A Maryland Chef Cherishes His Food Memories

Gracelynn with chef John Shields in the kitchen of his Baltimore City restaurant

Chef John Shields is known for working with fresh ingredients that come from farms in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay.

Shields, who is a family friend, owns Gertrude’s Local Kitchen, a popular restaurant in the Baltimore Museum of Art. Shields has also written cookbooks and hosted a cooking show on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

Shields’s restaurant is named for his grandmother, Gertie. During a recent interview, he said that he grew up watching her cook in a church kitchen. He would help by peeling potatoes, husking corn, and doing whatever tasks were needed. “Food to me is often memories,” Shields said. 

About those experiences with his grandmother, Shields writes on his website: “As a small boy in Baltimore, I remember my grandmother’s excitement with each approaching season and the treasures it offered for the table.”  

One of the first dishes Shields remembers making himself is an apple pie. The recipe he followed called for “shortening,” a type of fat that gives baked goods their flavor. Not knowing what that was, Shields used oil instead. It was a mistake that made the pie taste “weird,” he said. After that, the chef learned about shortening.  

One of his favorite recipes to both make and eat is Maryland crab soup, which includes potatoes, lots of vegetables, and seasonings. “There are so many wonderful, fresh vegetables in it, right from the farms around us, as well as the crab,” Shields said. “Eating that kind of soup brings back many memories.”

Gracelynn with Shields in the garden behind his Maryland restaurant 

“A ROCK STAR!”  

When asked if he could be anything besides a chef, Shields quickly responded: “A rock star!” He explained that he hadn't actually planned on being a chef. Several decades ago, he was playing piano in a restaurant in California when one of the cooks hurt himself. Shields was asked to replace the cook and given training.  

It was 1980, and Shields joined what was then a New American Food revoluation, sourcing unusual and fresh ingredients to elevate cuisine. 

In 1983, Shields opened Gertie’s Chesapeake Bay Café in Berkeley, California. The restaurant’s dishes evoked his Maryland upbringing along the Chesapeake Bay, which is known for the use of crabs. A customer, who was also a book publisher, urged Shields to write a cookbook. At the time, few chefs were known for focusing on the region. 

“I thought, ‘That’s a great idea, but you’re out of your mind because I’m busy,’” Shields said. “I’m running a restaurant and don’t have time for that.”

Shields had a similar reaction when asked to host a cooking show featuring dishes popular in the Chesapeake region, including Maryland crab soup. 

Crab cakes are among the most popular items in Chesapeake cuisine and at Chef Shields’s restaurant.  

A PASSION FOR COOKING

Still, in the late 1990s, Shields began to film the cooking show for PBS. It was called Chesapeake Bay Cooking. He also published a companion cookbook. Shields has now published five cookbooks, which include such recipes as Gertie’s Crab Cakes and Grandma’s Apple Dumplings.  

At the end of my interview with Shields, I thought about the words on his website, about his “grandmother’s excitement with each approaching season and the treasures it offered for the table.” Shields expressed the same passion and excitement as he showed off his restaurant kitchen, introduced me to the staff, and took me outside to see his garden. Clearly, he learned a love and reverence from his grandmother for cooking meals and sharing them with others.