Restaurant 1
Peter's Inn
504 South Ann Street
Baltimore, Maryland
So what would the basis be for picking the first restaurant on my list? Quite simple, really. While hanging out with my upstairs neighbors Jenn and Carlos, Jenn professed to be hungry. That's how it starts; "I'm hungry. Let's eat." She recommended that we all go out together. Her first pick is Peter's Inn in Fell's Point, a place that she and Carlos really like. It is all the way across town, and being hungry and lazy, Carlos and I are pushed for the closer Woodberry Kitchen. I have heard nothing but good things about Woodberry and to be honest, I have been looking forward to trying it out. Where better, I think, to start this journey?
Woodberry Kitchen, from day one has been extremely popular. Located in the revitalized Clipper Mill area of Baltimore, it is a farm to table restaurant with incredible food, or so I am told. Unfortunately, they were completely packed even before official dinner time, so that left Peter's as the go-to place for the night.
We arrived at Peter's about an hour before the kitchen opened but they had no problem with that because the bar was ready. We were seated at a table right next to the bathroom. Oh, yeah, that's right, the bathroom. We must have exuded class, so they put us in a place befitting our stature.
A brief word on the bathroom at Peter's inn...it has a lot of cool art on the wall and a nice collection of items to keep you looking and smelling fresh. It's a little odd in there but they have a cool piece on the wall depicting the mug shots of Frank Sinatra and Sid Vicious with the words I did it my way below. If that piece ever goes missing, it might be at my house. I'm just saying.
The waiter that we had was a friendly enough and he knew to point us in the right direction when it came to drinks. I asked to see the chef when he or she had a chance. Jenn said that the she heard that the chef at Peter's was rumored to have an issue with her drinking but that she was a really good chef. Sure enough, the waiter walked over to get the chef who was standing at the bar with a drink in her hand holding court with a couple of other patrons.
The chef's name was Karin Tiffany and she could not have been nicer. I explained what we were up to and when I asked which dish best exemplified her as a chef, she seemed on the fence with most of the dishes, as her menu changes constantly depending what is in season. She did say that she liked tonight's shrimp and grits with two small pork belly sandwiches with mint alioli. Carlos picked the seared scallops with lobster ravioli and Jenn, I believe had the trout. I may be a little off on her selection because it was a while ago and she's not here to yell to when I'm writing this. I remember that it was good, though.
It was all pretty good. The scallops were the best of the three. The shrimp and grits were fantastic and cooked perfectly. I was excited for the pork belly sandwiches because I had never had pork belly before. The flavor was drowned out by the mint alioli. It basically tasted like a creamy mint sandwich. It was a good, creamy mint sandwich, but that's not the flavor that I was looking for as a standout.
We had a couple more drinks while chatting away and hadn't realized that the restaurant had completely filled up and that there were people waiting inside for seats. We asked for the bill and received it in a quick fashion. Dinner for the 3 of us totaled just around a hundred dollars plus our bar tab of around fifty, but when the check came, the number written on the back was just around a hundred.
This is a test of one's morals and let me assure you that Carlos is a lot more moral than I am. He saw that there was a clerical error and with the table's approval, he asked the waiter over and pointed out that the numbers added up incorrectly. This was a seasoned waiter. You could tell that by the way that he worked the room. However, he re-examined the check, turned it over and said that the check was correct.
We shrugged and paid the check, knowing that although we had been honest, we were getting away cheap. With a spring in our steps and songs in our hearts, we left Peter's Inn feeling full and happy.
As for the second question that I asked Chef Tiffany; where do you go to get an excellent dish, her answer was Cinghiale in Baltimore's Harbor East district. She loved to go there because she knew that whenever she went she could get a really good fish dish.
Did I know anything about this restaurant? Nope. Was I about to find out? Yep. Was it going to be a funny story? Absolutely...
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
It has begun...
To give one an explanation and a reason for the journey that I have just started, it is good to take a quick step back in time. The reason for this trip? Simply to explain that a lot of fun can be gained from ideas that spring up from boredom...
When I first attended college at the University of Rhode Island in the late eighties I resided in the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house. Those who know me now may be quite surprised to know this, but I have become older and hopefully wiser. Those were young and foolish days and that house was as fine a place to be young and foolish.
The house was technically on campus but it was as far away from anything on campus as you could get. It was far enough away so that when most of the guys in the house went home for the weekend, there wasn't much for the skeleton crew of die-hards to do.
One lazy Sunday (I had no cupcakes, cousin), I was sitting around bored watching television when inspiration struck. I thought to myself that I would love to go to the movies. Unfortunately I was flat broke. I thought to myself "who gets to go to the movies for free? Movie Critics!" So the next day, I walked into the main office of the University newspaper The Good Five Cent Cigar and asked if they had a movie critic. I was told that they didn't have one. When I asked if they wanted one, they said "Sure."
A few days later, I went to the local multiplex and explained to the manager who I was and what I wanted to do. He said that whenever I wanted to see a movie, all I had to do was call and I would have a pair of tickets waiting at the box office. I spent the next year taking my friends out to the movies and writing some of the worst reviews imaginable. I couldn't have been happier.
With that in mind, another journey begins...
The Playstation 3 is an outstanding device. Take away the mindless hours of video gaming that it can provide or the way that it plays whatever video files you throw at it via a thumb drive or even its spectacular Blu-Ray capabilities (the latter being my justification for the purchase after buying an HDTV). For this story, the PS3s skill in question is the ability to stream Netflix.
One lazy Sunday I was watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was the show's 100th episode and Tony was in Paris. He was hanging out with Joël Robuchon and Eric Ripert among others. If I am remembering correctly, they were discussing where they, chefs, people in the restaurant business, like to get something good to eat. Now this is interesting, As Joël Robuchon operates 12 restaurants with 26 Michelin stars between them and Eric Ripert is no slouch either. Where do these guys go to get something good? They have to know amazing places!
So this got me thinking...
I have lived here in Baltimore for about 4 years now. I am a lot like other people. I find restaurants that I like and I go to them. They usually have food I like, so I end up going back over and over again. The problem is that sometimes that can put you in a terrible rut. Here I am in Baltimore, home to AMAZING world class restaurants, but I have no idea what they are. It also has holes-in-the-wall where you can get food to die for cheap. I don't know where they are either. What I know is where I go. This is no way to eat!
I processed this particular episode and figured out a way to apply it to my dilemma. The premise for this food journey is simple: Ask 2 questions.
To start, I simply pick a restaurant. Upon arrival to the restaurant I ask for the chef to stop by the table. When he or she arrives, after introducing myself and explaining why I am there, I ask which dish on the menu most embodies the chef. Which dish has the most of his or her heart and soul in it. When someone asks which dish personifies him or her, THAT is the one dish. I then order that dish for dinner. For what is a better representation of the core of the restaurant than the dish that has been the most crafted by the chef?
The second question I ask is where he or she, as a chef and someone in the food trade, goes to get an amazing dish. The restaurant can be high-end, or a greasy spoon, just a place where he or she gets one dish that amazes them. That restaurant then becomes the next stop on the trip. And so it goes...
Who is going to know better than a chef. These are people who have spent years in the food business who work with the best ingredients on a daily basis and easily tell good from bad, food or otherwise. They go out to eat just like we do but they have the ability to judge where they go based on what they know as professionals. They can splurge their pay on elite fare and fine linens, or they can throw back drinks after work and head out to find the best late night nosh to fill that grease-seeking cavity that only a 12 hour shift can carve out. Either way, for this project, I am going to use their expertise to work for me; to bring me out of my food shell and show me the best dining experiences - world class through working class, that Baltimore has to offer.
...either that or they'll throw me out on my ass.
Well, that's the introduction. For the record, last night I visited my second restaurant, so I guess that makes this project official. I'll post my experience at restaurant #1 next. Stay tuned.
When I first attended college at the University of Rhode Island in the late eighties I resided in the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house. Those who know me now may be quite surprised to know this, but I have become older and hopefully wiser. Those were young and foolish days and that house was as fine a place to be young and foolish.
The house was technically on campus but it was as far away from anything on campus as you could get. It was far enough away so that when most of the guys in the house went home for the weekend, there wasn't much for the skeleton crew of die-hards to do.
One lazy Sunday (I had no cupcakes, cousin), I was sitting around bored watching television when inspiration struck. I thought to myself that I would love to go to the movies. Unfortunately I was flat broke. I thought to myself "who gets to go to the movies for free? Movie Critics!" So the next day, I walked into the main office of the University newspaper The Good Five Cent Cigar and asked if they had a movie critic. I was told that they didn't have one. When I asked if they wanted one, they said "Sure."
A few days later, I went to the local multiplex and explained to the manager who I was and what I wanted to do. He said that whenever I wanted to see a movie, all I had to do was call and I would have a pair of tickets waiting at the box office. I spent the next year taking my friends out to the movies and writing some of the worst reviews imaginable. I couldn't have been happier.
With that in mind, another journey begins...
The Playstation 3 is an outstanding device. Take away the mindless hours of video gaming that it can provide or the way that it plays whatever video files you throw at it via a thumb drive or even its spectacular Blu-Ray capabilities (the latter being my justification for the purchase after buying an HDTV). For this story, the PS3s skill in question is the ability to stream Netflix.
One lazy Sunday I was watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was the show's 100th episode and Tony was in Paris. He was hanging out with Joël Robuchon and Eric Ripert among others. If I am remembering correctly, they were discussing where they, chefs, people in the restaurant business, like to get something good to eat. Now this is interesting, As Joël Robuchon operates 12 restaurants with 26 Michelin stars between them and Eric Ripert is no slouch either. Where do these guys go to get something good? They have to know amazing places!
So this got me thinking...
I have lived here in Baltimore for about 4 years now. I am a lot like other people. I find restaurants that I like and I go to them. They usually have food I like, so I end up going back over and over again. The problem is that sometimes that can put you in a terrible rut. Here I am in Baltimore, home to AMAZING world class restaurants, but I have no idea what they are. It also has holes-in-the-wall where you can get food to die for cheap. I don't know where they are either. What I know is where I go. This is no way to eat!
I processed this particular episode and figured out a way to apply it to my dilemma. The premise for this food journey is simple: Ask 2 questions.
To start, I simply pick a restaurant. Upon arrival to the restaurant I ask for the chef to stop by the table. When he or she arrives, after introducing myself and explaining why I am there, I ask which dish on the menu most embodies the chef. Which dish has the most of his or her heart and soul in it. When someone asks which dish personifies him or her, THAT is the one dish. I then order that dish for dinner. For what is a better representation of the core of the restaurant than the dish that has been the most crafted by the chef?
The second question I ask is where he or she, as a chef and someone in the food trade, goes to get an amazing dish. The restaurant can be high-end, or a greasy spoon, just a place where he or she gets one dish that amazes them. That restaurant then becomes the next stop on the trip. And so it goes...
Who is going to know better than a chef. These are people who have spent years in the food business who work with the best ingredients on a daily basis and easily tell good from bad, food or otherwise. They go out to eat just like we do but they have the ability to judge where they go based on what they know as professionals. They can splurge their pay on elite fare and fine linens, or they can throw back drinks after work and head out to find the best late night nosh to fill that grease-seeking cavity that only a 12 hour shift can carve out. Either way, for this project, I am going to use their expertise to work for me; to bring me out of my food shell and show me the best dining experiences - world class through working class, that Baltimore has to offer.
...either that or they'll throw me out on my ass.
Well, that's the introduction. For the record, last night I visited my second restaurant, so I guess that makes this project official. I'll post my experience at restaurant #1 next. Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)