Cobble Fish brings good food and good vibes to the Seaport.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kwak
A restaurant on the pier brings the feeling of home back to The Seaport.
Located on Pier 16, Cobble Fish aims to keep the spirit of the Seaport alive. The concept was born several years ago when owner Neil Mossberg was approached by other local business owners to create a homey spot for the neighborhood.
“At the time, I was the chairman of the 501(c) association for the neighborhood. Some of the other business owners came to me and said, ‘We’d like to open something at Pier 16, would you like to get involved?'” Mossberg said.
Mossberg worked with Victor Chan and Renee Lee, who are also behind SUteiShi of The Seaport, to make Cobble Fish a reality. With his own deep roots in the community, Mossberg knew exactly what was needed to make Cobble Fish the best hangout for locals.
Located right on the water, Cobble Fish is a completely open-air hotel and offers countless seating options for lots of people.
“The thought process was about creating a place that feels inviting, right? It’s such an intimate, local place. I find that a lot of restaurants in New York try to have this very strong presence, which sometimes isn’t warm and inviting,” Mossberg said. “As a team, we agreed that we wanted to create a place that looked really cozy and that was easy to come to and that offered a more relaxed experience than what’s on the other piers.”
Since the restaurant is located on the pier, seafood was of course an obvious choice for the menu. Cobble Fish offers lobster rolls, fish and chips, fish tacos, shrimp and fish fillet, and for those not into floating things, there are burgers, wings, burgers and hot dogs, all of which can be enjoyed with Cobble Fish’s extensive drink menu.
However, one thing that Mossberg said was incredibly important might surprise you: the French fries.
“We have to have the best fries in New York because everyone eats fries and everyone compares fries. When you go to a restaurant, I feel like if a customer says, ‘Wow, those are great fries,’ they’re going to assume everything else on the menu is great, too,” Mossberg said.
Since Cobble Fish is an outdoor restaurant, it is open seasonally and will stay open as long as the weather is good. This would prove to be an advantage for the restaurant during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When people started going back out into the wild, we had just opened. The response from the community was great because everyone was looking for an outdoor place to hang out,” Mossberg said. “It was challenging because a lot of the amenities we needed access to weren’t fully open yet, so we had to lean on local relationships to get across the finish line. But we opened, and not only did we do it toward the end (at the height) of COVID, but we also hosted one of the biggest post-COVID parties.”
Since then, Cobble Fish has become a staple in the community, hosting major events for the neighborhood and a fun place to hang out with friends while still being close to the Seaport.
“If you look at the pier to the left and right of Cobble Fish, you see a billion-dollar developer and a restaurant complex with a more Jersey Shore-like atmosphere,” Mossberg said. “Our restaurant maintains the feel of a local community gathering place and we are part of the community. I think it’s a combination of trying to maintain the authentic feel of the seaport while also making sure we stay connected to the entire neighborhood.”
Mossberg hopes Cobble Fish can remain a staple in the community and provide everyone with the same impact the neighborhood had on him as a child.
“I’ve been connected to the Seaport for three generations, so the Seaport has always had a big impact on my life,” Mossberg said. “I would love to see Cobble Fish play that role in the neighborhood. There’s no better comparison than ‘Cheers,’ where everyone knows your name.”
Cobble Fish is located at 89 South St. Pier 16. For more information about Cobble Fish, visit cobblefish.net.
