By John A. Davis
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Driving down Eastern Boulevard, passersby and locals are bound to find a crab shack every couple of blocks. But David Zepp, an Essex native, only puts his turn signal on for one.
On his fourth day in a row walking into Steamin’ Deamons, Zepp knew he only had a month and a half left to enjoy Maryland’s favorite crustacean before the popular carry-out crab shack closed up shop for the winter.
Located at 603 Eastern Blvd., Steamin’ Deamons has a loyal following thanks to its regular customers who live, breathe and certainly eat up the Maryland crab culture. Zepp is no exception and is nothing short of a crab fanatic.
“Had cold crabs for breakfast,” Zepp said. “Now for dinner, hot ones. They got the best ones here.”
With the population of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay growing by 60% in 2019, crab eaters looked forward to enjoying the local delicacy when the season began in early May. Pollution and habitat loss are two of the leading threats to the Chesapeake Bay blue crab, so the uptick in this year’s population was encouraging to the Chesapeake Bay Program, which enacted the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement in 2014, in an effort to restore the bay’s health and the many critters that call it home.
The rise in population is also encouraging to Jimmy Pine, the owner of Steamin’ Deamons, and his son Alec Pine, who now runs the business. They fired up their three boiler systems in early May of this year in anticipation of a busy season, but now the family-owned business is looking forward to some time off after accommodating a hungry crowd over the past months.
“We cater to the locals,” Alec Pine, 21, said. “It’s small, and it’s not pretty, and it’s not high end. It looks and feels like customers went out on the water and got the crabs themselves. That’s the foundation of our business.”
The foundation of the actual building is held together by duct tape and gorilla glue, and a lot of sweat. The signs out front are hand-painted on white wooden pallets with red lettering, and the boilers are all original. A fan behind the steamers is held in the window by cardboard and duct tape and provides just enough ventilation to make the heat bearable.
Jay Eshleman, 31, who’s in his second season under the Pine’s employ, said he doesn’t mind the heat. He starts his day by filling the shocker with water, then he sweeps and mops the floors, turns the boilers on and puts the signs out front. Then, he begins steaming crabs to order.
“It’s hot work man, but it’s a great job,” Eshleman said. “You get used to the heat. It’ll get up to 125 degrees in here when all the seven pots are running. Oh yeah—you’ll be sweating. People quit because of it.”
When Jimmy Pine opened the doors of Steamin’ Deamons 30 years ago, it was no more than a catering company. He bought the property from his father and installed two walk-in refrigeration units on the first floor of the house.
For the first 10 years he didn’t steam a single crab on site. Each blue crab was prepared in a trailer with a boiler system towed behind a Dodge pick-up truck on the location of whatever event Mr. Jimmy happened to be working at the time.
After installing three boilers, a shocker (used to immobilize the crabs during the steaming process), and seven steaming pots, the rundown house quickly became one of the most popular quick-stop crab providers in the Essex area.
Due to complications with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Jimmy Pine has had to step back and give the responsibilities of the crab house to Alec. Along with new responsibilities, the younger Pine knows that he also has to uphold the values that his father put into the business from its beginning. It’s not just about the crabs, it’s about the customers, too.
While employees may come and go, customers tend to stick around.
“You get to know them on a personal level,” Alec Pine said, “They didn’t want to talk to me at first. It took them two years for them to stop asking for Jim. Now they ask for me.”
Zepp is one of those customers who didn’t talk to Alec when he first took over the business. Perhaps one of the most loyal customers, Zepp recalled running down fast to the pier over 20 years ago when he saw Jimmy Pine’s boat pulling up.
After Eshleman handed Zepp his order of two dozen mediums for dinner, Zepp turned to the door but stopped suddenly. He turned back and grinned at Alec Pine.
“See you tomorrow,” Zepp said with a smile as he pushed the door open with his foot.