DINING TASTE
An Annapolis Delight
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By Tom Worgo Photography by Stephen Buchanan
arrol’s Creek Café’s customers come away very satisfied and they spread the word. The Annapolis restaurant’s client reviews propelled it into the website OpenTable’s list of the 100 Best Al Fresco outdoor eateries in the country last summer. OpenTable compiles the list annually based on reader input.
Carrol’s Creek, known for its fine cuisine and outstanding view of Spa Creek and the Eastport Bridge, was the only restaurant in Maryland to earn the distinction. “It was such a great honor,” Carrol’s Creek Owner Jeff Jacobs says.
Carrol’s Creek also offers a nut-free dining experience, which sets it apart. Last year, the 52-year-old Jacobs excluded nuts as ingredients from everything on his menu because of his son’s severe allergy. The owner consulted with Kitchen with Confidence, a company that advises food service and process facilities about food-borne allergens, which ultimately certified the restaurant as nut-free. “We opened a door for people who struggle with going out and feeling safe about not eating food with nuts as ingredients,” Jacobs says. “How would the restaurant’s food change being nut free? Our customers didn’t notice the change.” We recently talked with Jacobs about customer’s favorites, his restaurant’s stunning water views, creating a nut-free zone, and what else makes Carrol’s Creek a standout.
CARROL’S CREEK CAFÉ 410 Severn Avenue, Annapolis 410-263-8102 carrolscreek.com Talk about the view of your place. It could be worth coming here for that alone? The view is important. Sometimes, I take it for granted and don’t sit back and look at it enough. We have a really great view compared to other restaurants. There’s only two other restaurants downtown that that have a similar view. Overlooking the skyline of Annapolis gives people plenty of reason to come here. Some people come here because we are on the water. What did going nut-free involve? It took about a year’s worth of brain storming and working with an outside consulting firm. We were the first restaurant in the country that this firm worked with; they typically specialize in summer camps and universities.The easy part was not to order nuts. The hard part was finding out where the cross contamination in things are. Finding an ice
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cream that wasn’t made in a facility that handles any type of nuts. Finding a bread, too. We had to find products that met our standards. We had to change the chocolate we were using to make our cakes. We had to look at every single menu item we had in the restaurant and find replacements. Is there anything else that sets you apart? My number one thing is consistency. We have been here for 37 years. We have consistent staff. I stress to my staff that if something doesn’t look right and doesn’t look like you’ve seen it a thousand times before, then it’s not right. We figure out what’s wrong and we fix it. Because if something is a little different, it’s not acceptable. Consistency of the staff and food in my world covers everything. It’s what has kept our customers coming back. The taste of the food. If you have had our cream of crab,
