Seafood Trays Are the New Seafood Towers

When it comes to seafood towers, these days they’re so tall that it’s almost a competition, like the race to build the tallest skyscraper. Some rank a seafood tower by the sheer height or by how many tiers it has. A two-tier plateau is for the timid (or perhaps just lunch), three levels is for the committed, and four tiers, is, well, over the top. A tower is a showstopping, attention-grabbing spectacle as it gets trotted around a dining room until it lands at your table, but it’s also a little impractical, even if it goes great with a side of fries.

The flipside of the ostentatious display of a seafood tower is the single-level seafood tray — the quiet luxury of a high-quality curated platter. A tray brimming with seafood over ice is nothing new — it is a classic composition after all — but it is something we can’t help but notice is having a moment at restaurants across the United States. Often perfect for a solo diner with enough to share between two (perhaps even three or four), a humble seafood platter is the sort of dish that can turn an ordinary weeknight into a more special event — whether you want to share or not.

At the red-hot seafood counter restaurant Penny in New York, there’s the Ice Box, a single-level platter that features a core selection from the raw bar, including shrimp cocktail, mussels escabeche, oysters, countneck clams, and a scallop crudo, alongside aioli, cocktail sauce, and a celery mignonette. There’s also the aptly named Ice Box +, which features all of the above, with additional offerings that rotate seasonally. It’s what Penny’s chef Joshua Pinsky describes as “a little bit more luxurious.” At the time of this writing, for example, the Ice Box Plus comes with lobster cups alla Louie and vichyssoise shooters with trout roe.

The ice box trays — a collaboration between Pinsky, Penny owner Chase Sinzer, and their furniture fabricator Ian Chapin — were custom-made out of a dark blue powder-coated aluminum (the same material as the bar stools). “We ended up with something that felt playful,” says Pinksy, “But worked for our presentation style.” That said, Pinksy admits that they’re not afraid of heights, having just launched a two-tiered tray set called the Ice Box ++, a more abundant, bountiful experience that also includes (for now) seafood sausages, vichyssoise shooters, and lobster salad.

There’s no tower in sight at the newish neighborhood spot Charlie’s in downtown St. Helena, California, from chef-owner Elliot Bell. Instead there’s the lavishly delightful Seafood Party that serves two to four people. Using West Coast seafood, primarily from Northern California, the dish is built out of an array of small, composed seafood dishes that often get plated inside the shells, alongside individual items like shrimp, oysters, mussels, or uni. More of a communal dish, it’s served on a tray instead of a tower so that, according to Bell, “it would be easy for guests to access from any side of the tables without obstructing their view or conversation, particularly at the bar.” 

The Seafood Party at Charlie’s is constantly evolving. “We don’t change everything all at once,” Bell explains, “but as new ingredients come into season we will sub out elements, and before we know it, it’s an entirely different experience.” There are a lot of moving parts to the dish, and it’s very much an all-hands-on-deck situation, with everyone jumping in to help plate it when an order comes in.

And in this party, sometimes seafood is just a component, not a star of the show. “In the summer we served watermelon slices seasoned with housemade tajin and bonito,” explains Bell, “and right now we have tomatoes on the truss dressed in a local anchovy dressing.”

Like most things, what’s old is new again. The New Orleans restaurant Pêche is known for its raw bar, especially its oysters, and there’s been a seafood platter on the menu since it opened in 2013. “It's a great starting point for a meal when you don't want to overthink your order,” says Pêche chef de cuisine and 2024 F&W Best New Chef Nicole Cabrera Mills. The platter at Pêche comes with Gulf oysters, poached jumbo shrimp, smoked tuna dip, seafood salad, and a smoked drum salad that changes with the seasons. 

Seafood platters are nothing new; they’ve been around forever in New Orleans, and they come in many forms. “I think the one that is frequently seen everywhere are the fried seafood platters,” says Mills. And while you might find seafood towers at a few places around New Orleans, like Bourbon House in the French Quarter, Seaworthy, or Luke, she’s been seeing raw seafood platters become more common in the city over the last 10 years.

As to why, platters are more practical, and less labor-intensive than a tower. “We have never had a tower, and I don't think we ever will,” says Mills. “We try not to overcomplicate service, and I think a tower would definitely overcomplicate things.” Platters are simply easier to put together and often easier for the diners to navigate. “The towers definitely present like showstoppers,” says Mills. “But when you're enjoying them at a table they're not that easy to eat from. More often than not, you can't see the top layer — at least I can't — and most of the space in the towers are blank spaces filled with seaweed.”