Award-winning chef Zack Trabbold wants to make an evening in Fallston feel like a trip to the beach.

His Evolved Hospitality Group, known for its catering company and for opening The Local On The Avenue in White Marsh and The Local in Fallston, is expanding its Harford County reach with a new seafood concept. Natalie’s Seafood Kitchen will seek to break up the dominance over diners’ wallets held by the area’s local chains by focusing on modern takes on classic Maryland seafood.

“People there are hungry for independently owned restaurants,” he said. “Ours isn’t on the water, but it feels like it.”

Trabbold is eyeing a May 1 grand opening for the business named for his wife, Natalie, a seafood savant from New Jersey. Its on-the-nose ambience will include a blue color scheme, buoys hanging from the ceiling, and stuffed fish and live fish tanks adorning the dining area. A tiki bar inside called Nat’s Hut will have a thatched roof with bar rails in the shape of anchors to help further set the nautical tone.

It’s different from what Trabbold — named Baltimore Magazine’s best chef in 2022, 2023 and 2024 readers’ polls and Restaurant Association of Maryland’s chef of the year in 2023 — is used to. He’ll be trading in the tomahawk steak cuts served at The Local for steamer pots, and a focus on old-fashioneds for tiki drinks. But Maryland loves seafood, he said, and Trabbold’s been waiting to throw his ideas in the ring.

“We’re promising the perfect gluten-free crab cake,” he said. “I’d put ours up against anybody.”

Controversial, maybe, but Trabbold says you don’t need breadcrumbs for the dish; his cakes are bound by a sauce of eggs and seasonings. He also laments the use of filler or crabmeat sourced from outside the state, calling his own creation distinctly Maryland and celiac-safe.

Conch fritters and potentially some fusion foods like a soft-shell crab bao bun will also make appearances on the menu. But the star of Trabbold’s show is likely to be Maryland’s blue catfish. He anticipates ordering between 20 to 30 pounds each week to use for different preparations, whether thrown into a larger jambalaya or a side dish of catfish fingers. Trabbold also plans to build on his statewide winning recipe, which consists of a breaded and fried catfish filet served atop local vegetables and a rosemary, sweet onion, Old Bay hot sauce.

The focus on blue catfish comes at a time when the Maryland Department of Environment is encouraging the consumption of the growing invasive species to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, though a USDA program that last year allowed Maryland to provide $100,000 to support local catfish purveyors was cut in the last month.

“We’re looking to help out the bay in anyway we can,” Trabbold said.

He hopes the business will give people the feel of a comfortable sports bar, with simple but unbeatable food. It will be priced lower than The Local and feel unlike any of his group’s other concepts, he said.

The idea for the new spot has been in the works for the last eight years, Trabbold said. When Uncle’s Hawaiian Grindz closed in the Fallston Shopping Mall at 2315 Belair Road, Trabbold jumped at the chance to bring his family’s seafood venture to life.

As a former Uncle’s employee, Trabbold knew he’d have to make some changes to the space. The chef invested in new equipment and furniture and tore down the previous luau space to create a larger dining area.

The venue will have live music and keep the kitchen open with a limited menu until 1 a.m. on weekends and a limited menu until midnight on weekdays.

“It’s a big step for us as a business,” he said. “But we know it’s not how big you get. … It’s about quality and longevity.”