Norwalk, CT recommendations

We were up in Norwalk, CT recently staying with friends, and they took us to some great places, so I'm passing on the recommendations.

1) Michele's Pies is a many-time National Pie Championship winner and was recently feature on a Bobby Flay Throwdown. We tried a variety -- chocolate pecan (to die for), mango pineapple macadamia crumb, strawberry-rhubarb, and coconut cream. The winner among these was definitely the 2010 award-winning coconut cream. (Photo from Michele's Pies website)

666 Main Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851 Phone: 203.354.7144

2) Fat Cat Pie Company: According to my friend, the Fat Cat guys are originally wine guys, who then branched into opening a pizza joint and coffee shop. The menu is simple -- thin crust pizza: 1 size, choice of many toppings; salads: choice of toppings; natural sodas and ice cream sandwiches. In fact the food represented 1/4 of the menu, with alcoholic beverages the remaining 3/4.

Crust was super thin and crisp, toppings were yummy, especially the caramelized onions. They also brought a caddy of Penzey's spices to top your pizza with which included the traditional oregano and red pepper flakes, but also Bangkok Curry, Turkish pepper, and other exotic spices. I was a big fan of the curry powder.

The ice cream sandwich (with a very mild and delicious lavender ice cream and chocolate chip cookies) was the perfect ending, and they even cut it into quarters for each of us to have 1 bite!

9-11 Wall St, Norwalk, CT 06850, (866) 322-8123


3) Stew Leonard's: I can't even describe the joy that is Stew Leonard's. It is like no other grocery store I've ever been to. It's like Trader Joe's meets Disneyworld. The Guinness Book of World Records has certified it "The World's Largest Dairy Store." You can watch the dairy in action, you can see live video feeds from the farms - watching cows in the pen as you pick up a nice steak cut from their recently slaughtered brothers (http://www.stewleonards.com/cowcam/), you can watch trains traveling overhead or trapeze-flying animals. And every few minutes you can catch different shows of animatronic food singing their own praises (http://www.stewleonards.com/html/ff5.cfm).



There's a petting zoo outside, and free ice cream cones whenever you spend $100. Redneckhunter knows that if this place was near us and was our regular grocery store, shopping would be an all day affair -- between the Ikea-like maze store design, abundant samples, singing vegetables, pig and cow videos, live animals and free soft serve, he'd never get me out of there. (Photo from Stew Leonard's website)

B & O American Brasserie, Baltimore

In downtown Baltimore, inside the recently opened Hotel Monaco, there is a restaurant. the B & O American Brasserie, which while not very conspicuous when you drive or walk by, has a pretty talented chef who is making some good food.
Chef E. Michael Reidt was named one of Food & Wines best new chefs in 2001, a class that included Wiley Dufresne and Anita Lo, so having him in Baltimore is pretty fortunate.
I went for dinner with Kwan and Bigfatlar, and we ended up with a humongous meal. For starters, the bread at the table was delicious- very crusty, and it was served with butter sprinkled with basil sea salt.
We ordered several appetizers to start. Kwan's favorite was the chicken liver mousse served with fig jam and toat.
My favorite was the smoked pork belly, especially because it came with a banana-lentil salad with pig ear. The combination of the salty pork with the sweet of the banana all topped with a chili caramel sauce was wonderful.


We also got the Market Flatbread, basically a small crispy crusted pizza topped with ricotta cheese, potato, arugula and an egg.
I also really liked the chef's "Kentoocky Fried" sweetbreads, served on a bed of bacon, capers, and golden raisins. The "skin" was crunchy, chock full of 11 herbs and spices.
In contrast, the small order of the ricotta gnocchi with arugula pesto sauce was light and pleasant.



Our table also order three entrees that we shared. Kwan's rosemary skewered scallops were amazing. They came covered with couscous which added a crispiness, and the scallops themselves were so sweet and plump. They were served on a bed of parsnip puree with braised oxtail and foie gras emulsion.

Bigfatlar ordered the adobo braise pork shank that was the size of his fist. It reminded me of my mom's soy braised pork leg in that the meat just slid off the bone.
I ordered the duck two ways- crispy duck leg confit & sous vide style duck breast. It came with a white beans, cassoulet style.
We made sure not to overstuff ourselves because we were planning on getting dessert as well.

This time we only ordered two plates: Meyer lemon bars with blueberry compote and sorbet and his take on strawberry shortcake- scones in a rhubarb soup with whipped cream and strawberry sorbet.

2 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(443) 692-6172

Lunch at Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, MD

Poutine- the word takes me back to cold nights in Montreal getting fat on fries smothered in beef gravy with melting fresh cheese curds all sticky and gooey when you pull the fries up one by one.
It's a lot harder to find places who serve this dish in the area, so when I read that Columbia, MD's Victoria Gastro Pub had a version using duck fat fries, duck gravy, pieces of duck confit, & gruyere cheese, it warranted a visit. While gruyere is no substitute for curds, the Victoria poutine is still pretty good. The duck gravy has a more subtle flavor to it.
While eating lunch there, I also tried the very rich lobster grilled cheese that had brie in it. The sandwich was so decadent.
I also ate their Snake River Farms Kobe style burger with mushrooms & truffle cheese on a brioche roll. It was one tasty burger.

8201 Snowden River Parkway
Columbia, MD
(410)750-1880

Soft Stuff Ice Cream, Ellicott City, MD

After eating at Honey Pig Gooldaegee in Ellicott City, assuming I'm not stuffed to the gills, I love grabbing a dip cone for dessert at the very old school Soft Stuff Ice Cream shop.
Alas, they no longer have the butterscotch dip I used to always get, but chocolate will do.

10021 Baltimore Pike
Ellicott City, MD
(410)465-2090

Lunch at Hunan Taste, Catonsville, MD

Hunan Taste in Catonsville, MD has settled with me and my parents as a great place for go for lunchtime. On weekdays, they have a fantastic deal of three plates and a soup for under $30.
My favorite soup there is the fish ball, thousand year egg, & cilantro soup. They make their own fishballs, and they are never frozen, making their texture and flavor a joy to eat. I would be happy to have this dish every week.
On a recent trip, we ordered the Hunan fish filets. It's lightly spicy, the fish was good (although the fish still had tiny bones for those of you who may not be used to that).
The lunchtime pork belly dish was very unique. They shredded the pork into fine pieces that made them like pork belly noodles. In combination with crispy celery and a little spice, it was surprisingly not oily or greasy at all.
For our third dish, we just got some simple vegetables. My mother worries about places that tend to over salt veggies, but these were just right.
We did order an additional dish of pork with wild mushrooms that was on the chef's specials menu. It reminded me of their Mao's Favorite pork dish but with diverse assortment of mushrooms.

If you look at feedback on Hunan Taste on boards like Chowhound, their seems to be a love-hate feeling to this establishment, but I can honestly say I've never had a bad meal here.


718 N. Rolling Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
(410)788-8988

Anthony Bourdain & Eric Ripert in Baltimore

Last Saturday, our blog's inspiration Anthony Bourdain was in Baltimore for a conversation with Chef Eric Ripert. There were about 2000 people gathered in Baltimore's Hippodrome theater to hear two chefs chatting, a testament to the growth of popularity of foodie culture.
Bourdain was as usual, funny and blunt, and the way he was constantly making Eric Ripert crack up on the sofa was really special. The way Ripert carried himself reminded me of Frank Booth's description of Ben in Blue Velvet, "F***in' suave!"
There were several great moments in the evening: the two chefs dissing Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, Ripert telling a dirty joke, the two of them dishing on Top Chef (calling Spike "reptilian" was just great), their discussion on who could hold their alcohol better (Ripert) and Bourdain encouraging Le Bernadin's chef to go try Baltimore Lake Trout.
Both men gushed about the importance of their families. Bourdain's image of himself in Sundays in his pyjamas watching Dora the Explorer with his daughter as a perfect moment shows he's mellowed in the last few years.

Bangkok Garden, Columbia, MD

I've been meaning to visit Bangkok Garden in Columbia, MD since friends reported that the restaurant has a Thai language menu available to try. Equipped with a makeshift photocopy of an approximate translation of the menu, we dropped in last weekend for lunch.
We started with their papaya salad. However, instead of the usual dried shrimp, we got a version that used padaek, or raw brined blue crab. The flavor was fresh, salty, spicy and very good.
Our second dish was a crudite dish with a dip called Naam Prik Gapi which was a sweet and very spicy shrimp paste. We dipped veggies like baby corn, thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, cucumber, and broccoli, and we got a small whole grilled fish to eat with the dip as well.

Our third plate took a break from the spiciness. It was a straightforward dish of Chinese broccoli cooked with chunks of pork belly.
Our final dish, the spiciest of the meal, was Khang Som Cha-Om , a sour red curry broth with shrimp and pieces of acacia omelette. Acacia is a green leafy vegetable. I'm not sure what it tastes like because the curry was so hot, but the texture in the omelette reminded me of spinach.

When we ordered our meal, one of the other waitresses came out to our table because she said that she had not seen non-Thai customers order some of the dishes we selected.
The Thai menu has at least 20 or more items that, considering how good this lunch was, warrant return trips to explore.

5810 Robert Oliver Place
Columbia, MD 21045
(410)992-9553

Mangosteens

It's been great to be able to find mangosteens in the Asian markets in the area. Sure they're priced at $10/pound, but the chance to eat this super sweet and juicy fruit here in the U.S. makes it worth it. I don't know how long the season lasts, but I would encourage all of you to go out and try some.