John Shields
author/restaurateur/TV Host, Baltimore
“One thing I love is taking a trip to the Eastern Shore and stopping at St. Michaels for a nutty buddy. It’s a dessert at Michael Rork’s Town Dock Restaurant. They make it with a delicate cone, homemade vanilla ice cream, toasted nuts, and rolled in a wonderfully rich chocolate coating. They serve it on a plate with some crème anglaise, more warm chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. As soon as I hit the Bay Bridge heading east, I start dreaming about it!”

Ken Upton
owner, ken’s creative kitchen, Annapolis
“Usually when I get a craving, it’s for beef. I head to Lewnes in Annapolis and down a twenty-ounce rib eye steak, medium rare. I tell them to hold everything except beef and red wine. Every chef in town should take a fried oyster lesson from O’Learys. I long for their version that’s just like the ones my grandmother made. They have them on the appetizer menu, and I’ll get a double portion as an entree. And the first time I had the soft-shell crabs at the Sputnik Café in Crownsville, I had to go back and kiss the chef—they were absolutely delicious.”

Philip Bernot
financial advisor, Easton
“When I get the craving for soft-shell crabs, I head down to seafood wholesaler P.T. Hambleton’s in Bozman, Md. If I am lucky, P.T. has crabs just shed, and he pulls them right out of the holding tank and onto a cardboard flat. I rush home, perform the unfortunate—but necessary—cleaning and give them a light dusting of flour. I then sauté the crabs in white wine, butter, and lemon. When they are just about finished, the crabs popping and sputtering in the pan, I add chopped French tarragon and serve. As a Chesapeake treasure, these cannot be beat.”

Hilary Roggio Raftovich
owner, Ilaria Gourmet, Annapolis
“I crave Thai curries, and I could never find one the way I like it around here. But now there is Lemongrass on West Street in Annapolis, and they have a duck curry with tomatoes and pineapples that is just the way I like it. Once a week, when I’m getting done at work, I call up and order and then go home and savor it. It’s two meals worth!”

John Buettner
director of Media Relations, Washington College, Chestertown
“I often crave a chocolate milkshake from Stam’s Drug Store in downtown Chestertown. It’s an old drugstore with an old soda counter. You watch them scoop the ice cream, pour the milk, inject the chocolate syrup, and blend it in a blender. Watching them make it whets your appetite. It’s intensely chocolate and so delicious. Sometimes it just hits the spot.”

Mac Bogert
Consultant, Annapolis
“My craving butts into an otherwise normal day. It involves cheese. I’m helpless in the face of this ruthless urging: pizza, gyro, cheeseburger, grilled cheese, ham and cheese, anything and cheese. The lobster macaroni and cheese at Sam’s Waterfront Café is incredible. And the Parthenon, a Greek hole-in-the-wall on Bay Ridge Road in Annapolis, has the best gyros and Greek salad. Both have lots of feta cheese.”

Sally Kaiser
owner, Palate Pleasers, Annapolis
“The chicken souvlaki salad at Paul’s Homewood Café is a favorite. It’s a Greek salad but with grilled chicken on top. They use all fresh ingredients and make their own dressing. We go to Chris’s Charcoal Pit for their Greek pizza about once a month. It has lots of feta, black olives, tomatoes, and onions; the flavors are delicious. The reuben at Regina’s in West Annapolis is delicious; I think it’s the best in town.”

Judy B. Tuttle
vice president, Airport Leasing, Westfield Corporation, Annapolis
“I crave real New York style pizza all the time. I’m from New Jersey, and ever since I moved here more than forty years ago, I have been searching for the perfect pizza outside of NYC—a very simple pizza—no frou-frou toppings like barbecued chicken, gorgonzola, pine nuts, pineapple, etc. The closest thing to the New York version I’ve found is at Squisito’s in Annapolis, but only if you request it extra cooked and only if you eat it there right out of the oven, no take out.”

Tucker Thompson
sailing commentator, T2P-TV sailing network, annapolis
“The Tucker Roll is sushi I designed for Kyoto restaurant in Severna Park. It’s a phenomenal sushi roll. I took everything I like—tuna, salmon, shrimp tempura, and avocado and wrapped everything in rice and rolled in flying fish roe. It’s served with a spicy sauce and crunchy tempura on top. The popcorn buffalo shrimp at Boatyard Bar and Grill in Eastport is another food craving of mine. I love buffalo wings and shrimp, so combining the two tastes is a perfect match.”

Bess Freedlander
fundraising consultant, St. Michaels
”Every time I drive over the Kent Narrows Bridge I crave the cream of crab soup at The Narrows. It has lots of real backfin crab in it, a rarity. It is the perfect consistency, rich and creamy but not so much that you can’t eat the entire bowl—or two.”

Ann Pierson
workplace designer, Steelcase, Annapolis
“I don’t eat sandwiches very often, but once in a while I head to Annapolis Gourmet in West Annapolis. Gus Leanos, the owner, makes the best chicken salad on rye with lettuce and tomato. It’s a really basic, good sandwich with big chunks of chicken that I always pair with a bag of Utz chips. I don’t do this often, I’m always on a diet.”

Dick Ladd
president, Robinson International, Annapolis
“I love the tortilla soup at our neighborhood pub, the Broadneck Grill. Occasionally, I get a craving for lasagna, too. Maria’s in downtown Annapolis works fine, in large part because of the wonderful side of bread and dipping oil.”

R. Lee Streby
president, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
“When I was still performing on violin for weddings and recitals, I collaborated with a wonderful friend and pianist who also happened to be an incredible cook. My favorite dessert of hers was the traditional southern-style caramel cake with the thin layers of cake and incredibly rich, buttery caramel frosting inside and out. Imagine my surprise to move to Annapolis and discover Caroline’s Cakes! Caroline Reutter takes caramel cake to an entirely new level. It’s decadent and delicious, and a craving for me especially around the holidays.”

Alexis Henderson
vice president, corporate communications, Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.
“We’re constantly going to the Kent Island Depot, a Citgo gas station and gourmet shop on Kent Island, next to the airport on Route 8. A Frenchman owns it, and we go for their great French pastries. The owner’s sister-in-law is a pastry chef, and she makes the most incredible, forbidden sweets. I usually get whatever she makes that is chocolate, especially the little square cakes filled with chocolate mousse. They are divine. Sometime I get the key lime pie; it’s a toss-up between the two.”

Ellen Moyer
mayor of Annapolis
“I get a hankering for the strawberries and real whipped cream with brown sugar served at Rockfish in Annapolis. And I think there’s nothing like the oysters Rockefeller at Middleton Tavern. They’re a special after-work treat, and when you’re in the mood, nothing else will suffice.”

Caryn Walaski
Annapolis Recreation
program supervisor
“I always have a craving for a scrumptious, taste-tempting, palette-pleasing lump crab cake (make that two) that’s broiled at the Edgewater Restaurant. They are by far the best crab cakes in the area. They are fantastic any time of the year.”

Joy Staniforth
owner, Joie de Vivre
Gallery, Cambridge
“I was recently in the UK and couldn’t wait to get back to have the cream of crab soup at the Canvasback Restaurant in Cambridge—it’s really, really good. It has big lumps of crab and is laced with sherry, and it’s always served at the right temperature.”

Marc F. Boensel
conductor, Annapolis Wind Symphony
“I love the tamales with molé sauce at Jalapenos in Annapolis. About once a month I have to drive over there and get them. They are the best!”

Squire Doug Klakulak
historical guide, Annapolis
“I crave McGarvey’s mussels and oysters (in season) on Thursday, Locals’ Night. A bucket or two of mussels dipped in butter with Old Bay is all that is needed to start the weekend off on the right foot.”

Bob Burdon
president/CEO, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce
“I’m a fan of crab cakes or crab cake sandwiches; everyone makes them a little bit different. But I crave the crab cake sandwich from Paul’s Homewood Café. It’s absolutely terrific!”

Patricia H. Troy
president, FacetsWoman, Inc.,
Annapolis
“I crave small oysters, and I think the fried oysters at Captain Billy’s on Pope’s Creek on the Maryland side of the Potomac on U.S. 301 are perfect. They are very sweet and tender with a light and tasty breading. It’s about seven miles off the highway, a real old style crab house.”

Susan Walker
retired attorney, Annapolis
“I have so many food cravings sated in Annapolis eateries, I’m not sure where to start. I love Thai food at Carlson’s Thai kitchen in Edgewater. My regular dish is pad Thai. Excellent, and not so indulgent that I have overwhelming guilt for too long. I love the crispy grouper at O’Learys and go there every few months to satisfy that craving. It has a unique combination of flavors and textures that I’ve never seen duplicated elsewhere. Another craving is the crab Zen roll with a fabulous sauce at Yin Yankee. It’s where my husband, Greg, and I go for a date night. We always get that no matter what else we order. A fall craving is the Popeye salad at Saucy Salamander. It’s a spinach salad with chicken, bacon, apples, slivered almonds, and the most wonderful orange dressing you can imagine. I do everything but lick the container it comes in.”

Kessler Burnett
Editor
“I crave the orecchiette pasta at Easton’s Out of the Fire restaurant. It’s amazing, made with pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and sausage in a fennel cream sauce.”

Joe Sugarman
Senior Editor
“The kosher pickles from Chick & Ruth’s Deli in Annapolis. Green, salty discs of pure pleasure. Best of all, they’re free!”

Kim Van Dyke
Art Director
“I head to Joss’s in Annapolis for the spring roll, filled with shrimp, crab, avocado, mixed greens, and topped with a spicy cream sauce.

Kathy Ely
Managing Editor
“I crave large lump crabcakes or the mile-high fish creations at Galaxy in Ocean City—and always, Bertha’s mussels.”