I admit that I didn't go into Fin with as open a mind as I should have. I just thought the restaurant's full name, Fin Steak & Seafood, was weird. Shouldn't it be Fin Seafood? Or if beef is an important part of your raison d'etre, shouldn't you call yourself something other than Fin?
But as somebody once said, "What's in a name?" It simply doesn't matter when the kitchen is producing food this good.
From what I can tell, the kitchen of Fells Point's newest fine-dining restaurant is pretty much a one-man show. The man is Avi Cohen, owner/chef. Because of that, I shudder to think what eating at Fin will be like if every table is taken. The dining room was about a third full when we were there, and the wait for both our entrees and dessert was too long.
But on to more positive things. What I like is that Fin has a straightforward menu without much in the way of pretensions, so the elegance of the food comes as something of a surprise. One of the best examples of this is an appetizer: Pink shrimp and snowy scallops lounge together next to a bit of fennel slaw refreshed with orange segments. The components are very pretty against their white plate.
You expect a restaurant this close to the tourist areas to emphasis its crab cakes, and Fin does. The way to experience them if you're not a tourist is with the trio for an appetizer. They are miniatures, made from a basic mix of lump meat, the right seasonings and just enough filler. One is given an Asian flair with sesame seeds and a soy-based sauce, one is southwestern-spicy with a chipotle sauce and one is a classic Maryland cake - what you get if you order the twin 4-ounce crab cakes for dinner.
A roasted portobello mushroom is stuffed with feta and sun-dried tomatoes, then finished off with a roasted red pepper puree and a scattering of pine nuts for crunch. The flavors are distinct but quite complementary.
I'm not a huge chopped salad fan because it never has as much visual appeal as a composed salad; but Fin's combination of romaine, artichoke, hearts of palm, tomato, red onion and Greek olives works so well together, and is so nicely set off by the right amount of lemon dressing, I have to recommend it.
Fin's entree prices, mostly in the $20-$30 range, make this a moderately priced to moderately expensive restaurant. The steaks skew prices upward, but they are very good beef, well-marbled and flavorful, cooked to your exact request with not much more in the way of seasoning than salt, pepper and a sprinkling of parsley. And it's not like the upscale steakhouses. Dinners come with sides, in this case a crisp-edged wedge of potatoes gratin, just out of the oven, and broccolini.
