Mike Stollenwerk, who got his start at age 13 as a busboy at Daniel's Restaurant in Somers Point, NJ, is now regarded by many food critics as one of the region’s best seafood chefs.[/caption]

by Len Lear

Diners who love great seafood dishes can shell-abrate now that one of the area’s finest seafood chefs, Mike Stollenwerk, 39, is back. Late last year the local chef who has received paeans from Bon Appetit and numerous other food publications, opened 26 North, a sophisticated BYOB, at 26 North 3rd St. in Philly’s Old City.

A native of South Jersey’s beach towns, Mike got his start at age 13 as a busboy at Daniel's Restaurant in Somers Point. He dived into the deep waters so quickly that at the callow age of 15 he was cooking alongside the restaurant's chef, and by 19 he was a sous chef at the upscale Washington Inn in Cape May. He later graduated from the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing at the top of his class and proceeded to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.

At the age of just 25, Mike purchased Café Loren in Avalon, and when it closed for the winter, he worked in Philly restaurants like Avenue B and Davio's. In January, 2007, he purchased Little Fish, a goldfish-sized BYOB at 6th and Catherine Streets in the city's Bella Vista section. Before long, the lines were so long in the 23-seat mini-restaurant that Mike was literally turning away more customers than he was serving.

Within one year Little Fish had been named the “Third Best New Seafood Restaurant” in the country by Bon Appetit magazine. It was also featured in Philadelphia magazine's “Top 50 Restaurants of 2008” issue and won their “Dish of the Year” designation. It was inevitable that Little Fish would grow much bigger.

By 2010, therefore, Stollenwerk was the owner of Little Fish, Fathom Seafood House in Fishtown and Fish at 17th and Lombard, where Astral Plane had made waves for three decades. However, Mike soon found himself drowning as a hands-on (or tails-on) owner of three seafood restaurants. Stollenwerk, who once weighed almost 400 pounds but lost 160 in a year, got out of the ownership game and then wound up cooking in one restaurant after another — Fish, Branzino and Headhouse Crab & Oyster Company, all in center city, and then a country club in Indianapolis.

The assembly line has now landed Mike at 26 North, a former tea shop transformed into a 46-seat jewel with exposed brick walls, dark wood tables, hardwood floors, high ceilings, wall art showcasing old newspaper pages, a gorgeous marble BYOB bar and dimly lit Edison bulbs hanging off pulleys that run over the tables and bar, and lockers in the rear that regular customers can use to store their wine.

Prices at 26 North are not inexpensive, but considering the quality of the cooking and ingredients and the fact that it is BYOB, they are not unreasonable. Appetizers range from $11 to $17 and entrees from $27 to $35. And dinner starts with bread and complimentary homemade butter, oil and chick peas that are hard to stop eating.

Peeky toe crab, an appetizer with avocado, citrus and shallot ($17), was once considered a nuisance species by the lobster industry because they ate the bait from lobster traps, but in Stollenwerk’s hands it is a sweet-tasting star in the culinary firmament. Not all chefs are so vigilant about keeping peekytoe separate from other kinds of crab and preventing bits of shell from falling into the meat.

The striped bass, served over steamed clams in red pepper broth, is simply irresistible, as is chef Stollenwerk’s signature skate wing entrée.[/caption]

On the Greek islands, where the octopus catch is usually fresh, it is usually just grilled over charcoal and seasoned with fresh lemon. Stollenwerk’s char-grilled version, accompanied by pickled peppers, poached egg vinaigrette and crispy potato ($16), reminds me of the pristine version we had in Greece. Not overcooked and chewy, as it often is.

Shellfish soup with celery root and tarragon ($12) and spicy Menorcan fish soup, a classic dish from the island of Menorca that is fragrant and velvety ($10), were both filling, colorful and great for bread-dipping.

The chef’s signature dish, which some former customers said on yelp.com left a void in their lives when Stollenwerk was in Indiana, is the skate wing with parmesan broth poured over it ($29). Skate wing is very mild and delicate with a texture reminiscent of Dover sole. Its flat diamond shape yields two edible wings (skate fillets look like angel wings), which Stollenwwerk cooks until they turn white, exploding with effusive flavor. (When we were there, Stollenwerk’s dishes were made by talented sous chef Julianne Wesley.)

We shared a dessert of chocolate hazelnut torte, pear chutney and fresh Chantilly cream, which was heavenly, dense and very rich ($9). The desserts are made by Karen Adams, Stollenwerk’s mother. Parking is always an issue in Old City, but we parked in a lot on the north side of Market Street, between front and 2nd.

For more information, call 267-239-5900 or visit www.26northbyob.com.