Mystery diners give Blue Claw highest rating
The North American Restaurant Association uses mystery diners who are culinary experts to sample restaurants of their own choosing and of their own expense. These diners pick places around where they live, work or travel.
They have a list of criteria from which to grade the restaurant, from the time they make a reservation to the time they say goodnight to the hostess. Décor, food quality and presentation, service and ambiance are among the 40 criteria to which the diner must answer yes or no to a question.
Axelsson’s Blue Claw Restaurant, on Ocean Drive between Wildwood Crest and Cape May, was a perfect 40-for-40 on its review and has received its prestigious five-star Award of Excellence from the association.
To which Cape May County residents who have eaten there have a one-word response:
Duh.
You can’t have a better dining experience than at the Blue Claw, as Zagat recently realized, giving out its highest “excellent/extraordinary” rating to Axelsson’s. The rooms are beautifully appointed, the service is dutiful, timely and friendly without being overbearing, and the kitchen team is so in sync with each other that each course is delivered as if you had your own private chefs for the evening.
Not bad for a place that started as a crab shack.
Kurt Axelsson is a Cape May native who became a commercial airline pilot, which kept him in Europe for many years. His wife, Cecilia, from Long Island, live in West Berlin for three of those years, and traveled to Austria, Spain and London, among other cities, sampling the wonderful cuisines there.
When they returned to the states, they decided they wanted to open a business of their own, and because they had become food-lovers from their European experiences, they decided to start with a crab house.
“We had a passion for seafood to begin with, and Kurt, being from Cape May, was very familiar with seafood. We decided to open a seafood store because the Lobster House was basically the only one around,” said Cecelia, who is known as Ceil.
They opened a 75-seat restaurant in 1980 after spending several weeks watching Campbell’s Seafood operate in Ocean City. They added the Tall Ships Room in 1988, and then acquired a liquor license from a Lower Township bar in 1989. That’s when things began to change.
“Our small service area was so crowded that we added on the Clipper Ship Pub, and now we think it’s one of the most beautiful rooms in the area,” Ceil said. “Just before that, Kurt was recalled by Pan Am, and he went to Europe. He took pictures of all kinds of pubs there and that’s why we have such a European influence here, especially in the pub.”
As the restaurant diversified, along came 23-year-old Christian Rife in the early 1990s, fresh out of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y. He had spent some time in a restaurant in Chadds Ford, Pa., but it moved its emphasis to catering, and Rife moved to Cape May, where he was teamed with assistant chefs who trained professionally while learning on the job, and eventually got married. They are Terri and George MacFeat.
“The three of us work very well together,” Rife said. “What I lack is their forte, and vice versa. We do very well as a team. It’s very rare that egos don’t get in the way in many kitchens, but that doesn’t happen here at all.”
Which is a compliment to the young chef and his staff.
“Christian has been excellent. He’s an excellent staffer, he runs a super kitchen, he’s a perfectionist, and he has been with us for 12 wonderful years,” said Ceil, who failed to mention that she has overcome her frustration that Rife met and married his wife, Jane, at the restaurant.
“Christian and Jane met here and got married. We lost Jane when she had a baby. Anyone who knew Jane knew she was the most incredible hostess. Everyone knew her and she knew all of them – by name no less. She has an incredible way with people, but now they have a family…” Ceil said, laughing at her own story. “But I should tell you that our hostess is now Carol, and she is just delightful. She’s wonderful, dedicated and does her best to keep everyone happy.”
Another addition to the restaurant, pianist George Karavan, also caused the Axelsson’s to change the way they were doing business in order to keep everyone happy.
“Initially, George was in the pub, and no one wanted to sit anywhere else,” said Ceil, again laughing at the oddities that come with success. “We had to move him downstairs and now many more people can enjoy him. He is definitely a draw. People call and want their reservations when George is playing. Our customers just love him. His music adds to the ambiance (and to) the whole dining experience.”
The next generation of Axelssons – sons Kurt Jr. and Mike – are becoming more visible in the everyday operations of the year-round restaurant, and more changes are being added to accommodate more customers, like takeout orders are now accepted.
But one thing that isn’t changing is giving people a reason to go to a restaurant that may seem out of the way.
“Of all the finer dining restaurants around, we’re still the only restaurant that serves a house salad, your starch and vegetable with your dinner. They’re not a la carte, as they are in so many other places,” said Ceil. “(Our location) is one of the reasons we kept it that way, we have to think a little differently.
“In Cape May, it gets so crowded and parking is impossible. Here we have our own parking lot, we have our own onsite liquor (license) and package store, we have beautiful rooms and a wonderful lounge, and we have George on the piano. We do the little things that make a difference to people, so that they can come in with a good, relaxed attitutude and it will remain that way throughout the experience.
“Sometimes people will come in and say, ‘This is our own special place. We don’t want to tell anyone about you.’ Of course we reply, ‘Oh no, please do, please do,’ ” Ceil said.
Evidently, by the
awards and the success Axelsson’s Blue Claw has enjoyed, they listened.
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed at
seitz[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can
comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
AXELSSON’S BLUE CLAW RESTAURANT
991 Ocean Drive
(Between Wildwood Crest & Cape May)
884-5878
www.blueclawrestaurant.com
ON THE MENU
Hours:
Thursday through Sunday, serving dinner beginning at 5 p.m. Seven-day
schedule begins June 10.
Chef’s favorites: Cold Appetizers – Smorgasbord Sampler (smoked salmon, Baltic herring, shrimp, raw Prussian Pearls with sour cream and caviar, clams on the half shell and Fontina cheese with Finn Crisp), $11.95, with Danish Akvavit (black pepper vodka) $13.95.
Hot Appetizers – Shrimp Le Jon (jumbo Gulf shrimp stuffed with horseradish, wrapped in hickory smoked bacon, served with Choron sauce), $9.25; and Oysters Supreme (Fresh Delaware Bay oysters topped with a supreme sauce, jumbo lump crabmeat, finished with Swiss and Swedish cheese), $9.50.
Entrées – Chilean Sea Bass En Papillote (baked in parchment, served with a tomato fondue Hollandaise), $27.95; Blue Claw Crab Cakes (for the jumbo lump fan, barely seasoned, held together with Dijon and mayonnaise, gently sautéed and served with Choron sauce), $28.95/$10.95 as an appetizer; Fisherman’s Kettle (shrimp, scallops, lobster, mussels and clams gently sautéed in a spicy red sauce, or a white wine and garlic sauce, served over fresh pasta, served with garlic bread and presented in a copper pot), $28.95; NY Strip (A hand-selected strip steak, coated with an herb-spice rub, grilled and served with sautéed shallots and shiitake mushrooms), $30.95.
Takeout appetizers
and entrees are new to the Blue Claw this year.
Capacity: 150.
Parking on site.
Reservations
recommended.
MasterCard, Visa,
Diner’s Club and Discover are accepted.
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed
at seitz[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by
calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog