(Sept. 1, 2016) New Jersey native Rob Sosonovich was recently tapped to succeed departing Executive Chef Tim Ulrich at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club.
Although relatively young, Sosonovich, 27, already has more than a decade of experience working in professional kitchens.
“I moved down here when I was 18 and I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 16,” he said. “I started as a dishwasher and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my career, and when I got into line cooking it started there – like a disease, it just takes you over. It’s exhilarating is what it is.
“It’s such a thrill – cooking a bunch of meals fast and having everybody loving your food,” he added. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Sosonovich dates back to the old Ocean Pines yacht club. He started there as a sous chef and worked his way up.
Now, under his leadership, the club’s restaurant, called “The Cove,” is expected to take a decidedly more blue-collar approach to cooking.
“[Ulrich] was more of a high-class, fine dining [chef] – that’s what they were going for,” he said. “It was great food, but I don’t think these people were quite ready for it. So, we’re going to make fun, fresh food and just keep it simple.”
He said a first draft of a new menu was finished, which features “handmade food done creatively,” and that it should be released during the second or third week of September.
“We’re talking about fun, bar food for our customers, along with some nice, upscale entrees that you can get in the dining room. We also want to make the club family-friendly again,” Sosonovich said.
“We’re going to have nice cuts of grass-fed steak, and we’ll do things like shrimp and grits and fresh, local seafood. You go out 20 miles east and you can get some of the best seafood in the world – you might as well use it.”
Several homemade flatbread options will be on the new menu as well.
Yacht Club Manager Jerry Lewis said he has heard complaints about pricing on previous menus, and that the restaurant was now headed toward more budget-friendly food.
“This summer’s menu was far more price-conscious than the summer before, so I have heard less and less about the complaints about pricing. And actually, the menu that Rob has produced that we are going into pricing with right now I can tell you is going to be better priced than this summer’s menu,” Lewis said. “We’re heading in that simplifying direction and the menu is going to expand much more – there’s going to be more choice.”
Sosonovich said he has enjoyed working in the community and that he’s learned a great deal about the demographics of Ocean Pines during the last several years in the kitchen, including what works and what doesn’t.
“It’s a little difficult to accommodate all of them, but that’s the direction that we’re going for – you can be fine dining while still offering light fare,” he said. “We’re making the menu more crowd-friendly, and we’ll still do our char nights and our wine clubs for the really nice fine dining.”
On that note, Lewis said everyone had a different perception of exactly what a yacht club was – from something that is upscale and exclusive, to the neighborhood watering hole that is the opposite – inclusive.
“Everybody comes in here with their own preconceived notion of what they want their yacht club to be,” he said. “For some, that’s to be able to come in here and wine and dine their guests from out of town with the ‘fine-dining’ attitude, or they want to come in here and they want to bring their kids and have a very chill Saturday afternoon lunch with their family, or they want to come up on their boat and have a couple drinks and roll.
“It’s something different for everybody,” Lewis added. “You can’t please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time, but we are trying darned hard to please as many of them as we can.”
Ulrich, who helped open the new yacht club in 2014, left Ocean Pines for a position as the executive chef at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond.
Although relatively young, Sosonovich, 27, already has more than a decade of experience working in professional kitchens.
“I moved down here when I was 18 and I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 16,” he said. “I started as a dishwasher and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my career, and when I got into line cooking it started there – like a disease, it just takes you over. It’s exhilarating is what it is.
“It’s such a thrill – cooking a bunch of meals fast and having everybody loving your food,” he added. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Sosonovich dates back to the old Ocean Pines yacht club. He started there as a sous chef and worked his way up.
Now, under his leadership, the club’s restaurant, called “The Cove,” is expected to take a decidedly more blue-collar approach to cooking.
“[Ulrich] was more of a high-class, fine dining [chef] – that’s what they were going for,” he said. “It was great food, but I don’t think these people were quite ready for it. So, we’re going to make fun, fresh food and just keep it simple.”
He said a first draft of a new menu was finished, which features “handmade food done creatively,” and that it should be released during the second or third week of September.
“We’re talking about fun, bar food for our customers, along with some nice, upscale entrees that you can get in the dining room. We also want to make the club family-friendly again,” Sosonovich said.
“We’re going to have nice cuts of grass-fed steak, and we’ll do things like shrimp and grits and fresh, local seafood. You go out 20 miles east and you can get some of the best seafood in the world – you might as well use it.”
Several homemade flatbread options will be on the new menu as well.
Yacht Club Manager Jerry Lewis said he has heard complaints about pricing on previous menus, and that the restaurant was now headed toward more budget-friendly food.
“This summer’s menu was far more price-conscious than the summer before, so I have heard less and less about the complaints about pricing. And actually, the menu that Rob has produced that we are going into pricing with right now I can tell you is going to be better priced than this summer’s menu,” Lewis said. “We’re heading in that simplifying direction and the menu is going to expand much more – there’s going to be more choice.”
Sosonovich said he has enjoyed working in the community and that he’s learned a great deal about the demographics of Ocean Pines during the last several years in the kitchen, including what works and what doesn’t.
“It’s a little difficult to accommodate all of them, but that’s the direction that we’re going for – you can be fine dining while still offering light fare,” he said. “We’re making the menu more crowd-friendly, and we’ll still do our char nights and our wine clubs for the really nice fine dining.”
On that note, Lewis said everyone had a different perception of exactly what a yacht club was – from something that is upscale and exclusive, to the neighborhood watering hole that is the opposite – inclusive.
“Everybody comes in here with their own preconceived notion of what they want their yacht club to be,” he said. “For some, that’s to be able to come in here and wine and dine their guests from out of town with the ‘fine-dining’ attitude, or they want to come in here and they want to bring their kids and have a very chill Saturday afternoon lunch with their family, or they want to come up on their boat and have a couple drinks and roll.
“It’s something different for everybody,” Lewis added. “You can’t please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time, but we are trying darned hard to please as many of them as we can.”
Ulrich, who helped open the new yacht club in 2014, left Ocean Pines for a position as the executive chef at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond.