Hey! We’re Falvory (And We’re So Glad You’re Here)
Our Purpose
I’ll never forget that foggy Tuesday morning when I found my grandmother crying over her old recipe box in her Charleston kitchen. She’d just gotten her cholesterol results back, and her doctor told her to “cut back on seafood.” This woman who’d been making shrimp and grits since before I was born, whose crab cakes were legendary in our neighborhood, was suddenly afraid of the very foods that had nourished our family for generations.
That’s when I realized how backwards everything had gotten. Here we were, living on some of the most abundant coastlines in the world, surrounded by the healthiest protein sources on the planet, and we’d somehow been convinced that seafood was either too expensive, too intimidating, or too unhealthy for regular families.
That kitchen conversation changed everything. Grandma looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “Luna, honey, I just want to feed my family well without being scared of every single thing I put on their plates.”
That’s the moment Falvory was born – not in some corporate boardroom, but in my grandmother’s real-life kitchen, surrounded by three generations of women who knew that the ocean’s bounty was meant to nourish, not intimidate.
Our Mission
Every single day, we’re in our kitchens testing recipes that make seafood accessible, affordable, and absolutely delicious for real families. Luna’s burning through fish fillets in Charleston (yes, she still overcooks salmon sometimes), Courtney’s perfecting lobster techniques in her tiny Portland apartment, and Claire’s discovering new sustainable catches at San Diego’s fish markets.
We taste-test every single recipe until it works for busy parents, college students on budgets, and anyone who’s ever stood in the seafood section feeling completely overwhelmed. Because 75,000 home cooks trust us with their dinner plans, and honestly? That responsibility keeps us up at night in the best possible way.
We’re not just sharing recipes – we’re rebuilding the connection between American families and the incredible seafood that surrounds us. We’re making sure that a perfectly cooked piece of fish isn’t just something you order at a restaurant, but something you can confidently create in your own kitchen.
Our Vision
Picture this: your kids actually asking for fish instead of chicken nuggets. Your partner getting excited about “fish night” instead of groaning. Your grocery budget working WITH fresh seafood, not against it. Walking into any fish market feeling confident instead of confused.
We’re working toward a world where every American family has at least three go-to seafood recipes they can make without stress. Where sustainability isn’t scary or complicated, but just part of how we naturally think about our food choices. Where the incredible diversity of our coastal waters is celebrated in kitchens from Maine to California.
We want to see a generation of home cooks who view seafood as their friend, not their intimidating enemy. And we’re getting there, one perfectly flaky piece of fish at a time.
Our Core Values
Ocean-to-Table Honesty: If we can’t get the ingredient within 100 miles of a coast, we find a way to make it work with what’s actually available to you. No fantasy fish that costs $40/pound or requires a trip to three specialty stores. Real recipes for real fish markets.
Failure-Tested Success: Every recipe survives what we call “the weeknight test” – tired cook, hungry family, 30 minutes max, with ingredients you can actually find. If Courtney’s 10-year-old nephew won’t eat it, we start over. (Sorry, Ryan, but your honesty keeps us humble!)
Sustainable Without the Lecture: We’ll tell you which fish are best choices and why, but we’re not going to shame you for feeding your family. Sometimes the “perfect” choice isn’t available or affordable, and we’ll help you make the best choice you can in real life.
Generous with Failures: We’ll tell you when recipes completely flopped (looking at you, octopus attempt #7) because learning from our disasters saves you from yours. Luna’s fish sauce incident of 2023 taught us all valuable lessons about measuring carefully.
Community-Driven Discovery: Our best recipes come from YOU. Your questions, your successes, your adaptations, and yes, your failures too. We’re all in this together, figuring out how to make our families healthier and happier, one meal at a time.
Meet Our Expert Team (The Humans Behind the Screen)
Luna Rodriguez – Culinary Nutritionist & Founder (Plus Chronic Fish Sauce Over-User)
Hey there! I’m the one who started this whole adventure because my Charleston grandmother needed proof that seafood could still be part of a heart-healthy life.
My story started in nutrition school at Johnson & Wales, but really took off during my five years as a clinical nutritionist at MUSC, where I helped patients with heart disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol discover how seafood could actually IMPROVE their health markers. I’ve got my Certified Nutrition Specialist credentials and a Culinary Nutrition Certificate, but honestly? The real education came from working with 300+ patients who needed practical, affordable ways to eat better.
The breakthrough moment was when Mrs. Patterson – a 67-year-old with diabetes – told me her A1C had improved after we worked together on sustainable seafood meals her whole family would actually eat. She’d been afraid of “all that mercury” and convinced that fish was “too fancy” for regular dinners. Six months later, she was making my blackened red snapper for Sunday dinners and her grandkids were asking for seconds.
I specialize in the nutrition science behind seafood (omega-3s, lean proteins, micronutrients) but more importantly, I translate all that research into recipes that make sense for real kitchens and real budgets. I’ve tested every recipe on this site in my own kitchen, and most of them on my patient families too.
When I’m not recipe testing, you’ll find me at Charleston’s fish markets talking to the fishermen about sustainable catches, or at Shem Creek watching the shrimp boats come in. I firmly believe that the best seafood education happens with your hands in the ingredients, not just your nose in nutrition textbooks.
Contact Luna directly: luna@falvory.com (I personally read every email about nutrition questions and recipe adaptations)
Courtney Hayes – Recipe Developer & Food Writer (And Professional Lobster Roll Perfectionist)
Hi! I’m the one who grew up thinking fish sticks were a vegetable and somehow ended up becoming obsessed with authentic New England seafood traditions.
My transformation started when I moved to Portland fifteen years ago and realized I was living in one of America’s greatest seafood regions while still ordering chicken at every restaurant. That felt ridiculous and wasteful. So I started hanging around the docks, asking questions, and slowly learning from fishermen’s families who’d been cooking Maine’s bounty for generations.
I’ve been writing about food professionally for eight years, with work published in Coastal Living, Down East Magazine, and Maine Today. But my real education came from befriending the women who run the lobster pounds, the guys who shuck oysters at Holy Donut, and the Portuguese families in the West End who taught me that linguiça and clams are basically a perfect marriage.
My specialty is taking those time-tested, often unwritten family recipes and adapting them for modern home cooks who might not have grandmothers from fishing families. I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours learning traditional techniques, then testing modifications that work with today’s schedules, equipment, and ingredient availability.
The recipe I’m most proud of? My foolproof lobster roll method that’s been tested by over 2,000 home cooks without a single failure. It took me three summers and approximately 47 lobsters to perfect, but now families from California to Florida are making authentic Maine-style rolls in their own kitchens.
I currently live in Portland’s Old Port with my partner Mike and our rescue dog Clam (yes, really), testing recipes in a kitchen that’s way too small for the amount of seafood experimentation that happens here.
Contact Courtney directly: courtney@falvory.com (I love hearing about your New England seafood adventures and family recipe stories)
Claire Robinson – Chef & Sustainable Seafood Advocate (Plus Pacific Coast Fish Market Regular)
Hello! I’m the California dreamer who spent way too many years intimidated by whole fish and now can’t shut up about how amazing Pacific seafood diversity really is.
My journey started at the California Culinary Academy, but the real learning happened during my four years working at sustainable seafood restaurants in San Francisco and San Diego. I watched amazing chefs transform “weird” fish that most Americans ignore into absolutely incredible dishes, and I became obsessed with bringing that creativity and knowledge into home kitchens.
I hold certifications in Sustainable Seafood from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and have completed advanced fish fabrication courses, but honestly? My best education came from spending Saturday mornings at Point Loma Fish Market, learning from the fishmongers and building relationships with local boat captains who bring in daily catches.
My specialty is helping home cooks get excited about fish beyond salmon and tuna. I’ve developed simple, delicious recipes for rockfish, sand dabs, white sea bass, and dozens of other Pacific species that are abundant, sustainable, and incredibly affordable – but completely ignored because people don’t know how to cook them.
The project I’m most proud of is my “California Fish Adventure” series, where I’ve introduced over 15,000 families to new species through foolproof recipes and detailed cooking guides. Last month, a reader from Phoenix told me she drove to San Diego just to find Pacific rockfish after trying my recipe, and her whole family is now obsessed. That’s the kind of seafood evangelism I live for.
When I’m not developing recipes, you’ll find me at La Jolla Cove watching the marine life, volunteering with ocean conservation groups, or pestering the fish market guys about what boat brought in the day’s best catch.
Contact Claire directly: claire@falvory.com (I especially love questions about sustainable choices and cooking unfamiliar Pacific fish)
How We Actually Do This Work
Here’s what really happens behind the scenes at Falvory (spoiler: it’s messier and more obsessive than you’d think):
Recipe Development Process: Every recipe gets tested minimum five times across our three kitchens before it ever sees the website. We use different equipment, different fish sources, and different skill levels to make sure what works in Luna’s well-stocked Charleston kitchen also works in Courtney’s tiny Portland apartment and Claire’s San Diego condo.
Research Standards: We spend hours reading nutrition journals, sustainability reports, and fishing industry publications. But more importantly, we spend time with actual fishermen, fish market owners, and fishing families learning what really works in practice, not just theory.
Community Testing: Our secret weapon is our recipe testing community of 200+ home cooks who volunteer to try new recipes before publication. They catch our mistakes, suggest improvements, and help us understand what works for different family sizes, budgets, and skill levels.
Failure Documentation: We keep detailed notes on every recipe failure (there are many) because understanding why something doesn’t work is often more valuable than knowing why it does. These failure lessons inform our troubleshooting guides and cooking tips.
Continuous Updates: We revisit and update recipes based on reader feedback, seasonal availability changes, and new techniques we’ve learned. Nothing on Falvory is “set it and forget it” – we’re constantly improving based on real-world results.
Why Trust Us? (Fair Question!)
Measurable Results: Over 75,000 home cooks follow our recipes monthly, with a 94% success rate based on reader feedback surveys. Our most popular recipe (Courtney’s Foolproof Fish Tacos) has been successfully made in over 8,000 kitchens with documented results.
Professional Credentials: Luna’s clinical nutrition background (CNS certification, 5 years hospital experience), Courtney’s food writing portfolio (8 years published work), and Claire’s culinary training (CCA graduate, sustainable seafood certified) provide the foundation, but our real authority comes from obsessive testing and genuine relationships with fishing communities.
Industry Recognition: Our work has been featured in Coastal Living, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit. Luna has been quoted as a seafood nutrition expert in Shape Magazine and Men’s Health. But honestly, we’re more proud of the reader emails telling us we helped their family eat healthier.
Transparent Limitations: We’re not marine biologists, commercial fishermen, or restaurant chefs. We’re home cooking enthusiasts with specialized knowledge who test everything in regular kitchens with regular equipment. We’re clear about what we do and don’t know, and we’ll send you to better experts when needed.
Community Feedback: Read our recipe comments and you’ll see real people sharing real results, failures, and adaptations. We don’t delete negative feedback – we learn from it and improve our recipes accordingly.
Our Community (That’s You!)
This isn’t just our website – it’s honestly become a movement of people who refuse to be intimidated by seafood anymore.
You’ve taught us which fish are actually available in inland grocery stores (thank you, Denver readers). You’ve shared family stories about grandparents who knew how to cook fish but never wrote anything down (looking at you, Chicago community). You’ve sent photos of your 4-year-olds eating salmon and your teenagers asking for fish recipes to impress their dates.
Our readers span from commercial fishermen’s families who appreciate our respect for traditions, to landlocked cooks who are building confidence with fish for the first time. We’ve got nutrition students using our content for research projects, culinary students adapting our recipes for school assignments, and busy parents who just want their kids to eat something healthy that doesn’t require a fight.
The questions you ask in comments drive our content calendar. The adaptations you share help other readers succeed. The failures you report help us improve our instructions. This really is a collaborative effort to make seafood accessible, sustainable, and delicious for everyone.
Reader Success Stories We’re Proud Of:
- Sarah in Kansas got her whole family eating fish for the first time using our “Gateway Fish” series
- The Martinez family in Phoenix now cooks fish twice a week after starting with our budget-friendly recipes
- College students at UNC use our “Dorm Room Seafood” guides for healthy eating on campus
- Three different readers have told us our recipes helped them stick to heart-healthy diets prescribed by their doctors
Our Promise to You
Editorial Standards: Every recipe is tested minimum 5 times before publication. Every nutrition claim is backed by peer-reviewed research (we cite our sources). Every sustainability recommendation is verified with current Monterey Bay Aquarium guidelines.
Accuracy Commitment: When we make mistakes (and we do), we fix them immediately and notify readers who might have been affected. We maintain an ongoing errata page and send correction emails when necessary.
Response Guarantee: We personally read every email sent to our individual addresses within 24 hours. Complex questions might take longer to research and answer thoroughly, but you’ll hear back from us quickly with either an answer or a timeline.
No Hidden Agendas: We only recommend products we actually use and pay for ourselves. When we do receive products for testing (rare), we disclose it clearly. We don’t have affiliate relationships with fish markets, restaurants, or seafood companies that would bias our recommendations.
Continuous Learning: We’re always studying, always improving, always learning from both experts and readers. When better information becomes available, we update our content and notify our community.
Let’s Stay Connected (We Actually Read Our Emails)
General Questions & Recipe Help: contact@falvory.com
We check this multiple times daily and aim to respond within 24 hours. If you’re having a recipe emergency (dinner party tonight!), mention it in the subject line.
Individual Team Members:
- Luna (Nutrition & Health Questions): luna@falvory.com
- Courtney (New England Techniques & Traditions): courtney@falvory.com
- Claire (Pacific Coast & Sustainability): claire@falvory.com
Social Media: We’re active and responsive on Instagram @falvory where we share behind-the-scenes testing, daily catches, and reader successes.
Newsletter: Monthly newsletter with new recipes, seasonal seafood guides, and exclusive testing opportunities. We promise no spam – just good fish content when we have something worth sharing.
Response Style: We write back like humans, not robots. Expect personality, follow-up questions, and genuine interest in your seafood journey.
