THE PRESSURE IS ON

Lovers Seafood And Market Has All The Makings Of Success

By ELISSA CHUDWIN / Photos by KATHY TRAN

AARON STAUDENMAIER ’s first culinary crash course happened in the cover of darkness at a North Dakota truck stop.

The Lovers Seafood and Market executive chef landed a dishwashing job at Flying J’s as a teen, where he helped man the kitchen until the early morning.

One night, 15 minutes before bar rush, the frazzled cook quit without warning. Announcing “I don’t want to do this today,” he hurried out of the truck stop.

Staudenmaier panicked. The 14-year-old’s culinary skills didn’t include making much more than a bowl of cereal. With 250 truck drivers impatiently waiting for a quick meal, “the choice was learn to cook or die,” he laughs.

Staudenmaier scrambled to feed his temperamental customers, but he thrived in the chaos.

“There’s a piece of that day in every day in the kitchen,” he says. “It’s the same excitement.

It’s the same level of can you do this, pushing yourself to get through it.”

Launching Lovers Seafood and Market has been Staudenmaier’s most demanding endeavor to date, he says, even after stints at The Mansion at Turtle Creek and Abacus. Staudenmaier resigned as executive chef of the luxury private club Boot Ranch in the Hill Country to open the eatery with Shinsei founders Lynae Fearing and Tracy Rathbun. The two women are Dallas culinary royalty: Fearing was married to celeb chef Dean Fearing, while Rathbun is the wife of fourtime James Beard nominee Kent Rathbun. Along with Staudenmaier, they tagged in Max Heidenreich, another Abacus alumni, as general manager.

When the celebrated foodies announced their plans to revamp the former Rex’s Seafood Market space in February, their reputations began to precede them.

One of Lovers’ many specials: Corvina Crudo with red seaweed, frisée, lemon aioli and smoked almonds.