away
FROM HOME
Fresh live Maryland crabs waiting to be steamed at May’s Restaurant
Avery’s Maryland Grille For more than 50 years, Jug Bridge Seafood was a beloved Frederick institution. In 2006, Stephen Polcari bought a bar on the property, Monkey Lala. A few years later, Jug Bridge closed, and Polcari decided to buy the building. Initially, he says, “I wasn’t sure exactly what 32
fall 19
“A lot of people think not much goes into just crabs, but they’d be surprised.” - Stephen Polcari
concept I was going for. But this building with all its history is going to be a seafood house. It was a seafood house before me, and maybe after me… I just feel like that’s what it is.” He began renovations in 2012 and opened Avery’s Maryland Grille two years later. Avery’s offers three distinct dining experiences: a family restaurant with a nautical theme and a large aquarium as its centerpiece, a lively sports bar, and an enclosed outdoor patio with string lights and a
PHOTOS: CRABS - DAN GROSS. MALLET - BILL GREEN.
Firestone’s Raw Bar offers at least five types of East Coast oysters at any given time. “We’re always working with lots of fresh fish,” Mallory says; the restaurant receives a shipment of fresh oysters and a half side of tuna every day. Crudo dishes, poke bowls, and crab cakes are frequent specials, and Maryland crab dip is a menu mainstay. “The Chef’s Tower” is the pièce de résistance, featuring 18 oysters, ceviche, tuna tartare, and a raw seafood special such as lobster salad or steamed shrimp, all served on ice. It’s a bargain, Mallory says, at $65. A high-end, hand-operated meat slicer—ready to prepare charcuterie at a moment’s notice—holds a place of honor at the front of the restaurant “to keep the people who don’t like oysters happy,” Mallory says. “We want to be here for everyone.”