Springs Landing

On Friday, September 25, 2015, I found out that Springs Landing was permanently closed — lights off and no one in the parking lot. Their website has been updated to say they are closed as well.
The wonderful chef, Kevan, and his lovely wife Noelle, have a new restaurant called Black Kettle in Catonsville, MD.
I will miss their fantastic dry aged New York strip steaks and farm fresh vegetables in the Mt. Airy area. I am sure their new restaurant will be even better. If you stop in, tell them I said «hi.»

Dine here every other month or so, and it’s always a great experience. The staff cares, and if there’s something you don’t like, all you have to do is say so. Kevan is excellent in the kitchen… the Pot of Wellness is one of the best dishes I’ve ever had.
In response to some of the other reviews — the fellow who said he was ‘alone in the dining room’? I’ve never seen the place as anything except full or nearly full, so they must be doing some things right. If you got an appetizer you didn’t like, I know they would have replaced it if you’d asked. As for ‘farm to table’, each item is marked as to origin, there’s nothing misleading. I’ve had seafood there a number of times, and it’s always been great — but I didn’t expect it to be from down the street.
As for another reviewer who trashed them for not ‘honoring’ a non-​existent Happy Hour they picked up on online — I’m in the food business too and the stuff that people misread online, or some old expired deal they come across, happens from time to time. You should be ASKING YOUR SERVER before you indulge as to what specials are in effect… if you don’t, you might be in for a surprise, but that’s not the restaurant’s fault, it’s yours for not checking first. It’s important to be fair in your reviews, people actually use these to determine where they are going to spend their money.
Back to the restaurant… it’s small, homey, family-​run, with some great dishes. Had a dry aged steak the other night that was terrific.
I’d go more often if I had the time!

Went to Springs Landing last night for a Valentine’s Dinner with my wife. She had previously been there with a group of girlfriends, and we had gone there last Fall.
While they have done the best they can with décor given the limited space, the ambiance was warm: candle-​lit, fresh roses on the table, soft jazz in the background and quiet, conversation-​inducing atmosphere.
The lobster bisque with lump crabmeat was fantastic: rich, well-​seasoned and perfectly proportioned. What followed was a grilled romaine Caesar salad complimented by shrimp and a crab chutney– I could have been finished then and been thoroughly delighted. But there was more to come…
While we were disappointed they ran out of filet (we had a 9:00 pm seating), the poached lobster, shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked, as was my beef short rib shank: tender, well seasoned and complimented with a delicious cauliflower purée.
We finished our evening with crème brûlée’ and chocolate ganache torte– too much for us to finish so we brought it home and enjoyed them both for breakfast this morning!
The wait staff seemed a bit overwhelmed at times given the full house– but served us well, with smiles, attentiveness and grace.
We will make Spring Landing a regular on our dining experience. Kudo’s to the chef and his wife and all those who made our evening memorable.

Don’t bother.
My wife and I went in December, about a week before Christmas. We were the only people in the dining room at the time we sat down and also throughout our entire meal. After the food arrived, it wasn’t hard to realize why we were dining alone.
My wife had ordered the Oysters Rockafeller and I had the French Onion Soup for appetizers. The oysters were extremely salty and very unappetizing. My soup came out without any cheese on it, not to mention that the temperature of the soup was tepid at best. I have never seen a restaurant serve French Onion without cheese. They should not mislead their customer — just call it onion soup.
Speaking of misleading the customer, this restaurant markets itself as a «farm-​to-​table» restaurant, using locally sourced ingredients. Both my wife and I ordered seafood dishes for dinner, and you could clearly tell that the seafood had been previously frozen, and was no better than grocery store quality. The dishes (scallops for me, mixed seafood pasta for my wife) were again overly salted, and the seafood had that «perfume» odor to it, like they were masking its freshness. Neither of us finished our meals.
Icing on the cake: My wife went to use the bathroom as I paid the check. She spotted a roach in the corner of the bathroom. Good thing we were ready to walk out.

A hidden gem!!! Chef Kevan is passionate and creative with his cooking and you can taste it! He has some very unique sauces and cooking methods that jazz up some old classics. The whole staff there is so friendly! We not only had excellent food and wonderful wine pairing suggestions but also very personalized service. The prime rib was cooked perfectly and days later my husband and I are still raving about the calamari! It is very rare that I go to a restaurant and have so many options that I want to order! I can’t wait to go back and try some more!

Went back for the first time in a few years last night. First impression: the restaurant is much more attractive and warm now. It is a relaxed and quiet place to dine, and they have replaced the horrible cold metal chairs with comfortable ones. But please, please ditch the stone-​look wallpaper below the chair rail and the bitty fake fireplace, which both scream «cheap.»
I can’t speak for my dining companions, who seemed to enjoy their meals although didn’t seem overwhelmed. (I didn’t start out intending to write a review, so didn’t question them about their food.) I ordered the Lamb Hot Pot, described on the menu as hickory and apple-​smoked and glazed with an apple demi-​glacé. I think chef Kevan is trying too hard, at least on this dish. The hot pot comes with a puff pastry topper drizzled with glazes of beet purée and squash purée, which I found a little off-​putting. The lamb was delicious on first bite, but SO sweet and rich as to completely mask the flavor of the meat. It could have been beef, pork or lamb, and I don’t think you could tell the difference. All told, it had way too much going on and the preparation overpowered the lamb.
The roasted veggies (parsnip, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, carrot) were underdone. I appreciate crisp-​tender veggies as much as anyone, but roasted winter veg, in my experience, are best soft and tender and slightly caramelized. Or maybe crunchy Brussels sprouts are just not my thing.
Our waitress was pleasant and helpful but disappeared for maybe 20 minutes just as we were starting to wonder when our food was coming out. The tables were only half (if that) full, so we found this puzzling and actually wondered if they had forgotten our orders. Just bad timing, I suppose, but we could have used some reassurance. Please consider putting bread on the table routinely instead of charging for it; having something to snack on would have made our wait less obvious. (We didn’t order a first course, so perhaps this is our fault. However, the entrée portions are generous, and we wouldn’t have wanted another course.)
The four of us shared one dessert, a warm apple cobbler with white chocolate ice cream, arguably the best part of the meal.
One last, fairly minor comment. Please get an editor to fix your menu. I admit to being a language snob, but the spelling errors (spinache, souflee) are distracting at best.

FANTASTIC restaurant! The food is top-​notch. Started with oysters on the half-​shell; large and tasty. Ordered the Strog-​Meister, which was rich and wonderful. Also tasted Kevan’s pot of wellness-​like dish one of my companions ordered — oh my! Other 2 people I dined with also greatly enjoyed their meals. Service was excellent. Very friendly staff. May be out of the way for some of you, but if you enjoy excellent food prepared with love and creativity, I strongly recommend Springs Landing.

Pleasantly surprised! We haven’t been in this establishment since it was the Country Kettle and have been wanting to try it. It was great! The soups were both fantastic. The calamari appetizer was possibly the best that I have ever eaten. Everyone’s salads and entrees were very good. It wasn’t inexpensive BUT was price fairly for the quality of the food and the portion size. The service was excellent, the chef comes out to talk to everyone which was nice. Glad that we tried it, we will certainly be going back!

We went here on the recommendation of a friend. We were hoping for an adventure and got a little more than we expected. First, we had to figure out which door to use as the path to the restaurant and to the bar are equally confusing and unmarked! There was no hostess for a few minutes and then we were asked if we had a reservation though there were lots of empty tables. The food was very well prepared and presented. The wine serving was minimal for the price and this was not an expensive wine. Our daughter is 11, but we were not offered a kid’s menu which a friend later told us they have. The dishes are too fancy for kids to appreciate. The place is really just an adult atmosphere. There were no vegetarian options. The name changed recently from Drovers, but has the same owners… did it get stale?