This month we are highlighting one of Portland’s longest standing and respected seafood restaurants, Southpark Seafood, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. George and Brit had the privilege of meeting with Jason Gerlt, the General Manager of the restaurant, to talk about its past and where it’s going today. The restaurant opened in 1998 as Heathman B Mulluh, a Mediterranean seafood restaurant opened by Coho Services. Southpark’s focus has evolved from a Mediterranean style to more of a traditional Pacific Northwest flavor, featuring fresh and sustainably farmed ingredients. Today, Southpark Seafood combines farm-to-table ingredients with innovative technologies aimed at maintaining a strong digital presence and creating a framework for how to market high-end restaurants in 2018.Southpark Seafood’s main passion is providing customers with the highest quality ingredients through ethically sound and sustainable farming practices. Further, the forward-thinking seafood company partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. This program helps select and classify seafood as sustainably farmed, to further promote a healthy ocean, both today and into the future. Their helpful recommendations outline which foods are the best choices, good alternatives, and which to avoid.Southpark and COHO Services was awarded the Adrian Award back in February of this year for their innovation in digital marketing. Working in collaboration with Visiting Media, Southpark’s digital marketing strategy features the innovative platform called TrueTour. Using this platform, Southpark is able to digitally show where its high-quality ingredients come from, delivering a truly unique farm-to-table experience by use of high-quality 360-degree photography. Further, these images can be viewed in virtual reality and will likely adapt to much of the changing technological landscape of the future. Maili Morrison, Executive VP of COHO services, is excited about integrating the TrueTour platform explaining,“we have VR [virtual reality] viewers upon request at the tables, and it’s hilarious to watch the diners explore. Not only are they entertained, they have an unforgettable and emotional experience with us. They leave feeling like they know us, love us, and they definitely want to tell their friends. This has been an absolute home run campaign for us, and launched with over 1 million hits out of the gate.”Learn more about this classic local restaurant and make reservations at southparkseafood.com.
