Business of Life

Application Period: February 15 - April 28, 2022

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP

LPNs, get your RN in two semesters with CFCC’s accelerated, hybrid option. Clinical is completed through a preceptorship at New Hanover/Novant Hospital in Wilmington.

Get information regarding the application process, prerequisites, and more at cfcc.edu/LPN-RN or contact the Health Science Enrollment Center at healthsciences@cfcc.edu.

JANE MARR & ASSOCIATE

30 + YEARS

PROVIDING A BOUTIQUE EXPERIENCE WITH WILMINGTON’S MOST TRUSTED FIRM

Jane Marr

Broker/REALTOR® (910) 231-3343

Grace Taylor

Broker/REALTOR® (704) 726-3225 This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s weekly Restaurant Roundup email. Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.

The George restaurant is under new ownership

George Coffin and Cathy Whatley have sold The George on the Riverwalk, 128 Water St., to restaurant veterans Edson Munekta and Freddy Lee.

“He’s had a great run,” said Terry Espy, a good friend of George Coffin and owner of Momentum Companies, which represented both parties in the $2.5 million deal.

Munekta owns a small chain of Brazilian steakhouses and recently moved to Ocean Isle Beach. Lee is an acclaimed chef and owner of Bernardin’s, upscale restaurants in Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

As for any changes, the new owners are keeping the name but plan to take The George to the next level, Espy said, with the new menu more in line with the fine-dining dishes – duck breast and curried black bass – on offer at Bernardin’s. (The new menu can be viewed on the restaurant’s Facebook page.)

Joe Loves Lobster Rolls closes Brunswick spot

A popular Boiling Spring Lakes restaurant has closed its doors for good, but a new eatery plans to open in early February.

According to the restaurant’s website, Joe Loves Lobster Rolls, 3148 George II Highway, decided to close after the main ingredient on the menu became too costly.

“It comes with a heavy heart, but it is the cost of lobster that has made the decision for me to discontinue service,” the website states.

Owner Tony Herndon got in the lobster roll business in 2013 in Savannah, Georgia, and landed in Boiling Spring Lakes in 2017. Herndon said the new owners are opening a sub shop and will serve his rolls at least one day a week.

Brice Horton, owner of the new eatery, said he expects Mimi’s Sandwich Shack to be open in early February. “We have been working on our menu, but basically we will have a build-a-sandwich system,” he said. “Breakfast will be bacon, sausage, eggs and burritos. Lunch will focus on the sub basics – ham, turkey and roast beef.”

‘Seabird at home’ starts fine dining takeout

One of Wilmington’s top chefs, James Beard Foundation semifinalist Dean Neff, has launched Seabird at Home, a three-course menu for two created to be enjoyed at home.

With the Front Street restaurant regularly closed Tuesday-Wednesday, Neff and his wife, Lydia Clopton, wanted to ensure diners could still enjoy a great meal in the middle of the week.

The deadline to order is 3 p.m. Wednesdays, and the meals can be picked up 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

Each three-course meal for two changes weekly, and although there are no substitutions, add-ons such as focaccia (a classic Italian bread) and soup will be available to purchase when picking up on a first-come, first-served basis. Suggested wines also can be purchased at pick-up.

The menu for Jan. 26 included spinach Caesar salad with roasted shiitake mushrooms, croutons and green tomato slaw; smoked yellowfin tuna lasagna Bolognese with ricotta cheese and herbs; and Jim’s Olive Oil Cake with citrus and mascarpone for dessert. The price for the meal-fortwo is $47, tax included.

The Big Nosh to highlight Jewish cuisine

The Temple of Israel’s Big Nosh fundraising event takes place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 24.

The Big Nosh event is not just your “annual sandwich-selling fundraiser,” event organizer Kurt said. Selections will include corned beef and pastrami (by the half-pound or sandwiches), smoked whitefish salad and chopped herring and Israeli salad. Homemade noodle kugel and potato knish will also be offered and round out a meal with a loaf of rye bread from Breadsmith.

For something sweet, there’s babka or rugalach, and Green’s chocolate or cinnamon babka and rugelach are available to order. Pick up will be at the temple’s Reibman Center, 922 Market St. Items must be preordered by Feb. 11.

The proceeds will benefit the ongoing work of the temple and religious activities, education and community relations. Orders can be placed online at templefundraising. online or with a mail-in order form, which can be downloaded and printed from the website.

| BUSINESS OF LIFE |

Fishing around for new hobbies

BY SCOTT NUNN

Copperband butterflyfish. Splendid pintail fairy wrasse. Polyp stony corals.

The displays at Port City Aquastudio are mesmerizing, even somewhat mysterious. The shop, which opened in October in the South Front District, is a bountiful resource for aquarium hobbyists.

Port City Aquastudio’s most valuable resources, however, are not found in an aquarium, but in the mind of owner T.J. Lysiak.

With 20 years of experience in the business and a marine biology degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Lysiak is passionate about aquariums and the creatures that inhabit them. The fact that he’s earning a living at it is a bonus.

And business is good, not only for Lysiak but for the aquarium trade in general. Along with so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic has touched the aquarium business.

Chris Clevers is president of Hikari Sales USA, which specializes in premium aquatic food.

“From all indications, COVID-19 has people who were on the fence about an aquarium diving in and those already in the hobby spending time upgrading their tanks and spending lots of time tending to their fish as a welcomed diversion from the stress of being locked down,” he told Pet Product News.

The lack of places to spend money along with stimulus checks has created a perfect storm for the aquarium industry, Clevers said.

“We see a big increase in consumer questions via our website, phone and email customer service areas, which means folks are engaged and eager to connect and talk about fish,” he said.

Like most people in the aquarium business, it’s been a lifetime hobby for Lysiak. “As a child, I received my first aquarium at age 6, and I’ve never been without one since. Aquariums and fish just simply fascinated me, even as a child,” Lysiak said. “I was the kid that would ask for National Geographic documentaries and David Attenborough documentaries for Christmas rather than a video game. My family always knew that it was a true passion for me.”

Although Lysiak chose marine biology and ultimately earned his degree, neither teaching nor research had much appeal. Research work, he said, is too tied to grants – money that eventually runs out. And time in a classroom would be time away from where his passion lay – directly in the world of fish, corals and other sea life.

“This is not work for me,” Lysiak said, standing amid the marine-life treasures he knows like the back of his hand. “Every once in a while I stop and I look around and I’m like, am I just goofing off? Is this even real? It’s almost surreal to me. And so it’s more than just an interest. It is a passion.”

And that passion and knowledge, Lysiak said, are the most valuable things he can offer customers. For example, since Lysiak propagates most of his fish and corals, he knows exactly what kind of water and environment they need to be in and understands the importance of other factors, such as temperature and light acclimation.

Since Lysiak propagates fish and corals, it means fewer fish are taken out of the wild.

That is part of his conservation credo, which underlies his commitment to donate 10% of his gross revenue to groups that help marine life. It also satisfies one of his career goals, which is to make the biggest impact possible on his life’s passion.

Blanton Hamrick also is in the aquarium business.

He and his wife, Ebby, opened Big Fish, 1616 Shipyard Blvd., about four months ago. As with Lysiak, Blanton Hamrick has been an aquarium enthusiast most of his life.

Before the Tar Heel native moved back to North Carolina a decade ago, he owned a pet store in Kentucky for eight years before selling it to a competitor, something he still regrets.

“We opened a bowling alley right across the street, and that’s where all my time and money went,” Blanton Hamrick said. “Honestly, I was really sad to let the store go.”

But he didn’t leave the fish world behind, even at the bowling alley.

“I’ve always done it. I’ve always had aquariums and reptiles and everything at my house,” he said. “Even at the bowling alley, I had a little section of fish tanks and reptiles and stuff like that. It was pretty neat.”

Shops such as Big Fish and Port City Aquastudio help fill the hole left by the commercial chains that trade in the lower end of the business. Today’s aquarium hobbyists are more demanding, looking for unique – and sometimes rare – species.

“A lot of people are into little nano fish and the oddballs, the rarities that you can’t find at Petco or PetSmart,” Blanton Hamrick said.

At the same time, he said, his shop has something for everyone.

“A kid can get a starter aquarium, something easy. We have like beta fish, different little cheap fish that they can start off with and go from there,” he said.

Even for those not into the hobby – or maybe just a little curious – specialty aquarium shops such as Port City Aquastudio and Big Fish are fun to visit.

“We really like them to come in and get the aquarium spirit,” Blanton Hamrick said. “Maybe they’ll get it in their blood and start new tanks or revive old ones. People come in and see this and they’re like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m gonna get back into the hobby.’”

PHOTO BY TERAH HOOBLER In the fish tank: T.J. Lysiak opened Port City Aquastudio after a lifelong passion for aquariums and aquatic life.