Restaurants that serve whole steamed crabs had to alter their business strategy, too. When jumbo lump crab meat became too expensive for the restaurant to serve crab cakes, chef Opie Crooks began making lump crab croquettes (above). No Goodbyes writes menus based on what Chesapeake products it can bring in. Nearby, at raw bar Brine, crab is off the menu, but there’s a new whole lobster special on Wednesdays that fluctuates from $35 to $45. “As long as it tastes good and not killing people’s pockets,” Robinson says.įor customers who still want to splurge, Robinson offers fried lobster tails and claws as a topper on dishes that range from $28 to $49. Shrimp prices are about the same, so that’s making more appearances, too. Other supply problems have pushed Kitchen Cray to switch from chicken thighs to breasts, and to add oxtail into some rice dishes. If we do it, we do it right or not at all.” We didn’t want to cut and change products. Maryland is the crab state so people want to see some type of crab on the menu,” he says. “It was crazy for us because we had to basically take it off the menu and switch to crawfish tails. At Kitchen Cray, customers went from paying $26 to $40 for a single 6-ounce crabcake, so Robinson eventually decided to stop making them. and at his original location in Lanham, Maryland. But in the past few months, as prices nearly doubled, he had to rethink his whole menu in D.C. Robinson likes to plate up crab fries and tots, crab omelets, shrimp and grits with crab, and loaded salmon or catfish with crab. The timing couldn’t have been worse for H Street NE newcomer Kitchen Cray, which has quickly amassed a following for Caribbean-influenced soul food loaded with crab. Long-running D.C.-area tavern chain Clyde’s has swapped in shrimp cakes for crabcakes. In an unprecedented move, Clyde’s, a leading D.C.-area chain known for oysters, seafood, and burgers, stopped making its best-selling crabcakes all season, offering customers a shrimp cake instead. In 2020, a bushel of XL-sized, or “jumbo” crabs - the holy grail of the species, which stretch from between 6 and 7 inches across - cost $180. This year, the cost held steady around $50 per pound all summer. In previous years, chefs grew accustomed to paying less than $30 per pound for lump crab meat, the Cadillac of the crab market. Scarce supply and record-breaking prices made many professional kitchens alter their approach to selling crab - and caused some to cut it from their menus entirely. ![]() But for businesses that depend on blue crab, perhaps the most prized product found in Chesapeake waters, the party never started. lifted indoor dining restrictions, seafood restaurants around the city were looking forward to a summer boom. After COVID-19 vaccines became widely available and D.C.
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