St. Peter’s Grace Episcopal Church’s annual fish fry was a popular mainstay in Monroe, providing fish and chips, sides and homemade desserts for families on Friday’s during Lent. But the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have put an end to that tradition five years ago.
Then two town churches teamed up to resurrect the fish fry this month. Since March 7, volunteers from St. Peter’s and Monroe Congregational Church have hosted town resident, David Kuban’s Planet Pizza truck.
Aside from the traditional fare, hungry patrons have a full menu with everything from fried shrimp and chicken fingers to a variety of meatless pizza pies. In keeping with the religious observance, the menu includes the Good Cod Almighty Fish Sandwich with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce.
“Fridays in Lent hadn’t been the same since St. Peter’s Grace hosted its last Fish Friday in 2019,” said Michael Ganino, a parishioner of Monroe Congregational Church (MCC). “Neither of our churches could bring it back alone, and we knew we needed a pro to make it happen.”
“A few months ago, I reached out to Dave Kuban, a friend, Monroe resident and owner of Planet Pizza of Norwalk and Dave and Charlie’s Hometown Deli, also of Norwalk, to see if he’d be interested in collaborating,” Ganino said. “Within seconds, he responded with two words: ‘Let’s rock.’”
Ganino approached The Rev. Jennifer Gingras, senior pastor of MCC, with the idea.
“I thought, ‘first, let’s make sure St. Peter’s isn’t doing it,” Gingras recalled.
“I said, ‘why don’t we do it together? Share the work and share the profits,'” The Rev. Derek Stefanovsky, pastor of St. Peter’s, said of his conversation with Gingras.
“We thought anything to bring our two communities together to serve our hometown that we love so much would be a good thing,” Gingras said.
The fish fry is going on from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Friday through April 11. This week, Kuban’s truck will be parked in front of Monroe Congregational Church at the corner of Route 111 and Church Street, near the green both churches own together.
To place online orders in advance, click here. You can also show up on a Friday and order in person.
Every Saturday morning, the website opens up for preorders for the following Friday and the site shuts down at 2 p.m. the day of the fish fry. Those who preorder get a small discount, depending on the order.
A busy Friday
Last Friday, Gingras and volunteer, Susie Cuseo, greeted residents at a table outside St. Peter’s, 175 Old Tannery Road. When it was 4:30 p.m., a long line started to form at the table, and cooks inside Dave Kuban’s Planet Pizza truck soon started coming up to the window and calling out names for people to pick up their food.
“This is the second week,” Gingras said. “They can pick it up and enjoy it in the social hall or take it home — and we have fresh baked desserts.”
Jen Read, a longtime parishioner of St. Peter’s, stopped by to pick up fried shrimp with French fries and a pizza for her family.
“I’m excited to see it back and to work together with MCC,” Read said of the fish fry.
“I think it’s a really good idea,” Sandy Banks, a town resident who used to teach at Masuk High School, said of the event. “It’s nice. It makes it easy when you don’t want to sit down at a restaurant.”
Gingras glanced down at a sheet to check off preorders as people arrived.
“We have twice as many orders,” she said. “Last week, we had one sheet. This week, we have two. We had 94 preorders last week. We had 12 boxes of fish and used 10. We’re going to use more today.”
Gary Thompson, the historian of St. Peter’s Grace Episcopal Church, said all of the food comes out hot and fresh, whether it is a preorder or a walkup.
Ganino is grateful to his friend, Kuban, for lending his truck for the fish fry.
“Dave is one of those rare people who never hesitates to step up for his community,” Ganino said. “He offered to charge us for the cost of ingredients and his guys. We organize, get the word out and supply the volunteers.”
Kuban committed to giving 50 percent of the proceeds to both churches to share equally, according to Ganino.
“Given the expense of running a food truck, plus Dave’s own time and effort, this was an extraordinary gesture,” he said. “Thanks to Dave’s generosity, expertise and commitment, with volunteers from Monroe Congregational Church and St. Peter’s Grace along with the support of the Monroe community, we’ve been able to bring back and grow a much-loved community event.”
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