The Acton Woman’s Club holds a monthly lunch and includes a speaker or performance of interest to the members and anyone from the public who wants to attend to learn more about the group. This month, the luncheon was held at Acton TV and was prepared by the owner of Twin Seafood, Joe Loblundo, and his right hand man, Christian (CJ) Ruiz. The chefs call the show “The Codfather”.
The Woman’s Club has participated in the show annually for five years. However, Joe Loblundo has entertained audiences with “The Codfather” for many more years. He started when Marc Duci’s predecessor, Rick Deegan, as director of Acton TV, was commentating on AB girls hockey games, for which Joe was the camera guy. Joe’s daughter, Alex, and niece, Cali, played. Rick asked Joe what he did for a living and he told him that he owned Twin Seafood in West Concord, and that spun off to Joe doing a cooking show at Acton TV called “The Codfather”.
During the January taping, Joe Loblundo and CJ Ruiz demonstrated how they clean a fish, make crab cakes, prepare roasted salmon, and make Mother Josie’s salad dressing, joking with each other and the audience all the while. (The dressing recipe, which this Twin Seafood salad fan was excited to learn, is: one cup of olive oil and one cup of red wine vinegar, 1/3 cup of dehydrated onion, 1/3 cup of dried parsley and a 1/6 of a cup of garlic powder. Let it sit overnight for best results.) Loblundo said, “That’s the only dressing we have in the restaurant and, if you don’t want that dressing, then you don’t need a salad.”
The cooks pan-seared the salmon in vegetable or avocado oil, to hold in the juices, then baked it at 400º for seven or eight minutes. They served the hungry Woman’s Club audience fish chowder, crab cakes, salad, rice, and the roasted salmon. Members of the Woman’s Club set out enough desserts to feed everyone twice over.
Joe Loblundo continues to own Twin Seafood, West Concord. It will be 35 years in June of 2026. CJ Ruiz travels into Boston, a minimum of three days a week to pick out “the freshest seafood available.” CJ has worked for Joe in the store for 14 years now. They met years ago when Joe was coaching Pop Warner Football in Acton, in which his son Eric played. CJ’s brother, Angel, played on this team as well. CJ asked Joe if he could be an assistant coach on Joe’s team. CJ, then 19, had taken his mother’s car for a joy ride and was now assigned to community service. The decision to ask Joe for a job was a heartwarming example of alternative sentencing, and fortuitous, as it led to a many-year working relationship.
Joe and CJ end each show by saying, “We have prepared you a meal that you cannot refuse.”
Acton Woman’s Club will be back at Acton TV on Feb. 11 for the annual fashion show, dressed by Chico’s. On March 11, the luncheon and meeting will be back at the clubhouse, when Acton’s Patty Carver will portray Debbie Reynolds in a tribute performance. April’s luncheon on April 8 will feature local storytellers.
This year’s “Codfather” will soon be available on demand at Acton TV.
Franny Osman is editor-in-chief of the Acton Exchange and occasionally writes, too.
