Growing up, the ocean was always a big part of my life. The fishing trips down south in Ensenada, Junior Lifeguards in the summer, surfing Blacks on a glassy morning, and beach picnics with the family. The ocean. It is home.

I am so fortunate to learn this trade from the ground up. At 18 years old, I started as a busboy at El Pescador Fish Market in La Jolla, working my way up to in-house fishmonger. I was doing a lot of fishing too, really distinguishing between “straight off the boat” fresh and “wholesale” fresh. There was such a natural feeling looking customers in the eye, taking their order, and using my hands to fillet the freshest catch for them to bring home. I was hooked.

After graduating from UCLA, I worked at other well-known fish markets in Southern California. I then moved to Mexico City for four months to apprentice under acclaimed Chef Federico Rigoletti, co-founder of famous seafood restaurants Contramar and Puntarena.

After Mexico City, I worked wholesale at Hawaiian Fresh Seafood, grading tuna quality as well as delivering the freshest seafood to restaurants all over San Diego.

At Nico’s Fish Market, we are family. We love to fish, we love to surf, and we love the ocean. Ask us our catch of the day, and we will tell you where we caught it and how.

Fish. Friends. Family.