This Market Serves Florida’s Best Po’ Boys Amongst Fresh Groceries

Tides Seafood Market and Provision sources as locally as possible for its oyster po’ boys, crawfish arancini, and more

At his business, Tides Seafood Market and Provision, chef and co-owner Jon Walker works with local vendors to sell the freshest products possible in Safety Harbor, Florida. Behind the stone crab-filled seafood case, he’s turning top-quality seafood, grass-fed beef, and Florida grown vegetables into “damn delicious” dishes in the market’s kitchen.

“Having that market-first mentality means that we’re always going to have something really cool to play with,” Walker explains. Utilizing his background in New Orleans, where he worked in kitchens for years before attending culinary school, he’s frying up freshly shucked Gulf oysters for tangy remoulade sauce-coated oyster po’ boys, making andouille sausage, and grilling blackened grouper or yellowtail snapper dusted with house Creole seasoning. Tides has also become famous in the seafood-rich St. Pete-Clearwater area for its crawfish arancini, with thousands being prepared for catering events each week.

Beyond knowing how to make flavorful New Orleans-style dishes, Walker is very intentional about how he sources each ingredient and product in the store. “Florida isn’t necessarily seen as a culinary destination, but Florida has a lot to offer,” Walker says. “Our philosophy is that we want to use the best that we can, locally first, regionally second, and nationally third.” He carries (and cooks with) those local products whenever possible but outsources when necessary, including sourcing dry-aged steaks from Chicago and bread from New Orleans-based Leidenheimer Baking Company for his po’ boys.

Overall, Walker is excited to be a part of the culinary scene of “really great chefs” growing in St. Pete and Clearwater. “We’ve been open three years and I’m really interested to see what the next three, four, five years bring,” he says. “If this is the trend, then I can’t wait.”

Watch the latest episode of Experts to see Walker breakdown deliveries of fresh fish and beef as he cooks up the market’s signature dishes.