THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608300806
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
TYPE: Restaurant review
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: 85 lines
Located in the ``Blue Castle,'' overlooking Bay Point Marina at the end of 30th Bay Street in Ocean View, Chancee - the waterfront eatery that replaced Tracy's Clam & Oyster Bar earlier this summer - may well have the best sunset view on the east side of the city.
What this restaurant also will have, by the time you read this, is a new menu designed by Chef Monroe Duncan, brought in as a consultant by owner Carol Latiolain. Although Duncan himself will not be on the scene, Patricia Re, his former manager at Piranha's, which used to be located just up the inlet, will be on hand to oversee the operation.
``We're concentrating on seafood, and relating that to pasta and salads,'' Duncan said last week. ``The restaurant will offer dishes such as crispy fried shrimp and a grilled seafood platter, and a baked or grilled tuna steak on mashed potatoes with a butter-garlic sauce.
``There will be lots of sandwiches reflecting seafood, and comfort-style daily specials like meatloaf or fried fresh pond catfish on dirty rice with a Creole sauce, and desserts will include an authentic Key Lime Pie and fresh fruit cobblers with ice cream.''
The 66-seat restaurant can hold another 40 customers on a patio overlooking the 308 slips of Bay Point Marina, of which Carol Latiolain is a part-owner. She also has an interest in the nearby Little Creek Marina and pointed out that customers who prefer to come by boat may dock at any slip that hasn't a rope indicating that it's rented, as long as the boat doesn't exceed 90 feet in length. It's the boaters who call the marina building the Blue Castle, she explained.
Latiolain, whose main business is Steca Inc., a sheet-metal business in Chesapeake, has worked in the restaurant business before as a controller but said she never owned one. She bought the operation from Tracy Anderson when health problems convinced him the hours were too long.
The name Chancee, which I am told means luck in French, a nod to Latiolain's French surname, was also chosen so that the place wouldn't be identified with a single individual. She says she plans to warm up the interior and add some nautical antiques.
``The renovations will be gradual, but we want to brighten it up,'' she said.
The menu offers fried calamari with a marinara sauce ($4.50); blackened tuna bites ($4.95); steamed mussels ($6.95); fresh oysters or clams ($4.95 a half-dozen, or $7.95 a dozen); with she-crab soup ($3 a cup or $4 a bowl) to start. Salads include a Greek ($5.95) or Caesar ($4.95, add $2 for grilled or blackened chicken, $3 for grilled or blackened tuna).
The sandwich list will include the likes of a crab cake on a Kaiser roll ($6.95); a grilled Reuben (shaved corn beef with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, grilled on rye bread, $5.25); and a French Dip ($5.50). Sandwiches come with fries or spiced red bliss potatoes.
As for entrees, a variation on the surf and turf idea will be an 8-ounce chopped sirloin with a quarter-pound of steamed shrimp ($10.95). The chopped sirloin with mashed potatoes, gravy and a blackened tomato will cost $7.95, and a grilled fresh tuna fillet is $10.95. Chesapeake Bay crab cakes ($13.95); lightly breaded fried shrimp ($9.95); and the seafood platter of grilled, roasted or fried shrimp, scallops, a tuna fillet and deviled crabs ($17.95) will come with Joe's Stone Crab sauce and a ginger chutney. A pound of spicy steamed shrimp is $14.95.
Pasta dishes will include linguini with shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams in a marinara sauce ($8.95), and a Linguini Primavera for vegetarians ($7.95) that also can be prepared with a chicken breast ($10.95).
Chancee delivers to the Bay Point condos and to boats docked at the marina, and also offers catering, manager Pat Re said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Carol Latiolain, left, owns Chancee and Patricia Re is manager. The
restaurant overlooks Bay Point Marina in Ocean View.
Graphic
AT A GLANCE
Chancee: at Bay Point Marina, 9500 30th Bay St., Ocean View;
362-2100.
Food: seafood, sandwiches, salads; daily specials; breakfast and
lunch available.
Prices: entrees in $8 to $11 range; daily specials.
Hours: lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday; dinner 5 to
10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; bar hours 3 to 10 p.m. Monday
through Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight
Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. by CNB