Legal Assets: Teaming up in Easton
Any good relationship is built on trust and admiration, with sometimes a little help from the hand of fate. When Valerie and David Clark met in the late 1990s, they were both working at the Kent Manor Inn in Stevensville. After they opened their first restaurant, Julia’s, in Centreville, their friend Chris Kelbaugh sold his restaurant there to Bo and Dianne Oristian, who opened Doc’s Riverside Grille in Centreville, followed by Doc’s Sunset and Downtown Grille restaurants in Oxford and Easton. More serendipitous connections over the years led the two couples, along with the Oristian’s son Chooch, to embark on their first joint business venture to open Legal Assets in downtown Easton, Maryland.
“The hospitality industry on the Shore is a very small community,” says Valerie. “It’s a very tight-knit group. We all have friends in common and many of us have known one another through the business.”
When the Oristians learned that the Mason’s Restaurant building was available in historic Easton, Bo thought immediately of his friend David Clark, who was working as Executive Chef at 208 Talbot in St. Michaels.
“I had a vision and needed someone to implement it,” says Bo. “We didn’t want to distract from our other restaurants, so I called David.”
According to Valerie, Bo saw potential in the space, something different from Docs located a few blocks away.
“This building has a rich history in hospitality,” says Valerie. “It was a shame to see it vacant. We liked the idea of what it could be while honoring and respecting what it once was.”
“We sat down outside on the patio,” says Bo. “It was a nice day, March 16, 2020.” Little did they know that the growing pandemic would be a fixture for over a year, with the restaurant industry taking a major hit.
David and Valerie Clark were working five days a week at 208 Talbot, meeting Bo during their off time to work on the plan for Legal Assets, which opened in December 2020.
“The work ethic the Clarks bring to this enterprise is astonishing,” says Bo. “They are hands on, non-stop, six days a week from 9:30am to 10pm. On their day off they come in and do more.”
The mutual admiration is palpable, resulting in a restaurant whose goal is to satisfy varied palates and tastes in a convivial atmosphere. With their combined years in the same business, albeit in different capacities, the families bring a lot to the table.
“It took five brains and a lot of muscle,” adds Valerie.
Like any good partnership, it’s about listening.
“You learn every day,” says Valerie. “It’s fair to say we all brought something to the table. We wanted to combine the craft food experience with the warm occasion of dining out. This is an expansion of our family. It includes all of us, the staff and the clients.”
Translation: they talk, a lot.
The restaurant’s name is a nod to David’s father, a long-serving judge in Queen Anne’s County, and in keeping with an ongoing theme: Bo’s Docs restaurants are named in honor of his dad, a doctor. Photos of Easton’s courthouse and street signs designating the restaurant’s locus in town adorn the walls.
The decor is comfortable and fresh, following safety guidelines with partitions between booths and more widely-spaced tables. The overall vibe is suited to any occasion—business lunch, casual dinner, date night—and the bar is a lively spot for a pre-dinner cocktail or an energetic happy hour.
“One thing I learned through our different restaurants, when you have good food people are loyal,” says Bo. “So we’ve focused on the food.”
Fans of 208 Talbot will be happy with a few dinner menu mainstays such as the beef short ribs and red snapper and salmon. The lunch menu features standard pub fare like burgers, fish tacos and salads, with each dish cooked to order. The cuisine is considered new American; fresh local seafood and meat prepared with some international influences.
“What speaks to David’s soul is Asian,” says Valerie of her husband, whose heritage is evidenced in several signature dishes, including the Asian lettuce wraps, Asian noodle bowl, and crab fried rice.
The short ribs have no fewer than fifteen different ingredients in the braising liquid. The French onion soup, veal-based and not beef like most, sits on the stovetop for literally hours. Daily additions are not uncommon.
“We have eight different food prep people working in the kitchen,” says Bo. “It reminds me of the North Pole at Christmas. The elves are working constantly, and the customer benefits from it.”
The restaurant’s concept of crafted-in-house is carried from cocktails to desserts such as Valerie’s famous bread pudding, with alternating flavors like mocha, cinnamon apple, peach, S’mores, and peanut butter and jelly. To miss the bread pudding would be a crime, enticing even the most die-hard Keto apostles among us to break the no-carb rule. Yes, it’s that good.
The wine list includes new- and old-world varietals, and Valerie is only too happy to offer pairing suggestions when asked. Craft beers and cocktails with a strong bourbon and tequila presence round out the bar offerings.
The Legal Assets Bloody Verdict offers a twist on the Bloody Mary made with Bo's secret family recipe and garnished with house pickled vegetables. (At Sunday brunch they upgrade it with an antipasto skewer.) Signature drinks are created for each season.
“Chooch and I work together to develop the cocktail menu,” says Valerie. “We make all the ingredients in-house and infuse our own liquors.”
Legal Assets’ Sunday brunch is a welcome addition in a town that is often quiet on that day. A favorite menu item is the Judge Johnny’s Eggs Benedict – another homage to David’s father – served on housemade biscuits with choron sauce (a tomato-based hollandaise).
With the warmer weather, the outdoor patio is extremely popular. After all, food tastes even better when savored al fresco. There are plans to host private events, including small rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions as well as bourbon and wine tastings.
With a lot going on in a year of uncertainty, the verdict is in: Legal Assets is guilty…of being a delight.
Legal Assets Craft Food & Spirits
22 South Harrison Street, Easton
(443) 746-2178
