Photography by Laura Wiegmann
Main & Market | 914 Bay Ridge Road, Annapolis • 410-626-0388 • mainandmarket.com
For more than 20 years, we’ve sung the praises of Main & Market (nee Main Ingredient) as the casual café perfect for pairing conversation with top-tier cuisine. We’ve also been enamored with the company’s catering and bakery sides of the business, which consistently have delivered fresh and fine meals/treats for parties large and small, and both personally and professionally for family gatherings and What’s Up? Media events. Simply put, Main & Market’s longevity and success in the Greater Annapolis area have been earned one great meal after another, absent from bravado or pretention. The kitchen knows the drill. The service staff knows the drill. The formula works quite well. And, if you pay attention, each visit may offer a surprise or two (there are daily and weekly special dishes and promos).
Stepping inside the café feels cozy, like home, with its warm flooring (looks like Brazilian cherry to my eyes), matching wood tables, and high-back booths where folks can snuggle into their meal. A tempting bakery display case to the room’s rear and a cocktail bar with high-tops at the far left completes the café’s epicurean appeal. Our hostess seated my party of seven into one of the larger booths, to which we moved a couple extra chairs for a “roundtable” lunch.
Photography by Laura Wiegmann
Photography by Laura Wiegmann
An order of iced teas, sodas, and juices taken by our astute waitress whet our appetites while we perused the menu. If a glass of red, white, or blue (curacao) is your leaning, the café is fully stocked with delicious alcohol options. To get us going, we selected a few appetizers including the Crab Dip (a must!) and the surprisingly fun Buffalo Fried Green Tomatoes. A couple cups of soup also made their way to the table—one a gratin of French Onion (supremely delish) and the other, the café’s renown Hungarian Mushroom, a velvety cream-based soup with notes of paprika and dill.
At this point, it’s worth noting that your eyes and table’s conversation will inevitably turn to the display case of luxury cakes, pies, and cupcake versions of all the delicious flavors offered (like Butterfinger, Carrot, Derby, and Red Velvet to name a few on our visit). You may want to keep this in mind when ordering your entrees—maybe save a little room for indulgence.
My kids didn’t necessarily heed this advice when ordering the filling Fish Tacos for one, and the Signature Burger for the other. Both versions of these classics had Main’s touch—that little bit of extra that harmonizes each dish. The tacos’ normal condiments of pico de gallo, shredded cheddar-jack, and lettuce were enhanced with a lime cilantro sauce and topped with crispy chipotle tortilla strips. The burger—cooked to medium rare perfection—had a bacon onion jam that gave it that oomph of flavor!
Photography by Laura Wiegmann
I chose the Café Salad, a collection of mixed greens, brandied peppercorn encrusted chicken, candied pecans, spiced pears, and gorgonzola cheese, all tossed with maple champagne vinaigrette, and didn’t leave a single bite on the plate. The sum of these parts made a charming, sweet ’n savory whole. My wife enjoyed the Lime Cilantro Shrimp Bowl, which popped with marinated, grilled shrimp, a smattering of southwest condiments, that delicious lime cilantro sauce, and one of her favorite veggies (or, rather, fruits), avocado. Others in our group tried the Craisin Chicken Salad (and yes, their “famous chicken salad” is deserving of that moniker), the Corned Beef Rueben (a melty, meaty, lip-smacking, toasted sammie), and a daily special Pesto Shrimp Wrap (a marriage of grilled shrimp, fresh mozzarella, spinach, cherry tomatoes, onion, and nutty basil pesto). We offered a round of praise for each dish.
Our attention would eventually find it’s way back to the desserts, so we ordered two cake slices to share—the Carrot Cake, and Butterfinger. Made inhouse, the crafted cakes hit the sweetest notes of which delectable endings can be made…and reasons to return to Main & Market sung.
