San Diego’s Vistal restaurant hosts seafood series ‘Behind the Catch’
The quarterly dinner series, to be held next on Aug. 15, includes multiple courses with a spotlight on local species from the sea.
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
Vistal, a Smart Catch Certified restaurant located inside the InterContinental San Diego, has launched a “Behind the Catch” dinner series in an effort to educate guests about the local seafood industry.
The quarterly dinner series, which will be held next on Aug. 15, includes multiple courses and a demonstration that spotlights local local species including spiny lobster, swordfish, white seabass, bluefin tuna and more.
The dinner series also hosts guest speakers, including commercial fishing professionals, marine biologists and others.
“We embrace that complexity, educating consumers in depth about specific species,” said Jeff Josenhans, hotel manager at InterContinental San Diego. “It’s the ultimate dinner and a show.”
But it’s more than just a dinner show – Josenhans said it’s an experience.
“If we commoditize seafood as we do cattle, poultry, etc. we are not really doing the ocean justice, nor the dining experience,” Josenhans said. “Unlike those industries, wild-caught fish live their lives as predators in the ocean environment.”
The dinner series is a part of Vistal’s commitment to education, ocean conservation and sourcing practices that respect the fish, fisherman and the seas. As the only San Diego restaurant certified by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, Vistal also takes pride in working with community partners.
A supporter of Fishful Future, Positively Groundfish and Get Local Fish, Josenhans said there is a movement seeking sustainability.
“We are all part of a community striving to sustain the population of local fish species, the local commercial fishing industry, and educate consumers about not only the danger of unmonitored, imported fish, but also the beauty of what is locally available right off the San Diego Coast,” Josenhans said.
The next “Behind the Catch” dinner will feature California Yellowtail with guest speakers from NOAA and a focus on the sportfishing subculture of “throwing irons” to target San Diego yellowtail.
