A bit of old-fashioned retail has opened in Sub Base: not a franchise, not a corporation but a real, honest-to-god mom-and-pop fish store.
G & D Seafood Plus is the creation of Glenroy and Donna Walters, and like proud parents (they have three children) they're happy to show off the shop's shiny white walls decorated with colorful fish charts and the gleaming display case filled with shrimp, oysters, yellowtail, stuffed lobster, salmon and other ocean creatures. The case sits alongside a 25-gallon tank occupied by several active Maine lobsters.
The Walters are familiar faces on St. Thomas where both worked for years at the Chart House in Frenchtown-in fact, that's where they met. Donna, a Trinidadian, was the dining room hostess, and Glenroy, from Nevis, was working as a waiter, though he said he actually did "everything." The "everything" included stints as chef, where he began to learn about fish preparation.
Since the Chart House closed, he has been operating his own wholesale fish business, but both he and Donna wanted a retail business working with the public. Glenroy Walters said he had been looking for a Sub Base property for about a year, when one day he looked at the "for rent" sign on a shop next to where the Drafting Shaft used to be. He contacted the owner, and by day's end the Walters had their shop.
But it took lots of work to turn it into the restaurant/retail shop it is now. Starting in October, the Walters installed a small, state-of-the art kitchen in the rear of the store, refrigeration units, display cases and several small tables.
They said that they can have any fish available the next day. That's a big claim to make, but Glenroy Walters, with a smile, said, "We can do it, fresh from the airplane to you." They supply restaurants here and on St. John as well.
The shop is unique in its approach. "You can walk in," said Donna Walters, "point to a fish in the case, tell us how you want it cooked, and there's your lunch."
Crew members from a charter yacht at Crown Bay are busily loading up for their charter.
"I'd really like to have more salmon," one said. "What we had yesterday wasn't enough."
"No problem," Donna Walters said with a smile.
She said the orders range from a few pieces to enough to supply a restaurant or large yacht. They specifically wanted the Sub Base locale to be near Crown Bay Marina. "But," she said, "we're getting local lunch business now, too." The restaurant has a decidedly upscale lunch menu in contrast to the simple surroundings (maybe that's where the "Plus" comes in).
Coconut shrimp with a plum sauce, lobster cake with sherry cayenne mayonnaise, grilled salmon with a lemon basil aioli sauce, or just a simple grilled mahi with native sauce are some of the moderately priced options.
"We're getting local people," Donna said, "and they are coming back." In the brief week they have been open, repeat customers are a good sign. They come from nearby Nisky Center and the Motor Vehicles Department, all the way to WAPA, Donna said.
And there's take-out. "Say you're just about to finish work and you're tired and don't feel like cooking, " Donna said, "just call and say 'Donna, I'd like a couple pounds of salmon' or whatever, and we'll cook it up for you to pick up on your way home."
The shop usually has about 30 items for retail, from Dover sole and flounder fillet to mako shark and little-neck clams. G & D Seafood Plus is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Sunday. Orders can be placed at 774-7444 or faxed to 774-7481, with delivery service available.
