Chattanooga chef Matt Greene lets the catfish out of the bag with his Italian-inspired dish
The edges of the Tennessee river once bustled with a thriving fishing industry. Over the years, as pollution and a high volume of barge traffic filled the waterway, that industry died off, leaving once-prized species like catfish with the stigma of coming from a beleaguered source.
Since then, there have been significant efforts to clean the waterway, but executive chef of Chattanooga’s Common House Matt Greene says, “when we started looking around, we didn’t see catfish on a single menu.”
He couldn’t find any nearby purveyors, either—until he discovered a family of local fishermen under the name DC’s Fish Market. Fishing directly from the Tennessee River, the team processes their catch and ships it off to chefs around the US. Greene saw an opportunity to re-introduce the firm-fleshed fish to Chattanooga diners. This time, though, with an Italian twist.
Set inside a circa 1929 building marked by its Italian Renaissance revival style of architecture, Common House (a members-only co-working space with its own restaurant) maintains a design aesthetic inspired by the bones of the building with lots of terra cotta tile, white plaster throughout, and splashes of natural light.
On the menu, Greene leans into Italian technique but marries in Eastern Tennessee’s distinctly Appalachian roots.
Once a whole-animal butcher at Brooklyn’s the Meat Hook, and later his own shop JM Stock Provisions in Charlottesville, Virginia, Greene is committed to using locally sourced proteins. “The family at DC’s was one of the few who were really carrying the torch of the local fishing industry and we really wanted to support them,” he says.
He’s found a following for it, too—fans flock for his variation on a traditional milanese, in which he pounds and breads catfish filets and serves them over a bean and cucumber salad. A swipe of olive-brined aïoli completes the plate. “It’s a great representation of what we’re trying to do here,” he says.
GET THE CATFISH MILANESE RECIPE
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Hannah Lee Leidy
Hannah Lee Leidy is a food writer and editor based in the Carolinas. She is currently the digital content editor for Our State magazine, a position she came into following her time at The Local Palate. Her contributions have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Culture, and Eater. She’s spent time working in restaurants in both front and back of house positions, doing everything from burning gateaux to expediting to shaking a Manhattan (don’t worry, this only happened once). An avid curd nerd, her favorite beat is reporting on boutique cheese makers; she’ll sniff out every creamery near and far whenever traveling. When not parenting a Bernese mountain pup named Ava, you’ll find her running or working on her lamination technique.
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