There?s no better position for Benjamin Erjavec to be than as the executive chef of The Oceanaire Seafood Room in Baltimore. Erjavec was introduced to seafood at a very young age. “I grew up in Cleveland, so we were always fishing on Lake Erie,” he said. “We would catch perch, steelhead and bass.” Erjavec started as executive chef at The Oceanaire in November 2001 and was promoted to operating partner in February 2006. The restaurant is serving freshly caught stone crabs, which are at the peak of their season, through Feb. 18.
Q What?s the deal with the stone crabs?
A Back in the ?60s, the stone crab almost became extinct because of overfishing. Now they have regulated it to make it sustainable, and now it?s like the picture of sustainability [laughs]. What fishermen do is catch the crabs, take off the big claw and then throw them back in. It takes a while for the crabs to regrow the claw, but they can still defend themselves and eat.
Q How are stone crabs different from, say, Maryland crabs?
A Stone crabs have a much sweeter, more delicate flake to them than a typical crab.
They are in season from October to May. We set them out chilled, on crushed ice, and we prepare a stone-ground mustard, as well as a key lime aioli. The shells are very hard, so we serve them with the shells already broken.
Q Do you have a signature dish that you are known for?
A We print our menu every day, so it changes every day. That?s one thing we pride ourselves on. If you come in today, it will not be the same menu tomorrow. We do have core menu items that we keep on all the time, but we also have a lot of creative freedom.
I personally just like playing around with new and different things. I don?t like being set in my ways, to where I?m like, ?Oh, this is what I do best.? I just like playing around and seeing what I can come up with.
If you go
The Oceanaire Seafood Room
» Where: 801 Aliceanna St., Baltimore
» When: 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
» Info: 443-872-0000
