Ever since Family Meal unveiled its Smith Island Roll on Twitter and Facebook New Year’s Eve eve, I’ve been wanting to drop in and try it. I even considered stopping by as we headed to Range, another Bryan Voltaggio restaurant, to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but that seemed a bit much, even for me.

Last night, though, on the way back from a dinner with Jay Lake, Jay’s Dad, Lisa Costello, and Peggy Rae and John Sapienza at which the company was superb but the food was merely adequate, I thought—now’s my chance.

Why the sense of urgency around a Smith Island Roll, Voltaggio’s tweaking of the official dessert of the state of Maryland, the Smith Island Cake?

During our second visit to Family Meal in August of 2012, just a month or so after the restaurant opened, I ordered a slice of Smith Island Cake, and it was a wonder. But then … it was gone, no longer on the menu during any of our subsequent visits to Family Meal.

So I thought—better get a taste of this reinvention Family Meal was crowing about before it, too, went away. When I asked Voltaggio about it New Year’s Eve (well, it was past midnight, so make it New Year’s Day), he said that the Smith Island Roll will stay on the menu … but hey, you never know what new idea might pop into a chef’s head to squeeze out an earlier dish, so I paid Family Meal another visit last night.

Up top is the Smith Island Cake we had in 2012. Above is the Smith Island Roll, described on the current menu as with salted toffee, fudge, and creme fraiche.

So how do they compare?

I liked the Smith Island Roll immensely. But it is its own delicious thing, sharing some qualities with the Smith Island Cake, while having other qualities entirely its own. I very much enjoyed it for being its own unique dessert and bringing to the table (and gee, how often can that phrase be used literally rather than metaphorically?) qualities that it doesn’t share with a Smith Island Cake.

Here’s where I’m going to get a little complicated …

When I set the two against each other, a Venn Diagram comes to mind, with the intersection being the flavor and the non-overlapping areas the texture. The Cake was dense, chewy, slightly crunchy. The Roll is soft, moist, creamy, with only the sprinkled crushed salted toffee being crunchy. Which means that if what attracts you to a Smith Island Cake is primarily the texture, if you insist on that heaviness, that density, you might judge this reinvention too harshly. But if what you appreciate is the flavor, and you come to the Roll with no pre-conceptions, willing to experience it anew, you’ll be happy, just as I was. (And, oh, those meringues!)

So you should definitely drop by, give it a try … and let me know whether or not I’m making any sense!