You can’t accuse Kyle Bailey of no longer listening. After Maryland shoppers at the chef’s same-named seafood stops in the District and Virginia instructed him they needed they didn’t must make the pressure, he adopted up in July with a Salt Line in Bethesda, Md. — the largest but, with 150 seats and several other new dishes that would possibly trap lovers from the older institutions.
Friends and I dropped anchor just lately in a room-size sales space in a bustling eating room, dressed like the different Salt Lines with antiques bought in New England by means of the homeowners, Long Shot Hospitality. There’s a harpoon right here, a miniature sailboat there, plus comfy alcove tables whose mirrors display the patina of age.
The menu reads similar to at the sibling seafood attracts. Look for most commonly native (and well-shucked) oysters, cod in a mild crust of beaten Ritz crackers, and muffins with mass attraction. The youngest of my partners entertained himself with a tiny pirate flag, plucked from a barge of a banana break up, whilst his folks and I occupied ourselves with the lighter blueberry icebox cake, formed from Maine’s best and pastry cream atop a graham cracker crust. Lemon zest, ginger and spoonfuls of whipped cream upload to the amusing.
Only in Bethesda will diners discover a break up toasted bun cradling contemporary peekytoe crab, sure with mayo, minced celery and citrus-y yuzukosho, and what Bailey considers his favourite dish on the menu: a salad composed of grilled large squid from the Pacific, biting arugula and scorching cherry peppers atop a swab of garlic aioli. Another scrumptious distinction from the different Salt Lines is an appetizer that includes blushing-pink yellowtail cured in kombu (kelp) and mixed with chopped leeks and pistachios, the whole lot moistened with a coriander French dressing.
Eric McKamey, 39, serves as government chef. “His resume reads like a dream,” says Bailey. Copy that. Before Salt Line, McKamey cooked at Rose’s at Home, Obelisk and the past due Momofuku.
The father of 2 babies, McKamey says youngsters will have to have choices past hen tenders and condiments past ketchup. My younger visitor gave his golden fried shrimp and catfish, accompanied by means of hand-cut french fries and cocktail sauce, the thumbs up. I see extra “waterkids” platters in his long term — and extra journeys to this Bethesda crowd-pleaser in mine.
7284 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, Md. 240-534-2894. thesaltline.com. Open for indoor eating and takeout. Sandwiches and entrees, $18 to $54.