Sitting at a high-top table at Cindy Lou’s Fish House inside The Canopy by Hilton at Harbor Point, Spike Gjerde takes a bite of panisse—a rectangular-shaped chickpea fritter that’s a popular dish in the South of France. He dips it in some garlic aioli, then breaks off a piece of rosemary-tinged fougasse flatbread, which is also rooted in that region.
The South of France has become the culinary reference point for his latest project that will focus on Provence, the seafood-rich expanse of Southeastern France that borders the Mediterranean Sea.
Between bites, he talks about the new 100-seat restaurant, which he’s named La Jetée (no, not a ballet move—that’s jeté—but French for “jetty,” a man-made structure that extends into water) and will open on Oct. 5. The name was inspired by the restaurant’s position on Harbor Point, a tract of land that protrudes into the Patapsco.
La Jetée also shares a title with a French film that the James Beard Award-winning chef has long loved. “It has a science fiction kind of quality,” he says of the film. “There’s some time travel in a sense, but it seems to be really more about memory and how we move between versions of ourselves in the world.”
As he gets ready to turn 63 on Oct. 4, Gjerde could well be speaking about himself. In this older, maybe wiser, version, his monastic dedication to sourcing has loosened a little, so he can continue to grow without being confined by the strictures that prevented him from using ingredients that are not locally grown.
La Jetée will allow him to stretch as a chef. “What I’ve done so far has largely been defined, starting with Woodberry Kitchen, by ingredients—and it still will be, but this represents the next chapter,” he says. “I’m still as excited and as committed as I’ve ever been to local ingredients and supporting our local food system, but there are ways to present it, which guests might find more interesting.”
The term farm-to-table is tired, he says.
“If we’re being honest, the farm-to-table moment has passed—the urgency in thinking about our food system is more important than ever, but using that term to interest people is not what it was,” he says. “It’s become almost a perfunctory thing. I needed to find new ways to reach people, but I will never fully be able to exclude thoughtfully grown from that equation.”
And while French food might feel like a departure for the unfussy chef, he maintains that it’s not. Unlike food from north-central France, with its heavy sauces and creams, Provençal food is, in fact, quite simple and seasonal.
“I thought it would be really interesting to take the culinary traditions and the joie de vivre of that region and overlay it with the great produce, and especially the great fish and shellfish, we get from the Chesapeake Bay,” says Gjerde. “I thought there was this great opportunity to really dig into a tradition that I love, but then stay with the Atlantic and Chesapeake. We won’t be flying fish from the Mediterranean, but we’ll be using a lot of the same approach and recipes.”
Of course, the mid-Atlantic’s regenerative farms will be celebrated with every dish. “We will still get the things that we can locally,” says Gjerde. “We’ve already started a process by which we’re introducing [the staff] to the local growers that we work with and getting them used to the fact that there are going to be farmers dropping product off, and people will be talking about their product constantly.”
“If we’re being honest, the farm-to-table moment has passed,” Gjerde says. “The urgency in thinking about our food system is more important than ever, but using that term to interest people is not what it was.”
Some six months ago, Beatty Development Group—the firm behind Harbor Point—first approached the chef about taking over the Cindy Lou’s Fish House space. (When Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman moved on from the project, the hotel took over the management of the restaurant.)
“I’ve been friends with the Beattys in Baltimore for as long as I can remember,” says Gjerde. “We share so much love of food and wine and they’ve been great supporters through the years. We got into this conversation to see if I was interested in doing something here.”
Harbor Point was also familiar territory for Gjerde. His now-closed temporary beach bar, Sandlot, has been reimagined as nearby Point Park.
Gjerde found it easy to share his concept. He has long been drawn to the celebrated region known for its Mediterranean cuisine, lavender fields, and deep artistic heritage. “It’s a place that my mind and my palate return to frequently,” he says.
It’s also the country where his career began, in a manner of speaking. In his mid-20s, Gjerde worked for $5 an hour assembling fruit tarts with almond crème at Pâtisserie Poupon in Little Italy. Seeing his penchant for the place, his favorite aunt and uncle gave him his first cookbook, Richard Olney’s Simple French Food.
“I never stopped thinking about that book and it became a throughline in my life,” he says. “I still have it—it’s in tatters.”
From a culinary perspective, it’s a bit of a full-circle moment. And since La Jetée will be open all day, you can expect “crepes in the morning and incredible baguette sandwiches and classics like a salad Niçoise for lunch.”
Dinner will highlight items like roasted leg of lamb and chicken paillard, and, of course, all manner of seafood. “Our challenge is to overlay these traditions with great Chesapeake fish and shellfish,” he says.
To that end, a large part of the menu will be dedicated to a raw bar with Chesapeake oysters and clams. “And we’re going to go further afield than we would in the past with mussels from Maine—they are a great regenerative species.”
Flavors will be highlighted with aromatic herbs and ingredients like olive oil, capers, and citrus (the last of which was all but forbidden at Woodberry because it was impossible to source locally).
The beverage program will lean heavily toward French wines of that region, especially rosé. Classic French spirits like anise-flavored Pastis and citrus-leaning Lillet will also be on offer and mixed into cocktails.
“It’s a place that my mind and my palate return to frequently,” Gjerde says of Provence, the seafood-rich expanse of Southeastern France that serves as the culinary reference point for the new restaurant.
While Gjerde will oversee the kitchen, Matthew Audette, who was hired after Wolf’s and Foreman’s departure, will stay on as executive chef. Restaurant veteran Virginia Allen, formerly of Alma and Woodberry Kitchen, will step into the role of general manager.
The space itself, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and spectacular views of the Patapsco and the neon Domino Sugars sign, is also undergoing a comprehensive update. The fireplace that occupies a central portion of the dining room will be removed and the color palette will soften.
“It will be more comfortable and less industrial,” says Gjerde. “There will be more drapery framing the windows. It will feel very coastal with lighter woods and linen.”
As always, Gjerde is trying to push the boundaries for himself—and for diners.
“When you’re sitting here, and you’re looking at the harbor, you’re seeing Domino Sugars, but hopefully you’ll feel like you’re on the Mediterranean,” he says. “I am hoping it will transport you as much as possible.”