You can go home again – Sushi chef Noah Copenhaver blazes new trail at The Pier
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You can go home again
Sushi chef Noah Copenhaver blazes new trail at The Pier
by Sue Wade
Punta Gorda, Florida – June 1, 2019 – Chef Noah Copenhaver, 27, is on his way home again.
In the early nineties his parents, Bill and Becky, lived on their sailboat at the end of the dock at Fishermen’s Village marina. Family legend has them bathing their only son in a 55-quart cooler while throwing happy hours at the pier’s pavilion.
The kid was born into Fishermen’s Village.
Now the man is going home again, this time to the harbor side, as executive sushi chef for Evans’ fresh new waterfront restaurant—The Pier at Fishermen’s Village.
Fully aware that he’s building yet another Punta Gorda dream team, Evans said, “We’ll have the next generation of up-and-coming talent at The Pier. Noah Copenhaver has deep roots in Punta Gorda and delivers an excellent, unique product.”
The Pier’s executive chef, Todd Stolpe, who first worked with Noah at Hurricane Charley’s in Punta Gorda, said, “He was an absolute sponge. I’d show him something, and he’d put his own twist on it, which is what every chef does. But chefs always go on to something bigger and better. Noah is really cutting into the industry with a mind full of ideas and a passion to execute them.”
Copenhaver still can’t quite believe his good fortune, but there was never a question of whom Evans would hire for the job.
“When Chris approached me, I was just overwhelmed with joy that he thought of me for the job,” he said.
“I took the Charlotte High School food prep program so I could eat food,” joked the young chef. “But I fell in love with cooking in Charlotte Tech’s culinary program, under Chefs Jason Osborne and Bill Seibert.”
He went on to graduate from Johnson & Wales University in North Miami.
“Johnson & Wales didn’t teach a whole lot about sushi,” he said. “It’s a specialty, and I wanted to prove that I could do this food, and make it beautiful.”
He was taken under the wing of an irrepressible Thai sushi chef, the late Lee Akhaphong.
“He showed me how to be creative, have fun, interact with customers and make them laugh—the whole showmanship side of sushi. Lee made beautiful food and helped grow the business there. And I still teach others the same way he taught me.”
Within a year, Copenhaver had risen to the position of sushi chef/manager, training as many as 20 employees along the way and constantly inventing more new combinations.
“Flavorful and eclectic” sums up the menu on which Noah and Stolpe are collaborating at The Pier.
Its central 43-seat sushi bar will create classic and signature fancy rolls, as well as the first poké (pronounced “PO-kay”) bowls between Fort Myers and Sarasota.
Chef Noah explained, “More and more major cities have been opening Hawaiian poké restaurants, featuring the light, fresh Hawaiian poké bowl—marinated sliced seafood, rice, avocado, cucumber, sprouts, some crunch, some intense flavor and colors. It’s been taking off on the mainland and will take off here. It’s something nobody’s doing around here.
“The sushi menu includes classic rolls like California and spicy tuna, but we’ll rotate experimental specialty rolls that I’ve got in my back pocket, so that we’ll really stand out above the rest. I’ll also run daily specials and change up the rotating menu month to month.”
Copenhaver will run the multi-chef sushi bar while Stolpe runs the kitchen.
“But we’ll be working side by side on everything as all good teams do. I’ll be there every day from now on, learning from Chris how to build a restaurant. Perhaps one day there will be more opportunities within Fishermen’s Village to have my own one day.”
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