Turbot on ice

The Elusive Turbot and the Chefs Fighting to Keep It Alive

8 Minute read

14 Dec 2025

Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu

Journalist

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As most restaurants abandon turbot due to cost and scarcity, Alto in Los Angeles has turned it into a signature Basque-style dish that must be reserved three days ahead.

While many restaurants across the United States are quietly removing turbot from their menus due to rising costs, Alto in Los Angeles is leaning in. Chef-owners Juana Castellanos and Esteban Klenzi now require diners to place turbot orders at least three days in advance, a response to demand that has only grown since the dish launched.

“It’s such a popular dish and we’re getting so many requests in a short time,” said Castellanos. “We put this practice in place to ensure quality and availability because this is a fish that’s very hard to find, it’s very special and out of the ordinary. That’s why we chose to bring it from Spain.”

A Basque-Inspired Dish Built on Technique

At Alto, turbot is flown in from Spain and served Basque-style in a bright green sauce made with olive oil, garlic, fresh parsley, clams, and potatoes. The fish is broken down tableside and sold at market price, typically between $230 and $270. Each turbot feeds three to four guests. It is also one of only two dishes at the restaurant that require advance booking, the other being a short rib plate slow-cooked for 72 hours.

“We wanted to do something different. We see a lot of Hamachi, kampachi, and branzino,” said Castellanos. “That’s the typical fish in L.A. There’s heavy Japanese and Italian influences here, but we wanted to focus on Spanish Basque Country style. We choose it, because it’s part of our heritage, but it’s also something new and special that we don’t see a lot of.”

A Culinary Partnership Formed Abroad

Castellanos, who is from Uruguay, and Klenzi, who is from Argentina, met while working in Spain and trained at world-renowned Michelin-starred restaurants including Mugaritz, El Celler de Can Roca, Amelia, and Boragó. During their five years abroad, much of their free time was spent exploring the regional cooking of northern Spain, where turbot is a staple.

“Every bar there, fancy or small, offers turbot made on the grill,” said Castellanos. “They’re very used to eating high-quality food without touching it much, just the grill and some fresh peppers or potatoes with olive oil, and that’s it. Basque country has such great fine dining restaurants, and they have such a great culture alive in every corner. We should do the same, but with our own culture.”

Alto, which opened in August 2025, blends their South American roots with the Basque techniques they absorbed in Spain, grounded in a commitment to wood-fired cooking.

Why Most Restaurants Have Dropped Turbot

While Alto has found a way to meet demand, few restaurants attempt to keep turbot on the menu. The fish is most often sourced from Spain and France, making its presence in American kitchens expensive to maintain. Import costs are only part of the challenge.

“It’s not easy to sell turbot because it’s a portion size for two to four people,” says Citarella Owner and Fishmonger Joe Gurrera, who counts Michelin-starred restaurants among his clients. “Very little turbot is consumed by home cooks. Most people are intimidated by cooking seafood at home. You’re only going to see it in very high-end restaurants.”

A five-pound turbot sells for about $155 on the New York City fishmonger’s website.

Other restaurants have experimented with turbot but abandoned it due to cost. At Lilo in San Diego, Chef Eric Bost offered a dry-aged turbot flown in from Brittany, France, steamed on kombu and paired with preserved roses, nectarine, butterfly sorrel, and a sweet sauce made with fortified wine, yuzu oil, and salted plum powder. The dish was removed this summer because it became too expensive to serve consistently.

In Chicago, Maxwells Trading devised a workaround to keep turbot on the menu.

“We take a meat cleaver and hammer, and half it by cutting through the spine,” says Executive Chef Chris Jung. “We’ll split the spine, then cut portions with the bones. All the skin and collagen melts and almost bastes itself in its own fat. The bone is so important for keeping that structure together.”

Serving turbot this way helped Maxwells Trading reduce food costs and offer the dish year-round. But for most kitchens, unpredictability in price and supply keeps turbot relegated to the specials menu rather than becoming a permanent fixture.

Why Alto Made Turbot Work

Alto’s three-day advance reservation system allows the chefs to order precisely what they need each week. It also helps them maintain a cultural and culinary narrative that resonates with diners.

“The people in Basque country are very connected with their lands and nature,” notes Castellanos. “They really inspired us, not just in terms of the fine dining scene, but in how ancestral culture and rituals inspire fine dining. These are humble towns and restaurants and in all of them, you have access to this fish.”

For Alto, turbot is not an expression of luxury or exclusivity. It is a link between place, memory, and heritage. At the Studio City restaurant, diners are not simply ordering an expensive fish. They are being offered a piece of Castellanos and Klenzi’s story, shaped by the landscapes and traditions of the Basque coast.

Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu

14 Dec 2025