Where to Find a Home-Cooked Meal (Without Cooking It Yourself)
Story by Meredith Lindemon | Photo by Meghan Shupe
After the year of the home chef, this summer is the perfect time for someone else to do the cooking. The best Eastern Shore chefs are serving inspired American classics in restaurants that offer all the comforts of home. It’s the perfect dining experience for anyone ready to ease back into the restaurant scene and step away from their own ovens.
Here are four top restaurants that operate out of former Eastern Shore homes:
Heirloom serves a New American menu out of a converted Victorian with red shutters. Owner Meghan Lee opened the well-known white house in 2015, after spending her life working in restaurants. Her dream was to bring different communities together through food, drink and conversation. A veteran of the Greater Philadelphia area and Nantucket, she brings her soulful background to Lewes, creating a charming atmosphere that is a celebration of Mid-Atlantic dining.
Matt Kern, a James Beard-nominated executive chef, brings his love of rustic good food to Heirloom’s tables. His work has created a loyal following of regulars, who come to enjoy his unique spin on Atlantic Octopus a la Plancha, Cast Iron Lancaster Amish Chicken and Twice-Fried Fingerling Potatoes. Be sure to experience one of their world-class wine dinners too.
Heirloom
212 Savannah Rd, Lewes
302-313-4065 | heirloomdelaware.com
Daily, 5 p.m.
Hook @ Harvey is a Cape Charles dockside bistro serving French-inspired comfort food that’s hearty enough for the carnivore while offering a number of inspired seafood and pasta options. Its whitewashed exterior and waterside location make it the perfect place for a pared-down summer dinner with friends or an upscale night out with friends. Deviled duck eggs with quail confit, honey-mustard rack of lamb with fig gastrique or beef tenderloin with bone-marrow butter are instant classics. The fish of the day is pan-seared atop a bed of butternut squash and kale. Seared jumbo scallops are served over lobster hash with fresh morels. Saffron fettuccini comes drizzled in extra virgin olive oil, tossed with lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams and saffron.
Hook @ Harvey
1011 Bayshore Road, Cape Charles
757-331-2275 | hookatharvey.com
Tues-Sat, 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
The Cafe on 26 is an unassuming two-story clapboard house that serves the locals’ favorites in a scaled-down Victorian interior. While the menu changes daily (check the website), all seafood, meat and vegetables are local-farm-to-table and fresh daily. Every dish is market-priced, with a rotating selection of local favorites that includes local rockfish presented two ways, day-boat scallops, grilled salmon and their homemade jumbo lump crab cake. The daily meat dishes range from filet to duck and lamb. Dessert is not to be missed and includes homemade favorites, like Key Lime pie with a chocolate cookie crust, chocolate mousse with strawberries and turtle cheesecake.
Cafe on 26
84 Atlantic Ave., Ocean View
302-539-2233 | thecafeon26.com
Thurs-Sat, 5 p.m.
For lunch or dinner, Out of the Fire in Easton is the perfect place for Mediterranean-inspired global fare in a homey setting. Located in historic Easton, the traditional brick-and-glass front walk-up has been converted into a quick and easy lunchbreak for locals and a light dinner for visitors. Dishes range from Medjool dates and white-cheddar salad to the red bean, poblano, lemongrass burger; warm confit salad to cornmeal-crusted trout sandwich and a wide range of pizzas. Out of the Fire also offers an impressive range of local and craft beers, including Sloop Brewing Boomshakalaka Wild Sour Ale, Narragansett Lager, Downeast Unfiltered Cider and Burley Oak Habitual IPA; there’s something for every beer lover on the Eastern Shore.
Out of the Fire
22 Goldsborough St., Easton
410-770-4777 | outofthefire.com
Tues-Sat, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 5 p.m.-9 p.m.