A Once-Unlucky Local Catch Turns Culinary Delicacy
Mark Bryson and his wife and business partner, Alicia, opened Duck Press in the spring of 2021 with the goal of bringing a new type of restaurant to Main Street in Wakefield. The concept revolves around casual fine dining, offering upscale cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere while highlighting local ingredients.
Mark’s creations are a delightful amalgamation of dishes he’s enjoyed over the years and his innovative take on flavors and techniques. Drawing from a rich background in French cuisine and a dash of Japanese influence, he curates a menu that features the types of food he likes to eat.
“Alicia’s and my favorite thing to do is go out to eat. Duck Press is a reflection of that—several courses where you take your time, share dishes and enjoy good cocktails, wine or beer,” Mark explained.
In a nod to the Ocean State, local seafood plays a big role in the menu at Duck Press. They always have at least four seafood items on the menu and often a special. Typically, they showcase seafood nightly in a small bite, an appetizer, a pasta dish and an entrée—smoked bluefish, oysters, littlenecks, fluke, striped bass and more. One of the homemade pastas you will currently find on the menu includes local Jonah crab in spaghetti with pecorino fonduta, chili and lemon. Featuring a delicious medley of flavors, the dish offers the spice of Calabrian chilis with a velvety rich Pecorino and cream sauce (the fonduta) that complements the sweet and tender Jonah crabmeat.
Jonah crab is caught in Rhode Island waters using baited traps used by lobster fishers. In the not-too-distant past, Jonah crab was seen as an unlucky bycatch and thrown back (its name referring to the biblical character Jonah, who had an unlucky run-in with a whale) but now chefs and eaters have started to recognize it as a culinary delicacy. Jonah crab is prized for its sweet and slightly briny flavor with a delicate flaky texture. Cooking Jonah crab is simple and live crabs are generally very affordable. The biggest challenge with Jonah crab is picking the meat, which can be labor intensive—but if you pour yourself a glass of wine and have a friend to help, picking meat from the steamed crabs turns from chore to treasure hunt. At a higher price tag, you can buy picked crab-meat; even a half-pound of crabmeat goes a long way and infuses a depth of flavor to any dish.
Kate Masury is the executive director at Eating with the Ecosystem, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood.
Duck Press
333 Main St., Wakefield
401.661.9561; DuckPressRI.com
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