Maryland’s sleepy western shore is awakening to the value of its location on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The spanking new Chesapeake Beach Hotel & Spa can’t keep up with the demand for its six $300-a-night deluxe suites. Cookie-cutter condos are springing up like seagrass along the waterfront. And the area’s first upscale restaurant has opened in a former guesthouse in nearby North Beach.
Local custom home builder (and rock ’n’ roll guitarist) W. Lee Travers saw the tourist tide coming in and made up his mind to open a fine dining establishment. First he bought and restored a rundown but still handsome early-twentieth-century structure on a corner of Chesapeake Avenue (a few blocks back from the Bay). He used his woodworking skills to refinish twenty-five paneled doors from the old house and used them as walls for the charming Victorian Gentlemen’s Bar (ladies welcome) just off the foyer. Now the long-neglected property has been transformed into the Westlawn Inn, with space for eighty diners on two levels. The main dining room features the building’s original trimwork and beams, pine floors, and lighting, with added period-style ceiling fans for a look that recalls “the good old days”—with nary a fern in sight. An upstairs dining room for twenty-four is quieter and more intimate; a smaller room hosts private dinners for four. Forty more diners can enjoy fair-weather seating on the wraparound veranda.
When it was time to hunt for the “perfect chef,” Travers, whose only experience in the restaurant business was a love of good food prepared by someone else, did not have to look far. He found John Kozik, a native of the area who had been cooking at Kinkead’s in Washington, D.C.
Kozik’s kitchen door, just off the spacious foyer, is often open, and guests are welcome to wander in and meet the youthful staff. The twenty-seven-year-old chef has been given free rein by the proprietor since the July 2004 opening.
Starters are so appealing, it is tempting to stop there and graze your way through. The oyster bar selections include raw varieties, with a Stoli raspberry spritz; baked with spinach, bacon, cheese, and Pernod; or fried in a buttermilk batter. A couple of small plates also caught our eyes, such as the lobster risotto or poached shrimp, served with a lime chipotle sauce. Faced with so many temptations, we sipped Kendall Jackson’s ever-popular Chardonnay while deciding just which dishes to order.
While the oyster selections were tempting, we began the evening with crisp flash-fried calamari enlivened with spicy cherry peppers and roasted garlic, partnered with ramekins of vibrant house-made tomato sauce and roasted garlic aioli. The same wonderful tomato sauce graced baby veal meatballs, which arrived piping hot under a mantle of melting pecorino and fontina cheeses; grilled ciabatta bread came along. Both appetizers were exceptional. Feeling piggy, we also ordered the lobster risotto, a creamy concoction made exotic with truffle slices, lobster meat, and lobster mushrooms (Oregon-grown varieties of a bright orange hue). It’s a perfect petite dinner for the small appetite.
The entrees were no less irresistable. Who could pass up the coffee-crusted duck breast? We couldn’t, and were rewarded with a flavorful dish of tender slices of rosy meat, its sides crunchy with a mix of ground coffee beans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The duck was crowned with a single seared scallop, with wonderful crispy potatoes Anna (sliced potatoes baked in a celery root cream sauce) and Brussels sprouts braised with pancetta ham—a lovely symphony of contrasting flavors. Our other entrée featured
a thick slice of monkfish (sometimes called “poor man’s lobster”) circled with a border of proscuitto and served with a tasty slab of grilled polenta.
It was accompanied by whipped cauliflower, made popular by the South Beach diet. Simple, satisfying, and imaginative. Westlawn covers four bases with dessert selections: a sugary apple crisp, a chocolate fudge tart with homemade cinnamon ice cream,a crème brûlée-du-jour, and Boston cream cheesecake pie. We can vouch for the pie: layers of golden cake interleaved with a smooth cheese custard and topped with a chocolate mousse rosette. It was a sweet, old-fashioned ending to a meal that exceeded expectations. Chef Kozik has brought a little bit of D.C. to North Beach.
Service throughout the meal was prompt and personable. Our young waiter was friendly and attentive, and we observed another server greeting diners at a nearby table with enthusiasm—the woman was a teacher at her high school. All the while, the proprietor circled the dining room like a concerned host, exchanging pleasantries with his patrons, obviously enjoying the well-deserved compliments.
Westlawn Inn is a place where “everyone knows your name,” a throwback to the days when hospitality was a natural art, and familiar
foods are prepared with just the right amount of imagination and flair. We are eager for a return trip in the warmer weather, when we can sit on the porch and pretend it’s the early 1900s again. Westlawn’s reincarnation from guesthouse to a fine dining establishment—a nostalgic destination a century later—feels just right.
Note: The restaurant regularly hosts special events, like Cigar Nights and Martini Nights. Chesapeake Beach will welcome spring with a Town Easter Parade on Saturday, March 26 at noon at 17th Street and the Boardwalk. I’d highly suggest a post-parade lunch at Westlawn.
Mary Lou Baker has been writing about food for more than twenty years.
Masthead Photo by