OCEAN CITY – It all about family tradition when it comes to the Captain’s Table, as the restaurant is returning to its roots by adding a grand piano back to the scene.
The Captain’s Table is located inside the Courtyard by Marriot on 15th Street and the Boardwalk in Ocean City. However, the restaurant dates back to the 1960’s as the founding family had been developing in the resort since the late 1800s.
In 1886, George B. Conner opened Conner’s Restaurant at Division St. and the Boardwalk. In 1922, Willye Jones Conner, George’s widow and mother of three sons, bought the Hastings Hotel at 3rd Street and the Boardwalk, adding several buildings, including the Miramar Hotel.
In 1965, Willye Conner Ludlam, who had re-married to Capt. Charles Ludlam, opened the first motor motel in Ocean City at 15th Street and the Boardwalk, which was the first home of the Captain’s Table restaurant. It was managed by her family until the motel was demolished in 2005.
In 2009, Ludlam’s grandchildren, Edmund Conner, his wife Bonnie, and his sister, Lauren Conner Taylor, opened the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on 15th St. and re-opened the Captain’s Table with their children, Rob and Sheri Conner, Daniel and Kelly Taylor, Brad and Rebecca Taylor, and Amy Conner Vanhoose, continuing the family tradition.
Rob Conner and Brad Taylor are the chefs at the Captain’s Table, and Rebecca Taylor organizes special events. Members of the Conner family also help run the other family businesses of Conner’s Beach Café, Park Place Hotel and Dunes Manor Hotel.
Last Wednesday the Captain’s Table added another tradition to the restaurant of a grand piano, purchased from Jim and Monica Anthenelli. According to Taylor, a pianist will be on the scene providing live entertainment on most nights during the off-season.
“The Captain’s Table had a tradition of having a grand piano played in the restaurant but when they took the old property down it wasn’t practical to store the piano, and so when we re-opened we continued the tradition with a keyboard but now we are back to having a grand piano,” Lauren Taylor said.
The original “Captain’s table” where Captain Ludlam dined is designated in its own space within the restaurant where it can seat at least a party of eight.
“It’s fun because we have had four generations come to dine at the Captain’s Table for a party,” Taylor said. “We have had people come back for years and years.”
The restaurant is designed in vibrant primary colors with modern fixtures and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Under the breakfast specialties menu, guests will find not their everyday breakfast choices, such as Eggs Norwegian, which is an English muffin topped with smoked salmon, poached eggs and finished with Hollandaise sauce. There is also Jumbo Lump Crab Hash that is tender potatoes cooked with jumbo lump crabmeat, onions, peppers and tomatoes, topped with eggs any style and melted provolone cheese, or Fish and Eggs — the fresh fish of the day broiled with two eggs.
‘I think we are still the only restaurant in Ocean City that serves fresh fish for breakfast,” Taylor said.
The lunch menu offers soup and salad, such as The Captain Salad, which is fresh baby mixed greens, blue cheese crumbles, candied pecans, red onions, Fuji apples, and finished with raspberry vinaigrette. There is also a light fare portion of the lunch menu and sandwiches that include a brie and tomato, or baked brie and fresh fruit sandwich on French bread.
The dinner menu also offers soup and a variety of salads, along with appetizers and a listing of seafood, beef and poultry dishes along with local favorites Maple Leaf Half Roasted Duck and Spring Lamb. A fresh fish entrée is available at market price as the chefs at the Captain’s Table are constantly sourcing for the highest quality fish available on the market.
The Captain’s Table is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, and has space available for large parties and banquets. To make a reservation, call 410-289-7192; for catering call 410-289-7191; and for special events planning call 410-289-7191. The bar opens at 10 a.m. and happy hour is from 3-7 p.m.
Captain’s Table will be participating in Ocean City’s restaurant Week from Oct. 13-17.