Baltimore chef and restaurateur Kiko Fejarang got an early Christmas present from The New York Times Tuesday. Critics for the newspaper called the Chamorro shrimp and corn patties she serves at The Duchess, her Hampden restaurant, one of the best dishes they ate this year.

“Feathery light, they tasted like the platonic essence of their ingredients, a beautiful balance of textures and flavors,” wrote Eric Asimov, chief wine critic.

Reached by phone, Fejarang was both surprised and delighted by the news, which she hadn’t heard until learning it from a reporter. “I’m glad I can be able to represent not only Guam but Baltimore,” she said of the Chamorro cuisine she grew up eating in the U.S. territory in the Western Pacific.

Fejarang said she first learned to make the patties from her own Chamorro aunties. They resisted following any set recipe. “They’re old school aunties — you know, ‘Just put a little this,’ and all that,” Fejarang said. “You have to physically watch [them cook], because there’s no such thing as, ‘You need five grams of salt.’ No, you gotta feel it.”

Fejarang opened The Duchess late last year on West 36th Street in the former Cafe Hon space, which closed in 2022. The new restaurant’s launch was delayed in part by co-owner Tony Foreman’s need for a heart and kidney transplant.

The Duchess features a quirky mishmash of English pub decor with a menu that pays tribute to Fejarang’s background in Guam, where the local cuisine blends traditional island techniques and ingredients with those from the U.S. and around the globe.

“We just dropped amazing Chamorro food into the middle of a pub,” Foreman said. Asimov noted the contrast between the “neighborhood pub” vibe and the food’s clear “Pacific Rim heritage” in his writeup, calling it “one of the more unusual restaurants I’ve visited.”

Foreman said he was happy to see recognition for the patties, which are one of the most popular items on the menu —and a bit addictive. He often delivers them with a warning: “Just be prepared for the second one you’re going to order.”

Fejarang’s Chamorro snack, or “chesa,” was one of just 23 plates from restaurants across the U.S. to be featured by The Times. Others included a lamb dish from Washington, D.C., that restaurant Dōgon designed as a tribute to the late Ben’s Chili Bowl owner Ben Ali.

The Duchess is the second local spot to get praise from The Times this year. In September, Asimov called Fells Point pub The Wren one of the nation’s top 25 restaurants.

Local restaurants often see a significant bump in business after being featured in a national outlet. Fells Point eatery Little Donna’s was inundated with reservation requests after The Times called it one of the top 50 restaurants in the U.S. in 2023.

For The Duchess, any bump will come amid an already busy holiday season.

“We’re just grinding here,” Fejarang said. She hasn’t even read The Times yet.