Ghana native has big dreams and fresh catch

Montgomery, MD, USA -- Charles Reindorf's family once owned the biggest candy company in Ghana. But Reindorf left the world of mints and caramel behind in 1989. He now serves up richly spiced seafood from a Pointer Ridge shop no bigger than a clamshell.

"People love the food, they love the freshness and they love the idea of having their own, backyard seafood market that serves them fresh fish and cooked seafood," said Reindorf, who lives just down the road from his tiny but quaint shop, Fresh Blue Waters.

With his broad signature smile, Reindorf tells new visitors that as a child, he loved watching the day's catch being unloaded onto bustling Ghana docks.

"I was born in a seafood house," said Reindorf. "Back in Ghana, we had ... people working for [my father] on his fishing trawlers. So I know a lot about seafood -- what to bake, what to fry, what to broil -- I know all about that."

His father then opened Go Ahead, a company specializing in hot-boiled candies, including caramel, fruit drops and mints. Reindorf eventually took over the family business, but in 1989, tired after a decade that saw a series of four military coups, he moved to the United States.

"It was -- what's my say -- it was a coup d'?tat," said Reindorf, in his heavily accented English. "That was when I decided to leave, because I didn't see anything going in the right direction."

It took Reindorf a number of false starts - including a District smokehouse that caught fire and a seafood shop in such a bad neighborhood that customers feared to visit -- before he found his niche.

He got the keys to the Pointer Ridge shop in February and opened Fresh Blue Waters in October.

"People started coming in and it's been good ever since," said Reindorf, who makes his own seafood salad, crab cakes and crab balls.

"We have a lot of regular customers," he said proudly. "And a lot of my old customers from D.C. followed me here. Some live in Fort Washington and they come here just to get their fish treat. If you are used to eating something good, you always go back for it."

E-mail Christina Findlay at cfindlay@gazette.net.