Restaurant Recommendation for St. Michael's, Maryland

Normally, I write about sports, but I also like good teamwork, so. . .

We just got back from a vacation to St. Michael's, Maryland, a small town on Maryland's eastern shore that is on the Chesapeake Bay. And we ate at one restaurant in particular that I thought was worthy of recommending (others also were good).

The restaurant in question, Bistro St. Michael's, draws props because of the teamwork that the people in the restaurant displayed. We enjoyed ourselves so much the first time we went there that we made a recommendation for the next night (by the way, I would recommend making reservations, as the place does fill up). The principal reason was our server the first night, who got me to try something I had always wanted to try -- softshell crabs (yes, you eat the shell, too, but it's soft). She was well-trained, believed in her chef and what she was selling, and offered an entree not on the menu -- instead of two softshell crabs, I could get one softshell and one crab cake. Sold! I wasn't disappointed; each was terrific. The kids who bused the tables also knew how to talk to patrons, the food was excellent and well presented, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

But what my wife and I kept on coming back to was the preparation, training and teamwork. The owner trained his staff well -- they knew when to show up (and at what intervals), knew how to talk to customers, and knew the menu well. That didn't happen by accident. The staff seemed to enjoy working in this type of atmosphere, and they ended up with two delighted customers. In addition to what I had, my wife had a roasted chicken dish the first night and a New York strip steak the second, both of which were excellent (the steak was one of the best I had ever tasted). The steamed mussels appetizer was also terrific.

As you can see, I need to polish up my work on recommending restaurants. I can't explain subleties, the variety of the wine list, types of cooking and seasoning very well, but to quote the character Red in the movie The Natural (Red was the coach played by the legendary Richard Farnsworth, and in the particular scene to which I'm referring he took Roy Hobbs, played by Robert Redford, to dinner in a nice restaurant after Hobbs was called up to the big leagues), "You can't spell it, but it sure does eat good."

Amen.

And great teamwork, too.