Mark Ridgeway has that relaxed, sun-soaked look of a fisherman who has spent a lot of time maneuvering through the rough waters of the Pacific. If you passed him walking down the street in his jeans with his easy-going manner, you’d never suspect he runs one of the most successful restaurants in town. Malibu Seafood, a cherished landmark, sits on PCH as a reminder of long ago times, when valet parking and reservations weren’t necessary, and if you just showed up, you’d be taken care of. Some things never change. Today, Mark’s restaurant is more popular than ever with more than one thousand pounds of fish flying weekly out of that old screen door.
Mark opened his restaurant in 1973 when Malibu was little more than a funky town—before cityhood, before massive development, before Ralphs and Starbucks and the litany of high-end eateries geared toward the LA weekend crowd. Originally located at the end of the Pier, the restaurant has been around for many years.
Did you always want to own a seafood restaurant?
No, never started out wanting to be a restaurateur. I was more a commercial fisherman, and then the opportunity came to be involved with Malibu Seafood.
What’s a typical day like?
I work generally five days a week and seven when things need to be handled. My day starts around 3:30 or 4 in the morning. I go to market in LA, I see what I want, pick it out, get it set up for delivery. It’s really awesome—it’s my time of day. I head back up the coast. The sun’s coming up. I get here, nobody’s around. It’s very peaceful
What’s your most popular fish?
Wild salmon by far is the number one fish.
Why is fish so expensive?
One of the main factors is, not a shortage of fish. It’s because fish is so well regulated now that the quotas are so tight that now the demand exceeds the allowable amounts of fish to be caught. It’s not that the fishermen can’t catch more. It’s because they want to be able to catch the same amount years down the line. We want a sustainable fish stock.
What’s the strangest request you’ve ever received from a customer?
The quirkiest thing, years and years ago, someone over the hill had bought a bunch of lobsters and took them home. They called around five o’clock in the afternoon in a panic, asking if I could personally put the lobsters in the pot because they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. So I did.
Do you have a pet peeve about customer requests?
I have two. One at the restaurant level, and one at the market level. The one at the market level is the phone call, “I want to order six lobsters. Can you cook them, chill them, and split them? And also I need about four pounds of such and such. Can you peel them and vein them?” “I’ll be glad to. What time would you like them?” “I have one stop at Ralph’s. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” This is about a two-hour process! It goes on all the time. It’s actually pretty comical to me, not much of an irritation, just comical. The other issue is people bringing outside food. I once had one guy who brought his own hibachi mini grill and started to cook steaks right here on the patio!
What do you do on your day off?
If I’m not out fishing, I spend time with my daughters. I get to pick them up from school every day. I just like hanging with my girls. Days off I also will sometimes come down because there’s always something that needs to be addressed before opening.
What might people find surprising about you?
I like to build furniture and do wood working. My wife and I like to do interior home and furniture design. It gives me a good outlet.
Would you consider publishing a cookbook?
We would. Because we cook very simply, we don’t have a lot of secret recipes. But my wife is a fabulous cook, gourmet quality. So together we could produce an awesome cookbook.