Of all the new-restaurant wins St. Paul has scored lately, chef Sameh Wadi crossing the river and opening his version of a seafood boil joint is near the top of the list for me.

Wadi’s firm focus on bold flavors and his way with spices have always made his restaurants go-to spots when I was in those neighborhoods.

The chef, who recently closed his groundbreaking Saffron fine-dining restaurant in Minneapolis’ North Loop, is still packing in crowds at the global-fusion restaurant World Street Kitchen and his cheffy ice-cream parlor Milkjam on Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis.

Grand Catch (1672 Grand Ave, St. Paul; 651-348-8541; grandcatchmn.com), near the Macalester College campus, is something new from Wadi, and in a new city, but it’s not that far from what he’s done in the past.

“Honestly, it’s like a lot of what I do,” Wadi said. “It has a mixture of something I both want to eat more of and people that I really appreciate. It just came together in a really, really beautiful way.”

The people he’s referring to are Thien Ly, who owns Cajun Deli in Brooklyn Park and is a partner in Grand Catch, and Leo and Beth Judah, owners of neighboring Shish and the space Grand Catch occupies.

Wadi became obsessed with the way Thien Ly combined Cajun and Vietnamese spices at Cajun Deli and wondered what other flavors could be incorporated.

The answer is on the seafood at Grand Catch — but Wadi’s not spilling the details.

“That’s a secret,” he said when asked what was in the Louisiana seafood boil. “Spices and deliciousness. Different kinds of chilis and a few different aromatics are in there, but that’s all I’ll say.”

The menu format at Grand Catch is straightforward — appetizers, seafood boils and a few sandwiches.

There are some very good, simple appetizers, like an addictive, creamy snow crab dip ($13.95), served with saltines. I could eat that for a light dinner and be completely satisfied.

But choosing a starter is not as simple as that, not with the availability of ultra-crispy fried shrimp ($12.95), battered in cornmeal and spices and the crispiest fried green tomatoes ($8.95) I’ve ever tried.

The boils, the stars of the show, are available in several different flavors. There’s a spiced-up garlic butter that can range from quite mild and garlicky to very spicy and still very garlicky.

There’s that spicy Louisiana boil, which can be tempered a bit by mixing it with the garlic butter, dubbed “awesome sauce” by the restaurant for a good reason. Then there’s the spicy Issan, an Asian-inspired mix of fish sauce, chiles, garlic and “magic” — again, Wadi plays coy on the specifics.

A warning, one that you will likely get from your server, too: Spicy here is really spicy. Order accordingly.

The available seafood varies, and most boils are sold by the pound, except crabs, which are sold by the cluster ($16.95, snow crab) or by the single crab in the case of dungeness and Louisiana blue crabs. The most economical choice is crawfish ($13.95 a pound), and they are delicious.

You can spend as much as $49.95 for king crab, which is super meaty and maybe the best thing we tried, but there is something for every budget. We shared a boil and an appetizer and left satisfied, but if you have a big appetite, a whole pound might be better, depending on what kind of seafood you order.

As for the sandwiches, there’s a dirty-good, simple, crisp fried chicken ($9.50 and one of the few non-seafood choices on the menu), a similarly prepared whitefish ($10.50) and an Asian-spiced cold shrimp roll ($13.95) that is lightly dressed and makes a great summer meal.

If you’re a cocktail person, Grand Catch has some refreshing options, with kooky names like Can I Borrow Your Chapstick (a citrusy gin-based concoction) and Boyfriends and Girlfriends (a slightly spicy drink that features tequila). There is also wine and beer and even some fun mocktails on tap.

If you have room, it’s fun to end your meal with some Milkjam soft serve ($6 for a dish). When we visited, a raspberry lychee and the signature milkjam flavors were available. It’s light, refreshing, and can really help cool things down if your taste buds are still reeling from the spice.

Wadi says he enjoys being in St. Paul, and is surprised by the diversity of customers. Everyone — from “ladies after church” to families to young people of color — is enjoying the laid-back atmosphere and ultra-fresh seafood. Related Articles Pearl and the Thief is back, for now, and it’s worth the price of admission

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The seafood is sourced from a variety of places, but every one of them knows that Wadi will not tolerate anything but the freshest product. And he’s going through a lot of seafood. He said they served more than 1,000 pounds of snow crab in May alone.

“These suppliers don’t want to lose the business, so they know they have to provide me with what I want,” Wadi said. “Which is great for me and the guest.”