The restaurant now boasts a newly redesigned bar; (below) Mahi Mahi tacos using sustainable seafood ingredients. (photo: Ports O’ Call Waterfront Dining Restaurant)
24 I SAN PEDRO TODAY I NOVEMBER 2016
The Wilson family: (l to r) Caleb, Wyatt, Kyla & Finley Wilson; Michelle Gomez & Jayme Wilson; Charlotte Frank & West Wilson
the doldrums of the restaurant business is a reciprocal sense of community. Munster explains, “I meet people all the time that say, ‘I got married here’ or ‘I attended an event here.’ ” Providing a venue for people to celebrate important milestones has stitched the restaurant into the fabric of San Pedro. Pick any event, a wedding, a high school reunion, a quinceañera, a corporate event, owner Jayme Wilson doesn’t say no. In doing so, he manages to fill the enormous footprint of the restaurant, which includes six banquet rooms and three outdoor venues. It’s precisely this accommodating attitude that has kept Wilson and his family afloat during a recession that devastated many other businesses. And his customers keep coming back for more. Jayme Wilson’s mark on Ports O’ Call Village began in 1982 when he had his dinner cruise ship “Spirit” built right here in San Pedro. With the success of the Spirit dinner cruise came a demand for a consistent quality food source. Wilson says, “We needed a kitchen to supply our food.” As need would have it, in 1993 he opened the Boardwalk Café at Ports O’ Call Village. Jayme is a doer, and doers are a rare breed. Ultimately, people saw something in Wilson that the previous owners didn’t have. The Port of Los Angeles noticed as well, and had plans for him. In 2005, the Port had taken notice that Ports O’ Call restaurant had fallen into disrepair, as did their relationship with the owner of the restaurant at the time. The Port had been courting Wilson and saw him as a person that could preserve, renovate and make the restaurant work. According to Wilson, “They wanted it to be seamless. The previous owner would ultimately move out at night, and we would move in the next day.” With more than $100,000 in repairs and a lot of elbow grease, the Ports O’ Call Waterfront Dining Restaurant was salvaged. The past is the past, though, and Wilson and Munster are much more interested in talking about the future of the restaurant and the highly anticipated San Pedro Public Market. They welcome the new commerce the market will bring, and in particular, new restaurants. Why welcome competition? If you have to ask yourself this question you should probably steer clear of the restaurant business. Munster describes her enthusiasm for a new restaurant boon on the waterfront by referencing the archaic car dealerships that used to isolate themselves, but now benefit from clustering together and creating the “auto mall,” as she calls it. “People don’t want to come here for one thing, they want options,” she says. With a successful career running her own advertising firm, you can rest assured she has the proficiency to stand behind this claim. Having grown up in my parents’ restaurant, I am all too familiar with the dedication that it takes to be successful in this business. As Munster and I started swapping battle stories, I shared one of nights spent sleeping across dining room chairs while my mother finished rolling her silverware, and another tale of heading straight from the school bus to
scrub dishes. “It’s surprising how much work it takes to run a restaurant,” Munster laughs. I agree. There is a role reversal familiar to restaurant owners. It owns you. If it doesn’t, you won’t survive for long. Having won numerous awards including South Bay’s Best for “Best Happy Hour” and “Best Brunch” multiple times, Jayme Wilson has not allowed success to breed complacency. They are continually updating the menus, all while retaining the services of Executive Chef Ruben Guerrero and General Manager Jim Ryan, both of whom Wilson says, “came with the business.” This kind of loyalty is that of another time and place. A timeless port with a sense of community like no other in Los Angeles, that is the mark of San Pedro and it is alive and well at Ports O’ Call restaurant. Noramae Munster began working with Ports O’ Call Restaurant in 2006 and continued into 2011 when she parted with the advertising world and devoted all of her efforts to the restaurant. For the record, she doesn’t miss the advertising world. Together, Wilson and Munster have been on the cutting edge of the culinary world with their commitment to sustainable seafood. Although some may think the practice of sustainable seafood is a catchy marketing tool, it is born out of necessity. Even when gratuitously exploited along with terms such as “natural” and “organic,” there is no scientific argument that can deny the effects of over fishing our oceans. The key is to strike a long-term ecological balance between the livelihood of fisherman and fishing methods. This approach that began in the 1990s has Wilson sitting on several boards, including the Los Angeles Transcontinental Board, which makes Wilson an ambassador to the port. According to Munster, “When people need to know anything about seafood, Jayme Wilson is the person of contact. He is the insider for seafood purveyors and fishmongers, and this restaurant is a gateway to the industry.” During the time that I spoke with Wilson, he was preparing for an international flight to meet with likeminded people across the pond to discuss precisely the subject to which he is so dedicated, sustainable seafood. The tentacles of his involvement in this philosophy also extend to local philanthropic sponsorships. The recent Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Expo is but one of the many events that Wilson contributes to. For the past three years, he has been a core sponsor of the expo. The commitment to high quality food and sustainable practices is maintained throughout their menu and their business. Their chicken is hormone and GMO free, and the same with the beef. All aspects of their footprint are held to the same level of scrutiny. Jayme Wilson has carbon credits for all of the gas that he uses on the fishing boats, as well. From the exclusive use of Aardvark paper straws to their abstinence from Styrofoam, sustainability is a consideration in all facets of this operation. These progressive practices provide hope for the oceans and the food that they provide. spt