16 June 2011

From the Bay, For the Bay: A Celebration of Maryland Seafood (with Beer!)

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources has initiated a weeklong celebration of Chesapeake Bay seafood, titled "From the Bay, For the Bay":
For a week in October, participating restaurants from Philadelphia to Northern Virginia will be featuring fresh, locally caught Maryland Seafood for their guests. This will be an excellent way to support our local watermen, while enjoying the best seafood the region has to offer.
October is an outstanding month for seafood with many species available including striped bass, crabmeat, oysters, flounder, dogfish, bluefish, lobster, and scallops being in season and on menus throughout the region.
Each of the participating restaurants is donating $1.00 for every Maryland seafood dinner that is sold during this week to the Oyster Recovery Partnership in Annapolis, MD (www.oysterrecovery.org), a non-profit organization that works to replenish the population of our native and treasured Chesapeake Bay oyster.
Over the last decade, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has replanted hundreds of millions of oysters in the bay. Oysters are a critical species to the Bay's long term recovery -- a healthy oyster reef not only filters the Bay's waters, but also provides a firm, elevated bed that supports a community and habitat for other marine wildlife, like blue crabs and striped bass. So while you are enjoying a great meal you will be supporting watermen and helping to restore this iconic Chesapeake species.
Astute readers will notice that this just happens to neatly overlap with Baltimore Beer Week.

"Craft-beer-friendly" venues that have already signed on to the project include Alewife, B&O Brasserie, Diamondback Tavern in Ellicott City, the Clyde's chain, Hellas in Millersville, Kooper's Tavern, Ryleigh's Oyster (of course), Slainte, Victoria Gastro Pub, and the Woodberry Kitchen.  No doubt other places might be eager to get in on the action as the week gets closer--any of our brewpubs up for making an oyster stout again?

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