Craving fresh fish? Head to downtown St. Charles

If my note last Sunday about the various fish sandwiches available at quick-serve restaurants in this area didn't do much for you, let's make up for it by mentioning a restaurant/fresh-fish market you may not have visited.

Ernesto Canbia and his family have been preparing delicious fish meals for the past decade at the E&S Fish Company, tucked away at 311 N. Second St. in the Charleston Center retail strip in St. Charles.

“This has been a great location for us,” said Canbia, who operates the business with his wife Saida and their son and daughter. “The open kitchen setup is beautiful and people like the restaurant and fresh fish market.”

Canbia can't point to a specific signature dish he offers that customers claim is their favorite. “Whatever people feel like at a given time, that is their favorite,” he said. “I can go with any fish they want, but it has to be fresh for me.”

Unlike so many other retail strip settings, the Charleston Center has been fortunate to be occupied most of the time and have a solid tenant like E&S Fish Company on board.

Downtown businessmen Terry Grove and Peter Pratt built the center 27 years ago, and Grove still has his office on site.

“I don't really know what the answer is for the success we've had here,” Grove said. “Part of the building is offices, but I don't know if the combination of offices and retail has helped us more than it would have if we were just one or the other.”

Either way, Grove is happy that E&S Fish Company calls the center its home.

“This is not just because they are a tenant, but I hear nothing but rave reviews about the restaurant,” Grove said. “The family works very hard at it.”

E&S is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, with slightly varying hours for the fresh market. On Fridays and Saturdays, the only days in which dinner is offered, E&S is open from 10 a.m. to around 8 p.m. Reservations for dinner start at 6 p.m. those days.

The library vote:

Sensing that many people are disappointed that their tax bill will inch even higher, another library thought crossed my mind in the wake of the very close vote that approved the building of a new library in Geneva.

Plenty of people in their 30s, 40s and maybe even 50s, could likely make the comment that the current Geneva library is the same as it was when they were little kids.

People in Batavia and St. Charles and many other communities can't say the same.

It makes sense to me that over a period of that many years, it's reasonable to ask the community to support an upgrade to the library.

Our schools, churches, movie theaters, cars, restaurants and clothes have all changed dramatically over that period of time. And we put a fair amount of money into all of those entities.

So why not the library?

Not the best pitch:

Here's some advice for those seeking political office either on the local, state or federal levels. Be careful of playing the “I will run this office like a business” card.

First, there are too many examples of those who were elected on that premise, and haven't done much to help those who voted them in.

Second, as good as it sounds, businesses are generally operated for a profit. Governments, not so much, nor do they need to be, especially when making sure the elderly, sick and poor have sufficient services. And let's not forget, there are plenty of businesses that don't make it. So who's to say your game plan for running government like a business won't go belly up in the process?

Now, can an elected official find ways to save money, streamline services and consolidate positions when practical? Sure, as long as the boss — the taxpayer — doesn't get hurt in the process.

By the way, that's another thing about saying you'll run your office or a city or state like a business. That means you are the boss. And guess, what? You're not.

Just getting old?

Maybe it's my version of Groundhog Day. And it certainly strikes me as odd. Unless, after all of these years, this defines what getting older is all about.

For several days in a row, when I first woke up and looked at my clock it was 6:26 a.m. Not 6:23 or 6:27. Always 6:26.

Is something like that even possible for someone who has never used an alarm clock?

It didn't matter what time I went to bed. When my eyes opened, it was 6:26. It's about the time I need to get up anyway to get ready for work. So from that standpoint, it's not driving me crazy to be awake at that time.

It's just that 6:26 apparently is my in-house wake-up call.

dheun@sbcglobal.net