Foodie Friday: The Starboard Claw

DEWEY BEACH, Del. – For this edition of Foodie Friday, we’re visiting an eatery that recently won Best of Delaware 2024 New Restaurant Downstate. Let’s visit the Starboard Claw, and try out some delicious dishes.

If seafood is your weakness, then Chef Paul Hajewski’s offerings will be your kryptonite.

Pot of Pure Goodness

The Delmarva Steam Pot is a veritable heaven of creatures from the deep. The base is a housemade seafood broth. It starts with mirepoix—any chef’s secret weapon: carrots, celery, and onions.

“We sell hard shell crabs here, so we’ll get pieces of crabs that will fall off. Lobster bodies. It all just adds flavor,” said Chef Hajewski as he threw the shrimp in a sizzling pan. “As that’s cooking there, I’m going to start off by just lightly searing our seafood.”

Garlic cloves, tomato paste, white wine, lemon juice, and clam juice all help the flavor to become even more full-bodied. “We use some fresh tarragon, and a little bit of parsley with the stems,” said Chef Hajewski.

Then, it’s mahi-mahi, salmon, and rockfish’s time to shine in the pan. Fresh corn, fingerling potatoes, and andouille sausage join in on the fun, as well. Then come the clams, mussels, and finished shrimp. “We’ll take our finished stock, and add it to this,” Chef Hajewski said over the sizzle.

“So many layers of flavor,”

“The clams and mussels have that wonderful natural sweetness that you get with seafood… It has so many layers of flavor,” said Foodie Friday Host Hannah Cechini. “The sausage has that smokiness, and that little kick of heat to it… Corn in the summertime is a must on Delmarva.”

The fish was tender, and the potatoes perfectly caramelized, but “I think the real star of everything is the broth,” said Hannah. “It’s just got this really nice inherent richness to it, and I think that comes from cooking down the seafood shells and getting those natural flavors out of that.”

The dish is packed with bright notes from the lemon juice and white wine.

“And, using the mirepoix – the celery, the onions, the carrots – that just makes this a very fragrant dish that carries a lot of flavor,” Hannah said.

Scallop Succuluence

We’re not done yet.

Chef Hajewski’s seared scallops served with cauliflower puree, corn chutney, and a lobster champagne sauce are truly decadent. After spooning a schmear of fluffy puree onto the plate, Chef Hajewski perches the scallops on top, along with the corn chutney, and the succulent sauce.

“That is just a beautiful, nice tender, and not overdone,” said Foodie Photog Mike with his first bite. “The scallop has a nice, subtle sweetness to it. It has a great chew.”

The lobster champagne sauce is a ladle full of love.

“Almost like a bacon-y savoriness to it, but it’s more complex than that,” Mike said. “I feel like people will be like ‘You can’t compare champagne to bacon,’ but bacon is my champagne, folks.”

The Starboard Claw

The Starboard Claw is located at 1818 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach, Del. You can call them at 302-550-2529. If you go to check it out, tell the team that you saw them on Foodie Friday.