By Evan Milberg
Blue Sea Seafood and Bar in Shirlington is set to open April 9, according to manager Jonathan Theriault. They will occupy the space, at 4251 Campbell Ave., that was once Bear Rock Cafe. According to ARLNow, the space was originally going to be a vegan restaurant.
“We’ll have a lot of Cajun-influence dishes that can’t you find anywhere else in the Village [at Shirlington] here,” says Theriault. One such dish, the Étouffée, is a Cajun/Creole stew traditionally made with shrimp or crawfish and served over rice. Other dishes Theriault recommends are the pecan-crusted catfish, the black and red fish, the BBQ salmon, the “Big Easy” shrimp and grits, the cajun crab artichoke dip and the Creole BBQ shrimp. Blue Sea Seafood will also serve “gator tots,” which are made from actual alligator. The two big dishes are The Little Skipper (six oysters, six clams, six shrimps, half pound crawfish, three stone crabs) and The Blue Sea Titanic, which is a double portion of The Little Skipper.
Shortly after Blue Sea Seafood opens, Theriault says the restaurant plans on having daily specials and will eventually expand into brunch. The chef will be Daniel Marteny, who has a Cajun background and over 15 years of experience cooking in Northern Virginia, most recently at T.J. Stone’s in Alexandria.
This post has been updated.
