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Dining with Gilles and Kathy
Yellowfin
2840 Old Solomon's Road, Annapolis
410-573-1333

We couldn't believe we were in the middle of winter when we entered the Yellowfin restaurant on Solomon's Island Road.

The place was packed and alive-it looked like a summer evening happy hour. It immediately made me anxious for spring to arrive, so we could get on the boat and enjoy some of summer's outdoor perks. What a nice feeling!

Despite the crowd, one of the best parts of our entrance was that we weren't crushed, pushed or forced to excuse ourselves a dozen times to get to our table. The unique building, designed by local architect Catherine Purple Cherry, is very well designed, with input from the ownership and the management. The bar area separates the dining room with an array of attractive contemporary metal sculptures of abstract fish and fins. The tall open ceilings and modern color palette are accentuated by comfortable contemporary booths tables with a panoramic view of the South River. The airy layout is very spacious, yet still delivers an intimate atmosphere.

Opened two and a half years ago, the spiffy new Yellowfin replaced Fergies, formerly owned by Jim Fergusson (who is now part of the partnership including Harvey Blonder, James Hetzel and Mike Larret).

Joanne, our waitress, graciously introduced us to the dinner specials and assisted with the selection of wine from the small but trendy wine list. We decided to start with coconut shrimp, which was lightly coated with coconut. They were tender and gently sweet, not overpowering, nicely accompanied by chili dipping sauce (and quite a large portion for an appetizer). The crab and artichoke dip is served with traditional toasted bread sticks and was studded with lump crabmeat gently topped with melting cheese. The Caesar salad, although fresh, crisp and enough to share, as recommended by our waitress, was disappointing. It lacked the traditional flavor of anchovy and could have used a little more "zing" to it. The "drunken" crab soup (renamed the "sober" crab soup, as I omitted the splash of whiskey), was excellent. It had generous amounts of vegetables and crabmeat. Interestingly enough, it was not seasoned with an overpowering amount of Old Bay, but gently complimented with a similar spice, perhaps the Wye River version or simply a homemade blend of spices.

Our entreés for the evening were greatly satisfying. Stuffed Canadian salmon, one of the daily selections, was topped with a Maryland-style Imperial crab and finished with a Chesapeake Mornay sauce, accompanied by roasted red bliss potatoes and haricot verts salad. It was rich, scrumptious and perfect with a glass of Hess Select.

The N.Y. strip steak is a very generous cut (16 oz.) of prime Angus beef, beautifully seasoned and cooked perfectly, sided with delectable chives mashed potatoes and sautéed fresh baby spinach. No sauce was needed. The Alaskan Halibut came parmesan encrusted, served over linguine sautéed with sun dried tomatoes, broccoli florets a splash of lemon and garlic. It really enhanced the perfectly-prepared fish filet. Though the portion of halibut was slight in comparison, all other portions of appetizers and entreés were extremely generous, so we did lighten up on dessert.

We all tried the crème Brule: more than likely the best we've had so far, wonderfully creamy with a perfect thin, crisp caramel top. Because Joanne carried a black pepper grinder, we had a small conversation about that and black pepper overall. So, because vanilla ice cream was on the menu, I convinced everyone to try it with fresh ground black pepper. Reluctance came first, but the overwhelming positive response erased it!

Kenny Dayi, one of the General Managers, came along after dinner to give us a tour of the establishment. We went downstairs to the beautiful private banquet room, which can accommodate up to 150 people. The room leads to a nice deck facing the river and the Liberty Marina, also owned by the restaurateur group. Kenny has been part of the team since over a year before opening. He worked with one of his acquaintances, Christian, a chef on a consultant basis who was the architect of the menu. Paul Kerner, a graduate of Johnson and Wales in Rhode Island, is the executive chef and has also been there since the opening.

I asked Kenny if Fridays were always as busy as it was. He answered, "No. It's like this every day."

No wonder. Great ambiance, great food, beautiful location, and nice people. It will definitely be one of our summer boating "escale".