THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602060100
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On The Town
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Some men might be angry with the wife if she sent them to an appointment a month early, but not Tracy Anderson of Tracy's Clam & Oyster Bar at Bay Point Marina in Ocean View. He figures his wife Shirley's mistake saved his life.
``Shirley inadvertently put down the wrong month for a doctor's appointment and sent me to my regular check-up on Oct. 27 instead of November,'' Anderson explained. ``The doctor saw me anyway and I told him about some discomfort I was having. They ran EKG and he sent me right to the hospital. They checked me in that day and by Nov. 6 I had had open-heart surgery, a four-way bypass.''
Anderson, 52, smoked for 27 years, but quit 13 years ago. The stress of being a police officer for 14 years may have contributed as well. He admits to being ``a hearty eater.''
Now Anderson is ``heart smart,'' and what better month to tell his story than during the American Heart Association's ``Heart Month.'' He's lost 17 pounds since his operation and looks several years younger than when I last saw him.
``I read food labels for fat, calories, carbohydrates and cholesterol, and lost weight and maintained it,'' he said. ``I'm still a big eater, but now I eat lots of fruits and vegetables. I've really changed my lifestyle. Now I have my flounder grilled instead of fried, and my shrimp boiled or steamed instead of fried.''
Tracy's has always offered the option of having many menu items fried or grilled, but Anderson is experimenting with new recipes, using new lean generation pork. He has consulted with the American Heart Association and plans to add even more ``heart smart'' items.
Anderson operated a restaurant on Shore Drive from 1985 to '93, with a second location in Ghent for about a year. He opened at Bay Point Marina (the former Moore's Point) in May of '94, and his 65-seat eatery offers a great view of the 316-slip private marina, as well as the Naval Amphibious Base in the distance. In warm weather Tracy's seats 65 outdoors. A warm and friendly place, Tracy's has a cathedral ceiling in the lounge and an open kitchen. Customers may be from the Bahamas or New England, passing through on the Intracoastal Waterway.
We started with a mixed dozen of steamed clams and oysters ($7.95) and grilled tuna bites ($4.95). The shellfish were perfect, and the spiced strips of tuna were rich and flavorful. In the past we've enjoyed the Oysters Thunderbird ($6.95), lightly fried oysters in a cream and garlic sauce. Other appetizers include steamed mussels ($7.95), Jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese and lightly fried ($4.95), and fried calamari ($5.95).
Tracy's offers a daily blackboard special in the $12-$13.95 range, which could be mahi mahi with a tomato basil sauce, or salmon with a lemon tarragon sauce, and special such as Tuesday's pound boiled jumbo shrimp without potatoes for $18.95 ($3 off the normal price). Tracy's Special (16.95) is a mixed boil of shrimp, spicy red potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and kielbasa sausage.
Other entrees include a fried (if it can be grilled, steamed or broiled, they'll do it) seafood platter consisting of fish fillet, shrimp, oysters, scallops and crab cake ($16.96); surf & turf platter with spicy grilled shrimp and an eight-ounce strip steak ($13.95); soft shell crabs in season and a fried combo of shrimp, oysters and scallops ($12.95). All entrees are served with hush puppies, a slightly spicy coleslaw and a choice of the red potatoes or fries. I had the grilled crab cake dinner (two big cakes prepared with Tracy's own spices from a line of nine items which he bottles and sells, by the way), while Julie had broiled flounder ($12.95). My crab cakes ($14.95) were succulent and the meal a great success.
Tracy's offers a variety of sandwiches, including fried oyster ($4.95) or crab cake ($7.95) sandwiches, as well as a burger or grilled marinated chicken breast ($4.95), and has a kids' menu also.
As for Tracy, he counts Shirley's mistake as a blessing. ``I wish I had done this years ago,'' he said. ``I feel better than ever.'' ILLUSTRATION: AT A GLANCE
Tracy's Clam & Oyster Bar: 9500 30th Bay St., 362-2100.
Food: fresh seafood, soups, salads and sandwiches; full ABC;
large selection of microbrews.
Prices: Most sandwiches $4 to $6 range; entrees $11.95 to
$16.95.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; 11 a.m. to 5
p.m. Monday.
by CNB