Avon, Ohio
Products exist to solve problems. Avon residents Ryan and Jessica Nagel saw a need and untapped market when they created their small business, Bayside Provisions, last year.
With a love for the water and a knack for creating delicious seafood, the husband and wife’s mission for the company is to share their favorite flavors, recipes and famous family tartar sauce with the world.
“The (tartar) sauce is an old family recipe from my grandfather and uncle on my mother’s side,” Ryan said. “They’ve been doing this as long as my family has been doing fish and it’s a hit with every fish fry. At every fish fry we always have someone asking, ‘Did you bring the tarter sauce? You should sell it.’”
The couple had the recipe and had been discussing the possibility of making and selling the sauce for several years. They finally decided to give it a try and Bayside Provisions was born.
“We’re in northern Ohio, the freshwater fishing capital of the world is right here,” Ryan said. “We spend a lot of time here (Avon) and Sandusky and Port Clinton. You go up to the stores there and you have Kraft (brand) or store brand meals. There are also dozens of hot sauces and several versions of barbecue sauce. But there are only two brands of tartar sauces. We do more fish fry than barbecue. There aren’t many types of tartar sauce.”
In addition to tartar sauce, other products from Bayside Provisions are variations on more traditional items. Bayside breading mix is a 100 percent saltine cracker meal base.
“Most of the breading you see in stores is cornmeal or corn flour mix because it’s cheaper,” says Ryan. “A cracker meal saltine base makes it juicier and has more flavor and a better texture. Fish fries are a lot of work. We always feed our fish the old school way. We buy a bunch of salt, throwing away our favorite spices and using them that way. It takes a lot of time and effort. So we made our version in a resealable bag. So instead of buying the ingredients that costs $35 and throw away what you don’t use because it’s been in the fridge for months, we’ve made it really easy for people to make amazing fish frys.”
He also explained that their batter mix is ’super versatile and you can make it traditional English fish and chip style as a wet beer batter or with club soda.’
“As for our spices, we used to go down to Amish country and load up on spices and my wife finally said, ‘This is crazy, can we pair this, do we need all this stuff.’ We asked ourselves, ‘What do we use every day? We cook a lot of seafood. We’ve created a line of four spices that you can use in almost anything you cook.’
The spice line includes Harbor Herb, Lemon Pepper Herb, Mariner’s Medley and Bayside Blackened.
“They are versatile and can be used with anything,” Jessica said on social media. “We literally use one of these every night at dinner. They’re available online for shipping or for local pick up.”
Bayside Provisions is a lot of work for the Nagels who also have full-time jobs and are parents of a toddler. Ryan is in commercial real estate development and Jessica is a project manager at an architectural firm specializing in interior design.
“Our company is an alternative area in the seafood market that we’ve identified as not being filled,” Ryan said. “We’re the only Great Lakes-inspired seafood specialty company around, that we’re still aware of. There’s a lot of fish fry stuff in south Louisiana, but our fish products are almost as good as anyone else’s.”
Bayside Provisions products are available locally at the following locations:
Kate’s Fish (West Side Market, 1979 W 25th Street, Cleveland )
Sandusky Bait Company (Shelby Street Boat Ramp, 101 Shelby Street, Sandusky)
Pickering Hill Farms (35669 Detroit Road, Avon)
Erie Outfitters (5404 E Lake Road, Sheffield Lake)
Constantino’s Market (1278 W 9th Street, Cleveland)
Bay View Center Bait Shop (803 E Bayview Drive, Sandusky)
Shaker’s Fish Market (7539 Pearl Road, Middleburg Heights)
Herb’s Bait & Tackle (1713 NE Catawba Road, Port Clinton)
Lake Road Market (20267 Lake Road, Rocky River)
Bergman Orchards (600 SE Catawba Road, Port Clinton)
Gingham Market (17000 Madison Avenue, Lakewood)
For more information, go to baysideprovisions.com. Follow on Facebook.
