Returning to Port...

No, not the beverage.

When I was out here in the days (late nineties) of the Super Hornet EMD flight test program, with MFO still in STL, I often rewarded myself with a Saturday night dinner over on the Solomons, at the Dry Dock Restaurant, one of the few places for fine dining at that time. It was back in the time when it was located in that little block house over the marina’s potties. Seated maybe 25 people at the most, had a compact bar and a kitchen so small that the chef didn’t have to move around to do anything. The place was nicely decorated, they turned out very nice food, they were all friendly, and of course the view was great.

As we are surely finding out today, nothing is forever, and they moved to the “new” larger space next door with more tables, but still had a lovely bar and pretty much the same waitstaff. When MFO and I lived on “that” side of the Patuxent we were pretty much fixtures. But, nothing is forever. As life moves on, there were changes in staff and managers, a rotation of chefs set in, and we sort of fell off the “regular” list. The low point for me was when they instituted “nights” where you could get a steak dinner for $19.95 kind of thing. Not quite blue plate specials, but not what I consider a fine dining restaurant should offer.

So, I was pleased to hear that one of the former chefs which we were familiar with, Ben, had returned. Chefs are a funny lot. They always seem to be looking over the next hill or seeking new challenges, and he left the DD to help his brother (as I recall) in another venture. So after a long day following my Monday nights adventure in DC with the Lee Brothers, we decided to re-visit the Dry Dock for dinner and say hello and welcome to Ben.

They are still pretty much the best combination (IMHO) of waterfront and fine dining options in the area, with easterly facing views (very important around sun set) of the marina and many seldom used sailboats bobbing. We climbed the stairs and immediately saw a couple of “regulars” from the old days (they stayed the same) but were pleasantly surprised to see one of the servers from our hay day also returned as a customer. She said it was the first time she’d been in the place in two years. Outside dining wasn’t yet open, and (good for them) they had reserves for all the tables, so we took our familiar seats at the bar. Gone were the little bins of “orange” food, at least last night. The bartender asked if we were drinking or eating, and we replied “both” and were given menus, and we both ordered our standard drinks. Without hesitation he reached for the green vermouth bottle and delivered a correctly made dry manhatten, on the rocks with a twist and the Bombay sapphire gimlet. I think it was the same barkeep that I remembered from last time, efficient and correct, but not very chatty.

After savoring the drinks for a bit, we turned to the menu, which has remained pretty much standard over the years. Soup du Jour, a couple of salads, many appetizers with heavy emphasis on the seafood: (Grilled Scallops: Spinach Risotto, Bacon, Pistachio); all with a little creative twist: Butternut Squash Ravioli: Mascarpone, Sage Brown Butter, Grated Amaretti. Main plates followed the traditional offering fish, a duck breast, steak and crab cakes. Prices ranged in the low teens for appetizers and low to mid twenties for the mains. I do not recall any vegetarian or gluten free offerings.

We also took a look at the wine list, which contained a few oddities that I didn’t know whether were typos or just beyond my experience. There was one called “Red Zin”; a French “Chateau Preuillac: which I thought was a typo, but research shows it’s exactly that and beyond my experience. However, I suspect the George Duboeus should have ended with an “f”. MFO selected a Yalumba Viognier, but I stuck with the cocktails. We both tasted the Viognier, and both thought it had sort of a "burnt/toasty" tinge.

Ben did come out, he looked pretty much the same, just older like the rest of us and it was fun to chat a bit before he returned to his work station. Our food was quite good, we split the mini crab cake apps, I had a pan roasted rockfish, and MFO went with a salmon. I am not sure whether Ben has had time to work the menu to “his” yet, but what we had last night was quite good. The only lapse I found (hey, I have to find at least ONE) was that nobody seemed to be in charge of who walked through the door, and often a group just sort of hovered for a bit before being attended to.

Restaurants come and go, it’s nice to see the DD is still there, and maybe with Ben’s return and the elimination of “nights”, they can regain (IMHO) their former place in the fine dining options around here. They’re local, not a chain and we should support them in the face of the burgeoning “box store” trend. I would go check it out.

Speaking of the fine dining scene, I think the folks from Saphron are applying for their liquor license, so looks like that’s going to happen. The bottom feeder would suggest they don’t mess with the bar. Corbels had that right (although they will need a new mirror!). Even there you should be

DFD