Sunday Favorites: Starfish and Cortez

CORTEZ – It’s that time of year again! The slight chill in the air is a surefire sign of my favorite season–the season of stone crab! There is really only one place I like to order stone crab, and that’s Starfish Company Restaurant and Market, my favorite local eatery.

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve never written about Starfish. Perhaps it’s for my own selfish reasons. Starfish is by far Bradenton’s best-kept secret. Located on the fish docks of Cortez, the market/restaurant is owned and operated by A.P. Bell Fish Company, one of the last legit fishing companies in Southwest Florida.

Because it’s located on the docks were the fish are brought in, Starfish has the freshest seafood I’ve ever tasted. Have you ever had calamari so moist it threads like mozzarella cheese? I have, and I was at Starfish during late spring (squid season).

My other favorite menu item is fried mullet. I personally love mullet, but it seems like the most popular preparation is smoking the fish. At Starfish you can have it prepared any way you like.

There is nothing fancy about the fish market. Patrons eat on the dock often sitting next to smelly crab traps and fishing vessels. Dinner is served in a cardboard box and there are only two sides to choose from, grits or fries.

However, the view from Starfish is something out of a history book. Instead of high rises, mangroves litter the coastline and every customer has the best seat in the house because of the spectacular panoramic sight of blue herons, fishermen, and the unforgettable famed stilt house that marks the channel.

The stilt house is left over from the late 1800s. Commercial fishing was a vast industry in the area. Some of Cortez's early fish houses began as net camps, or a group of stilt houses that provided a place for commercial fisherman to rest. They were connected via walkways with racks built for drying their nets, which were hand sewn with cotton twine. Net spreads disappeared with the invention of nylon nets.

Settlers from North Carolina founded the Village of Cortez in the 1880s. Back then the Bells and the Taylors, the Guthries and the Fulfords, the Greens and the Moras (all names you still hear in Cortez today) came from the southern edge of the Outer Banks to escape the Atlantic hurricanes and settled in the area then known as Hunter's Point.

This Intracoastal fishing spot was ideal, buffered by the barrier islands with deep-water access and the Manatee River bringing in fresh water. The Cortez post office has been in operation since 1888.

Today that spot is ideal for lazy afternoons and one-of-a-kind seafood. If you come, don’t be in a rush; although it's technically located on the Intracoastal, Starfish operates on time. Also, you'll need to bring cash, technology takes a back seat to home cooking at this cafe.