DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708080301

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 05   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: On the Town in Portsmouth

SOURCE: Sam Martinette 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

ESCAPE FROM CORPORATE WORLD TURNS TO LARGE, POPULAR RESTAURANT BUSINESS

With dark paneled walls, soft lighting, overhead fans, ship's models and nautical prints, Amory's in Churchland is reminiscent of a turn-of-the century gentlemen's club, amazing when you consider the upscale eatery grew from a retail seafood shop founded by George ``Skip'' Amory as an escape from the corporate world.

Amory, 55, comes by his seafood heritage naturally. The Portsmouth native traces his family back to Colonial Jamestown, including forefathers who ran a fleet of oyster boats out of Battery Park on the Pagan River in nearby Suffolk. His nickname Skip comes from an early resemblance to his grandfather - a sea captain called the Skipper - and you'll still find Amorys in the seafood business in Poqouson, where Amory's Wharf is a landmark.

Skip Amory opened a 400-square foot retail seafood shop in 1973 on Tyre Neck Road. ``I grew up around the seafood business and used to visit A.F. Amory & Son in Newport News every summer, but my father was a radiologist, and after school I worked in the corporate world,'' he explained. ``And I didn't like it.''

In addition to selling fresh seafood, Amory sold deviled crabs and clams. ``Then the kepone scare hit in 1975-76, and people stopped eating a great percentage of fresh fish,'' he said. The pollution fright was a blessing in disguise for Skip Amory. ``I noticed people didn't stop eating prepared seafood, so I bought an old Navy pot and a propane cooker and started selling soup and sandwiches. We'd make a pot of she-crab one day and clam chowder the next, and they would always sell out.''

After buying more equipment and adding snacks and dinners, it became apparent that Amory needed to expand. ``We were busy as the devil,'' he said. ``I had to hire an off-duty policeman to direct traffic on weekend nights and it was only carryout!''

Amory's moved to its present location in the shopping center on the corner of High Street and Tyre Neck Road in 1978. ``It was still a retail seafood shop with 60 seats,'' he recalled. ``We had 12 entrees and a line out the door every night.''

An expansion in 1982-83 increased the seating to 150, and the present restaurant's sophisticated interior and efficient service is light years away from its humble beginnings. Long known as one of Portsmouth's premier seafood eateries, Amory's also prides itself on steaks, and offers such diverse evening fare as veal Parmesan with pasta ($13.95), a grilled Virginia ham steak ($8.95), and a grilled chicken breast dinner ($7.95).

You can order a seven-ounce filet ($13.95), a 12-ounce Delmonico ($14.95), or a 14-ounce New York strip ($15.95), if you're in the mood for steak, or add fried or sauteed scallops or shrimp ($17.95), backfin crab, or a broiled crabcake ($18.95), king crab legs ($21.95) or a lobster tail ($23.95) to the delmonico; while similar combinations are available with the New York Strip (add backfin crab for $19.95, or shrimp scampi for $18.95, for example). All entrees are served with a choice of two vegetables and hushpuppies.

Seafood entrees include fried oysters ($11.95), which are delightful, fried or sauteed shrimp or scallops ($12.95); sauteed shrimp and oysters, or sauteed scallops with backfin crab ($13.95); fried or sauteed shrimp and scallops, or fried shrimp and oysters ($13.95); broiled flounder with backfin ($17.95); steamed king crab legs ($25.95); and a grilled 16-ounce lobster tail ($28.95).

Amory's ``specialties'' include a New England clambake ($25.95) of oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, king crab, and a steamed lobster tail; veal Cape Charles (topped with sauteed backfin crabmeat-$16.50, add marinara sauce-$17.50); pan-broiled oysters and scallops ($14.50); and a seafood pasta with shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels in a marinara sauce ($16.95, or $25.95 with a lobster tail). Two customer favorites, according to Skip Amory, are the Flounder Supreme (broiled and topped with crabmeat, oysters, shrimps and scallops ($19.50), and Crab Tangier, country ham and backfin crabmeat ($16.50, or $17.50 with oysters added).

There's much more, including grilled swordfish, tuna, salmon, dolphin, and grouper, and specials (including all menu items for $12.95, excluding king crab and lobster, on Wednesday and Sunday) offering reduced prices. Lunch offers a pared-down version of the extensive dinner menu at reduced prices. Dining at Amory's is like finding a pearl in your oyster. ILLUSTRATION: Photo/SAM MARTINETTE

George ``Skip'' Amory started out with a retail seafood outlet in

1973.

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