While soft, white sands of the Emerald Coast have drawn beach lovers for decades, another event has people leaving the shore for a different adventure. During the 2025 Destin Lionfish Festival, the colorful, and dangerous, fish captivated diners with scrumptious flavor.
In the restaurant world, chefs often have an opportunity to educate while serving a delicious meal. That hospitality platform avoids scholarly discussion. Rather, it invites a conversation about how food connects people, the community, and the planet.
Lionfish is considered an invasive species in Florida and the Caribbean. With no natural predator in the area, the prickly creature has overtaken the waterways and caused havoc in the environment. While the fish, itself, is visually impressive, those colorful creatures are dangerous. The venomous fish can injure with just a touch.
Over the years, many chefs have looked to use lionfish on their menus as a way to help reduce their numbers and help the environment. In Top Chef Season 21, lionfish was featured in the final Quickfire in Curacao. Tom Colicchio’s Miami restaurant had featured the fish and several Key West restaurants did as well.
Destin takes a bigger approach to this invasive fish problem. The annual Destin Lionfish Festival combines a weeklong restaurant competition with a special “catch” event to cumulate the event. Both visitors and locals can see signage near the docks as well as within competing restaurants.
During this year’s event, I had the opportunity to be a judge and visited a couple of restaurants to sample their specialty dishes. To give all the participating restaurants an opportunity to reach more guests, every location had their designated “lionfish night.” The event organizer provided the alreay broken down fish to each culinary team.
In addition to serving each dish, the restaurants offered explanations to diners. It was more than how the fish was prepared. They discussed the event, why it is important to reduce invasive species, and many more items about lionfish.
My favorite dish of Destin’s Lionfish Festival came from La Paz restaurant. The restaurant had the most extensive lionfish menu with five dishes, Lionfish Ceviche y Chicharron, Aquachile Lionfish, Lionfish Pescadillas, Lionfish de Coconut, Lionfish fajitas, and Lionfish Chimayo. While all the dishes were quite flavorful, the Aguachile was the winner.
In this appetizer, the culinary team found the perfect amount of heat to bring out the best of the lionfish. Balanced with the bright citrus, it excited the palate at the start of the meal. The fish was never overshadowed by the other ingredients.
While an aquachile often features shrimp or other white fish, this lionfish offering was proved that the invasive species can be a smart swap. As many chefs appreciate, finding an entry point for a diner to push a little outside their comfort zone will get them to place an order.
The second best dish on the menu was the Lionfish de Coconut. Continuing that Caribbean vibe, the sauce was luscious yet never felt heavy. Even though it was served with rice, it was delightful on its own. For someone who loves a fish stew, especially a Moqueca, they would adore this dish.
My second favorite restaurant was Beachwalk Café at Henderson Park Inn. The culinary team took a more traditional approach to its lionfish dish.
The pecan crust added a satisfying crunch to the dish. The choice of pecans was smart since the nuts were not necessarily uniform which brought complexity. Additionally, that slightly earthy note contrasted the sweetness of the potato hash.
Although the honey Worcestershire sauce brought a satisfying stickiness, a touch more heat versus sweet would have brought more balance. For example, a hot honey or even a hint of Szechuan pepper would have perfected this dish.
Overall, the Destin Lionfish Festival was another successful event. Participating restaurants showcased the versatility of the invasive species. People learned why it is important to reduce the fish’s population. Community came together through food and learning.
While there were many more “Friends of Fogg” made during this special week, the festival deserves to be sought after trip for food lovers. With beautiful beaches filling the day and scrumptious meals ending the night, it is time to put the Destin Lionfish Festival on next year’s travel calendar.