reef

Known around Northern Kentucky as Captain John, fishmonger John LaFontaine has been selling fresh seafood here since 2014, moving from a small market off Mt. Zion Road to the Florence Mall to a shared space in MainStrasse. Now he has partnered with co-owners De'Jay & Darren to open a standalone home: a scratch kitchen and raw market at U.S. 42 and Pleasant Valley Road. Featured fish is never frozen and arrives in small batches six nights a week. Lump crab cakes, lobster and crab rolls, poke bowls, raw oysters, and house-made soups fill the menu, and fish is sold by the pound, cut to order.