100 Very Best Restaurants: #45 – Preserve

Preserve's carrots with cumin yogurt. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Preserve

cuisines
American
Location(s)
164 Main St
Prince Frederick, MD 20678

There’s an obsession with all things pickled, preserved, and fermented at this snug, brick-walled storefront. Ham-hock terrine—a gorgeous grid of porky bits—is amped up with pickled green tomatoes and grainy housemade mustard. Meanwhile, grilled oysters with spinach, garlicky cream, and jack cheese make us wonder why you’d want to have them any other way. And brown-butter baked catfish—a casserole with crème fraîche, bacon, and preserved lemon—is one of the best cold-weather dishes we’ve eaten in recent memory. Moderate.