STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two years ago, Arthur Shnayderman, 34, who formerly was employed to do medical testing for a physical therapist, was looking for a new challenge.
“If someone got a work-related injury or hurt during an accident, I would do nerve testing. ...I didn’t like this very much,” said the Arden Heights resident.
That’s when he stumbled upon a great idea for a fish market while out with a friend.
“A relative of my good buddy has a [seafood] store in Queens, and I went there. I was so impressed. ...The concept [where you can pick out the fish and have it cooked and prepared on premises] was something I’ve never seen before.”
Shnayderman -- who was born in Russia and lived in New Jersey and Brooklyn before settling on Staten Island -- said he knew he wanted to open a fish market on Staten Island with the same concept.
“The concept where you are actually picking out your own fresh, raw food and it’s getting cooked for you, right in front of you, is great,” he said.
Shnayderman soon teamed up with Alan Mamedov to create Beyond the Sea on Canal Street in Stapleton. However, because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they didn’t open as quickly as they would have liked.
But the pair managed to get the doors of the seafood market open in July 2020.
“When the pandemic hit we were actually in the process of building the store,” said Shnayderman. “We would have been open in March.”
He said he structured the store around pandemic rules.
“They [customers] come in wearing a mask, they pick out their fish, and I give them an approximate time of when to come back,” he said. “There’s never a lot of people in the store.”
THE MENU
Each morning, Shnayderman and Mamedov post their menu, which consists of an array of fresh fish -- from striped bass to salmon -- and seafood.
“When we come in we take the fresh fish we have, filet it and bread it and either refrigerate or freeze it. So when the customer comes in and orders something fried, we don’t have to go through the process of filleting and breading it. And customers can get in and out as fast as possible,” said Shnayderman.
Beyond the Sea also offers steamed options, or customers can purchase the fish raw and cook it themselves.
FISH TABLES
Shnayderman said he has three fish tables at Beyond the Sea.
“One is for whole fish, the next is for filets, and one has shrimp, clams, mussels and scallops,” he said.
There’s also a freezer chock full of lobster tails, and king, snow and blue crabs.
“In the front we have a silver bowl. So you come in and grab any kind of raw fish that you want. So for example, you may grab a filet of salmon, then grab a couple shrimp, clams and scallops from the other table,” he said.
And Beyond the Sea isn’t limited to fish, there’s an entire vegetable refrigerator -- filled with everything from corn and spinach, to okra and string beans -- so customers can complete their meal.
“All the vegetables also go into the silver bowl. Once you have everything you want, you give it to us and there are certain spices we can put on it, depending on what you want. ...We also put fresh garlic and olive oil on that seafood, if you want, then we put that in the steamer. Once it’s cooked, it comes out, and we hit it with some hot butter,” said Shnayderman.
PUTTING A SMILE ON PEOPLE’S FACES
And he said he wakes up every day looking forward to going to work.
“It sounds cliche, but I love doing this because it really puts a smile on people’s faces. People leave and they’re happy -- especially people who would travel to places, like Brooklyn, to buy the fish they want,” said Shnayderman.
“We are all about fresh fish, good food and being nice to people,” he added.
BEYOND THE SEA AT A GLANCE
Address: 84 Canal St.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/beyondtheseafood
Instagram: www.instagram.com/beyondthesea_si/?hl=en
New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners.
If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com.
Tracey Porpora is the business writer and Sunday manager for SiLive.com/Staten Island Advance.
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