How To Create The Ultimate Seafood Tower At Home

You're planning a dinner party at home, and you want the centerpiece of your appetizer display to really stand out. Plates of hot and cold apps are cute, but nothing encompasses the elusive words of Iggy Azalea — "I'm so fancy, you already know" — like a seafood tower. Tall, opulent, and brimming with fresh, raw fish and shellfish, a seafood tower is a real show of homemade decadence. And while you may think the best seafood towers can only be enjoyed at upscale restaurants, that's not necessarily the case. With the right tools, accessories, and a quality seafood supplier, any shellfish enthusiast worth their weight in oyster pearls can absolutely create the ultimate ode to crustaceans at home.

To get some insight on just how to create this seafood experience, I spoke with three chefs who know a thing or two about this type of architecture: Chef Noah Poses of The Fulton in New York City, Chef Guillaume Thivet of Grand Brasserie in New York City, and Chef Frank Zelaya of Peter Luger Steakhouse in Las Vegas. From the tools and accessories you need and tips for presentation to sourcing and choosing the best possible fish, there's a method to building the seafood tower of your wildest mollusk-infused dreams. And if you put the insight from these chefs into action, it can come together with ease.

Follow this guide to creating your homemade salute to shellfish, and prepare to dazzle your dinner party guests and yourself.

You're building a seafood tower at home, so naturally the first step should be sourcing all your seafood, right? Well, not exactly. Before buying up all the freshest oysters and crab legs at your local grocery store (more on that later), you'll want to think about presentation. When it comes to the actual display, it's in the name: a tower! So opting for height is the key to aesthetics as well as seafood variety.

For Chef Noah Poses, whether you want to go two tiers, three, or perhaps even higher, the tower height is entirely dependent on how much seafood you want to set out. Additionally, if you want to display both hot and cold seafood — think oysters Rockefeller, steamed lobster, warm shrimp, and so on — having more tiers gives you the opportunity to put your cold seafood on one plate, and your hot dishes on an entirely different one. This is the ultimate seafood tower, after all, so the more tiers you add to your tower to display the wonders of the deep sea, the better.

Once you've determined how many tiers you want your seafood tower to be, Chef Frank Zelaya recommends starting with the bottom tier and working your way up to the top. Your bigger items, like freshly-shucked oysters, razor clams, and jumbo shrimp, can hold court on the larger bottom plate, while your smaller, more delicate items, like littleneck clams and crudo, can dazzle at the top.

If you've ever been face to face with a lobster claw or an oyster, you know that the delicious, briny meat within doesn't come out easily. It requires tools, and if you want to have a wide variety of seafood on your tower, having the right tools is crucial.

For your oysters and clams, an oyster knife and a clam knife are necessary for oyster and clam shucking, so you can display the mollusk within (a pair of gloves is also helpful for this to keep your hands safe). Sturdy metal scissors can crack and cut through crab and lobster shells, as well as any fruit or vegetable garnishes you may be including. A pair of tweezers can help to place garnishes like microgreens or edible flowers, or to remove pin bones from fresh fish before slicing. A wooden mallet can crush ice to put down underneath the fish, and can also help to crack lobster claws and crab legs.

In addition to tools, there are accessories that shouldn't be missed. Chef Poses recommends ramekins for sauces, as well as crushed ice — a layer of ice, a sprinkle of salt, and another layer of ice on top will keep the ice from melting too fast — to keep everything cold. For any sliced fish, he recommends having seaweed or shiso leaves underneath to keep the fish from getting burnt by the ice. Additionally, scallop shells can be used to show off delicate pieces of sliced fish.

"Make sure [your seafood] doesn't smell. Seafood should not smell 'fishy,'" says Chef Poses, and of all the seafood sourcing advice, this is probably the most important piece to remember. When putting together your seafood tower and picking out the right fish and seafood for it, always opt for fresh or alive seafood over frozen, and be sure to find a reliable source for your seafood that can be traced back to its origin.

"Supermarkets are often too far removed from the source, so we recommend seeking out specialty suppliers or ordering online," notes Chef Poses. "Ask questions about the seafood, and build trust with the supplier."

While finding a specialty store will certainly lead to having the ultimate seafood tower, it can also lead to having the ultimate price tag. If you are trying to keep your seafood tower budget friendly, Chef Poses recommends finding a wholesale supplier, which will have plenty of variety at reasonable prices. Additionally, sourcing from a local supplier can help keep prices down and will cut out any hefty shipping costs.

This diverse country of ours, with its multiple coasts and bodies of water, is brimming with fresh, sustainable seafood. The best part? Each body of water has a different variety of seafood to boast about, all of which deserve to be on display.

On the West Coast, there are Alaskan king crab legs, squid from California, and tuna from the Pacific Ocean. In the Gulf of Mexico, the phrase "everything is bigger in Texas," or in this case, around Texas, rings true. There, large Gulf shrimp (a delightful oxymoron) are in heavy rotation, as are Gulf oysters known for their large size and meaty texture. On the East Coast, blue crabs and soft shell crabs are a can't-miss, as are lobsters, blue mussels, and farmed oysters, which are available year-round. All this is to say, there's no shortage of seafood to choose from, and each coast's briny delicacies bring something different to the plate. At Peter Luger in Las Vegas, you'll be sure to find a mixture of East and West Coast seafood on Chef Frank Zelaya's seafood towers, highlighting the different regional flavor profiles each one brings.

At The Fulton, Chef Noah Poses likes to show off all types of fish and bivalves on his seafood towers. Oysters, little clams, razor clams, scallops, uni, stone crab claws, and ceviche are just some of the fresh items he likes to include.

A seafood tower isn't all that different from a well-crafted cocktail. Everything in the glass (or in this case, on the plates) is the main attraction, but the garnishes and accoutrements make everything pop. They catch your eye and draw you in, and just like a perfectly speared olive in a dry martini, a lemon and a mignonette go a long way. After sourcing your seafood and deciding what goes where, picking out the right garnishes and sauces is the next step to making your seafood tower a memorable one.

Many of the recommended sauces you've probably seen or at least heard of before. A cocktail sauce laced with horseradish and pepper and a mignonette loaded with shallots and white wine vinegar are must-haves, but you don't have to stop there. To accompany his fresh oysters, Chef Guillaume Thivet serves a Yuzu seaweed mignonette, letting the acidity from the yuzu and salty seaweed complement the briny oysters. He also recommends a green goddess aioli or a saffron aioli, which for steamed shrimp or lobster meat that have a gentle sweetness, can bring savory flavor and spice.

For garnishes, consider presentation. Salmon sashimi or Hamachi crudo will scream elegance on a nest of seaweed or kelp leaves. Sprigs of parsley will add vibrant color and a fresh aroma to the plate, while a lemon wedge is pulling double duty as both a garnish and a sauce of sorts for hot or iced fish, bringing bright acidity to each bite.

For many of us, pairing food with a beverage of some kind, alcoholic or not, is a tried and true practice. Having a steak? A cabernet sauvignon or a sweet and smoky bourbon goes hand-in-hand with the rich meat. Grilled salmon on the menu? A delicate, acidic sauvignon blanc or pinot noir can provide balance with the fatty, flavorful fish. When pairing beverages with raw seafood, the same rules of balancing flavor with function apply. Raw, cold seafood is best balanced with a drink that has gentle acidity and isn't too sweet, giving the briny flavor a chance to really shine.

For Chef Guillaume Thivet, a glass of Champagne, rose, or a dry white wine like Vouvray or sauvignon blanc more than fit the bill. Chef Noah Poses, who doesn't drink, likes to prepare a sparkling mocktail to go with his fresh seafood, letting the light bubbles bring some brightness to the palate. However you choose to pair your seafood tower, choosing beverages that are light and approachable will serve to complement the fish, rather than overpower it.