It was a meal for the ages at the very special Alma Bea in Shepherdstown
- Steven Keith
- 8 minutes ago
- 4 min read
There are many factors that help create a memorable dining experience. A talented chef passionately dedicated to their craft. Fresh ingredients transformed into imaginative and insanely delicious dishes. Attentive service in a welcoming environment. Good wine shared with great friends.
If executed well, any one of those experiences can leave a lasting impression, even if the others are bit lacking. But when they all come together seamlessly, it’s truly a remarkable experience that can stay with you for years to come.
Alma Bea is that place.
Magical. Exceptional. Special.
Those are the same three words I’ll use to describe Chef Mary Ellen Diaz, who owns and runs Alma Bea, her one-of-a-kind restaurant at 202 E. Washington St. in Shepherdstown offering a “tapa-lachian” tasting menu of small tapas-style plates and elevated Appalachian entrées prepared with bold flavors and top-notch techniques.
I had the great fortune of spending an evening there earlier this month and can confidently say it was one of the best overall dining experiences I’ve had in a long time.
Tucked inside what used to be an old Southern States farm supply store just a few blocks from the town’s main street, the space has been transformed into a polished-up “farmhouse chic” dining room offering a warm glow and inviting feel perfect for sitting a spell with family or friends.
The friends I was blessed to have join me that night all ordered fun cocktails (rooster swizzle sticks!) while looking over an expertly crafted menu with an agonizing array of delicious options.
There were far too many enticing ones to choose from, so when the chef came out to welcome us, we peppered her for recommendations on what we should try. Her response couldn’t have been better. “Well, what do you want?”
We laughed, but she was serious. Instead of trying to steer us to dishes she liked, she asked us about the flavors, textures and ingredients that appealed to us and casually suggested a few plates she knew would deliver the goods.
And did they ever.
We started with Alma Bea’s signature “devilish eggs” – creatively topped with shrimp, blue cheese, smoked bacon, pecan crumble and pickle relish to create the perfect tangy-salty-sweet-sour bite – then nibbled on a fried catfish charcuterie platter with crab salad, fried pickles, coleslaw, fried saltines and house-smoked mozzarella.
Next came umami-packed fried feta cheese zucchini blossoms with potato ramp galette and green goddess dressing, followed by glistening smoked duck wings with a brightly spiced cucumber ramp kimchi, then a hot plate of crumb-covered baked oysters topped with spinach, smoked tomato, bacon and benne seed.
Moving on to entrées, our group shared a giant fork-tender bison short rib with horseradish-mustard potato gratin, potlikker greens and heirloom tomatoes; cornmeal-crusted rockfish with squash succotash and smoked bacon-sauerkraut spaetzle; and smoked beef tenderloin with an earthy mushroom sauce, fresh roasted root vegetables and a creamy, pillowy Parmesan flan that tasted like a cheesy cloud.
Other dishes I’m already eyeing for next time include buttermilk fried chicken with braised red cabbage, smoked brisket with black-eyed-pea cola sauce, smoked duck breast with rosemary grits and sweet potato, seared rainbow trout with a blackberry-beet spinach salad and potato-kraut hand pie, plus a Creole fried softshell crab garnished with butter bean-avocado guacamole and Tabasco butter sauce.
Mercy me.
If those dishes sound impressive, it’s no wonder.
Diaz had culinary training in the U.S. and France, plus led kitchens in Chicago and Las Vegas before returning to West Virginia to open a restaurant that would honor and preserve Appalachian traditions through the stories of its food.
“Appalachian mountain cuisine in a story about the adventurous folks who came to this region to create lives for their families, bringing many food traditions from their families and homelands,” the menu states.
“It’s a story that we in the kitchen hope to celebrate, recreate and reimagine. We hope our efforts will nourish your soul and bring you joy.”
The greens on the menu, for example, take two days to make. The brisket is smoked for 11 hours and they also smoke ingredients like tomatoes, fruit and even butter, too.
“We think of smoking as our way of honoring the generations of Appalachian women who cooked delicious sustaining meals for their families on simple wood-burning stoves,” Diaz once told me.
Toward the end of the evening when Diaz came out to see how we liked our food, we invited her to join us, where she soon started sharing stories about some of the recipes and techniques she was working on, asking for our advice on possible menu items and just talking about her approach to cooking in general. Desserts were enjoyed, wine glasses were refilled and conversations continued long after most other guests were gone.
It was a night I didn’t want to end – and one I hope to repeat very soon.
IF YOU GO: Alma Bea at 202 E. Washington St. in Shepherdstown, is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 304-870-2153 or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.