Welcome Chef Mazur
July 31, 2014
Locally trained chef looks to continue the pioneering culinary spirit of Brian Hirsty who passed away earlier this year
While most executive chef appointments at high-profile restaurants are cause for celebration, today’s announcement that Jason Mazur has been named executive chef for Bluewater Grill’s growing family of seafood restaurants is a considerably quieter affair.
Mazur, who has been acting executive chef since earlier this year, officially takes over for Brian Hirsty, Bluewater Grill’s beloved founding executive chef who passed away in March after battling a rare bone marrow disease. Brian helped open the first Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach’s Cannery Village in 1996, and was instrumental in exporting his culinary vision for fresh sustainable seafood and shellfish to neighborhoods throughout Southern California and Arizona.
“We are beyond grateful to Brian for creating Bluewater Grill’s rich culinary tradition and commitment to menu excellence, hospitality and introducing the joy of seafood to tens of thousands of first-time customers,” explained Jimmy Ulcickas. Bluewater Grill co-founder.
“His spirit most definitely lives on – not only in the recipes and specialty dishes we serve everyday but in the many chefs like Jason that trained under him.”
“I do believe that Brian would wholeheartedly approve of Jason taking the helm in the Bluewater kitchen.”
Mazur, who has managed the kitchen at Bluewater Grill’s Redondo Beach location as restaurant chef for the past year, will be responsible for expanding the culinary program at all six operating Bluewater restaurants and seventh location opening this fall. He will work closely with restaurant chefs and general managers at each location to develop new menus, dishes, sauces and house specialties that not only expand the Bluewater flavor profile but reflect the distinctive neighborhoods of each restaurant.
In addition, consistent with Bluewater’s industry-leading commitment to seafood sustainability, Mazur will partner with fisherman and industry experts to ensure that the majority of Bluewater menu items are sustainably caught or farmed according to standards established by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® program, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach Seafood for the Future program or the Marine Stewardship Council.
“I am honored to continue what Chef Brian started,” said Mazur. “My goal is nothing short of making Bluewater Grill the most innovative sustainable seafood restaurant in America, serving not just the freshest fish but doing it such a way that fosters a whole new appreciation – and passion – for the sea. Our goal at Bluewater is to show just how delicious and culinary-focused seafood sustainability can be.”
Beyond his year-long apprenticeship under Hirsty, Mazur, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, brings his own 15-year culinary record. Prior to joining the Bluewater family in June 2013, he served in an executive, consulting or sous chef capacity at various restaurants with a specialty in fish including Neiman-Marcus in Newport Beach, Original Fish Co., in Los Alamitos and McCormick & Schmidt’s in Anaheim.
He was also executive chef at David Wilhelm’s French 75 in Irvine and worked with James Beard Award-winning Chef Tim Goodell in the kitchens of Orange County’s celebrated Aubergine and Troquet before serving as a chef at Morry’s of Naples in Long Beach and Le Quai in Newport Beach.
Mazur lives with wife and son in Costa Mesa and will work out of the original Bluewater Grill in Cannery Village but make regular trips to all seven Bluewater locations.
Bluewater Grill locations include 630 Lido Park Drive in Newport Beach, in Cannery Village; 2409 Park Avenue in Tustin, at the District at Tustin Legacy; 665 North Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach, at King Harbor; and 1701 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix, in the Camelback neighborhood of central Phoenix. The phone numbers are (949) 675-FISH (3474), (714) 258-FISH (3474), (310) 318-FISH (3474) and (602) 277-FISH (3474), respectively.
Recent additions to the growing family include Bluewater Avalon on the Avalon waterfront on Santa Catalina Island, and Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill, in the iconic former Hotel Del Coronado boathouse on San Diego’s Coronado Island. You can reach these locations by calling (310) 510-FISH (3474) or (619) 435 0155, respectively.
Bluewater founders also announced plans to open a seventh Bluewater restaurant in fall 2014 in Temecula Wine County.