Local chef’s ‘Free Fish Bank’ effort earns top community service award

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A local restaurant owner and chef has received a prestigious honor for his commitment to serving others in the community.

Dean Neff owns “Seabird” restaurant in Downtown Wilmington.

Recently, he received the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Ken Conrad Award for Service to the Community.

The honor recognizes Neff’s new “Free Fish Bank” program at Zora’s Market and Kitchen on Castle Street.

Neff partners with UNC Wilmington’s Black Sea Bass program, purchasing surplus farm-raised fish to supply the effort.

The bank distributes 20 free fish each week on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Neff said he launched the program after seeing a growing need in the community for this particular source of protein.

“We basically kind of saw that there was a need for fresh, local fish and that food banks and other, you know, places where people get food support were sort of unable to, you know, carry and process fish and so that was an area where we felt like we could step in now having this market that we, we purchased it about a year ago,” said Neff.

Neff says it was a great honor to receive this award.