Who sells fresh pike? Real pike, not walleye.

Check with Scott Weinstein at BlackSalt and ask if he can order some for you.

I have a friend who makes her own gefilte fish and just orders it from a Giant.

I tried Scott and he said he might be able to get some walleye (and I don't know enough about the two fish to know if that would have compromised the quenellesor not) but in the end he never called back to say his supplier could come through and the other aspects of the meal collapsed -- noreaster disrupted the sea urchin supplies, you know how it is -- so I never followed up. But pike did not seem to be an option.


I would be a very hungry man before I ate a fresh fish fron Giant (or Safeway). Ever walk through their fish section?

She orders it and picks it up when it comes in. It's worked for her for over 40 years, so I'm not going to argue.

Safeway, I agree. However, on the evenings when the Van Ness Giant receives their new orders, I have purchased fresh wild salmon without regret. I've been shopping there on a regular basis for about a year and have had only one bad experience. Situation handled graciously and I had no qualms about accepting an exchange.

Or.... you could go to La Chaumiere where Quenelles de Brochet, Sauce Homard is on the menu for lunch and dinner.

I don't know if this still applies, but i recall years ago asking someone who worked in fish wholesaling where the best place was locally to buy fish. I was wary of Maine Avenue and was trying to figure how to sort out my options. I asked about Maine Ave and Eastern Market specifically. The answer I got was to go to a high volume Giant or Safeway. That response surprised me. Things may be different now--BlackSalt was not open then, among many other factors--but that was the answer then.

Indeed -- La Chaumiere is the restaurant that taught me to like pike. The missus and I had an urge to tackle it at home, however.