For Kelly Conrad, owner of a recently opened fish shop in Lunenburg, fresh and local are her two top priorities when it comes to buying product to sell.
Conrad, who opened Dory Mates Seafood Shop with her husband Capt. Jason Conrad, explains they were inspired to start the business when they determined that a town like Lunenburg, famous as a fishing port, needed a place where people could buy fresh fish.
“Basically, when I heard people saying there was no place in town to buy fresh fish, I thought that just isn’t right,” Kelly says. “At one time, you could buy fish down on the waterfront right off of the boats, but you can’t do that these days, so it seemed to me that a fresh fish shop made sense.”
As a fifth-generation Lunenburger and coming from a family with a tradition of sea captains, starting with her grandfather Capt. Earl Demone, she says if there was one thing she has ever known, it’s fish.
“It’s in my blood,” she says, pointing out that her grandfather, at age 93, comes to the shop every day to check things out. “He is really my inspiration.”
That tradition continues with Jason, who owns his cape boat and who will begin his second lobster season when it opens the last Monday of November.
“Actually,” Kelly adds, “we only bought the license last year.”
So, with her connection to the sea and a background in customer service, combined with many years working in various local eating establishments and following careful consideration of what type of business she could operate, she opened the shop located at 139 Montague St. on June 9 and, she says, they have been busy ever since.
“We are overwhelmed with the positive feedback from our community in only our first few months of business,” she says. “People have been coming, not only from Lunenburg, but from all over to buy their seafood from us and that’s been terrific.”
Kelly credits the positive response to their philosophy that everything they sell must be as fresh and as local as possible, starting with a full halibut twice a week.
“It comes into the shop whole and we clean it and cut it up right here,” she says. “We don’t sell anything that has been here longer than one day because when we say it’s fresh, we want people to trust us. We want them to know this is the best place to buy fresh seafood.”
Other regular products in the shop include fresh haddock, salmon, mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp, oysters and lobster, right out of an in-store tank.
They also offer featured items such as tuna, when available, and the catch of the day, such as the recent favourite, rainbow trout.
In addition to the fresh fish, they also sell other complementary products and accessories including homemade fish cakes, a house tartar sauce, fresh bread (which they purchase from a local source), pickled onions, salt cod, Solomon Gundy (pickeled herring) and a special-blend cocktail sauce that goes great with seafood.
Also on the “menu” is the shop’s popular seafood chowder mix that includes scallops, shrimp and a pound of haddock. “All you have to add when you get home is the potatoes and cream,” Kelly points out.
And since seafood is their specialty, they also sell a few sandwiches, like lobster and smoked salmon, for those people who need to grab a quick lunch.
Kelly says that since the shop has opened, locals have been very supportive, confirming her belief that a fresh, local source for seafood was just what Lunenburg needed.
“I can’t tell you how great it’s been,” she adds. “The support and enthusiasm for the shop has been tremendous.”
The shop is now open with winter hours: Thursday 10 a.m. to noon; Friday and Saturday, noon to 5:30 p.m.
