Chef Todd Perrin is more worried about pleasing his customers than critics of the seal hunt.

"I don't treat it any differently than anything else," said Perrin, who owns the Mallard Cottage restaurant in Quidi Vidi, in the east of St. John's.

Seal used to be served on kitchen tables across the province before falling out of favour. Now Perrin wants seal to have a comeback, including in fine dining restaurants.

"We think we can do something good with it," Perrin said.

"So we are going to use it, just like we use moose and rabbit and local pork and local beef and whatever we can get our hands on."

New take on tradition

Seal is a natural fit for Perrin's restaurant because he always tries to use traditional foods there. The way he cooks the food is not always keeping with tradition.

"We're looking at smoked seal, different kind of things we can do with it for dessert," said Perrin.

"We're looking at some cured and raw products."

Perrin's next attempt at serving a seal dinner comes later this month, when he will team up with two local chefs and two others from New Brunswick and Quebec to cook a five-course meal.