New York has no shortage of strange Valentine’s Day plans, but this one might take the cake: next month, you’ll be able to sip absinthe and slurp oysters while soaking in a hot tub inside a working fish market.
For the first time in its 203-year history, the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative is opening its selling floor to the public with a new immersive dining and cultural series called Fish Market Monologues. The Bronx institution, which quietly supplies nearly half of New York City’s seafood, is flipping the switch from wholesale to experiential with a slate of events that blend food, music and storytelling in its facility in Hunts Point.
The series kicks off on Friday, February 14, with “Absinthe & Oysters: A Forbidden Valentine’s,” a one-night-only experience. From 7 to 10 pm, guests will dine among crates and stainless steel counters on overflowing seafood towers stacked with oysters, clams and prawns, followed by Hidden Fjord salmon and paella. Live Latin jazz will set the mood and the evening includes a guided absinthe ritual inspired by the spirit’s deep ties to the city’s waterfront history.
And then there’s the twist: a limited number of premium tickets include access to hot tub “stations” installed directly on the market’s selling floor, allowing guests to eat, drink and soak simultaneously. Yes, it’s exactly as unhinged as it sounds.
All Fish Market Monologues events are hosted by culinary historian Justin Fornal, who shares stories of maritime trade, ritual and global food culture throughout the evening. Future events already on the calendar range from a raucous Celtic punk-themed seafood feast in March to a Caribbean-inspired summer celebration and a pre-colonial Indigenous Thanksgiving dinner later in the year.
Over Memorial Day Weekend, the market will also transform its East River waterfront into an open-air concert venue for a show headlined by Solomun, presented in partnership with underground nightlife powerhouse Teksupport.
For a place often described as the “New York Stock Exchange of Seafood,” it’s a surprising next chapter that’s entirely New York. Tickets and details for “Absinthe & Oysters: A Forbidden Valentine’s” are available now, so if you’ve ever wanted to say you drank absinthe in a jacuzzi at a fish market, this might be your moment.
