April 10, 2017

Meet Sean Martin of Craw Daddy Boiler in San Fernando Valley

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Martin.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Well, when I was younger one of my mom’s friends threw a crawfish boil for me for my birthday. She had a restaurant in Louisiana, and this boil blew me away. First, we got to see all these live crawfish, just bags and bags of them; there must have been 100 pounds! They were cooked in this massive pot over a burner that sounded like a jet engine, and after everything was cooked it all got dumped in the steaming pile right on the table where we all got to eat with our hands. For a 14 year old me it was the coolest eating experience I had ever had. I was fascinated, so I learned everything I could about seafood boils, from how to judge the quality of crayfish to the different ways to cook and soak everything from mussels to cauliflower. I got completely obsessed with it, and I still am.

I’ve been working in kitchens around LA since 2009, throwing crawfish boils every opportunity I could. I got such a good response from people coming to them I figured I would try my hand at bringing the seafood boil experience to other people’s parties and events, so in 2013 I launched Craw Daddy Boil with my mother’s help. We have been traveling all over Los Angeles the last four years doing crab boils in the winter, crawfish boils in the spring and summer, and fish, lobster, shrimp and clam boils all year round.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, Los Angeles is a huge food city, so getting our name out there has been a struggle from day one. We don’t have the backing to hire a marketing firm, so we are really trying to create a unique experience people will be blown away by. We get all of our new clients from referrals, so it has been slow growing. We are getting there though!

The actual boils, however, have only gotten better and better. The fact that I can make a living doing what I love and making the food that excites me makes every hurdle worth it.

Please tell us about Craw Daddy Boiler.
Craw Daddy Boiler is all about making parties and events into unique, memorable experiences without breaking the bank. Crawfish boils were how we started, and crawfish boils are meant to be backyard events with friends and family, so that’s what we bring. It’s not catering with white linen tablecloths and individually plated salads; its mounds of seafood and fresh vegetables and sauces, meant to be eaten with your hands. It’s an adventure, and for most people in Los Angeles it’s an entirely new experience. We only work with fresh, live crawfish, and we make everything on site, so our customers and their guests can see how fresh the food is. They can see the live crawfish and get a feel for how these things are really done in Louisiana. It’s a unique experience, and it brings everyone in an event together in a way I’ve never seen with any other type of meal.

On top of that, it’s inexpensive. We mostly cater to people throwing backyard parties who would have ordered food from a takeout restaurant if they didn’t hire us, and we are able to make their events into so much more.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t know, honestly. Craw Daddy Boiler has really grown organically, and I am super happy with where we are now, with the products we are using and the boils we put on. If we had done things any differently we wouldn’t be where we are now.

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