Ports of call

There's an almost tidal transience to the Jersey Shore dining scene that can be disconcerting to a restaurant's regulars. A hungry Shore bird works so hard to find something special at the beach, it's downright worrisome to find it missing upon your return the following year.

Where are those oysters topped with carbonated Meyer lemon foam that I ate in Avalon last summer? What of the strawberry "upcakes" and shrimp-salad lunch boxes they used to pack for the beach at Dixie Picnic in Ocean City? Hey! Who moved Johnny's "Nonna's meatballs"? And all of you adventurous BYO-hounds better take a deep breath before you read this next bit of news on Stone Harbor's missing gastro-gem: Sea Salt? Gone!? Noooooooooo!!!!

OK. Now that I've gotten that out of my system, it isn't nearly as bad as all that. In fact, with only some exceptions (like the credit-crunched Dixie Picnic, which relocated to corporate Frazer, sniff-sniff), last year's talents have simply re-anchored their stoves to new locales along the coast. And in most cases, they've taken on bigger challenges with larger spaces or the added responsibility of restaurant ownership, and whole new crowds to please.

So do they succeed? Here's a look at five new fine-dining contenders this season, from Cape May to Ventnor, where familiar faces (and some familiar places) are making waves again:

The Ebbitt Room

Considering the Lucas Manteca that diners first met a few years ago in his now-closed Sea Salt - the long-haired Argentine surfer dude with a daring streak for contemporary plates - the wicker-trimmed porch and posh gold-leaf dining room of the Ebbitt Room in the Virginia Hotel is about the last place you'd expect to find him.

But top-line chefs have always been a calling card at this gem of restored Victoriana. And Manteca, 32, has raised his game here to infuse a fresh modern edge to one of Cape May's finest special-occasion haunts. The locally attuned Manteca has been truly inspired by the bounty of the nearby 62-acre farm that the Virginia's owners recently bought, which in season supplies more than 50 percent of the restaurant's produce.