THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407260146
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: On The Town
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
The arched porticoes of the Bay Point Marina building, the sailboats and cabin cruisers bobbing in the water alongside the docks, and the aroma of steamed spiced shrimp give Tracy Anderson's new restaurant the look and feel of the islands.
The new Tracy's Clam & Oyster Bar is located at the foot of Pretty Lake Avenue (although the street address is 30th Bay), within the walled compound of the Bay Point Marina. However, the entrance gate is up, so don't let that deter you from a nice dining experience with a view of Little Creek Amphibious Base and its great, gray naval vessels.
Anderson, a retired Norfolk police officer, had a restaurant on Shore Drive that grew from a fish market he opened in 1985. In 1991 he opened Tracy's in Ghent, which closed after a year, when the pressures of running two operations got to him, he said. Anderson sold the Shore Drive operation last year, but said he got bored. ``I missed the people I used to deal with,'' he said. ``A lot of customers developed into friends.''
The Shore Drive operation served mostly raw, steamed and boiled items, whereas the new Tracy's offers more variety, including lightly floured, fried seafood, some grilled seafood specials, and burgers and sandwiches.
Appetizers include raw or steamed oysters and clams ($7.95 for a baker's dozen, $4.50 for a half dozen raw), mussels with garlic butter ($7.95), and Tracy's award-winning smoked bluefish dip ($4.95), to name a few. We tried Cajun tuna bites ($4.95), a special, and she crab soup ($2.50 a cup and $3.50 a bowl), both of which set the tone for a fine meal.
Entrees include a lightly fried combo of shrimp, oysters and scallops ($12.95), or each of those three in a large serving for the same price, with hush puppies, an excellent coleslaw, and your choice of spicy potatoes (done with the house spices) or fries. House specials include a pound of spiced shrimp with potatoes, or Tracy's Special of shrimp, spicy potatoes, corn on the cob and kielbasa sausage, for $12.95. A half pound of the spiced shrimp is $7.50.
Sandwiches include a crab cake or shrimp and crab sandwich for $5.95, or the popular fresh grilled tuna sandwich ($6.95). Also available are a grilled chicken breast or fried fish fillet ($4.95, a ham and cheese or grilled cheese ($2.95), even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ($1.95).
We ordered two specials, soft shell crabs in a beurre blanc (or white butter) sauce with a side of broccoli and cauliflower ($14.95), and orange roughie with a lemon dill sauce topped with caviar ($13.95). Both came with the house slaw and hush puppies. The soft crabs were wonderful, some of the best I've ever had in a lifetime of eating soft shells, while the grilled orange roughie was fine, with the caviar adding a nice touch.
``That's the kind of thing I'd never think of,'' Anderson said a few days after our dinner visit. ``When we came in here in May our plan was to come in very similar to what we had done before. Then I hired Bob Bayton, who made a big difference in upscaling the menu. He's a first-year student at Johnson & Wales, but he will be a chef one day, and he worries about the place as much as I do.''
With its open kitchen, informal atmosphere, two-story ceilings and walls of windows overlooking the marina, Tracy's is a natural to attract the boat owners who use the 316-slip marina. Add local politicians, law enforcement types, and former customers like Lee and Linda Furlough, who drove over from Chesapeake when they heard about the new Tracy's, and you get a mix almost as spicy as the ``World Famous'' Tracy's Spices & Sauces.
``I'd definitely go back,'' Linda Furlough said. ``With the sun going down over the boats at the marina and the people coming in off those boats the place got pretty lively.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Tracy Anderson, a retired policeman, owns Tracy's Clam & Oyster
Bar.
AT A GLANCE
Tracy's Clam & Oyster Bar: 9500 30th Bay St. (foot of Pretty Lake
Ave.), 362-2100, docking slips available for dining visitors.
Food: seafood, burgers, sandwiches; extensive micro-brewery beer
list and wine by the glass and bottle.
Prices: entrees $8.95 - $14.95, daily specials.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
by CNB