WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — A coastal seafood restaurant known for its fresh catch is getting into the sushi game. Shark Bar and Kitchen on Wrightsville Beach has officially launched The Red Cat Sushi Bar on the second floor of the restaurant.
Founders Alan and Jennifer Giaquinto and chef-partner Louie Sipler made Red Cat Sushi’s debut in February after renovating during the down season. The menu features a dozen or so rolls, plus sushi, sashimi and fun appetizers, as well as daily specials like scallop crudo or spicy lobster served on wanton chips.
“The support so far has been great,” Jen Giaquinto told Port City Daily, noting the name comes from her charismatic if not misbehaved red cat, Chunks. “You may have noticed the oil painting of him lording over the bar as an ‘admiral.’ It’s actually a take on the cover of the Jimmy Buffett album, ‘Son of a Sailor.’”
The Giaquintos opened Shark Bar in 2017 and Alan said the restaurant’s growth was always part of the plan. In 2019 the restaurateurs added second-floor seating, followed by additional outdoor dining in 2021. With more space to utilize upstairs, a raw bar was built and primarily served oysters before being transformed into a sushi bar. The bivalves — brought in from varied place like Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, and of course North Carolina when in season — are still offered.
“We serve them with ponzu or caviar,” Jen detailed.
Expanding into a sushi bar was a harmonious approach, as the crew already established relationships with local fishermen and purveyors, such as Motts Channel Seafood. Shark Bar’s menu features seafood galore, such as red snapper, tuna and softshell crab, used in myriad ways on the menu.
“So if we get softshell crab, it will become a sandwich or entree for Shark Bar and be the basis of a Spider Roll in the Red Cat,” Jen explained.
Her personal favorite is the lump blue crab California roll or the spicy lobster, salmon and tuna on a wonton. The seafood “pops,” Jen said due to its freshness, but she also suggests punching up any roll or cut of sashimi with a flavorful trick.
“For anyone out there who likes spice, I recommend soaking some sliced Serrano pepper in soy sauce and dipping your bites into the Serrano-infused soy sauce,” she said.
Chef-partner Sipler said the spicy offerings always fare well at Red Cat and speciality rolls have been selling out nightly. He is compelled by some of the more adventurous combinations, like the Tempura Shrimp Unagi Roll, punctuated by Japanese smoked eel atop shrimp tempura and spicy tuna.
“It’s all about highlighting the seafood as the star with a simple, fresh, and creative preparation,” Sipler said, often marrying traditional sushi items with “Carolina flavors.” For instance, locally sourced seabass will be layered in spicy aioli and feature subtle smoky notes. The goal for Sipler is to honor “coastal ingredients,” imbuing the familiar with something new.
He got his start in the industry as a youngster in the Culowhee area of the North Carolina mountains, wherein his Italian family owned and operated a restaurant called Half Past. His dad held a 40-year career as a chef and Sipler was always helping the family business through middle and high school and during summers off in college. He started in the bakery, making homemade pastas, cookies and cakes, before realizing being in a kitchen cooking live on a line was more his speed and fed his creative expression and need for instant gratification.
“Growing up around that environment taught me everything: the prep work, the hustle, how to treat guests, how a kitchen really functions behind the scenes,” Sipler said. “It gave me a strong foundation and, more importantly, a deep respect for the craft that I’ve carried with me into my time at Shark Bar.”
Sipler came to Wilmington in 2015 to attend college and graduated in 2018 with a biology degree but during his studies took up employment as a dishwasher at Shark Bar. Calling it the best place to “learn humility and understand how every single role matters in a restaurant,” Sipler worked his way up — shucked oysters, prepared salads, worked the fryer and managed every station thereof before becoming kitchen manager.
“We brought him on as a partner four years ago,” Alan said, with Jen praising Sipler as a “natural talent” whose tenacity and background in the industry supersedes a culinary degree.
“I never really thought I was going to be a chef,” Sipler admitted. “But I genuinely love creating food, developing people, and finding new ways to challenge myself. I love creating something that makes people want to come back.”
In addition to partnering in Shark Bar, he also oversees two projects for the Giaquintos in Oaxaca, Mexico, on La Costa Chica. He utilizes his family’s pizza dough recipe at the casual beachfront pizzeria, Il Gatto Rosso.
Adding a sushi bar to the Wrightsville Beach eatery appealed to the young chef due to the precision it takes to craft a perfect bite. He calls making sushi “an art form” — one that has helped evolve his skillset further.
“Every ingredient, every cut matters,” Sipler said. “Wilmington has such a strong culture around fresh seafood, so it felt like a natural fit to highlight our local fish purveyors and the fresh fish they’re bringing in every day. I love that you can sit upstairs in our restaurant, look out at the ocean and eat fish in its most natural form that was caught in that water sometimes just hours beforehand.”
The Red Cat Sushi, located above Shark Bar at 13 E. Salisbury St., opens daily at 3 p.m. and has half-off sushi (prices range from $14 to $32) until 5 p.m.
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