Fager’s Island, by anybody’s stan-dards, is a remarkable place. In many ways, it is a microcosm of Ocean City, itself. Sitting in the bay at 60th Street, with its stunning views, its world-famous sunsets, its multiple tiers of decks, a new-this-year sand-covered, palm-shaded beach bar, (complete with stone fire pits and conversation clus-ters), and a near-staggering choice of dining options, you can experience pretty much all that Ocean City has to offer in this one location. When it comes to truly fine dining, however, you cannot experience what Fager’s has to offer anywhere else in the resort. Oceana’s advertising manager, Dar-lene Derr, had agreed to meet me at Fager’s new beach bar before we went in to dinner so we could savor the sun-set, sip a cocktail and feel the sand (literally) beneath our feet. Almost exactly one year earlier, this same spot had been the site of her wedding: A tropical garden festooned with flame-red hibiscus blossoms and cooled by gentle breezes off the bay. Today a delightful beach bar, that sweeping bay view and the flickering flames from those fire pits makes this a wonderfully relaxing place to savor any moment. Savor. A perfect word for dinner at Fager’s Island. We climbed the stairs to the main dining room filled with anticipation. Last year we’d been dazzled by dishes like the Chilean sea bass with a plum and sesame glaze and wondered if anyone, even Fager’s, could meet, let alone exceed that remarkably high standard. The dining room itself is an almost ethereal setting of white-on-white tones above with rich woods and deep garnet colors below. Delicate spherical paper lanterns contrast tones of white against the ceiling above and the high, arched and almost Moorish-looking walls and windows that surround the room on three sides. It is at once both a relaxing and an inviting place to eat. Our waiter, the unflappable Adam Widner, was instantly at our side to tell us the evening’s specials and to ask if we would like a cocktail while we pe-rused the menu. For an appetizer, Adam suggested I

try the blackened scallops served on polenta crisps with cilantro and roast-ed jalapeno oil and while that sounded wonderful, what arrived was nothing short of sensational. The scallops were perfectly done. Moist, warm, sweet and ideally matched for Fager’s blackening spic-es. (More on that later.) What wasn’t mentioned on the menu was a to-die-for salsa of green and red peppers with pineapple, topped with a bird’s nest of micro-thin fried sweet potato that came on the same plate. The presentation was gorgeous, but the combination of tastes was outra-geous. This is precisely what sets Fager’s Island apart from the ordinary. The ability to match point and coun-terpoint, tastes and textures is what makes each dish at Fager’s stand out. Darlene’s lobster tempura did ex-actly the same thing. So light it might have floated off the plate had we both not set about devouring it so quickly, the shelled, tempura-coated tail was served with a citrus dipping sauce, grilled pineapple and (again not men-tioned on the menu) a wonderfully crunchy collection of garden vegeta-bles that gave the dish that extra, add-ed counterpoint. Darlene also ordered the cream of crab soup and I can tell you from expe-rience, she is the unquestioned queen of cream of crab soup. As with “Alice In Wonderland’s” Queen of Hearts, heads will roll if the soup isn’t up to snuff. That evening, one head did roll, but it was Darlene’s. Back and forth it rolled in what was clearly pure plea-sure. Rich, creamy and yet wonder-fully complex, there are layers of flavor here and more than enough crab meat to please the crabbiest of customers. For our main course, Darlene se-lected one of the evening’s specials, the blackened Mahi-Mahi topped with crab, while I elected the classic roast-ed duckling. Our waiter, Adam, a protege of Fager’s wise wizard of wine, Don Pel-letier, suggested a glass of the David Bruce Pinot Noir to accompany my duck, but when they are available, I’m partial to red zinfandels with duck and the Seghesio red zin from Sonoma, Ca. was a festival of dark berries and spice, perfectly balanced and bright on

the tongue! A value at $7.25 a glass. Darlene’s Mahi-Mahi, meanwhile, was superb. Rare among Ocean City restaurants, Fager’s has learned that “blackened” does not mean “burnt to a crisp.” The fish was moist and full of flavor and the tantalizing hint of heat from the blackening seasoning was tempered by the sweet crab meat on top. My duck arrived with crispy, ma-hogany-colored skin, atop a bed of wild rice with candied walnuts and a ramekin of orange sauce on the side. Perfectly cooked asparagus complet-ed the plate and the Seghesio red zin combined with the duck for a near-reli-gious experience. Finally, we came to dessert time. Last year Fager’s had pulled a culinary coup by serving us a white chocolate creme brulee with raspberries, starber-ries and blueberries but it’s clear the kitchen didn’t just rest on its laurels. When Adam mentioned the Bailey’s Irish Cream creme burlee, we knew we had not choice but to order it. All I will say is that it tasted every bit as sinfully good as it sounds and that whoever’s station that is in the kitchen deserves a medal. Add a cup of cof-fee and a snifter of cognac and I firmly stand by what I said in the beginning:when it comes to truly fine dining, you cannot experience what Fager’s has to offer anywhere else in the resort.