About Preserve
The mom-and-pop is ordinarily a simple place, humble and homey. And by one measure, this one, across from the legendary diner Chick & Ruth’s Delly on Annapolis’s Main Street, obeys convention. It doesn’t take long to discover, however, that what young vets Jeremy and Michelle Hoffman have come up with is a sophisticated, smartly run operation that belies its low-key intentions. Jeremy—an alum of the kitchens at Per Se, Nobu Fifty Seven, and Restaurant Eve—has crafted a small, focused menu that showcases both his global training (in particular, a facility with Asian flavors) and his Pennsylvania Dutch heritage (say, a lusty plate of pork with sauerkraut). His rendition of a tandy cake, the packaged chocolate/peanut-butter cookie-cake he and many Pennsylvanians grew up snacking on, is the best kind of upscale homage: as delicious as it is affectionate.
Don’t miss: Minced-pork lettuce wraps; Old Bay shrimp toast; pierogies; bánh mì with house-made pâté; hand-cut fries; sauerkraut salad; pan-roasted fluke.
See what other restaurants made our 100 Very Best Restaurants list. This article appears in our February 2016 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
