Unrated during the pandemic
Signs of normalcy seem to be everywhere this spring. Disneyland reopened in California, Major League Baseball fans replaced cardboard cutouts in stadiums, Delta is booking middle seats again and all I could think about in April was where I might eat my first steamed Maryland crab of the season. My only requirements were someplace I’d never been and a restaurant on the water. Some sleuthing found me 10 minutes north of Annapolis, at the Point Crab House & Grill overlooking Mill Creek in Arnold, Md.
I arrived on a late Friday afternoon to skies that threatened rain, news that crabs were unavailable and a waiting list that put my hungry party in 15th place. Stay or go? The cheery hosts posted outside the Point made the decision for me. “We offer cocktails outside,” one of them told me, pointing to nearby spots arranged with seats. “Our bartenders come in before we open to squeeze fresh juices.” The server’s equally helpful colleague took our cell number and told us we could check the status of our position on the list on our phone.
When a faint shower started, we retreated to our car with our margaritas and previewed the menu online. Steamed crabs weren’t offered, but otherwise, crab everything-else — soup, toast, dip, cakes — was. And it was encouraging to see the Point draw diners with more than the signature seafood: live music Tuesday through Thursday, half-off bottles of wine on Wednesday and a happy hour charging a mere $2 for domestic beer
The drizzle was momentary, but it cut short our wait as others on the list took themselves off it. Within 30 minutes we were seated in an airy dining room, three sides of which were windows or see-through garage doors that set the scene — a fleet of boats were docked mere yards away. Chef Bobby Jones, 48, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Julia, says he channeled the home of his grandmother when he opened the Point in 2012. Patricia Lyons Jones had a little creekside rancher on Kent Island where she served crab to dozens of relatives every Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
Some of the dishes hark to the chef’s youth, too. As a kid visiting his grandparents, Jones, a Baltimore native who moved to Annapolis when he was 19, says he could spend time in the garage with his father and “bickering” grandfather or hang out with his mom and grandmother while they cooked. His nose became his guide. “It smells good in the kitchen,” he recalls thinking. And so began his interest in putting out good food. Jones went on to work every station — dishwasher, line cook, bartender, manager — in restaurants around the Bay.
Any crab-palooza should start with “Mom-Mom’s” crab soup, which is lots of sweet crab and a hint of country ham in a bowl crammed with cabbage, celery, tomatoes and crisp corn. The broth is thin yet rich, buoyed by the mingling of four stocks: beef, pork, chicken and crab. The thicker cream of crab soup is plentiful with seafood, too, but pales in comparison after a few white spoonfuls, despite a dusting of red seasoning.
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Toast has been with us so long, it’s no longer a trend. The Point makes a delicious case for crab and avocado atop slightly sour grilled country bread. A server likens the combination to “chicken salad, only with seafood,” an apt description for crab and avocado lightly bound with mascarpone and bright with fresh tarragon and lemon. “Put crab on it, and it sells,” says the chef. Even better that almost everything with crab on it here slaps a smile on our faces.
Jones only buys live crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, primarily from the Wye and Chester rivers. “I get what I can get,” says the chef, explaining why on my follow-up trip, mediums were the only size available. The kitchen steams its crabs to order, then plies them with a seasoning blend that runs more than a dozen ingredients long. The finishing touch is red with cayenne, chiles and paprika, and rounded out with cumin, coriander and a suggestion of sugar. The texture is a selling point, too. Different grinds of some seasonings — notice the sea salt flakes? — add a nice crunch to the eating, which takes place on a sheet of brown butcher paper accompanied by a wooden mallet and a sharp knife for breaking down the crabs. The most Maryland of traditions is one of its messiest, which explains the deep wash basins against the wall. FYI: The kitchen is happy to steam a single crab for the merely curious.
Crab cakes are a little busier than purists might prefer. Cleaned of any shell, jumbo lump crab is first dredged in a mix of eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice and hot sauce. Next, the seafood is bound with buttery toasted brioche crumbs. The finished product emerges from the broiler a nice shade of gold, gently crisp and slightly sassy.
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In high season — June through August — deliveries of live crabs are made twice a day, in the morning and again around 3 p.m., when fishermen pull in and truck around their catch. Summer is also when the Point pulls in half its annual revenue, says Jones. The demand is such that the restaurant doesn’t take reservations. Anyway, Jones hates the thought of customers cooling their heels in long lines and wondering why tables are going unseated, when in fact they’re empty due to latecomers or no-shows.
Maybe you’re not into crab. The Point has your back. The bountiful bibb lettuce salad appears to use a garden of greens. Tucked among the ruffles are flourishes of pear, pecans and Stilton, the pricey cheese of choice at the Point, which also deploys Stilton atop its fine coleslaw and in the creamy dip for the pleasing, twice-fried chicken wings. Shrimp steamed in lemon and onions are hit with the same delicious spices as the steamed crabs. When he opened, Jones used local hake for his fish and chips. Demand was such that he was obliged to switch to the more plentiful Atlantic cod. Served in a wire fry basket with terrific hand-cut potatoes, the fish comes to the table sporting a crisp jacket of beer batter and an escort of remoulade for dunking — which we do, until every last crumb is history.
Tacos, including pork, feel like strangers at the party. Yet the fish taco I sampled made me glad to make its acquaintance. Ramping up the pleasure of diced tuna, avocado, chopped peanuts and wasabi-mustard cream was their two-ply cradle: a soft flour tortilla lined with a fried corn tortilla. The signature burger is a beauty, with a thick patty cooked the way you ask and a tender brioche bun pierced with a little spear topped with a cherry tomato. Open wide, bite down and enjoy the tang of pickle, the snap of rosemary-seasoned bacon, the sweetness of caramelized onion and a sharp nudge from horseradish sauce. Jones is sorry/not sorry to offer tomato slices only in season.
Karen Welsh, 69, a self-described home baker, makes desserts here, and each one tastes true to the restaurant’s theme. Her lemony cheesecake is fluffy with sour cream, cheesecake and mascarpone, and her sundae is built around local ice cream, fried rounds of cornbread and both berry and chocolate sauces. The blue ribbon goes to the mammoth nutty buddy slider: multiple scoops of ice cream sandwiched between chocolate-dipped butter cookies and finished with a roll in crushed roasted peanuts. It’s weighty and wonderful and calls for a nap afterward. You’ve been warned.
Every step along the way is considered. As Jones likes to say, service “starts when you get out of your car.” And as a companion weighs in, “Even the beer tastes colder at the Point,” thanks partly to frosted glasses. The all-in hospitality is explained by owners that make a priority of their staff, whose hours aren’t cut even in the dark of winter, when cooks are kept busy prepping for a more elaborate menu than what summer can support.
The owners’ thoughtful approach extends to the look. The design — knotty pine floors, swirling ceiling fans, touches of pale blue — strikes just the right tone without screaming “CRAB HOUSE.” The sepia blowups of crab fisherman, outside and in, are especially arresting. And I love to see gas pipes repurposed as foot rests at the bar.
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Surely “Mom-Mom” would be proud.
Ultimately, the four-word slogan on the staff’s T-shirts mirrors my sentiments exactly: “Get to the Point.”
The Point Crab House & Grill 700 Mill Creek Rd., Arnold, Md.410-544-5448.thepointcrabhouse.com. Open for takeout, indoor and outdoor dining 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.Prices:Small plates $7 to $17, sandwiches and main courses $10 to $36. No delivery. Accessibility: Ramps near the entrance and roomy restrooms make the restaurant wheelchair-friendly.
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