Chef Jeffrey Wall Writes a New Recipe for Johnny’s Harborside

August 19, 2025 – “Oh man, so much is happening!” says chef Jeffrey Wall, who landed at Johnny’s in early July.

New owner Ciera Kash had barely signed the lease on the place when she pinged Wall, who was just finishing a sabbatical in LA, during which he did private in-home cooking.

“I’ve been running restaurants for 22 years and I needed a break,” says the chef, who made such a splash with his acclaimed Alderwood restaurant in Santa Cruz—a restaurant that was the first from Santa Cruz to be listed in the Michelin Guide, but closed earlier this year.

The break was good and he was literally just starting to think about the next step when he got that phone call. “Ciera is super sweet and she basically left me a message asking me if I could help her out,” says Wall. He praises her support and ingenuity and work ethic.  

“She is in it to win it right from the start,” says Wall. “She has two kids, a home and a husband to support.”

They got right to work and within a week had an entirely new menu and recipes developed for the harborside favorite. They also instituted new ingredient sourcing, processes and cleaning regimens. “It would usually take 3 months to do this, but we did in a week,” says Wall. “And there are a lot more exciting things coming soon.”

First and foremost, this is a seafood restaurant with a pedigree and a loyal following. “One of the first things I did was go downstairs to talk with Hans [Haverman] at H&H Fish,” says Wall. “They are our downstairs neighbor. It was mind-blowing to me that we were not buying larger quantities of our fresh fish directly from them.”

Wall says Johnny’s fish and chips dish is now made with local halibut right out of the water. “The halibut lands and I see it and they filet it and it comes directly up to us. I believe we are serving the only halibut fish and chips in the region! Dude, we have so much local halibut! We are going through 120lbs of this fish weekly!”

He wonders why more local seafood restaurants don’t actually use the local fish that is available to them. Yes, it might take more work, but good food is not necessarily fast food. And good food is worth waiting, and paying for.

Wall describes local halibut as extremely lean and therefore easy to overcook, whereas Alaskan is more forgiving. Hence, he uses the latter for the pan-fried entrée, which is carefully cooked in butter (imported from Europe) with a technique his chefs have learned to perfect.

“An overcooked halibut dish is going to come back to the kitchen every time.” At Johnny’s Harborside, the Alaskan halibut is currently accompanied by sweet corn risotto.

Frying the local halibut for the fish and chips guarantees a tender and moist dish. Their sourdough starter batter, made with fresh-milled organic, unbromated flour from Bay Area miller Giusto, is mixed with beer. “It depends on what we have on tap, but Pilsner is nice and carbonated and it doesn’t change the color,” explains Wall.

For frying, he uses pure canola oil, whereas most restaurants use a blend to keep the oil from foaming. Although it costs more and requires more frequent changing, he says it’s way better for your stomach.

Precision in recipes and technique is part of his high standard of execution. “It’s important to do all ingredients by weight,” says Wall. “Rather than a dollop of hot sauce, it’s two grams. Alot of chefs don’t agree with me, as they want wriggle room. Of course there is room for intuition, but there is at least a baseline.”

Among the other dishes he’s excited about are the grilled branzino he created when he was 23 at a bistro in Atlanta. He brushes the skin with lemon thyme, lemon zest and olive oil, and serves it over fingerling potatoes and leeks done in the Lyonnaise style, accompanied by a mussel sauce reduction done with white wine and garlic infused with saffron. “It’s such a bright orange and complex sauce, and it just screams South of France.”

Wall describes his cuisine and style as intentional. “Everything on the plate should look as though it was placed there with purpose. Put those chives on the dish like you mean it!”

Teamwork is essential to Wall. “It’s really important to get along with the people I work with: I spend most of my life with them. Choosing your sous chef is just as important as choosing your marriage partner!”

Although the Front of the House is 100% intact, he did bring in local kitchen talent from Santa Cruz with whom he has worked for years to provide the type of execution he expects.

“We naturally had some attrition,” admits Wall. “I am a very direct person. Some people like to coast and I am not a coaster. I want to make people better. I want them to be up for the challenge on a daily basis.”

Wall believes that the way you treat your employees, coupled with your goals, are intrinsic to restaurant viability. “These elements drive long-term success better than any business plan,” says Wall. “If you treat employees right, they will intrinsically turn out a high-quality product. I really love the people at Johnny’s. The front of house people have all been there a long time. We have a dishwasher who has been there 15 years!”

At the end of the day, his goal is to keep Johnny’s that iconic harborside place that people love to come. “It’s important for me to uphold the integrity of this restaurant while injecting a new vibe into the food and the quality of experience”

Their plan is to eventually open 7 days a week.

“I promise you it’s just going to get better,” says Wall. “This place has legs.”

Johnny’s Harborside | 493 Lake Ave. Santa Cruz | johnnysharborside.com