Foster's, 606 S. Broadway, (410) 558-3600. Open Tuesdays to Sundays for dinner; Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for lunch. Major credit cards. No-smoking area: yes. Prices: appetizers, $5.50-$12; entrees, $15-$21.***
What a difference a new chef makes. Foster's has always been one of Fells Point's prettiest little restaurants, but the food never quite lived up to the surroundings. Things are looking up, though, with Gwen Kvavli Gulliksen in the kitchen. Ms. Gulliksen, formerly executive sous-chef under Jean-Louis Palladin in Washington, has introduced fresh, imaginative and well-prepared dishes to the menu.
On my most recent visit, it struck me immediately that Foster's is no longer strictly a seafood restaurant. It used to be Foster's Oyster Bar, Market and Restaurant; but the oyster bar and fish market have gone, and the official name of the place is now Foster's Restaurant and Wine Bar.
Seafood is still a presence on the current menu; but you'll also find prime rib, lamb shanks, braised duck and pork loin. And for the vegetarian gourmet, there are dishes like winter vegetable stew and grilled garlic-scented eggplant with fresh herb polenta.
All these good things are served in a small, Colonial-style dining room with a cheerful fire blazing at one end. The tables -- fewer than a dozen -- are set with fresh white linen, handsome crystal and a decorative bottle of herb-flavored olive oil.
Our olive oil didn't remain decoration long. Once we realized that the hot, crusty little rolls (from Stone Mill Bakery) were accompanied by salmon-shrimp butter, a garlic-herb butter and a sweetish tapenade, we decided we needed something less intrusively flavored. So we removed the bottle from its saucer and filled the saucer with olive oil for dipping.
When a chef fusses this much with an ingredient -- before the meal has even really begun -- I get nervous. Butter has always seemed to me one of those almost perfect foods that's best left alone. Let the cook concentrate on getting the main course right.
I worried needlessly. Most of our dinner was restrained and beautifully balanced. (OK, using pomegranate seeds to garnish the flourless chocolate cake showed no real understanding of chocolate cake eaters, but that was at the very end of the meal.)
Something like grilled garlic shrimp seems deceptively simple, but it was a fabulous dish. The shrimp were huge; and there was a generous amount of them, soaking in a buttery, garlicky sauce with a small timbale of couscous studded with grilled vegetables.
Seafood lovers will appreciate the bouillabaisse, a delicate fish stew made, in this version, without tomatoes. The saffron-scented, flavorful fish broth overflowed with chunks of lobster, scallops, shrimp and calamari. They were garnished with a bit of rouille (a fiery paste of bread crumbs, chilies and garlic).
Chef Gulliksen cooks her lavender-scented lamb shanks until they are fall-off-the-bone tender and then removes the bones. Their dark, winy sauce was intense and wonderfully rich. The lamb comes with deep-green kale and red-skinned potatoes in a huge white bowl -- a handsome dish.
Our vegetables in general were superb. I loved the fennel and cabbage that accompanied the chorizo-stuffed pork loin more than the pork itself, which was a bit overcooked. You can have delicious grilled vegetables in a mesclun salad or a fresh beet, spinach and poached leek combination.
For those of you who want a meatless meal, you could start with Foster's bruschetta, made with grilled focaccia and a delectable ragout of portobello and shiitake mushrooms. The winter vegetable stew, a tomato-based puree with orzo pasta, also has an appealing flavor but it wasn't so interesting as its name suggested.
Our most spectacular starter was roasted duck cakes. The minced duck meat was seasoned and formed into something like crab cakes, then sauced with a bit of sweet red pepper coulis and garnished with chopped hazelnuts.
I was disappointed only in the "chilled seafood sundry." It included the house smoked salmon, which is indeed wonderful, with a delicate smoky flavor. But the two oysters were tiny (although flavorful), and the promised "assorted seafood salads" turned out to be some smoked calamari and some baby greens.
Desserts were limited to an elegant pear tart, which would have been better if the crust hadn't been tough, and the delicate flourless chocolate cake with pomegranate seeds. Both had been decorated to a fare-thee-well with whipped cream.
Foster's is very much a wine bar as well as a restaurant these days. The wine list is extensive -- particularly wines by the glass -- with an emphasis on American wines. On Tuesdays there's a themed wine tasting at the bar from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: five wines for $7.50 or seven for $10.
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