Let's Keep this Industry Alive: Chef Ricky Moore, James Beard Winner 2022

Reprinted from Tradewinds Magazine, 2023, B. Garrity-Blake; Photo Courtesy of Karen Amspacher

“My words of encouragement to fishermen – let’s keep this industry alive,” said Ricky Moore, Durham-based owner of the Saltbox Seafood Joint and winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast Region. “We depend on commercial fishermen and we appreciate the hard work and heart of what they do.”  

Chef Moore is a culinary superstar right now. He recently won the “Oscars” of the food world with the prestigious James Beard Award. He has a long track record of apprenticing with some of the world’s top chefs at Michelin star restaurants in Paris, Toronto, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

But at heart, Ricky Moore is 100% eastern North Carolinian and proud of it. His roots in the region nurtured a love for seafood and a cooking style that he practices to this day.

“My father is from Harlowe, and my mother is from Riverdale – between Havelock and New Bern,” Ricky explained. “They were working people. I was raised in New Bern, and my cousin and I spent a lot of time flounder gigging and cane pole fishing.”

Fish wasn’t hard to come by back in the day. 

“Fish houses and crab picking houses were everywhere along the coast,” Moore recalled. “We had a man who’d drive through the neighborhood selling fish from the granddaddy of concession trucks – he had it all set up with ice, a scale to weigh the fish, little plastic bags, all organized and properly handled.”

To this day Moore prefers what he calls “native fish”, locally sourced species that consumers don’t often see on menus, such as croaker, spot, whiting, star butter, mullet, and hogfish.

“I’ve heard the term ‘trash fish,’” Moore said. “Trash fish? Really? Just because you don’t know nothing about it, you call these species trash fish? I find that term offensive! I say native fish because these species are part of our culture in eastern North Carolina. I enjoy introducing them to a wider population.”

Moore grew up eating the whole fish instead of fillets. His family prepared fish simply – crispy fried or stewed with bones in. Although he’s had a rich and varied career, from a 10-year stint as cook in the Army to attending the Culinary Institute of America, he comes back to the simplicity of good, down-home Eastern North Carolina seafood.

“Fishermen catch fish. They don’t catch fillets. I try to find as much value as I can by using and promoting the whole fish.”

Ricky Moore’s experience cooking in European kitchens confirmed his appreciation for his own local dishes.

“I realized that the rustic roots of these culinary mainstays weren’t that different from the food of my childhood,” Moore says in his Saltbox Seafood Joint Cookbook (University of North Carolina Press). “I began to see that southern food is not a lesser cuisine…”

Moore was keen to start his own business rather than work for others.

“I was in a place in my career where I was getting bored working as executive chef here and there,” he said. “I did a little traveling and was inspired by the street food of Singapore – I thought, I’d love a little small place of my own! I didn’t want to go the highbrow route.”

That’s when he started Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham, a roadside take-out launched in 2012 that serves local seafood in paper trays and baskets. The restaurant started out in a tiny building that was a former burger joint. Low overhead, just one or two staff, and his “whole fish” approach helped Moore keep prices as reasonable as possible.

“Everything is high right now,” Moore reflected. “Labor. Fuel. Product. At Saltbox you are paying for quality. Someone you trust is doing it right. People will find the money for the things they appreciate.”

As business grew, Ricky Moore kept an eye out for a second location for Saltbox. He set his sights on a place built in 1969 that housed the Shrimp Boats restaurant.

“I just put it out into the universe that I’d like the Shrimp Boats building as a new location if it ever became available. Well, it did, and now I own the property. I’m the landlord and the tenant. We’ve got 50 seats on the inside and nine picnic tables – a bigger place but we still have our fish joint spirit.”

The lease on his original site was not renewed, and his first restaurant is slated to be torn down to make room for condominiums.  

“The move was good, but it was emotional for me,” Moore reflected. “That original place was my apprenticeship to entrepreneurship!”

Ricky Moore sources his North Carolina seafood products through Locals Seafood Company, Nixon Fisheries, Salty Catch, and other contacts cultivated over the years.

“We’re talking over ten years of building relationships with folks on the coast in Edenton, Wanchese, Cedar Island, Beaufort, and Sneads Ferry,” he said. Moore said that harvest restrictions have an impact on the availability of seafood products.

“Look at flounder. Everybody wants flounder, but we’ve got such a short timeframe this season when it’s available, and a 15-inch size limit.” Last year the commercial season for southern flounder was open for just two weeks.

At the onset of COVID-19 when supply chains came to a screeching halt, Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) seafood products helped keep Ricky Moore in business.

“During the pandemic I was lucky and blessed to do business with people who stored seafood products in their freezer,” he said. Moore maintains that frozen fish, when handled correctly, is a high-quality product.

“There’s a lot of noise out there, ‘Hey, that’s not fresh, it’s frozen!’” Moore said. “I tell my customers there is nothing wrong with frozen as long as it’s been handled correctly and sourced correctly.”

Another bit of “noise” Moore likes to challenge is the idea that fried food is unhealthy.  

“Frying gets a bad rap – sure it's unhealthy if you eat it every day! Tempura is fried but you don’t hear people calling that unhealthy. I use a light thin batter because I want you to taste the seafood.”

Moore would like to see improvements in the processing and distribution of local seafood.

“I went to Alaska to a salmon convention. The culture there? Salmon is it! The processing, transportation, all of it. Why can’t we have a centralized place here in North Carolina for species to be collected and processed?”

Most important to Ricky Moore are the North Carolina commercial fishermen who harvest the local seafood that he cooks. He’d like to see more investment in ensuring the sustainability of the fishing industry.  

“I think we need more emphasis on how to make the fishing industry a viable career path,” he said. “Classes or whatever – we depend on the seafood and it’s part of our culture.”

Moore puzzles over the fact that eastern North Carolina is known mostly for its barbeque. He believes that North Carolina should be as just famous for its seafood.

“Sure, barbeque is great, I love it, but what about seafood? We have a coastline full of wonderful eats! We need to celebrate North Carolina seafood culture -- my goal is to co-brand this state for barbeque and seafood!”

Since winning the 2022 James Beard Award, Ricky Moore has a new platform to sing the praises of North Carolina seafood.

“It’s like winning a pageant -- you have stuff you show up for and do all year,” he said. “I have an opportunity to plant seeds – I can advocate for more access to North Carolina seafood, be a spokesperson for industry topics and bring up issues that need attention or that need challenging.”  

The award hasn’t changed the fact that he’s still a small business man serving the people of North Carolina local seafood in Durham.  

“I really appreciate everyone who has stuck with me and who are seeing the work pay off. Customers who’ve been here from the start are saying, ‘Hey he’s really doing something, bravo, but he’s been our James Beard for years!’”