Meet the Chef: Moira Hill

Posted on November 2, 2023 by The Local Fish Team

Chef Moira is a San Diego native committed to zero waste efforts, sustainability and whole-food cooking methods. She prides herself on sourcing local and seasonal ingredients as well repurposing food scraps to use in her dishes. She’s worked at many restaurants across San Diego county and is currently bringing her unique voice and point of view to the seafood-centric Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar in Little Italy. We’re delighted to be working in harmony with chef Moira to bring more local, seasonal and fully-traceable seafood to the San Diego region. We sat down with chef Moira to learn more about what lights her up and how she’s changing the game in Rancho Santa Fe and beyond.  

NAME: Moira Hill 

CURRENT RESTAURANT: Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar

HOW DID YOU GET INTO COOKING?
I grew up cooking since I was seven years old. My parents had two full-time jobs and I was at home alone a lot. My mom taught me how to cook at a young age and we cooked at home all the time. My mother’s side of the family is Jewish and we always cooked very traditional meals together during Hanukkah and Passover. I’ve just always been in the kitchen and felt comfortable in that environment. I started working in restaurants when I was 16 as a server and would work the expo line. That’s when I fell in love with how the restaurant felt. I went to culinary school immediately after high school and started working in restaurants. I’ve always been involved in different forms of art like painting and sculpting. I was going to be a graphic designer until I realized that I was more passionate about culinary school and that cooking is an art form unto itself. For me it has become about so much more than just the cooking side of it. This art form is constantly growing and ever changing. There’s always something new to learn; a new method, a new program, a new way to plate. This industry never stops and I love that about it.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LOCAL SPECIES TO WORK WITH AND WHY?
For me, it’s really all about the Tuna. It’s one of the main species that is the most available here off the coast of San Diego and it’s what I gravitate towards the most. When you think of the warmth and beauty of San Diego that is synonymous with the fresh, local Tuna for me. Some of the best I’ve ever had is from our San Diego waters right here. In addition to tuna I love Rockfish, and Sheephead and obviously during the season I love Spiny Lobster and Spot Prawn. 

ANY ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO A YOUNG CHEF IN REGARDS TO SOURCING LOCAL SEAFOOD? 
Do your research. Ask around. Ask other chefs. Get books about fishing and seafood. Try to explore and go around the city to restaurants that are featuring local seafood and get a feel for it. Go to other restaurants around the coast and see what they’re serving. For me, in my experience it was working in restaurants that were focused on a highly-local seafood program. I’ve always been environmentally conscious, but I definitely got more into it through doing research, talking to people and seeing how things are done. To really source locally you have to talk to other chefs, remain active in the community and keep up with it. You also have to want it because it’s not the easiest route. It’s hard. The best things are not easy. 

IN YOUR EXPERIENCE HOW DOES LOCAL CATCH HIT DIFFERENT? 
You just feel better knowing that at the end of the day you are supporting an individual and not some big corporation. That someone is going out on a boat, and it’s a lot of labor. It’s a labor of love for them too. They want to see it go to a good home and not be frozen for twelve months. When you work with a product like that you can’t help but want to use the whole thing. I’m all about whole food cooking and using the whole animal, and the same thing goes for vegetables. It’s like paying respect to the life of the ingredient. You are putting these things in your body and there’s a different feeling when it’s grown or harvested with intention. You feel better. I don’t want to get too cosmic, but there is a different energy to it. There is also a deep community sense that you get when you’re able to be able to provide and work with local products. I’m from San Diego and it all ties together for me. If I go somewhere and know something is local it is more of a full experience than just something that is going to be expensive for no reason. You almost feel like it’s a special moment that you get to partake in. There’s a richness about it that is hard to explain; it’s like if you were to serve carrots that you grew in your garden instead of ones you bought from the store. That already feels way more special. There is a different kind of appreciation because you know someone worked for it. Someone cared for it. 

FAVORITE SPOT TO EAT IN SAN DIEGO WHEN YOU’RE OFF DUTY?
That’s tough because I love to eat all different kinds of food when I’m not working and I go to different places for different things because I like it all. If I want a burger, I’ll go to The Friendly. I like to go to Azuki for seafood. I love what chef Tara is doing at Animae right now. Travis is great at Callie. Campfire in Carlsbad is always a good experience. I love Oscar’s for fish tacos. Wrench and Rodent has a great program. It’s all over the place for me. I love food from all over San Diego. I usually try to find a new place to eat once a month.