Monday Munchies: Frederick Restaurants

This week and next week's entries cover our adventures in Frederick, Maryland - a beautiful little hidden treasure an hour outside of D.C. In each entry, we'll bring a different part of Frederick to you.

This particular entry is a little different than most, since it'll cover quick bites from four restaurants in Frederick, where myself and Official Girlfriend/Co-Writer of DCWD Texas traveled up for a downtown restaurant tour of Frederick, which is kicking off its own Restaurant Week starting today.

The Setup

The main barrier to eating in Frederick more frequently is the physical distance between it and D.C.; there are days when I can't even be convinced to cross over the Potomac, much less get into a car and drive an hour outside the city. Luckily, our dilemma here was solved by the loaner of a Chevy Volt for our travels (which we named Stella) [full disclosure: the loaner came from GM Northeast]. It came in even more handy when we decided to combine this trip with a trip to Bryan Voltaggio's Volt restaurant - we dubbed that portion of the trip (which will be posted later in the week) the Volt to Volt.

The car itself was actually pretty cool, enough to change my mind about Chevys. Despite the electric hybrid engine, Stella still had a lot of pickup with the added benefit of being fuel efficient, basically silent, and an incredibly smooth ride. The hatchback provided a lot of trunk space for our stuff, and in general it was a really good experience. Plus you know, pretty cool-looking car. Thanks GM Northeast for loaning us Stella for the week!

Stop 1

First stop on our tour (after a quick tasting of cake from Moxie Bakery and caprese sandwiches from Juliet's Italian Market) was Firestone's, a self-described culinary tavern. The restaurant feels like a brighter Cheers bar with small bistro qualities, like a chalkboard menu on one of the balconies. But otherwise, the brick walls and rich dark brown paneling and bars and dividers provide a fairly warm atmosphere. On a later stop-in, live music played in the bay window area which combined with the crowd filled the space with a buzz up to the second floor balcony. The first floor is dominated by two lines of more casual bar seating and the bar itself, though beware: in our attempt at brunch the next day, the host said they couldn't seat a party of six.

Our bite here was a fairly straightforward take on shrimp and grits, with a slice of bison sausage and a buttermilk biscuit tacked on. The shrimp was okay, though a tad overcooked for my taste. The rest of the dish was pretty good, with the highlight being the biscuit which was about a thousand times softer than we thought it was going to be.

Stop 2

Our second stop was Brewer's Alley, a microbrewery that's built into a space that's vaguely reminiscent of Camden Yards (at least the facade anyway). The ceilings are high vaulted, especially in the main space, which is filled mostly with some high seating revolving around the square bar. The inside feels almost like being in a wooden old-school bank or saloon with skinny columns and wooden floors. The side room is a little more staid, though still bright yellow with plenty of large windows.

Brewer's Alley was the most extensive of all the tastings, with three full courses of samplers. First up was a spring roll filled with chicken and kimchi and a light mustard-soy sauce and an oil made of basil and chives. The use of chicken thighs was interesting but solid, and the whole mix was flavorful with a nice crunch.

The second course was by far the best: a duo of baked and bread-crumbed cod with seared pork belly, served with a side of mashed potatoes (though we note that these are actually two separate dishes on their Restaurant Week menu). The cod was perfectly fine, but it was the pork belly that was just to die for (so much so that I ended up uncoolly asking for a to-go box when I couldn't finish it). There was the traditional fatty deliciousness to the meat, but also a level of smokiness that was great; and while it had a nice crust on it, it still melted in your mouth. To finish, a flourless chocolate cake, which was light and on point.

Stop 3

Our next stop was the Frederick Visitor's Center, a beautiful and well-designed exhibit built into an old spoke factory-cum-cannery-cum visitor's center (if contemplating a trip to Frederick, this seems like an impressive and important first stop). This historic building was where The Red Horse restaurant demonstrated two dishes: a flounder Florentine, and a roasted pork tenderloin with cherries. The former was an interesting combination of things, perhaps not my favorite of the day, but definitely a solid bite with a clear flavor of spinach and more spinach. The pork was probably a better dish overall, with juiciness and a surprising sweetness to it.

Stop 4

Our last stop for the day was Shab Row Bistro, a restaurant that feels like it was lifted like Dorothy's house out of downtown D.C. and landed down into Frederick. The front is more of a country-store, with some fours in sets with white table-cloths. The middle of the dining area is a giant stainless steel bar, while the back is a full-on wine store; one of the other bloggers rightfully proclaimed that it looked and felt like a more relaxed Columbia Room, an assessment that we definitely agree with.

On this stop, we had the benefit of watching Bar Chef Alex Strange prepare one of his newest creations. All of the cocktails on the menu are SRB originals; while some of them play off known entities (one drink, the Vesper, recreates the Casino Royale drink of the same name), all of them utilize fresh ingredients and many require intricate housemade concoctions. Case in point: the drink on this trip was called "Honor Amongst Thieves," which featured American Harvest vodka, Domaine de Canton, St. Germaine, and a house brew of green apple, cloves, allspice, star anise, and cinnamon. What followed was an absolutely brilliant drink, one that displayed literally every flavor in the drink with tremendous subtlety (as opposed to other cocktails in the new cocktail wave, which often obscure complexity in favor of a few bold flavors). What's more, the whole thing had the quality of being refreshing (like a Pimm's Cup or a cucumber martini) without being cloyingly sweet or otherwise flimsy.

Similarly, the plate of food that we had there was lovely: goat cheese ravioli with broccoli rabe in a brown-butter sauce. I wished the pasta wasn't as al dente around the edges, but the filling melted in your mouth, and the brown butter was creamy and warming at the same time. I absolutely loved this, and it was one of my favorite bites of the whole day.

Check back in later this week for more Frederick reviews!

Ripple

Plaudits: Washingtonian 2012 Top 100
Neighborhood: Cleveland Park

The Setup

Needing a group dinner spot in Cleveland Park, Official Friends of DCWD Swizzle, EZ, Stormtrooper, and Jay, and Official Girlfriend of DCWD Texas joined me at relative newcomer Ripple.

The Vibe

Ripple is composed of two side by side rooms: a bar and the main dining area. The former is a white space with beige trim, with one row of high bar table two-tops along one wall parallel to the long bar. Overhead are some caged bulbs, with some red lampshaded wall mounts providing some additional light to an otherwise dim space. The most prominent feature is a charcuterie table right at the end of the bar, with glass cloches covering exotic looking cheeses on a metal cart.

On the other side is the main space with a wall of half-booth twos and fours upholstered in a quilt-like motley collection of fabric and backed by a wall that's half metallic red and half tan and ecru stripes (a combination that seems very strange). The rest of the decor is similarly jumbled: while the tables are all wood (including an eight seat repurposed-wood chef's table in a separate section in the back), half the chairs are metal; garage lights hang over the chef's table, but vintage chandeliers are over everything else; and the wall decorations are a collection of vintage black and white photos, large red paintings, and circular mirrors. The one constant is an overwhelming blend of red and white that colors the space.

The Food

We started with a charcuterie plate, following our server's recommendation, which was lovely. Among some of the selections was some speck, a lou bergier pichin sheep's milk, and a capriole sofia goat cheese from Indiana (pretty good), a l'amuse gouda from holland (fantastic), and the chicken liver parfait (wonderful).

Between the six of us, we ordered two appetizers. First was the far and away best part of the night: a black quinoa risotto colored further by squid ink, with spicy crab and lemon. This dish was superlative on every level, but especially great was how it took normally polarizing aspects of its ingredients and harnessed them: the salty ink was balanced with the acid of the lemon, the mealy texture of quinoa smoothed out by the risotto preparation. What resulted was a incredibly subtle blend of powerful "I can't stop eating this" flavors, culminating in some of the best risotto bites I've ever had.

Our other appetizer was the lamb polpettini with grilled octopus, almond puree, and radishes. This was a decent dish, though one probably diminished by the enthusiasm our group had for the other appetizer. The combination, though ostensibly disparate, was decent, though the radishes threatened to overtake the whole dish, both in composition and flavor profile. In retrospect, the dish was perfectly fine, though sort of unmemorable.

For the entrees, I went with the lamb with black garlic, chorizo, sunchokes, and sesame yogurt. All of the entrees suffered from one immediate problem: really poor plating. I get the whole scattered look, and the smear thing, but there's a point where it's just messy and unappetizing; these dishes danced that fine line. All of the ingredients should have lined this one up to be great, but it was surprisingly bland, with no real blending of any of the formidable flavors on the dish.

Swizzle faced something similar in terms of blandness with her poached black bass with celeriac brandade and shrimp in a saffron emulsion. This was probably the most visually composed of all the dishes, but it also was probably the blandest. Poached black bass is great for texture, but it can also lock in amazing flavors. This did the former, but not the latter. Instead, almost all of the taste was from the saffron, which was light at best.

Texas's pork loin, like the lamb, was scattered all over the plate, and had the appearance of grilled spam. As for its actual taste, it was slightly overcooked with a flavor almost like ham, and a interesting blend of side tastes with savoy cabbage, prunes, and an anchovy-bread sauce. It was alternatively salty and mushy.

Stormtrooper and EZ both had the strip loin with black eyed pea puree, bulgur wheat, beech mushroom, and salsa verde. We didn't discuss it much, other than to say it was fine, but maybe a little overpriced considering the quality.

For dessert, the table had two of the selections: vanilla profiteroles in orange cardamom ice cream and cocoa streusel in chamomile syrup; and a double chocolate financier with orange marshmallow, black pepper caramel, and an oat cocoa nib tuile. Both were a little dry, and sort of encapsulated the night.

The Verdict

One amazing dish overshadowed by a lot of bland ones.

Food Rating: ** 1/2 (out of 5)
Date Rating: 3 Hearts (out of 5)
Dress Code: Casual
Bar Rating: Quiet Drinks
Vibe: Chatty
Cost: $$$ (out of 5) ($50-$75 for two)
Pairing: It's slowly starting to warm up, so head down to the Zoo and check out the coming-out-of-hibernation animals.

Masa 14, Part Deux

For this Part Deux, Official Friendof DCWD Talia and Official Girlfriend of DCWD Texas wanted to start the day off with a birthday brunch (before a night at CityZen, of course). We wandered ourneighborhood, until we settled on the admittedly trendy Masa 14.

The Food

Masa 14 offers a $35 all-you-can-eat-and-drink brunch, which we partook in for this meal. Spoiler alert: if you are part of a group of ladies who brunch, or are looking for a bottomless boozy brunch where you can linger, this is a decent deal. Otherwise, you are stuck playing catch-up, knowing that you have to make it up to at least five dishes/drinks a person just to break even. This factor explains the sheer amount of food that we covered here. On the one hand, it’s nice to see the size of the portions. On the other hand, it means you’re best going a la carte unless you plan to hang around for a bit.

Dishes started arriving fast and furious, which to me says they’re already pre-cranked out, a fact which probably accounts for a variance in dish quality. The first to come out was an arugala salad topped with seared tuna and avocado, and drizzled with wasabi (also normally bacon, but you know, pescetarians). The tuna was nice, but nothing distinguished this from any number of tuna tartares we’ve had at any number of restaurants.

This was a similar issue for the breakfast pizza (egg yolks, gruyere, pico de gallo, and arugala, and also again normally bacon). Compared with other breakfast pizzas, which marry the eggs and arugula and toppings into its thin crust, this seemed perfunctory at best, and boring at worst.

Three egg dishes were next, starting with a veggie benedict, served on toasted challah, with spinach, tomato, and a green chili hollandaise. The second was a smoked salmon omelet, with goat cheese, spinach, and caramelized onions in a tomato jam.

The main crime for both of these dishes was their overcooked eggs, the purest sign of pre-made small plates that morning. You can always tell with eggs, with that glazed-over, rubbery texture, and this was apparent for both. Then they each had their own problems: a blandness and a completely oversized piece of bread for the benedict, a complete loss of the goat cheese for the omelet.

The truly forgettable egg dish was one that threw in its egg as an afterthought: a black bean puree, with a fried egg, both topped with cotija cheese. The beans were nice, but this was nothing more than a side, and one that overall bored at that.

At this point, my meat dishes started appearing. First up, the smoked brisket hash with onions and chilis and yucca with chipotle hollandaise and a poached egg. Successful hashes blend well cooked pieces of meat with soft potatoes and provide some salt and some heat. This did all of those things, though in muted forms. This was one of those good-but-not-great examples: something I didn’t mind finishing, but not something I would recommend.

The sets of three continued with the three Asian-influenced sandwiches. For me, the star was the pho beef sandwich topped with a sriracha-hoisin aioli, Thai basil, bean sprouts, and pickled onion. Maybe it’s my affection for pho, but this did actually match up pretty well with the flavor profile of the traditional Vietnamese soup, and included all of the necessary side ingredients (oh how you woo me, Thai basil). Rich without being super dry, and fun.

Less successful was the banh mi burger – a pork patty with pickled vegetables and citrus aioli. Banh mi interpretations for me range from “thanks for playing” to “well, that wasn’t that bad.” This one was squarely in the “aww, well at least you tried” category. For one, I’ve never had a banh mi in my life with a pork patty. Braised pork belly? Pate? The weird pork baloney beloved to Vietnamese people, cha lua? All yes. But not what vaguely resembled a burger. The aioli was nice, but pickled vegetables and crusty bread a banh mi does not make.

Somewhere in the middle was the Wagyu beef burger, marinated in teriyaki with a chipotle aioli. The meat was nice, but not nearly as tender as the Wagyu descriptor led one to believe. It might be that my memory of the day is slighted by my distaste for the banh mi burger, but this seemed average to me.

Serving as the French fries for this meal was a bowl of grits, spiced with chipotle pepper and green onions, and bound together by Oaxaca cheese. We all like grits, but the heat on these was aggressive, and not in a good way. The grits themselves had a nice texture, but the spiciness was too much for everyone but Texas.

Throughout the meal, my drink of choice was the lemon lager, a blend of Dos Equis, lemon, basil, simple syrup, and St. Germaine. Easy and refreshing, I have to say that I was actually sort of impressed by this. And weighing it against the steady wave of bellinis and fruity drinks that the girls were ordering, I’ll take this one.

Looking to get us over the top, the three of us compromised on the pan dulce, French toast with ancho whipped cream and a roasted pineapple syrup. I can’t remember anything about this dessert, which is probably to say that it was neither cloyingly sweet nor dull. Texas claims it was about the only thing she actually enjoyed, which is to say that it was good, at least. I guess we didn’t hate it.

The Verdict

Everything was interesting, andcertain things were decent but nothing demanded to be eaten more than once. Andcertainly not worth the bottomless brunch price.

Food Rating: ** 1/2 (out of 5)