's get back to Wolf's. We
talked a lot about sort of the relationships that you have,
(22:43):
of course with your own staff, the relationships you have
with the chefs, the relationships that have been you know,
that are decades and decades old, that you have with
the with the fishmongers and the fishermen that are out
there on a day to day basis, talk about your
focus on sustainability because they know that that's something that's
really important for you.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Sure well, you know, sustainability is, you know, a loaded statement,
and really what it comes down to is sourcing the
most responsible way possible. So there is a company that
Mike Whones and Mike Garrity acquired some time ago called
clean Fish, which is essentially now part of Wolf's and
that was their importing division, if you will. And the
(23:27):
vast majority of alguaculture, finfish aquaculture that we experience domestically
is farm salmon, correct, whether it's king salmon from New
Zealand or if it's Atlantic salmon from Europe. And so
clean Fish was really at the tip of the spear
in bringing in really really responsibly sourced finfish aquaculture products.
(23:51):
They led the charge and brought lock to Art to market.
Locked to Art is a premium salmon brand from the
Highlands of Scotland and as an a are the fly fishermen.
I was really drawn to it because they raise a
fish there that is genetically indistinguishable from the wild salmon
that utilize that lock naturally. And I don't want to
(24:15):
go into all the science and bore you about that,
but that in and of itself is a major, major deal.
When we talk about the risk of biocontamination for a
nadromous fish coming back to the river of origin to
spawn and living out in the ocean, that is immensely,
mensely responsible and that is a highly sustainable way of
(24:37):
not only raising fish, but protecting the wild species adjacent
to that, to that farming practice, right, and then you
go into the idea of oysters. Oysters. Oysters are one
of the only farming activities aquatic or terrestrial that have
a netnet zero impact and in some cases a positive
(24:58):
and negative way for the carbon footprint. Right. An oyster
is a filter feeder, a sastroogenica, which is our East
Coast oyster will filter fifty water, fifty gallons of water
a day for the express purpose of filtering out their
food algae. Algae is a plant. Plants do photo synthesis.
They take carbon out of the atmosphere and convert it,
(25:20):
and then the oysters eat it, take that carbon and
utilize them for permanent carbon storage in their shell, which
is calcium carbonate. Right. So, all this oyster proliferation that
we have had in what I believe is one of
the best places on earth to grow oysters, Massachusetts. These
are all incredibly responsible ways of utilizing the responsible farming
(25:44):
techniques as it relates to providing high quality, clean, healthy
proteins to the masses.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
And I think that's something that's important to a lot
of people. And while the nitty gritty of it is
sometimes just misunderstood or not understood at all, the idea
is that this is a big focus for you, and
you are the masters in it.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Bill. We know some of the greatest restaurants are serving
Wolf's products and as in forever, but the consumer at
home can access in as well.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Yes, and we have invested for a long time in
our e commerce business, which is an alack carte offering
of food products as well as subscription services. And this
really allows the retail consumer to access to a catalog
of high qualities, even products that for a long time
we're never available, you know, trying to find bluefinro, trying
(26:38):
to find tap tog file at and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I know, it's so nice to be able to have
not only the customer appreciate it when they're in the restaurant,
when they're in their home, and to learn to appreciate
different flavors of fish, the different way to cook fish,
and I know you guys are so great at helping
folks come up with different recipes and that kind of thing.
We're going to take a break, but when we come back,
we're going to talk about how the world for fish
(27:05):
is opening up in a big way, and in fact,
the world for the customer is going to be able
to become so much closer to the infrastructure that you
guys have created. Expansion is on the horizon in big ways.
We're going to take a break when we've back with
more Food for Thought and Bill Weiss.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought
brought to you by the Box Center, and Sale and
Waterfront Hotel and Sweet.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Welcome back to SUSA US, brought to you by the
Box Center, Bill Weiss. So we're talking about obviously the
amazing things that have taken place over the past century
with Wolffish, But you guys are moving into a very
exciting and new chapter where accessibility is going to become
much more of an opportunity for folks in Boston and
(27:50):
where your offerings are going to expand. So tell us
a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Sure, Well, you know, we've developed a parent company that
for Boston Provision, that brings Wolfe's and SA Butchery together
onto one roof really, and it's all about elevating the
legacy of these brands in the Boston area. The new
permanent home for both of those brands will end up
being in Chelsea, Massachusetts. We're opening and we're starting construction
(28:16):
on a state of the art eighty thousand square foot
warehouse which will be the permanent home for both of
these brands, cementing their longevity in the city, you know,
for generations to come. The really exciting thing though, for
the retail consumer is launching in this Fall in Boston.
Staateport is a really unique store that revives the magic
(28:38):
of a true butchery in fish monitoring, a craftsmanship that
has in a lot of ways been lost in our
world as supermarkets perch further and further away from the
art of fabrication. And that is our Boston Provision store,
which will be a retail fish and meat market with
some fast casual stuff, but really it's all about the
access to actual butchers and monitors in the Seaport for
(29:02):
the retail consumer.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
The access makes me so happy you mentioned like this
the customer, because because I think the customer and the
consumer knows when you go into these big grocery stores
there's such a lack of connection to whatever it is
that you're purchasing. And when we say lack of connection,
we're all we're also meaning lack of quality. And I
think that unfortunately on the access for people just hasn't
(29:29):
been there. And so not only are they going to
have access in downtown Boston obviously the vibrant neighborhood of
the Seaport, but they're going to have your expertise, right,
They're going to have that community that we've been talking
about this whole half an hour, the opportunity to connect
with someone who connected with the fishermen who brought that
fish in that morning. You mentioned Chabaners, and we talked
(29:51):
about it a couple of times on this show, but
I think it's worth giving a moment to give a
little history for those who know the name or remember
the name and sort of understand why this was, you know,
such an important acquisition for you guys.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Well, you know, we talked a lot about Wolf's legacy
in Boston, and it's the same story with Savonors. Savons
was founded in nineteen thirty nine in Cambridge and it's
been an institution here for Boston chefs in and around,
sourcing really really cool meats and different cuts, right, not
just your standard rabbi filet, just really interesting fabrication of
(30:26):
whole animals.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
This was also, like I mentioned earlier, Juliet Childs butcher,
so for the French chefs, she sourced all her meats
from Savonors. They focus on whole animal butchery, really a
traditional craft that, like we talked about earlier, that's kind
of being lost in our food scene in general. And
it was a really awesome opportunity for Wolf's and Boston
(30:49):
Provisions to become, you know, a part of that Savonors
world and vice versa. And we were really proud to
be representing under the Boston Provisions umbrella to very strong
legacy brands in Boston that are really at the core
of food distribution, food consumption, and everything that we do
here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
And so basically what's going to happen this coming fall
is you'll be able to walk into Boston Provisions, which
is right there in the seaport, and talk a little
bit more about what that experience is going to be like.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
You're going to walk through the front door and you're
going to be greeted with a beautiful, beautiful display and
counter right and more importantly, the people will be right
up front ready to talk to you. And on the
left side you'll have your fish bonger. On the right
side you'll have your butcher. We will be cutting everything
to order, you know, We'll have you know, portioning and
(31:46):
all the things. We'll have all sorts of different products
in there for you to look at and to talk
about and to utilize and to test in your own homes.
The great thing is we'll also have some fast casual.
On the savon Or side, there'll be some grab and
go sandwiches. On the wolf side, we will have grab
and go sushi made from the finest, finest seafood that
(32:06):
you could ever imagine. And more importantly, it's really about
the experience and the connection. Right back in the day,
when our grandparents were buying food, they would go to
the farmer's market for the corn, they would go to
the butcher for the pork loin, and they would go
to the fish mongor for the fish. And each one
of those individuals, as you mentioned Jenny, had the connection
to the product and understand how to fabricate and cook it.
(32:28):
And that's what we want to bring back to the
Boston food scene for the retail customer.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I mean, it's so important on so many levels and
and and it just makes me so happy because I
think what's happened over the past, you know, many handful
of years, is would become so disconnected from our food
and I think the only industry that still remains so
connected were the chefs. Right We're the chefs, like we've
mentioned over the course of this show, and that's because
(32:54):
they had those relationships and I think at the end
of the day, like this generation recognize it that we're all
dealing with a lot of health issues and part of
that comes from the fact that we detached ourselves from
food in such a big way. And so what you
guys are offering Boston and really any of your customers
who are able to connect through your website, through your Instagram,
(33:17):
all these different places, is an opportunity to connect again
and feel educated again about what is going in your
mouth and why and where it comes from and so
on so many levels. I'm so excited for this and
for you guys, and and for our city and for
I know what will continue to expand into different areas
with these retail concepts. But let's quickly go to Chelsea.
(33:38):
So in Chelsea, which is also I think so awesome
that you guys are staying so close to the roots
of both of these companies, is not only an opportunity
for you know, not only an opportunity for your future customer,
but also an opportunity for Chelsea and for the area.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Absolutely, you know, we are so excited to be going
to this facility on Just and Drive. It allows us
the opportunity to invest just about fifteen million dollars into
that space into the community. We're bringing over you know,
first day, we're bringing over one hundred and twenty five
jobs into Chelsea with a plan to add about one
(34:17):
hundred and twenty five jobs with additional jobs within the
first three years. So it's really about revitalizing that that
space and putting a lot of investment into creating a
modern food facility. Right, this is not just about you know,
processing things. This is being about being a modern food
facility that is going to be kind of the centerpinner
(34:38):
hub for the distribution of you know savn Rst products,
Wolfs's products, and you know down the road specialty gourmet. Right.
We want to really make sure that this is a
one stop shop, as Mike Bonies just likes to say,
so somebody can write their own recipe. Right. You want
to be able to come to a place that you
have experts in each one of these verticals that could
(34:59):
help you get everything and exactly you need. I love it.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I have to ask, as a fisherman and as a
person spend a lot of time on both. Do you
ever get out in the water a lot? Do you
still get on the water at fair amount?
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Oh, Jenny in my past, I have spent every penny
in my savings account traveling the globe, chasing after dreams
in the water, and I do. I'm I'm an avid
duck hunter and my time in the last few years
has really been about training my duck dog, Norman. And
(35:33):
when when you get a chance to meet Norman, he
is a consonant gentleman and he's a really well trained dog.
And training duck dogs is one of my new new
found passions and it basically takes up every amount of
time that I have and I'm not at Wolf's.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
I love it so much. That's so fantastic, Okay, And
so I want to give people more information as to
where they can find you because your Instagram is awesome.
You do a great job with bringing in a lot
of the chefs that you work with. Obviously, your website
is very helpful for those who are looking for your
rewards program or looking for your regular subscription.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Where can people find you, Well, it's very easy. It's
at www dot Wolffish dot com. The Instagram is just
at Wolffish and the same for Facebook. You can find
us anywhere and any any one of these cool So
I'm forty three years old, so I'm not that cool.
Any place that has some sort of social media, if
(36:27):
you type in Wolffish you will find it. And by
the way, aware it's Wulf, not wlf wul.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yes, yes, I mean you're doing so many creative storytelling
opportunities for folks to be able to connect with seafood
in a way that I think they connect with meat,
probably a little bit more accessible accessibly. And I think
we know from research how much more we need seafood
in our diet with regularity, and you might as well
do it with people who are both caring about the industry,
(36:59):
caring oft the relationships, and have such a connection to
some of our best restaurants in the area. So, Bill,
it's been such a pleasure to have you on the show.
I'm so excited for all the growth, for all of
the evolution. We can't wait to have you back on
the show when Boston Provisions is open so we can
chat more.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Jennie, thank you so much for inviting us, and I really, really,
really really I was thrilled with the conversation.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Oh you're fantastic, and please give Mike my beast, give
everybody my best. I know it's going to be a
very busy handful of months for you, guys, but we're
so excited. Guys. Make sure you check out Wolf's, learn
more about the seafood, where it's coming from, and just
enjoy the excellence of it all. Okay, thanks Bill so much,
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Have a good day.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
More Food for Thought.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought,
brought to you by the Box Center and Sale and
Waterfront Hotel and Sweet.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
So nice to have Bill on the show. Clearly such
a passionate person and such a great company, and I
think it is true people are seeing more of the
research and why adding a lot more seafood to your
it is something that's very healthy for your overall health.
And it's also important to know where all of your
(38:08):
food is coming from, and we talked about that in
varying capacities throughout the show. But not only does it
bring about more of a community if you know the
people who are sourcing the food for you, but it
also makes sure that what you're putting into your body
is something that's going to be nourishing for you. And
that's something that I know, Billy and I are both
passionate about. Okay, so we're going to do a little
(38:29):
deviation because we want to tell you about this awesome
show that Billy and I recently did for Dining Playbook,
our program that airzon Nesson. We went to the island
of Nantuckets and we took our crew there for the
majority of the week and they shot I think upwards
of fifteen different places on that tiny little island, and
(38:49):
Billy and I came in for the Nantucket Book Festival
where we were promoting our book that we launched this year,
A Taste of Boston, which I know we've talked about
on this show before, but Nantucket is certainly a hot
spot in the summer, and we want to make sure
that we dedicate some time here on Food for Thought
to telling you some of the places that we saw
on some of the places we suggest that you check out.
(39:10):
So for some people, summer may already be scheduled, you
already know where you're going for your vacation. But some
people might be looking for a nice quick weekends get
away or midweek get away, or even something in the fall.
And Nantucket is one of those very special places that
happens to be a part of our very special region.
And so Nantucket can be accessed by two different ferries,
(39:33):
the steamship and the high Line, and those both lead
from the Cape and Hyenas. Of course, another option is
to fly in. We took the ferry and it's just
a great way to come about this island. We landed
on Straight Wharf, which is because we took the high Line.
And two of the places that we checked out were
Straight Wharf Fish, which is the new sister restaurant to
(39:54):
Straight Wharf, and it's owned by our friend Gabriel Fresca,
who has been on the islands for decades and who
is a huge culinary inspiration that came out of some
great Boston chefs. Here in Boston, he worked with Michael
Schlau for a long time and now has been sort
of at the helm of his spot on Nantucket. And
(40:14):
so this place, Straight Warf Fish, is a place you
can't make a reservation, so you've gotta be ready to
get there early as soon as they open, and they're
doing certainly paying homage to the fishing scene in a
way similar to Wolf and in a very delicious way.
And then we also went to Crewe, which is another
one that's right there on Straight Wharf. And this place
(40:34):
is a scene when I tell you, from the moment
they open their doors until they moment they close them,
they are packs. They're known for these these like green
cucumber cocktails that we made sure that we showcased, and obviously,
of course awesome seatfood as well seafood towers. It's a
beautiful atmosphere and certainly very lively. We also checked out
(40:55):
two of our favorite spots, Proprietors and Black Eyed Susans.
Now Black Eyed Susans is a great place to go
for breakfast, but it's also a great place to go
for dinner. I think it's one of the greatest secrets,
although not so secret anymore on the island. Proprietors is
a very special spot, has flavors from all over the
world and is a really unique flavor palette that I
(41:17):
don't think you can find anywhere else. We checked out
the beaches. We checked out some great places tickets, sandwiches
like Fresh Right there in downtown. We checked out Lemon Press,
which my family loves to go to when we visit
the island for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner. It's
such a short season on Nantucket, and so these restaurant
tours have to do something different than the restaurant tours
(41:39):
do in Boston, just because it's such a compressed and
condensed time when there's so many people to service. Anyway,
it was a great show. It's airing again a few
times throughout the season, but you can also find it
on demand. NSSON on Dining Playbook and that is it
for Food for Thought, brought you by the Amazing Box Center.
Hope everybody had a great holiday season and ing this summer.
(42:00):
We will see you next time.
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