Mark Drabich — aka the Funky Fishmonger — is over-the-top, passionate and certainly loves to talk fish.
His enthusiasm is contagious, and once you spend any time at Metropolitan Seafood & Gourmet in Lebanon, you’ll feel confident in the kitchen, wowing family and friends with restaurant-quality dishes.
“I love it when customers come into the store and announce they’ve never been there before. They’re going to be swept up overwhelming hospitality,” he says. “Here, there’s just one rule: Have a good time. One of my favorite things is watching customers: One of my guys is cutting sashimi for them, another opening oysters and another selling them a whole red snapper. And all having fun in the fish market.”
The gregarious fishmonger has been selling seafood, educating customers and creating experiences at Metropolitan Seafood for close to four decades.
Drabich’s first job was working at a fish market near his home in Hillsborough when he was 15. He went on to gain industry experience as a fish cutter in New York City and Philadelphia. “I taught myself how to cut fish,” he says. “I worked with Salvatore Bracco—his daughter is Lorraine Bracco, from “The Sopranos”—and would watch him cut fish to learn the proper technique.”
He became known for his precise knifework—and for his enthusiastic approach to seafood. “For example, with flat fish, the knife goes in backwards: You cut into the tail and push the knife up, kind of a rhythmic knife dance,” he says. “Put 300 pounds of flat fish in front of me, and I’m in my Zen.”
At 23, after college, Drabich launched Metropolitan Seafood, purchasing equipment and taking over the lease of a fish market in Clinton where he had worked summers. “That’s how Metropolitan Seafood started,” he says. “I wrote that name on a napkin in a bar in Manhattan. I wanted to denote a certain sophistication of the variety that we carried.”
In an age when the seafood industry is global, with fisheries jet-setting product to sites thousands of miles away, Drabich sources old-school, purchasing his inventory from the venerable Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx, and other fisheries.
Interacting with customers — teaching them about seafood, engaging them to try new seafood, showcasing the limitless ways to cook seafood — is Drabich’s greatest joy. He speaks to the “Little Chef” in each household. “The Little Chef is the person who takes the responsibility and puts the love and caring into cooking for their household,” he says.
Drabich recently launched a spice line that that allows Little Chefs to just sprinkle, cook and eat: a Mediterranean blend; Anchovy and Parmesan (“gives that real umami”); Eastern European Smoked Spice; Gochujang; and Smashed Garlic (“put it in butter, on toasted bread and have instantaneous grilled garlic butter”).
To date, he has written over 2,000 recipes to help customers become comfortable and proficient in preparing fresh seafood. A $3 monthly subscription to “The Funky Fishmonger Online Cookbook” will unlock 200 recipes and deliver 16 new recipes each month. “I write these recipes out of desperation, not inspiration. I want you to cook,” he says. “You can make the most specular dishes — assuming you have a great product — at home. I’m less concerned about you learning the recipe as much as I am concerned about you learning the technique.”
View fresh catches, sign up for recipes and peruse the takeout menu at metroseafood.com. Follow Metropolitan Seafood on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and Drabich @funkyfishmonger.
“I wrote that name on a napkin in a bar in Manhattan. I wanted to denote a certain sophistication of the variety that we carried.” - Mark Drabich
“Here, there’s just one rule: Have a good time." - Mark Drabich