With MFO out of town, one is faced with sustaining the body. Choices consist of cooking for one, hoping a caterer shows up at the door, getting invited over for dinner by caring friends, or going out. With the exception of the caterer, all the other options were realized. Home cooking always takes first place, so friends was number one, and sadly cooking for one took last place which leaves me with “going out”. Over the past few days, I had the chance to visit three places…
Dock of the …. Back Creek
Not too much new to say about The Dry Dock, it is always a pleasant place to be, and the food is reliable (we’ll visit this subject a bit later). I generally stick to the seafood and have not been disappointed within recent memory. The evening I was there I had pan roasted Rockfish over the seemingly ubiquitous “hoppin’ john” rice, and the chef kindly substituted some sugar snap peas for the asparagus normally plated with the dish. I’m sorry, I know it’s a favorite even of serious foodies, I just never developed a taste for it.. The fish was served skin side up so it had a nice crispy top. I normally sit at the bar, so service is not an issue. I try to remain objective and not automatically like everything just because it’s the Dry Dock, but they really haven’t given me any reason to not like it lately.
The Tide is Rising….
I was invited to join some friends for a night out, and by the time we juggled everybody’s schedule we found out that Café Des Artistes was completely booked, which is sort of our go to in Leonardtown for a nice dinner. We’d been to Front Porch enough lately that we didn’t want to return there and so the suggestion was made we try The Tides. It’s easy to fall into ruts, and save for the odd appetizer at the bar I have not had a seated meal there in quite a while. And to be truthful those quite a while ago experiences weren’t enough to beckon me back even though it’s minutes from the digs. So it was with a bit of apprehension that we chose it. I happened to arrive first so went and sat in the bar. And when you’re in the bar, it is only courteous to order a drink, so out of duty I asked for a DMOTRWAT. I will give the bar lady credit, she immediately said “I’m not sure how to make that!” instead of just blindly taking her best shot which usually results in sweet vermouth and a cherry. So I explained what I wanted and she made it.. One more barkeep educated!
Of course two sips in, the rest of the party arrived and we decided to adjourn to the dining space. The host led us in, he carrying dinner menus, special drinks menu, the available Valentine menu sheet, and maybe the wine list. Quite the stack of reading material! We were offered a table in the “private” room, but decided to stay in the main area. Besides that gives the Feeder a chance to observe. Speaking of observing, when I was in the bar, the lady made a Martini using Hendrick’s Gin.. Hmm, I thought I know somebody who is partial to that spirit, and sure enough he and his wife were seated near us.
Our server came and asked about more drinks, and I am pretty sure no speeches were made, and off he went. Of course by the time (more than you might wish) he returned I had finished my drink so he had to make a return trip to the bar. They still do the olive oil in the little dish with balsamic and cracked pepper if you wish. I don’t really like that, always afraid of the drizzle factor on the DFD. I also wish they would cut the bread all the way through instead of making you tear it off, always leaving a hunk at the bottom. So after more conversation we began to consider food. As I said, I haven’t been there for a time, and maybe not under the current managership, but I did like the menu, a nice mixture of seafood, fin, and hoof. Although come to think of it, I don’t recall a vegetarian option. Hmmm…
There is some confusion around ordering, you have to choose a blend of salads or sides or combinations thereof (mine probably not helped by the second DMOTRWAT). We wound up asking our server about various preparations, and so forth. Finally I settled on a cup of crab soup, a Caesar Salad (with Anchovies, please), and the peppercorn filet with scallops (with rice and potatoes). The rest of the table accounted for a “stacked” tuna appetizer, some roasted vegetables, macadamia crusted mahi-mahi, and the spiced grilled salmon.
Since I am as usual running off at the keyboard, I won’t recount each dish. All the food was very well prepared, and had good flavor. My only complaint was that my salad, although laden with anchovies was mostly composed of small bits of heart of romaine, and maybe just a bit overdressed. But the main dishes were quite good. The beef was flavorful, and the scallops done just nicely, only just into opaque. Service was good, with maybe one too many “how is everythings?”, but it was well meaning. I was disappointed in the DFD condition of the place, there was a wide variation, and mercifully the one party in jeans, tee shirts and cap decided after they were seated, that they would be happier in the bar. I think we all were. And finally, upon leaving we called upon the (lovely) restrooms off the bar where we discovered yet another couple of friends (big night for friends). In the course of conversation they confided in me that a visit to the (above mentioned) Dry Dock in early December was disappointing on all fronts. I was sorry to hear that, but I might suggest they give it another shot.
So overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food at The Tides. This opinion was confirmed by “Hendrick’s” and another couple we knew in the dining room. I certainly will return, much sooner now than I would have without this refresher. The Tide is indeed rising.
Wind in the…
Willows. I took advantage of an invitation of sharing a lunch with a long time reader, and we settled on “trying” the Willows. He is also a discerning food person, so we thought a visit would be informative. I had not eaten there since it opened and many readers have asked about it so there were a lot of reasons to go there. I arrived near the agreed upon time of noon, to see only one car in the parking lot, causing me to wonder if the “open” sign in the window was true. There was also an interesting sign in front that kind of brought me up short. It’s a bit confusing to me. Catering to the NASCAR folk I suppose.
Testing the door confirmed they were indeed open, so I went inside. The lonely car must have been staff as my friend had yet to arrive. I was the only person inside the place (besides staff). And boom! I was transported back many, many years to the John Nucci time, although I think the walls were changed from dark paneling to drywall which lightened the place considerably. There is still the bar in the middle of everything and maybe twelve to fifteen tables scattered around. Also absent was any hint of cigarette smoke which I always associated with the place. Décor is sparse, there was some kitchy stuff on the walls along with some prints. I was told from behind the bar to “Sit where ever you like” so chose a four top near the corner. Behind the bar came over and offered me a menu, and asked about a drink. I verified they served (at least) beer and asked what varieties they had. After plowing through the usual suspects from Bud and Coor’s, she came to Yuengling, so I stopped her there. Good enough. It was brought to the table with a chilled mug, and just as I poured my friend appeared. He ordered up one for himself. We enjoyed conversation for a while (we were still the only customers there) and then got down to considering lunch. The menu is a typical tri fold affair with pages slipped in those plastic sleeves. It’s a “one menu does all” approach and it took a bit of hunting to find the list of sandwiches among dinner entrees, salads, soups, etc. I didn’t pay too much attention to those, but the list of sandwiches were about what you would expect. Burgers, crab cake, reuben, steak and cheese, pretty standard stuff. My friend settled on the crab cake after asking behind the bar (now at the table) if it was good. Yes. Have you actually eaten it? Yes. Okay. For some reason I decided I’d do the club sandwich, where upon I was asked if I wanted turkey or ham.
My memory of a club sandwich (possibly colored by the good one a the old Officer’s Club on base) was that it was multi layered, separated by bread, with at least two kinds of meats, usually also bacon, and then lettuce and tomato. So taken somewhat aback by the choice of meat, I said turkey. There also was no option given for choice of bread. Both of our orders were responded to with “are fries okay?”. They were, so not sure what happens if they are not. More conversation and sips, and eventually the dishes arrived. The crab cake was on a Kaiser Roll (plus points) and of fairly good size. Before digging in, he forked up a couple of bites and confirmed it was blue crab and fairly tasty. My sandwich was kind of interesting. It contained only two compartments with three slices of (toasted white), one with the (shaved lunch meat) turkey and a little lettuce and the other with bacon, whitish tomatoes, and more lettuce. The portion of turkey was pretty good. Somehow club sandwiches tend to run large, and this one followed suit. I could only eat two of the four skewered portions. The fries had that faint aroma of oil, but were edible. Somewhere in here another couple showed up, ate, and left before we finished. We were having such nice conversations we decided on another brew to continue. It was an enjoyable respite, and we decided to convene another time, probably in another place.
All in all we were there almost two hours, from noon till one thirty or so, and besides the other couple we were the only customers spanning the normal luncheon time period on a Wednesday afternoon. If I were in the area, I might stop there, but there are more options up the hill in Leonardtown. I suppose their challenge is to draw you away from there. I think they have their hands full. I am not hopeful of their future, but of course this is one day, one time, at lunch. Maybe dinner is better attended,
Who’s Jerry?
My photo of Jerry’s Bistro and wonderings about who exactly was Jerry, got a reply from one of my trustiest county cultural history readers reminding me there is a “Jerry’s” on Great Mills Road. Maybe he’s moving up town…time will tell...
Okay, last course is complete. And you didn’t even have to
DFD
