Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Photography by Stephen Buchanan
How we have missed the pleasure of eating away from home, plates showy with careful garnish, and, most of all, simply enjoying friendly professional service!
For nearly three decades, Main & Market, the upscale cafe, catering, and baking business, has garnered a reputation for creating mouth-watering fare, especially its quality comfort food. The busy cafe dining and catering office spaces buzz in a shopping center close to the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Annapolis. Although further south on the peninsula than downtown, regulars make a habit of breakfast, lunch, or neighborhood dinners.
Main & Market’s outdoor staging experience with catering events prepared them well for rising to the challenges of COVID restrictions for dining out. After the operation went into hibernation for several months, an expansive tent was added to the cafe in March 2021 for additional outdoor seating while interior dining was still limited. Seating outside takes you to a most pleasant pleine air space. During chillier months, the space has full-size heaters plus individual smaller heaters on each table with a dial for your temperature preference. Edison lighting is strung around the ceiling while perky potted plants and flowers add color. The large tent will stay until restaurant capacity is approved at 100 percent. We did opt for an outside meal.
We were pleased to see the wine list’s interesting selection of mid-priced wines ranging from $24 to $44 per bottle. Many of the bottled wines are also sold by the glass. Our server was kind enough to offer a sample of Janielle Rose de Syrah. This light rose was a pleasing start to our meal and very refreshing with its red currant notes. No wonder it’s a customer favorite.
It wasn’t easy to make our entree choices from the many that appealed, with both specials of the day and regular options to choose from. From this week’s offerings, I was tempted by the Greek Chicken Bowl with a mélange of saffron rice, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, red onion, and side of tzatziki sauce. Grilled chicken breast slices topped the dish. The second special for this period, Market Baguette of the Week, touted black forest ham, sliced brie, house-made blackberry jam, and arugula on a toasted baguette, along with a side item choice. Call or check online to see if the line-up has one of your favorites. Dinner specials are offered for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
There are always tried and true favorites! Folks will tell you that the long-standing meatloaf is a homey go-to, topped with your choice of Hungarian mushroom soup or marinara and mozzarella. And about the Hungarian mushroom soup, there is the case of the gal who drives from Edgewater just to get her regular supply!
A good starter to share is the Crab Avocado Quesadilla appetizer. The artful dish we ordered featured crab meat, cilantro, avocado, and cheddar jack cheese housed in a chipotle tortilla. The warm large flour tortilla «sandwich” was cut into four wedges and drizzled with Old Bay remoulade and pico de gallo. The crab definitely stood out even with abundant gooey cheese. It’s perfect for those who like their fare tame, and hot sauce is available for a spicier kick.
As we browsed entrees, we were delighted to see that Caesar or garden salad is included with dinners—it seems many establishments have shifted the salad to a separate column. Prefer soup? You can have that instead for a modest $2 surcharge.
For my entree, I wanted to try the newly offered Stuffed Shrimp. What is familiar to me is new again here. This was a specialty to folks dining along the south Jersey shore where I grew up. Three jumbo, butterflied shrimp were stuffed with a crab and bread filling. Imperial crab sauce was baked over the top. I requested some fresh lemon wedges, which gave a brightness to the crab stuffing. Grill-marked asparagus and roasted, spiced redskin potatoes finished the dish. My accompanying cup of Vegetable Crab Soup special of the day was thick with fresh chunks of carrot, potato, corn, green beans, and lumps of crab. Liberal Old Bay seasoning gave a complementary spicy note.
Photography by Stephen Buchanan
My friend opted for a new version of Avery Island Pasta, which now sports sautéed shrimp rather than the former scallops. The massive dish served in a soup plate was a blend of contrasting yet complementary textures. Jumbo shrimp, crisp bacon, sweet corn kernels, green onions, and linguine pasta were tossed and finished in a slightly spicy, smoked tomato Alfredo sauce. Parmesan cheese shavings were sprinkled on top as garnish. The dish was so immense that at least half was toted home! Caesar salad paired nicely with sliced romaine lettuce tossed with a flavorful dressing topped with both wide shavings and finely grated touches of parmesan along with large crunchy homemade croutons.
Main & Market’s baking business has brought the company well-deserved dessert fame. I always make a special effort to peruse the dessert counter even if not ordering a sweet. The gluten-free dark chocolate cake was highly-recommended and I was told that the chocolate mousse is amazing. This time though, we would finish our meal with an extravaganza: Lemon Lust Cake. Four dense golden cake layers (with a moist crumb) alternately sandwiched delicately tart lemon curd and rich, real house-made buttercream. The entire cake was wrapped in a half-inch thick coat of buttercream and zigzagged with a line of more lemon curd garnish, as well as a piping of whipped cream. We took some of this immense cake slice home just to savor the memorable finish to our meal.
Main & Market 914 Bay Ridge Road, Annapolis 410-626-0388 mainandmarket.com
