What the experts recommend: Eating at the shore

Bartlett Pear Inn

Easton, Md.

When the Inn at Easton closed in 2008, its departure left a “continent-size void in the dining scene” along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, said Tom Sietsema in The Washington Post. Now husband-and-wife team Jordan and Alice Lloyd have recast the space as Bartlett Pear Inn, an ambitious new restaurant whose touches include a “handsome, granite-topped bar” in the inn’s lounge, as well as “cheese and edible garnishes” that come from farms just a few miles away. An Easton native who lied about his age to get a kitchen job at the age of 12, Jordan recently returned to the area after training in some of the country’s best kitchens, including Citronelle and Per Se. He aims to make the Bartlett Pear Inn the “premier restaurant on the Eastern Shore, at the very least,” he says. Start with the baby sepia, “tender cuttlefish set on a swirl of loose risotto, stained black with the ink of the sepia and moistened with a sauce designed to mimic bouillabaisse.” Move on to the Duck Trio—“a generous slab of house-made duck paté” with pistachios, a foie gras mousse with pear relish, and fatty duck prosciutto. 28 S. Harrison St., (410) 770-3300

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Doris & Ed’s

Highlands, N.J.

A fixture on the Jersey Shore, this “iconic restaurant” recently received a makeover with fresh paint, fresh linens, and a new chef who’s revitalized its familiar fresh seafood, said Cody Kendall in the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger. Thomas Donohoe, who trained under Thomas Keller and Jonathan Waxman, has devised not one but two new menus—“The Shore Today and “The Shore Yesterday.” So the contemporary-minded can try butter-poached lobster with truffle honey­–glazed sunchokes, celery root, red ribbon sorrel, and English cucumbers. For the traditionalist, they still serve majestic “Virginia-style” jumbo lump crabmeat, “unadulterated except for a soft veil of butter, parsley, and vermouth.” Completed with a familiar Key lime pie or “trendy” strawberry-rhubarb tart with black pepper and honey yogurt, such meals should make Doris & Ed’s more popular than ever this summer. 348 Shore Drive, (732) 872-1565

1 North Steakhouse

Hampton Bays, N.Y.

In the glitzy Hamptons, this no-frills steak­­house stands out for being as “straight­forward as its name,” said Peter Gianotti in Newsday. Unlike neighboring steakhouses, 1 North offers “froufrou-free fare” at comparatively bargain prices. Start with a hearty lobster bisque, which comes “full-flavored, with nuggets of shellfish.” Keep an eye out for a special of meaty “pork wings.” The handsome sea scallops wrapped in bacon “don’t need their sweet apricot glaze, but pair neatly with corn-and-avocado salsa.” If steak is why you came, “the No. 1 steak is the excellent filet mignon.” Cap the meal with creamy, blueberry-topped cheesecake for the ideal end to a day in the sun. 1 North Road, (631) 594-3419

Waterbar

San Francisco

There was a time when the best thing about this waterside restaurant overlooking the Bay Bridge was the “arrangement of floor-to-ceiling fish tanks,” said Michael Bauer in the San Francisco Chronicle. Today, the “food matches the view.” Under chef Parke Ulrich, it’s become a perfect place for sampling oysters, with more than a dozen types to choose from. Yet chef Ulrich isn’t afraid to get creative. Trying his chawan mushi—egg custard sliced and fanned in a bowl with broth and local sea urchin—“was like eating crème brûlée on a windy day at the ocean.” A whitefish entrée braised in red wine has been paired with mashed potatoes “so good that I refused to think about the butter content.” If only the wait staff would tell you about the stunning desserts at the start of the meal, then you would know enough to save space for the surprisingly wonderful ice cream sandwich—“two meringues half-dipped in chocolate and filled with espresso ice cream.” 399 The Embarcadero, (415) 284-9922