Restauranter Greg Wilson will be looking to put Bermuda back on the map as a seafood destination when he opens his latest enterprise today.

Mr. Wilson, who runs Greg's Steakhouse in Church Street, will be launching a new seafood restaurant upstairs called Greg's Seafood Lounge offering everything from Bermuda fish chowder to rock and Maine lobster and even soft shell and Alaskan king crab legs.

He also plans to start doing Sunday brunch menu and has already begun a birthday registration promotion to get more customers in the door during these tough economic times.

But, above all, Mr. Wilson wants to fill a niche in the market for real seafood restaurants to complement his already thriving steakhouse business - the first of its kind in Bermuda.

The restaurant will take over from G Sushi, which only opened in 2007, as Mr. Wilson reckons the Island's restaurant sector is saturated with sushi eateries.

"We decided to go in a different direction from the sushi," he said.

"There is an abundance of sushi bars Island-wide today and looking at the trend we are just trying to offer an alternative to our customers.

"Being an Island abound with seafood all around us, we decided to go into the seafood business.

"We did a survey over the last three months asking our customers and even people on the street what they thought about a seafood restaurant and first of all there were no such restaurants around that came to their mind."

Mr. Wilson grew up in a family which was famous for its seafood restaurants in Bermuda, but after they all closed down he is looking to start a renaissance of that market.

And he believes seafood and steak will prove to be a winning combination, if the success of his steakhouse is anything to go by.

"Seafood and Bermuda go hand-in-hand," he said.

"We are going to be serving things like rock lobster, Maine lobster, Blue Point oysters, soft shell crabs, Dungeness crab claw, which are very popular on the West Coast of the US, Alaskan king crab legs and, of course, fresh Bermuda fish.

"We are going all over the world for Greg's Steakhouse and putting it all together in a nice little package and with the steak combination it gives us a lot more variety in a surf and turf style.

"The initial response that we are getting from our customers is tremendous."

The mouth-watering menu, which has been designed by co-owner and executive chef Colin Lloyd, features the likes of New England clam chowder, jumbo tiger shrimp cocktail, lobster cakes, shrimp tempura, crispy fried calamari, steamed mussels in white wine and garlic, salads, fresh fish and seafood specialities, surf and turf specialities, seafood pasta and side dishes.

Mr. Lloyd said he jumped at the idea to start the new seafood restaurant and provide something which Bermuda had been lacking for some time.

"I believe that we are going to be the first real seafood restaurant on the Island," he said.

"We are looking at ways to cover things that our customers have been asking us for.

"We are really happy about the patronage that we have had over the years because we have a lot of regular customers and we want to acknowledge that - we have always been supported by the people that live here and and we are very thankful for that.

"We just look forward to everyone coming down and having a wonderful time."

Greg's Steakhouse has already won a prestigious Wine Spectator Award this year to add to its accolades, while the restaurant took on a new Maitre'd last month, with Michael Daniels, former Maitre'd at the Fairmont Southampton Princess and with about 50 years experience in the trade, coming on board.

Meanwhile, its birthday registration promotion encourages clients to contact the restaurant via phone or email with their birthdates, which are entered into a register to be invited for a free lunch or dinner for themselves along with two paying guests on their birthday.

If they bring 10 guests or more, a full birthday party is thrown for them complete with a cake with their name on and balloons. The promotion has already attracted more than 200 responses.

The seafood restaurant, which seats 40 people, will be open seven days a week between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. for lunch and 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. for dinner, with brunch on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the whole restaurant, starting on May 10.

For more information about Greg's Seafood Lounge or special deals contact Greg's Steakhouse at 297-2333, e-mail gregssteakhouse@logic.bm or visit the website at www.gregssteakhouse.com