In the summer of 2021, an unlikely snack became all the rage on the internet: tinned fish.
The so-called “hot girl food” is exactly what its name suggests: processed seafood — namely sardines, anchovies, salmon, mollusks and shellfish — that’s neatly packaged and presented in a peel-back, often decorative tin. Tinned fish was the epitome of "girl dinner" before girl dinner became a whole thing. It's very mindful and very demure, one might say using TikTok verbiage. And, it pays homage to writer and chef Alison Roman, whose famed shallot pasta calls for a tin of anchovy fillets.
At the height of the pandemic, Fishwife, a now-viral tinned fish company, was conceived in Los Angeles. The woman-owned brand was founded by Caroline Goldfarb and Becca Millstein, two (former) friends who sought to sell high-quality, sustainably sourced seafood directly from the States. What makes Fishwife so unique is its tins. Each one is a piece of art in itself, featuring colorful and funky illustrations with beautiful calligraphy.
“Tinned fish is the ultimate hot girl food,” Goldfarb told Nylon in a 2021 interview. “There is no food that will make you hotter than tinned fish. Straight up. Do you know a hot girl who doesn’t exist on protein? I don’t.”
Fishwife is currently manned solely by Millstein, who took over as the brand’s CEO in 2022. The self-proclaimed “first chic tinned fish company” in America has enjoyed several notable collaborations, including with Lisa Bühler’s eponymous fashion label Lisa Says Gah, contemporary ceramic dinnerware brand East Fork Pottery and the woman-owned craft beer brand Talea.
Last month, Fishwife opened a pop-up store in Manhattan, located at 247 Elizabeth Street in Nolita. The first weekend began on Friday, Sept. 27 from 2 to 8 p.m., along with Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The store remained open for a second weekend from Oct. 4 to Oct. 6 at the same times. Attendees enjoyed no shortage of good eats, free samples and exciting partnerships. Fishwife’s most popular products, including its Smoked Rainbow Trout and Slow Smoked Mackerel with Chili Flakes, were available for purchase. The brand’s merchandise, like its Tinned Fish Tongs, Tinned Fish Board and Tinned Fish Hats, were also on display.
I was lucky enough to visit the pop-up store during its second weekend. On Friday, I made my way from Brooklyn to Manhattan, eagerly keeping an eye out for the store’s bright blue exterior and pop-art decor. It was hard to miss, along with the long line of Fishwife enthusiasts and curious passersby eagerly waiting for their turn to step inside. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long for my turn to enter the pop-up. But while waiting in line, I overheard several conversations between folks who said they encountered lines spanning several blocks earlier in the day.
To say I ate well last weekend is an understatement — I feasted to my heart’s content. I indulged in everything bagels, courtesy of Apollo Bagels, paired with smoked salmon cream cheese. I drank a Fishwife Tiny ‘Tini, which contained Bombay Sapphire gin, martini dry vermouth and olive brine topped with an orange peel (artfully branded with Fishwife’s iconic logo) and a Gilda made with the brand’s anchovies. I also nibbled on a medley of small bites: deviled eggs with smoked rainbow trout, butter & anchovy toast and salmon seaweed snacks (which featured Fishwife’s Smoked Salmon with Fly By Jing Chili Crisp).
However, what really stood out to me was Fishwife’s soon-to-be-released California White Sturgeon Caviar. On Friday, I tried it on a potato chip adorned with a dollop of crème fraîche and humble sprinkles of egg whites and egg yolks. I tried it again the following day, this time on top of crème fraîche ice cream with crumbled potato chips. The caviar itself was deliciously salty and oh-so buttery. This was my first time trying caviar and I couldn’t help but reminisce about the first time I tried raw oysters, another luxurious delicacy. When I raised the shell to my lips and slurped the oyster into my mouth, I remembered tasting ocean water. I was expecting that same unpleasant, fishy taste when I tried my first bite of caviar, but to my surprise, it was absolutely delicious.
I’m proud to say that the pop-up store has made me a newfound Fishwife fan. So much so, that I picked up a tin of Cantabrian Anchovies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil along with a tin of Lemon Zest Salt, made in partnership with Jacobsen Salt Co. Perhaps I’ll try my hand at making homemade kimchi jjigae while embracing the Fishwife mantra: “Hot girls eat tinned fish.”
