If you aren't quite ready to say goodbye to summer, you might want to plan to head across the Potomac River to FISH by José Andrés at MGM National Harbor, which is holding its Maryland Crab Festival now through Sept. 22.
(And if his name sounds familiar, yes it's that José Andrés, who is providing meals for hurricane victims this week in the Bahamas.)
Alexandria Living Magazine and friends recently previewed the menu and it was delicious — our favorites were the Soft-Shell Crab with pickled corn and peppers (pictured at right) and the Peel-and-Eat Shrimp (their secret? Coating the hot shrimp in drawn butter and Old Bay).
Get ready to dig in and get messy! You'll need a heap of moist towelettes (and dainty eaters can always don the provided gloves and bib). There's even a sink outside for scrubbing your hands clean afterward.
The seafood feast can be enjoyed outdoors on the restaurant's patio where you can spread out and also enjoy oh-so-good steamed Maryland crabs (served with cocktail sauce, malt vinegar and drawn butter), lobster boil, grilled corn and melt-in-your-mouth cast-iron cornbread.
If you're coming with a big appetite, try the Lobster Boil — it features a 1 1/2-pound whole lobster (also pictured here), corn, potatoes, shrimp, mussels and Andoudille sausage. The old-fashioned cornbread features green chiles, cheddar, mozzarella and honey butter served in a very hot cast-iron skillet.
And if you're especially ravenous, go for the All You Can Eat Crab Feast — it includes all-you-can-eat steamed Maryland crabs with a half-pound of peel-and-eat shrimp, corn-on-the-cob and cornbread.
If you have room for dessert, you can try Fireside S'Mores in keeping with the "say goodbye to summer" theme or the frothy Atlantic Beach Pie, which features Ritz cracker, yogurt-lemon cream, Chantilly (a sweetened whipped cream) and blueberry. If we had any room left, we'd probably go with that choice.
The patio is a great place to hang out with friends and family and enjoy what's left of the warm temperatures before fall arrives. Enjoy!
