JoJo Ruiz provides takeout sushi at Lionfish Seafood in San Diego

Published: Dec. 17, 2020, 10:17 p.m.

San Diego chef JoJo Ruiz has long been a leader in serving sustainable seafood, and now he has extended that ethos to takeout and delivery, which is of course becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for restaurants facing tighter restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb. Ruiz, a leader in the James Beard Foundation’s sustainability initiative called Smart Catch, is the chef of Serea at the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island, and at Lionfish Seafood, which has one location in the Pendry hotel in San Diego’s Gaslamp district, and another in Delray Beach, Fla. Ruiz says the Florida location, which just opened on Sept., 21, is doing great business, but Serea is completely closed and the Gaslamp location of Lionfish, like restaurants in most of California, is limited to takeout and delivery due to mandated restrictions intended to stem the spread of the disease. But it turns out that San Diegans like takeout sushi, and Ruiz and his crew are doing their part to fulfill their desires. In this podcast, Ruiz discusses his new takeout offerings, including their new sustainable packaging, his continuing efforts to find great sustainable seafood, and the state of dining in San Diego.