Robin Godwin: ‘HK A Seafood Joint’ Coming to Cross Street Market in Federal Hill

Culinary industry veterans Henry Dudley and Kimber Van Kline are opening stall ‘HK A Seafood Joint’ at Cross Street Market in Federal Hill. HK fills a stall vacated by Royal Farms Chicken and Southrn’ Spice in the past couple of years.

Dudley and Van Kline, who are both chefs, currently run a company offering catering and personal chef services. They also had HK Fish House at miXt Food Hall in Brentwood, MD before deciding to relocate their stall to Baltimore.

Dudley and Van Kline told SouthBMore.com they did successful pop-ups at R. House in Baltimore and one of their customers recommended they take a look at Cross Street Market. They said they “felt a lot of love” from the Baltimore customer base and Cross Street Market “felt like home” when they looked.

“The [Cross Street Market] owners really wanted us here,” said Dudley. “It was a beautiful match.”

Dudley is from Bronx, NY and spent his summers growing up with his grandparents in New Orleans and Mississippi where he worked at their restaurant. He has been in the food industry since 1994 working for hotels, casinos, cruise lines, and private restaurants. A job at MGM National Harbor brought Dudley and Van Kline to Maryland. Dudley recently retired from corporate jobs to work full-time for for HK.

Van Kline is from Harlem, NY and decided to go to culinary school in 2007 after working for 17 years at Verizon. She has a catering background and has been a private chef for celebrities.

The menu at HK is inspired by Friday night fish fries in New York City. It will also have Creole influences from New Orleans and Mississippi with nods to Baltimore seafood.

The signature City Island fried fish sandwich, which is named after a neighborhood in the Bronx, is fried Atlantic whiting on buttered brioche bread. It is dressed with the HK Boss Sauce, cherry peppers, beefsteak tomato, shredded lettuce, and house pickles, and served with fries and cole slaw.

Dudley said the sandwich is similar to one he would order growing up, but with a chef’s touch.It was named one of the eight best new sandwiches in the D.C. area by Washington City Paper.

HK will also have The Hangover, which is the fried fish sandwich with scrambled eggs; catfish and fried shrimp po’ boys on French bread; and a shrimp roll sandwich with Creole dressing on a New England split-top roll.

The menu will additionally offer salads with grilled shrimp and salmon, Creole-fried chicken wings, shrimp and grits, and shrimp, catfish, and fried whiting platters.

The sides include a five-cheese macaroni, greens with smoked turkey, Cajun hushpuppies, and crab chips.

HK will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, but the owners are also looking to open their carryout window out to E. Cross St. late night on Fridays and Saturdays.

Dudley and Van Kline said the stall will be redesigned with new colors and cosmetics to give it the vibe of the old school hip-hop they grew up listening to in New York. There will be a hip-hop mural on the inside and signage and a new mural on the exterior wall by the carryout window.

Dudley and Van Kline hope to open HK in October. They are hosting another pop-up at R. House that month as well. They noted they are interested in opening a permanent stall at R. House in the future.

“We are excited to come to Baltimore and show everyone the same love they’ve showed us,” said Dudley. “We signed a five-year lease, we are not going anywhere.”

Photos from HK A Seafood Joint