So we haven’t updated in a while and we chalk this up as a sin; to redeem such acts of disdain we will commit an act which brings balance to the universe. Eat a ray.

This article appeared in today’s paper and you may have seen it before as this is not the first time an article on the subject has run, however very little reaction has been the result. To sum things up we have a high population of the Cownose Ray (now called the Chesapeake Ray in hopes of making it more likable to the human food chain) and their numbers have gotten so high that they are devastating the populations of Bay area shellfish. So we need to figure out how to bring this into our diet and continue to eliminate the non-sustainable choices we make or it is likely those non-sustainable choices will unveil their grand exit.

Thus we will be creating a Cacciucco de Chesapeake which has Ray, Clams, Oysters, Crayfish and maybe a few other saltwater dancers and mudbugs. The Chesapeake Ray we ordered comes in tomorrow and our fingers are crossed for that grandiose palatable skyride explosion.

We got a new menu were rolling out on Tuesday and here’s to the
beginning of summer’s bounty.

Here’s a few egg layers from New Earth Farm. We use their eggs from time to time. Most of our eggs come from either the 5 Points Market or Broken Arrow Farm. Any egg we use at the Boot comes from a local source that knows about how animals enjoy the sunshine.

Out to New Earth today to pick up some compost and snapped a photo of
these beautiful greens to be grilled with our fish of the day in a few
weeks. Did you know the species name of Chard was Beta vulgaris?

This little company operates a few fisheries and works closely with the Blue Ocean Institute to ensure they are fishing from sustainable populations. We get our pull from Beaufort NC just down the way. Not exactly walking distance but quite nice to be so close to folks with similar ideals. Right now on the menu we have a buttercrunch salad with citrus cured Triggerfish and right now our fish o day is a pan seared Pink Snapper with roasted baby papaya squash and shiitake mushrooms finished with a sherry almond crema.

Got these gorgeous puppies from Mattawoman Creek on the eastern shore.
We mix them up with some asparagus and dress it down with salsa verde.

Just got these beauties in from Alex Pettigrew at Pettigrew
Woodworks. Inch and a half pure maple. Next on the saw comes boards
for our butcher and cheese plates.

Just in from Shockley Farm on the eastern shore. Mix these up with
some golden beets, mint, champagne vinegar, honey and extra virgin
olive oil.

Goose Hill is bringing out the goods. Working on a strawberry fennel
aspic to pair along with some of Everona’s finest. We’ll also be
tossing them around with the Lemon olive oil cake.

Brunch menu is coming along, make reservations now, service starts at 11 am. Official menu will be linked to from the menu page (fyi – it’s not posted yet).