We have received a lot of questions as the opening of our new restaurant looms. One of the most common is why Ketch 22? The name of our restaurant is important to us and here is the story behind our name…

We have a great deal of respect for many things related to our restaurant(s). We have respect for our business, our employees, customers, facility, etc. We also have great respect not only for the ingredients we cook with but also for the incredible people who harvest and deliver our ingredients to us. Our local seafood, produce, and proteins in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia are incredible and delicious. We’re very proud of the food produced by our local farms, the coastal waters, and especially the Chesapeake Bay.

Before the combustible engine was relevant, the watermen of the Chesapeake used a boat called a Skipjack. Prior to the advancement of the Skipjack, many watermen used a boat called a “Bug Eye”. It was named that because it could “turn on a bug’s eye” – very maneuverable. The Bug Eye was a Ketch. A Ketch is a sailboat with two masts, one larger “main” mast forward and the smaller mast, aft just ahead of the rudder post.

We used Ketch to name our restaurant as a tribute or gesture of respect to the tough, hardworking people who fish the Chesapeake and deliver to us these phenomenal ingredients which we respect and are all lucky to enjoy.

But what about the 22? That has a very special reference for us. The 22 in the name is a reference to my late father, Robert Emmett Jones, Jr.

Cheers,
Bobby