Who says that living among the beautiful mountains means you can’t enjoy all the culinary delights of the sea: fresh shrimp, lobster, halibut, salmon, and tuna? Certainly not Jayson Johnson, and he opened Crozet Seafood Supply to prove it.
As soon as you walk into the store in the Clover Lawn Shopping Center across from Harris Teeter, that clean briny smell lets you know this is the real thing. On your left is the glass case of filets, laid out on ice surrounded by fresh kale. Next to that is the display of raw and cooked shellfish and the freshly prepared seafood salads, with a smiling staffer ready to offer you an Old Bay-infused Ritz cracker and a sample; try a favorite, the lobster pasta salad with sun-dried tomato and dill. And among the shelves of seafood paraphernalia—sauces, spices, rubs, marinades, crackers, pasta, rice—Johnson is strolling, ready with information and advice.
Johnson moved to Crozet 12 years ago to work as a neonatal respiratory therapist at UVA. After the stressful times going through COVID at the hospital, he says, “I thought about what I’d want to do for the next 15 years—it seemed a good time to make a change.”
A childhood friend, Joe Skinner, owns Bon Air Seafood in Richmond, and Johnson, a self-described foodie who had owned several small businesses in the past, decided to dive in with Skinner as partner. “I wanted [to start] something local, so I could live and work here, and I wanted to offer the community something sustainable.”
Crozet Seafood Supply was launched in March 2024, and Johnson says the response has been strong. On the Wednesday morning that I visit (“usually a slow time”), traffic is steady. Several customers are clearly regulars. A new customer has stopped by because he’s looking for calamari—“If we don’t have what you’re looking for, let us know—we’ll try to get it for you,” says Johnson. Then a couple comes in, first-timers taking a look. It helps that Johnson is active on social media, promoting the arrival of seasonal delicacies like softshell crabs, as well as the specials on goodies ranging from homemade Andalusian gazpacho to the ever-popular Bon Air cheese balls featuring shrimp or crab.
Both freshness and environmental impact are key for Johnson. “Our prices are a little higher,” he says, “but that’s because we want to offer the best quality and the most sustainable varieties.” Everything is delivered by refrigerated truck straight from the docks at Hampton or in Maryland; that way, Johnson says, he can offer fresh catch from an area ranging from Iceland to Florida. The fresh Scottish salmon is flown into Hampton—it’s farm-raised, he says, but the “farm” is in a loch open to the ocean, so the fish are eating what they would in the wild. There are also frozen options: the Chilean sea bass, for example, is flash-frozen as soon as it’s caught.
Johnson has also developed local partnerships. The store’s lobster rolls (“it’s our most popular offering, hot or cold”) and other sandwiches are served on bread from Praha Bohemian Bakery & Cafe in Crozet, and the supplemental foods, sauces, and rubs are from small specialty companies like Stonewall Kitchen, Firehook Bakery, and Lynchburg’s Scratch Pasta. And since the store just got its ABC license, Johnson will be offering a range of local beverages as well.
An added asset for the cooking-challenged: Right by the door is a display case of recipe cards for the fish and shellfish on offer, including complete instructions and a list of ingredients, all of which are available right there in the store. Johnson says their market research shows “people like seafood, but they are worried about cooking it properly.” So, one less thing to worry about!