Eric Montagne: Locals Seafood (Raleigh / Durham, NC)

Charcuterie boards are lighting up social media these days, but have you ever considered seafood charcuterie? According to a Johns Hopkins research study, nearly half of the US’ seafood supply goes to waste, and there are few people in the food system who know how to counteract that. Enter Eric Montagne, a chef who is part of a growing number of culinary professionals changing that, applying their butchery skills and whole animal respect in a whole new, watery direction. At Locals Seafood in Raleigh and Durham, NC, Eric transforms what previously may have been discarded into delicious retail products, from bottarga made from NC mullet roe, to a tuna bloodline burger that has so far utilized more than 1000 pounds of tuna meat that would have been discarded -- and has been named one of the NC Triangle’s epic burgers by Eater Carolinas. He previously worked with Chef Vivian Howard at the Boiler Room Oyster Bar, and was the executive chef at Raleigh’s Standard Foods before joining Locals. This all is a full-circle moment for a Miami-born boy who grew up fishing in the Florida Keys and left to attend Johnson and Wales in Denver with beef on the brain.