Chris' Marketplace is a small food business that primarily makes value added seafood products. Located just north of Washington, DC, Chris' Marketplace has access to the freshest seafood available. Chris' Marketplace is founded on and operates by a simple philosophy that Chris Hoge's grandfather used to say: "When one wakes up in the morning and gets out of bed, they are presented with a blank canvas to paint any kind of picture they want that day. Make sure that when you pick up that paintbrush each day you are willing to sign the painting before going to sleep at night." Chris has spent years traveling the world catching and sourcing seafood. Using the knowledge gained from his former years as a professional fisherman, Chris wakes up early so that he can "go and pick" the best seafood he can find from his purveyors. Every good chef will tell you that great results start with great ingredients. "When people ask me about our food I always use the word 'enhance'. If it is Black Sea Bass I am eating I want to be able to taste the flavor in that particular fish which differentiates it from other fish. I don't want so many flavors that I cannot tell whether it is one fish or another. There should be just enough seasoning so that the fish stands out and says, 'I am Black Sea Bass, I am not Red Snapper or Striped Bass." The typical response after sampling a Chris' Marketplace crab cake, "This is awesome, it's all crabmeat."; "This is the best crab cake I have ever eaten, and I am a connoisseur of crab cakes. There is no filler." Chris' crab cake recipe started with a simple "crab-feast" for a few friends. After running out of some of the accompanying condiments that generally go with crabmeat, Chris made a sauce that he used to baste fish with during his commercial fishing days. "My friends were 'oohing and ahhing' over the sauce. We had some crabs and sauce left over so I put them into the fridge. The next day while 'shelling' the rest of the leftover crabs, I knocked over the cup of sauce into the pile of crabmeat. Not wanting to rinse the crabmeat off I decided to put the plate into the oven with the sauce and crabmeat together. I ate the whole plate in a matter of a few minutes. It was during this gorging that a light went on, in my mind, a very dim light, Crab cakes." "The resounding testimonial, 'it's all crabmeat' or 'I taste nothing but crab,' is music to my ears." This music inspired Chris to trademark Hooked on Excellence.