The 5th annual OFF THE HOOK Santa Monica Seafood Festival splashes onto the iconic Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, Sept. 14th showcasing the city's best restaurants and chefs and their favorite underwater ingredients with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop.This year’s festival willbenefit Heal the Bay and create awareness for National Water Quality Month and Coastal Cleanup Day. Attendees will enjoy incredible seafood tastings such as oysters, lobster, shrimp and sushi along with beer and wine gardens, live music, games, oyster shucking competition, artisan market and a Sustainable Seafood VIP Lounge. Best of all, OFF THE HOOK is 100% free of single-use plastics helping to keep our Santa Monica Bay clean and safe. Tickets on sale now at www.offthehookseafoodfest.com.

 “Heal the Bay is thrilled to be the nonprofit partner this year and excited by the direction restaurants are taking regarding seafood sustainability,” said Shelley Luce, CEO of Heal the Bay. “This event brings together the best restaurants and seafood dishes while also helping to draw awareness for sustainability and ocean-friendly lifestyle practices.”  

This year’s festival will feature Santa Monica's top restaurants and chefs showcasing dishes such as Alaska Shellfish Co. Oysters with seasonal cranberry mignonette from Blue Plate Oysterette, albacore tuna tartare tacos from Cafe Del Rey, dungeness crab salad from The Lobster, bay shrimp ceviche from Herringbone, octopus agua chile with black ant ash from Nixo Patio Lounge, ‘Ota ‘Ika from Chef Gregorio Ignacio, and more. Other restaurant offerings from Cleo Hollywood, Red O, Sushi Roku, Margo's, The Albright, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Emporium Thai, Enterprise Fish Co.,The Venice Whaler, TUMBI Craft Indian Kitchen, Jalisco’s Tacos, Poke Ceviche, Gastro Garage and Bento Moderno.  

Other highlights of this year’s festival includes live performances by Yacht Rock 70’s soft rock tribute band Driftwood Mac and Top 40 tribute The Reall Deall Band. The crowd favorite Oyster Shucking Competition, sponsored by The Albright, where competitors battle it out for "Best in Shuck" award will also take place. Additionally, OFF THE HOOK has invited INSPIRED Vibe Events to curate an upscale Artisan shopping market that will feature local sustainable art, original designs, and crafts vendors, all hand-selected to complement the OFF THE HOOK experience. A portion of each sale from the market will go towards the event’s overall fundraising for Heal the Bay!

OFF THE HOOK is also excited to announce the iconic K-Swiss brand will be collaborating with Heal the Bay to launch a limited edition Heal the Bay low top sneaker.Festival attendees will be among the first to purchase this one-of-a-kind shoe that not only displays the Heal the Bay Logo on its soles and a wave decal on the side, but is created from recycled and eco-friendly materials. Priced at $100, a portion of all sneaker proceeds will be going directly to Heal the Bay.

Tickets are $65.00 for general admission which includes tastings, access to the beer and wine garden, spirits tastings, live music, games and more. VIP tickets start at $85 and include early an hour early entry at 3 p.m. and access to the Sustainable Seafood VIP Lounge with curated cocktails, champagne and specialty seafood dishes from additional restaurants.  

OFF THE HOOK is proudly sponsored by Vital Proteins, Flying Embers, BABE Rosé, K-SWISS, Gray Whale Gin, Getaround, BABE Rose, Boxed Water, Dulce Vida Tequila, Besa Wines, Blue Moon, Peroni, Yaegaki Sake, Cavalier Wine Exchange, AT&T, Shore Hotel, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Buy Local Santa Monica, Santa Monica Daily Press, LA Weekly, Yelp, Food & Beverage Magazine and more. 

 A portion of proceeds will benefit Heal the Bay to help preserve our local ocean, waves, and beaches for future generations. Tickets are available now at www.offthehookseafoodfest.com.  

ABOUT HEAL THE BAY:  

Heal the Bay is an environmental nonprofit dedicated to making the coastal waters and watersheds of Greater Los Angeles safe, healthy and clean. “To fulfill our mission, we use science, education, community action, and advocacy.” Heal the Bay invites you to take part in Coastal Cleanup Day, the world’s largest volunteer day to protect our environment on Saturday, September 21, 2019 from 9am-12pm. On this day, volunteers from all over the world will do their part to clean local beaches, rivers, creeks and parks. Heal the Bay is proud to be the official host of cleanup sites in Los Angeles County. It’s easy to participate, no special equipment or experience is necessary, and all are welcome! Register on the Heal the Bay website www.healthebay.org.