Down The Shore: Diving Horse Sets Opening Date (And Gets A New Chef)

Now entering its sixth year, The Diving Horse in Avalon is straightening the chairs and polishing the glasses in anticipation of opening up for the season. And this year, they’re bringing some fresh blood in behind the line, to boot.

First things first: Opening day for The Diving Horse will be Friday, May 22, the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend and the official start of summer ’round these parts.

And when the Horse does open, it’ll be with Maryland native Paul Carrier (ex of a.kitchen, Bistrot La Minette and Fitler Dining Room, which is also owned by the Diving Horse team) running the kitchen as exec. The good news? Carrier has worked in the kitchen at The Diving Horse in years past, so at least he’ll be able to find the place and knows how to turn the stoves on and everything.

Beyond that, he’s promising a menu of “new American fare highlight[ing] coastal ingredients, many sourced from nearby farms and Cape May County fisherman.”

The menu is going to change daily, all depending on what kind of stuff he can score from the aforementioned farms and fishermen, but it’ll be a recognizably Diving Horse-ish menu, full of wedge salads with lump crab; heirloom tomatoes with strawberries, ricotta and basil; calamari with pickled ramps, scallops with…pretty much everything. He’s planning on the menu topping out somewhere around $36.

The Diving Horse [f8b8z]