Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Brain Food

Place

Catalina Offshore Products

5202 Lovelock Street, San Diego

Last month, I made my way down to Offshore to meet Tommy Gomes face-to-face, drawn to a culinary-education phenomenon called Collaboration Kitchen. I’d heard Gomes’s name before, most often from chefs on their way to pick up some plump uni. They all claim there’s no better place for fresh seafood than Gomes’s Morena home: Catalina Offshore Products.

Tommy Gomes from Catalina Offshore, the organizer of Collaboration Kitchen, butchering a halibut onsite before marinating it and offering it up during the session

The business was closed — it was Gomes’s night off — but he led me into a warehouse filled with rows of folding chairs and happy people talking about food while drinking wine and beer. Su-Mei Yu, the instructor for this edition of Collaboration Kitchen, is the owner and culinary mind behind Five Points’ popular Thai restaurant Saffron, and over a two-hour period she took us through the preparation of traditional Thai dishes, including hoh mok pla (fish custard steamed and served in banana leaf pouches) and savang wah (an Asian ceviche made zingy by the addition of Thai bird chilies). Laughs were also on the menu as Yu explained the importance of gossip to the final flavor of a good chili paste, advised students to roll kaffir lime leaves “like doobies” before chiffonading them, and explained the cosmetic uses of everything from coconut milk to limes to lemongrass.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The setting for Yu’s oration was a long table outfitted with culinary equipment and a picturesque arrangement of pristine ingredients donated by Specialty Produce. For those of us toward the back, Yu’s voice, image, and actions were amplified by cameras, large screen monitors, and a headset-equipped mic pack. Sous chefs worked behind the stage to prepare portions of the dishes on Yu’s syllabus.

Yu explained that Gomes had helped her daughter while Yu was out of the country; it turns out that for many of the chefs who’ve presided over Collaboration Kitchen events — Chad White (Sea Rocket Bistro), Amy DiBiase (The Shores Restaurant), Julie Frans (Dining Details), Mitch Conniff (Mitch’s Seafood), Brandon Parry (chef to the admiral of the Western Pacific Fleet), Jenn Felmley (a local private chef), and a slew of others — personal ties to Gomes were the initial impetus.

Always on the go, making and linking connections within the local food and restaurant community, Gomes is the reason Collaboration Kitchen exists. Last November, he shared his idea while chatting with the CEO of Catalina Offshore and an outside consultant. Both felt it wouldn’t work. According to Gomes, that’s the worst thing you can say to him.

They made him a bet — five dollars and bragging rights — and six days later, the aforementioned Chef Frans was front and center on the floor of Catalina Offshore, giving the first of what has grown into a series of instructional presentations for commercial fishermen, Slow Food Urban San Diego members, and a number of Gomes’s friends and colleagues. More a party than a formal teaching event, it took off from there.

Uni (sea urchin roe)...an expensive delicacy, but everybody got a big piece of the delicious stuff just for showing up

Now in its 19th iteration, Collaboration Kitchen draws 70–100 attendees per event. Everyone dines on portions of the recipes prepared by the presiding chef, enjoying them with whatever beverage — adult or otherwise — they choose to bring. In addition to the main presentation, Gomes and his Catalina Offshore compatriots serve up education about responsible fishing practices, seafood species, and culinary techniques. They also offer goodies in the form of fish pulled from the cooler and butchered on the spot, and, on the best nights, fresh uni.

Many would find the chance to savor the buttery, oceanic flavor of sea urchin roe and soak up Yu’s food-based beauty tips the main draw of this series. I did, until I discovered that, from day one, proceeds have benefited the Monarch School, a Little Italy–based institution that provides educational resources to children impacted by homelessness. In the near future, a portion of the proceeds will also go to low-income children who need prosthetic limbs. Gomes’s brother deals in prosthetics and will facilitate purchases, fitting, and transitional assistance for these children at cost.

Fresh seafood, entertaining chefs, epicurean camaraderie, and bring-your-own-booze privileges are great, but the chance to help out a good cause is even better. You should check it out. ■

Collaboration Kitchen

Catalina Offshore Products, 5202 Lovelock Street, Bay Park, 619-297-9797; catalinaop.com

Cost: varies, $50–$65

Schedule & Information: facebook.com/collaborationkitchen

Gomes’s special thank-you shout-outs: Catalina Offshore Products, Specialty Produce, Slow Food Urban San Diego, Jeff Wolf, Jonathan L., Joseph Arevalo, Dan Nattrass, and everybody who comes out.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Place

Catalina Offshore Products

5202 Lovelock Street, San Diego

Last month, I made my way down to Offshore to meet Tommy Gomes face-to-face, drawn to a culinary-education phenomenon called Collaboration Kitchen. I’d heard Gomes’s name before, most often from chefs on their way to pick up some plump uni. They all claim there’s no better place for fresh seafood than Gomes’s Morena home: Catalina Offshore Products.

Tommy Gomes from Catalina Offshore, the organizer of Collaboration Kitchen, butchering a halibut onsite before marinating it and offering it up during the session

The business was closed — it was Gomes’s night off — but he led me into a warehouse filled with rows of folding chairs and happy people talking about food while drinking wine and beer. Su-Mei Yu, the instructor for this edition of Collaboration Kitchen, is the owner and culinary mind behind Five Points’ popular Thai restaurant Saffron, and over a two-hour period she took us through the preparation of traditional Thai dishes, including hoh mok pla (fish custard steamed and served in banana leaf pouches) and savang wah (an Asian ceviche made zingy by the addition of Thai bird chilies). Laughs were also on the menu as Yu explained the importance of gossip to the final flavor of a good chili paste, advised students to roll kaffir lime leaves “like doobies” before chiffonading them, and explained the cosmetic uses of everything from coconut milk to limes to lemongrass.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The setting for Yu’s oration was a long table outfitted with culinary equipment and a picturesque arrangement of pristine ingredients donated by Specialty Produce. For those of us toward the back, Yu’s voice, image, and actions were amplified by cameras, large screen monitors, and a headset-equipped mic pack. Sous chefs worked behind the stage to prepare portions of the dishes on Yu’s syllabus.

Yu explained that Gomes had helped her daughter while Yu was out of the country; it turns out that for many of the chefs who’ve presided over Collaboration Kitchen events — Chad White (Sea Rocket Bistro), Amy DiBiase (The Shores Restaurant), Julie Frans (Dining Details), Mitch Conniff (Mitch’s Seafood), Brandon Parry (chef to the admiral of the Western Pacific Fleet), Jenn Felmley (a local private chef), and a slew of others — personal ties to Gomes were the initial impetus.

Always on the go, making and linking connections within the local food and restaurant community, Gomes is the reason Collaboration Kitchen exists. Last November, he shared his idea while chatting with the CEO of Catalina Offshore and an outside consultant. Both felt it wouldn’t work. According to Gomes, that’s the worst thing you can say to him.

They made him a bet — five dollars and bragging rights — and six days later, the aforementioned Chef Frans was front and center on the floor of Catalina Offshore, giving the first of what has grown into a series of instructional presentations for commercial fishermen, Slow Food Urban San Diego members, and a number of Gomes’s friends and colleagues. More a party than a formal teaching event, it took off from there.

Uni (sea urchin roe)...an expensive delicacy, but everybody got a big piece of the delicious stuff just for showing up

Now in its 19th iteration, Collaboration Kitchen draws 70–100 attendees per event. Everyone dines on portions of the recipes prepared by the presiding chef, enjoying them with whatever beverage — adult or otherwise — they choose to bring. In addition to the main presentation, Gomes and his Catalina Offshore compatriots serve up education about responsible fishing practices, seafood species, and culinary techniques. They also offer goodies in the form of fish pulled from the cooler and butchered on the spot, and, on the best nights, fresh uni.

Many would find the chance to savor the buttery, oceanic flavor of sea urchin roe and soak up Yu’s food-based beauty tips the main draw of this series. I did, until I discovered that, from day one, proceeds have benefited the Monarch School, a Little Italy–based institution that provides educational resources to children impacted by homelessness. In the near future, a portion of the proceeds will also go to low-income children who need prosthetic limbs. Gomes’s brother deals in prosthetics and will facilitate purchases, fitting, and transitional assistance for these children at cost.

Fresh seafood, entertaining chefs, epicurean camaraderie, and bring-your-own-booze privileges are great, but the chance to help out a good cause is even better. You should check it out. ■

Collaboration Kitchen

Catalina Offshore Products, 5202 Lovelock Street, Bay Park, 619-297-9797; catalinaop.com

Cost: varies, $50–$65

Schedule & Information: facebook.com/collaborationkitchen

Gomes’s special thank-you shout-outs: Catalina Offshore Products, Specialty Produce, Slow Food Urban San Diego, Jeff Wolf, Jonathan L., Joseph Arevalo, Dan Nattrass, and everybody who comes out.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best Kratom Capsules: Top Brands, Benefits & Where To Buy

Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.