Sustainable Sourcing, Sensational Plating

Our Earth Day (and Every Day) Commitments to the Planet and Your Palate

Better for you, better for the planet—when you dine at Truluck’s, you can trust that the food on the menu not only tastes delectable and looks delicious but is also sustainably sourced.

“We make choices that honor the plate, the palate and the planet by maintaining an unwavering commitment to serving the highest-quality sustainable seafood,” says Truluck’s Chef Samir Canaan, director of culinary operations. “We will never serve endangered, overfished species, and we always source from a responsible and sustainable lens. Our Florida Stone Crab is harvested by our team of professional crabbers, and produce is sourced from local growers whenever possible.”

Truluck’s Corporate Executive Chef, Thomas Dritsas, agrees. “Truluck’s shares in the responsibility in ensuring food supply and species population for our future generations to enjoy,” he says. “Sustainability and its practices focus the attention on the species being grown, harvested and consumed specifically, versus irresponsible practices pulled from nature by way of bycatch. Bycatch is a sacrifice, and therefore wasteful, in pursuit of primary species of fish, and is not used at Truluck’s.”

This Earth Day, and every day, Truluck’s celebrates the planet and acts on our promise to bring guests the freshest, most environmentally friendly seafood. From ocean to your plate, here is how some of Truluck’s favorites are sustainably sourced and prepared.

Florida Stone Crab

For three generations, we have maintained unwavering standards to humanely and sustainably source Florida Stone Crab.

Each day during stone crab season, our crabbers’ boats venture out into the waters surrounding the Florida Keys. There they capture crab in humanely designed wooden traps and haul them onboard. The crabbers then delicately remove a single claw and gently return the crab to their ocean habitat. The crab will regenerate the claw in coming months, ensuring the health and sustainability of the species.

“The crabbers in Florida are incredibly protective of the species, and only the claws are harvested, preserving the life of the crab,” Chef Samir says. “Their claws pop off and regrow, like a lizard’s tail. Stone Crabs have two killer claws, allowing them to both feed and protect themselves while the missing claw grows back.”

Like our crabbers, maintaining the life of each crab is extremely important to Truluck’s.

“At Truluck’s, we consider the oceans of the world our ‘blue acre’ or farm for all species of fish and seafood. And like farming, it is imperative that we provide the opportunity for those resources to regenerate and the ecosystems to correct itself, like soil to a plant,” Chef Thomas says.

Seabass

At Truluck’s, you’ll only find Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified seabass. This means that every seabass served is from sustainable fish stocks, where enough fish are left in the sea to reproduce indefinitely.

MSC-certified sustainable seafood also ensures that the seafood is fished with minimal environmental impact and by a fishery with effective management that will adjust as the tides, fish populations and more change.

Scallops

“A lot of producers will soak their scallops in a sodium-based solution that allow them to take on water weight, appear bigger and sell for more,” Chef Samir says.

But that is never the case at Truluck’s. “Our scallops are all natural and never treated in any way other than nature intended,” he says. “No one wants harsh chemicals in their food. And the water weight absorbed is pushed out when cooked, so the scallops actually shrink. This compromises the cell structure, so the muscle itself becomes flabby and mushy.”

Truluck’s scallops come from New Bedford, Massachusetts, one of the largest natural scallop producers in the United States, and are fished by multi-generational fisherman who are protective of the sea and the scallops within it. This results in scallops with terrific taste, texture and size.

“Good fish and caring producers are a winning combination for sustainability—something Truluck’s always keeps in mind,” Chef Samir says.

Explore Truluck’s sustainably sourced menu and make a reservation today. Your table is waiting.