Why American Chefs Are Going All in on This Delicious European Fish

It has long been said that there are plenty of fish in the sea. But if you’re having dinner in the United States, that adage only recently began to apply to turbot. 

The flat white fish—whose most prized varieties are sourced off the coasts of northern Spain and western France—is relatively common in Europe, but it’s a newer addition to America’s fine-dining offerings. That’s thanks to the growing number of chefs stateside turning gourmands on to the ingredient they alternately regard as “exquisite,” “noble,” and having a certain “level of prestige.” 

“It’s my favorite fish to cook. It’s my favorite fish to eat, too,” says Ed Szymanski, the chef at New York City’s Crevette, which serves a whole turbot with seaweed butter. “I think it’s the most delicious finfish in the sea.” 

But turbot’s elevated status (which some attribute to its uniquely complex flavor and texture) comes at a premium. Rod Browne Mitchell, founder, owner, and president of the Maine-based seafood supplier Browne Trading Company, calls it one of the most expensive fish you can buy. While the price of wild turbot can vary, as it’s determined at auction, Mitchell typically sees costs of $40 to $60 a pound for fish that average 12 to 18 pounds apiece. At Chicago’s Asador Bastian, where you can get garlicky turbot al pil-pil grilled over charcoal for $71 per pound, chef Doug Psaltis goes through about 125 pounds a week. And Eric Bost, chef at the intimate tasting-menu spot Lilo in Carlsbad, Calif., orders some 120 pounds of wild turbot from France every week, for $2,000 total. 

With President Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariff on almost all seafood imports, those prices will undoubtedly rise. A recent report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development notes that some countries may redirect their seafood to domestic markets in response, making real-deal wild turbot harder to come by. “President Trump’s 10 percent tariff has been in place for months now, and during that time Americans have seen multiple expectation-beating inflation and jobs reports,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai wrote in an email to Robb Report. “Two things can be accomplished at once: leveling the playing field for American industries and workers while delivering economic relief for the American people.” 

But turbot isn’t native to America, and the people eating it don’t seem fazed by higher restaurant bills. Both Psaltis and Bost say the fish’s gastronomic importance makes up for the financial imposition. “We feel our clientele who’s looking for turbot and these types of fish, they understand the value of these products,” Psaltis says. 

One work-around is serving farm-raised turbot rather than wild. Both Crevette and Cordelia Fishbar in Washington, D.C., source turbot from farms in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain, that retains the rich umami notes beloved in the wild-caught fish. It doesn’t hurt that farmed turbot can be slightly less expensive and more consistent in quality. 

Wherever it comes from, exceptional turbot has a flavor that keeps connoisseurs coming back for more. “It’s subtle, deep, and the texture’s soft but it’s structured. It’s got that velvetiness; it’s luxurious without being fussy,” says Stephen Lyons, the vice president of culinary operations and purchasing at Clyde’s Restaurant Group, which oversees Cordelia. “And when people try it, they’re like, ‘Where have you been my whole life?’ ”