The “Codfathers” brought fish fries back to Queen of Peace in 2022, and they’re looking forward to another big season of Lent starting March 5. Seven of the 20 Codfathers are shown above. Left to right: Ray Schott, Craig Vosse, Eric Edgar, Scott Simonin, Kevin Boron, Mike Riley and Adrian Jacquot (David Wilhelm photo).
The “Codfathers” have brought fish fries back to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Belleville, and they’re bigger than ever.
A group of Queen of Peace graduates reintroduced the fish fries in 2022 following a 14-year hiatus. But it’s not just cod that will be on the menu from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on March 5, March 14 and April 4. Visitors can enjoy fish tacos, peel and eat shrimp, cole slaw, potato salad, a Raider salad, macaroni and cheese, french fries, and desserts.
Eric Edgar, a 1990 graduate of Queen of Peace, is the ringleader of the group of 20. And why not? His mom, Jeanne, ran the fish fries at the parish for many years.
“We’re always together, so we just started talking about it,” Edgar said, surrounded by fellow Codfathers and Queen of Peace alumni Ray Schott, Craig Vosse, Scott Simonin, Kevin Boron, Mike Riley and Adrian Jacquot, who are all familiar with the fish fries from their years attending the school.
“I asked some questions: ‘If we do it, who would all be in? What could we do?’” said Edgar, whose background includes 20 years of restaurant experience. “Then we all gave some ideas, and that was the beginning.”
Queen of Peace partners with Blessed Sacrament on its fish fries. Blessed Sacrament’s fish fries are March 7, March 21 and March 28.
Edgar said Vosse made the point that if the fish fries returned to Queen of Peace, the standard cod and french fries wouldn’t be enough. Thus, the menu expanded.
“We have to give Craig credit for that,” Edgar said. “His belief was if we just did fish and fries, we weren’t going to stand out. We were going to be like every other fish fry.”
The fish tacos, for example, are not served with fried cod. Instead, they feature sauteéd tilapia. Everything on the menu is homemade.
“When we decided to do this, we all said, ‘Not only does it have to stand out, but it has to be restaurant quality and better than what we see everywhere else,’” Vosse said. “Everything is made fresh, all the way down to the tartar sauce and the cocktail sauce.”
Schott then chimed in.
“Everyone can have a fish fry, but we don’t get people here just because we’re Queen of Peace and have a fish fry,” he said. “People come here because it’s a really good product, and we’re proud of that.”
Edgar said good food isn’t the only benefit of the fish fries at Queen of Peace.
“The biggest thing is the hospitality — and the community of our parish — that is back in this gym,” Edgar said. “That’s a key thing for all the people that come now and want to be here to help, eat or (enjoy) the fellowship.”
Jodi Reinhardt, Eric’s sister and also a Queen of Peace graduate, estimates that the fish fries reel in 600 to 700 people each night.
“We always want to do better,” said Reinhardt, a marketing whiz who came up with the nickname, “The Codfathers,” which is on T-shirts worn by the men. Another catchy slogan still used, “In Cod We Trust,” dates to the 1980s.
Reinhardt echoed her brother about the sense of community that exists at the Queen of Peace fish fries, a scene that perhaps unfolds at many locations throughout the diocese during Lent.
“Most fish fries are not going to make big bucks,” she said, adding it’s about “social, hospitality, steward ship and community.”
“The right people at the right time were ready to do this,” Reinhardt said. “When mom was running it, it was the place to be. You came with all your friends and you ran on the playground and then you ran the fish (to the tables) and did your job. It was the best.”
Six of the seven Codfathers who gathered recently worked at The Shrine Restaurant at Our Lady of the Snows, which closed in June 2020, a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic that also impacted many metro-east fish fries. Edgar was the restaurant manager.
Boron is one of the younger Codfathers; he graduated from Queen of Peace in 1995. Like other members of the group, he was energized about the idea of getting the fish fries off the ground again.
“I remember going to them when I was a kid,” Boron said. “I have a son here now, so it means a lot to have the memories I have and to see him and his friends, and all the other (Codfathers’) kids as well. Just to see everything going on is great.”