LAMILL Coffee, Baltimore

Another fine addition to the Four Seasons in Baltimore is LAMILL Coffee, originally from LA. While the coffee is excellent, an added bonus is that pastry chef Chris Ford is responsible for most of the items on the menu.
He is certainly fond of making seasonal macaroons that are larger, usually a whopping 2-3 inches in diameter. I've had flavors like cinnamon brioche and red currant in the past.
One time, I tried his dense rich bacon cheddar scone as a savory alternative.

One of my favorites is hot beignets with your choice of dips. I end up getting the Meyer lemon curd all the time.
I recently tried the everything cookie, similar to Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookie, it's got an assortment of items baked in it. What I could tell was chocolate chip, oatmeal, raisins, popcorn, potato chips, and pretzels.

 

I also recomment the delicious cinnamon brioche.

200 International Drive
Baltimore, MD

Marquee Brunch at the Creative Alliance, Baltimore

I'm a fan of Blacksauce Kitchen, and their biscuits at the Saturday morning Waverly Market in Baltimore, so when I heard that they were going to be making brunch at the Creative Alliance in town, I could not pass up an invite to go. This was the second time running the event, and the host said they had got out some of the kinks from the first date the month before.
We ordered several items off the "Small Plates" part of the menu to start.
Before those items arrived though, they brought us small biscuits to start. These were not as good as the ones they have on Saturdays, but they were still tasty.
Our first item was an aged rum sticky bun. It had a generous rum flavor to it, and was my favorite of the starters.

The next item was warm beignets with a sweet lime glaze. I wish there was more of the sweet-sour glaze because it was so good.
We also ordered a small plate of their double smoked bacon. It had a sprinkle of pepper and was topped with what seemed to be a homemade ketchup.

We ordered three "Large Plates" and passed the dishes around so we could all try them.
My favorite item was the beef brisket with poached eggs on top of cider braised greens. The beef was cooked beautifully and had a great flavor that was complemented with the greens.
The second dish was the beef shortribs, fried okra pickles and stoneground grits. The beef was nice and tender.
Our third plate was smoked almond French toast with apple compote on a sweet potato shallot hash.
They are planning another brunch the first Sunday in December.

Mémé, Philadelphia

Fried Brussel Sprouts

Grilled Quail

Fougoo, Xtine, and I made a trip to Philadelphia to have dinner at Mémé, chef David Katz's casual eatery located just west of Rittenhouse Square. Fougoo picked the place because of the Ralph Steadman designed logo as well as having read some good reviews of the food.
The menu was seasonal and really simple: starters, mains, and desserts. I love eating out with family because we decided to share everything.
We saw a lot of tables getting the roasted bone marrow, cut longitudinally, served with bread and caper-parsley radish, and it looked good. However, Fougoo had recently had her share of marrow at her recent dinner at Beacon.

Sautéed Veal Sweetbreads

We ordered three starters. First up was fried brussel sprouts that came with a ham croquette all topped with a zesty lemon aioli.
We got the grilled quail served with pickled onions, candied bacon, date purée, and aged balsamic.
The sautéed veal sweetbreads were my favorite of the three starters. They were tender and creamy. It came with roast grapes, mushrooms and a walnut purée.

Magret Duck Breast

We ordered two main dishes. First was the Magret duck breast with chard, beets and a port reduction. The duck was cooked beautifully- it was tender, juicy, and wonderfully fatty. I also really loved the chard and beets.
The "Catch of the Day" was a trout stuffed with chorizo cornbread that was served with an heirloom tomato coulis.

Trout with Chorizo Cornbread

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Heirloom Apple Crisp

We saw all the desserts on the menu and decided to order all three of them. There was a wonderful dark chocolate ganache cake with vanilla gelato and an heirloom apple crisp also with the vanilla gelato.
My favorite was the vanilla panna cotta with port cherries. The texture was smooth and rich, and the vanilla flavor went well with the cherries.

Vanilla Panna Cotta

2201 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 735-4900

Roberta's, Brooklyn

Brooklen, LBT, Jude, and I went one Sunday morning to East Williamsburg in Brooklyn to Roberta's for the the weekly NYC ritual of brunch. Brooklen had been wanting to go because he had tried their pizza at Madison Square Eats events.
When we arrived at the address, at first, we weren't sure we were at the right place. The exterior looked very modest, with a very small sign just above the doorway. Inside though, the space was great with long wooden tables, a red wood burning oven, exposed ceilings, a bar, and where we sat, a garden courtyard that looked into a radio studio.

We had to at least get one pizza. Immediately, we knew we wanted to try Paige's Breakfast Burrito pizza. It came topped with tomato, mozzarella, potato, red onion, jalapeño, egg, and Berkshire pork sausage. The crust on the pie was thin, crisp, and a little chewy with a decent char.
We also shared a tasty sticky bun and buttermilk biscuit. Both were scrumptious.

For our main courses, I ordered the fried eggs with beef tongue, salsa verde and potato hash. The tongue was great, really tender and delicate.
LBT got a breakfast sandwich of a hunk of sausage, egg, and cheese on a potato roll. It was a bit odd that they could not scramble the egg for her.

Brooklen got the ricotta pancakes with brown butter and maple syrup. We shared a small plate of thick fatty slab bacon.

261 Moore Street
Brooklyn, NY
(718)417-1118

A Tale of Two Chefs Gastronomic Picnic at The Invisible Dog, Brooklyn

My friend Tricia read about a "gastronomic picnic" at an art space in Brooklyn called The Invisible Dog.  My cousins (who are always up for good food) lived in the neighborhood, so I invited them along.  No one was quite sure what to expect, but costing only $20, it seemed worth checking it.

The event was part of an art exhibit and day of events celebrating French-American collaboration, so we were served a 5-course box lunch created by two chefs - French Chef Mathieu Rostaing Tayard from Le 126 in Lyon, France; and American Chef Brian Leth from Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn.  The Invisible Dog had a garden in back, and it was a great fall day, so we were able to eat in an urban picnic setting.

First course: Fennel Salad with saved fennel, currants, corignola olive oil, sherry, green peppercorns, dill and parmesan.

Second course: Braised squid with walnuts, cauliflower, Munamarra (red pepper) sauce, and peanuts.

Third course: Bacon and sea urchin with sauerkraut and hedgehog mushrooms.

Fourth course: Snail tempura with herb jus, green apple, daikon, ricotta salata

Dessert: Butternut squash and quince puree with vanilla meringue, roasted chestnut powder and lemon zest.

The general consensus was that everyone's favorite dish was the bacon and sea urchin.  The sauerkraut was delicious, and the "hedgehog mushrooms" were intriguing - no one had had mushrooms like that before (they almost seemed like tiny tomatoes).

Redneckhunter was probably the smart one eating his hot dishes first.  The rest of us tried to follow the courses as listed, so by the time we got to Snail Tempura the fried snails were no longer hot.  I like the dish anyway - that was my second favorite.  My only complaint was that if I was a judge on Top Chef, I would have said something about how it was difficult to eat the large pieces of apple radish in a picnic setting - needing to cut it while balancing a little cup on my lap.  Once I did cut everything up, I really liked how all the flavors worked together.  Perhaps my cousins didn't do the same as they didn't like the dish as much as I did.

After lunch, the chefs had a Q&A session, in which we found out that they didn't come up with the menu until Chef Tayard arrived in New York on Thursday (3 days prior).  They had no preconceived ideas, other than Chef Tayard wanted to try to use snails (or maybe it was the urchin, I can't quite remember).  The two shopped together for ingredients at the Union Square Greenmarket.  Chef Leth made the fennel salad and squid.  Chef Tayard made the snails and dessert, and they collaborated together to come up with the bacon sea urchin dish.

Biscuit Sandwiches from Blacksauce Kitchen, Baltimore

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings in Baltimore is to go to the year round Waverly farmer's market, and have breakfast at the Blacksauce Kitchen stand.

Their specialty is making wonderful buttermilk biscuit sandwiches that change week to week. Their handmade biscuits are great, fluffy, delicate, and buttery.

My favorite sandwich so far has been the fried chicken with blackberry honey. They fry the chicken to order for this one.

I've also enjoyed their beef short rib biscuit, the merguez sausage and fried egg biscuit, and the "BLT" with bacon, microgreens, & tomato jam.
They also make an appearance at the Highlandtown market on Thursday afternoons, but I fear having their biscuits more than once a week will be hard on the waistline.

Portland Food Carts: The Gaufre Gourmet & Koi Fusion

Portland had the most food carts I've seen in any city. They are everywhere in town, and they offer a wide diversity of foods. While I was in town, I managed to squeeze a few in during the days I was there.
In Old Town, I dropped by the Gaufre Gourmet, which made Belgian liége style waffles. The waffle uses brioche style dough not batter, and ends up denser and more rich than regular waffles.
I ordered their ABC Waffle, which is topped with fig jam, camembert cheese, bacon, and arugula. It was really good, particularly the fig jam with the waffle.




Kitty corner to the waffle cart, Korean taco truck, Koi Fusion was parked, so I popped across to give them a try as well.
I ordered their kalbi, short rib, taco and the spicy pork taco. Both were really delicious. The tacos reminded me of the ones from the Kogi trucks in LA, but they were cheaper, and the corn tortillas were more fresh, so they did not have to cook them like they do on the LA truck. Portland win.

Smoked coconut club sandwich at Memphis Tap Room, Philadelphia

We found ourselves at the Memphis Tap Room in the Fishtown section of Philly, and just had to try their famous vegan club sandwich. Yep, we said it - the evil V word - "Vegan." The "bacon" was made from smoked coconut, with tofu as the "meat" and a tomato-based "mayonnaise."

The chef did an amazingly great job mimicking the crisp-chewy texture of real bacon, and capturing its smoky flavor. I never would have believed I was eating coconut.

See below to see how it's made:



Memphis Tap Room
2331 East Cumberland Street
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215-425-4460

Breakfast at Hash House A Go Go, Las Vegas

One morning in Las Vegas, I went with friends to the Hash House A Go Go, a small regional chain originally from San Diego with a few locations in Vegas. Their food is over the top- massive portions with fun and kooky presentation. I started with a glass of fresh tangerine juice.
I ordered the sage fried chicken with bacon waffles, maple reduction and fried leeks. It was a ridiculous portion- two fried chicken breasts and 4 large waffles with bacon cooked in each one. I was able to finish one breast and 1 1/2 waffles. Of course, then I ate the skin off the other breast.
I hope to go back to try their different hash recipes.

DInner at Masa 14, DC

This post is a bit of a food porn post. Last Saturday night, I was invited to go to a dinner at DC's Masa 14 specially put together by their chef de cuisine, Antonio Burrell. It was amazing, specializing in pig and incorporating seasonal ingredients.

We started with 4 appetizers. First up was a plate of flash grilled shishito peppers with bonito, goat cheese, and sherry vinegar.

Next was a bowl of warm spicy chicharrones.

Third was some grilled pig's kidneys. These were fantastic. The texture of the kidney was more akin to rare beef than the usual firmness of offal. I would say this ranks as one of the best iterations of kidney I've ever had.

The final app was housemade sausage with wasabi mustard.
The first course was spectacular: a piece of deep fried housemade scrapple, softshell crab, ramps prepared three ways, and mustard. Chef said he has some leftover pig heads around, so he decided to make scrapple.

The second course was a hash made of BBQ pork cheek, a fried egg yolk on toast, and spring garlic.

The third course was ramen in pork broth topped with pork belly, ribs, cracklings and morel mushrooms. The broth was really rich with piggy flavors. Fortunately, this was not a deep bowl of "ramen" as I was already getting stuffed.






Certainly, I had room for the fourth course, a crispy pave of pork saddle with baby vegetables, carrots & corn, and peppercress. The pork skin was wonderful, but I was happy to have some veggies at this point in the meal.

Dessert was a dulce de leche ice cream with candied bacon, two ways. There was a piece of candied bacon on top and under the ice cream were bacon bits and peanuts.

1825 14th Street NW
Washington D.C.
(202)328-1414