Spotlight On - Encantada

Not sure if anyone knows, but I've been writing a restaurant column for the City Walker App Blog. The purpose of the app itself is to give visitors a local's-eye-view of a city, so they are able to experience it in the same way residents do--on foot. (Not that anyone actually walks anywhere anymore.) The blog offers a bit more detail; I have endeavored to take users on a stroll through the city while pointing out restaurants along the way. In addition to the walking posts, I have been writing others that put certain favorite restaurants of mine in a spotlight. I thought I could share those here with you.
----------------------------------------------------
Baltimore is not known for its vegan restaurants. That’s not to say it’s not a vegan-friendly city; there are a handful of notable places that serve vegan cuisine. Some are completely vegan. And several of them are even planning a Vegan Restaurant Week from August 18th - 26th (check out https://www.mdveganeats.com for more info). I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian, but have always felt that a well-rounded food scene is beneficial for the city’s residents and visitors alike. Plus I understand that the high level of meat consumption in the US is not doing anybody any favors, physically on an individual level and climate-wise on a global scale.

Encantada, in the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is a restaurant that pleases both vegans and consumers of animal products alike. But first, let’s talk a little bit about AVAM. If you haven’t been there, you must go. Seriously. It’s the most interesting, fun, mind-boggling, amazing art museum in the city (and we have two pretty fabulous museums in the Walters and the Baltimore Museum of Art). The term “visionary,” when applied to art, refers to works created by persons with no formal art training who are guided solely by their own inner voice. These folks may or may not march to the beat of a different drum in their public lives, but whatever it is that influences their work, it doesn’t follow the constraints of “learned” forms of art like went-to-art-school art or even the traditions of folk art. Think 25-foot-long ship models made entirely of toothpicks, or complex masks created from knitted and crocheted yarn. Amazing stuff. I consider AVAM to be in the top five places to visit in Baltimore (the others being the National Aquarium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Walters Art Museum, and Fells Point).

Now, on to the restaurant. The word “encantada” means “charmed, enchanted, bewitched,” which seems appropriate for a restaurant located in such a delightful museum. Apropos of its setting, the decor at Encantada is, shall we say, eclectic. Furniture and fabrics are purposely mismatched, walls may sport royal blue and black vertical stripes, or black and white diagonal ones. Art from the museum is hung here and there, adding still more color to the elegant cacophony of the restaurant’s interior. The menu is much more focused. The food at Encantada is grounded in the restaurant’s partnerships with local farmers, watermen, and ranchers to provide the freshest seasonal meat and produce. The animal proteins used by the restaurant have been raised humanely without GMOs, and while that still might not please PETA, it makes us carnivores feel a bit less guilty about indulging in meat. Vegetarians and vegans will be happy, however, that vegetables and grains play far more important roles at Encantada than at many other restaurants where they may be relegated to mere “side dishes.”

One can enjoy Encantada’s vegetable-forward menu at brunch, lunch, dinner, and happy hour. Conveniently, brunch is offered both Saturday and Sunday, with $15 bottomless bloody marys, mimosas, and beers from Evolution, a craft brewery based in Salisbury on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Vegan options include a bbq tofu benedict with avocado, crispy kale, and grilled tomato, and a spicy “chicken” sandwich made with seitan. Actual chicken is fried and coated in harissa honey and served with french toast in another dish that’s a riff on the now-popular chicken and waffles, and a burger with a runny egg is available, too.

The dinner menu is divided up into small and large plates, but it’s probably easiest to think of them as apps and entrees. On the current menu, all of the small plates are vegetarian or vegan apart from the “N’awlins BBQ Shrimp,” which of course is not.

One of the more popular vegan small plates, available for brunch, lunch, and dinner, is the Nashville cauliflower, made with Tennessee-style hot sauce and served with vegan ranch dressing and bread-and-butter pickles. It shows that whatever chicken can do, cauliflower can also do (and possibly do it better). The deviled turnips are another popular dish; it’s been on the menu from day one. They’re actually a play on deviled eggs--small white turnips standing in for the egg white, a filling of chickpea mash, and a dusting of smoked paprika. Cute and tasty, but egg-like in appearance only.

Entrees include more meaty selections, things like NY sirloin and duck breast, some fish options too. But even carnivores will enjoy the pasta with mushroom bolognese, its depth of flavor due to the umami-rich mushrooms. On a recent visit during Restaurant Week, we tried a housemade trofie (a hand-rolled twisted pasta) with pesto, peas, and optional guanciale (cured pork jowl or cheek) that was simply outstanding. You can’t go wrong with ordering a side of heirloom carrots, either; though the preparation is always slightly different, they are usually topped with toasted hazelnuts, which really make the dish.

Finally, don’t pass up on cocktails before, during, or after your meal. The Cheshire Cat is a particularly refreshing gin-and-cucumber beverage with a touch of lemongrass, mint, and lime, with a fun blue ice cube that gradually turns the drink purple as it melts. I also like “It’s About Fig & Thyme” and “Berryland Smash,” both tasty concoctions that are worth trying.

Encantada
800 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-752-1000
Encantadabaltimore.com



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Spotlight On - The Brewer's Art

Not sure if anyone knows, but I've been writing a restaurant column for the City Walker App Blog. The purpose of the app itself is to give visitors a local's-eye-view of a city, so they are able to experience it in the same way residents do--on foot. (Not that anyone actually walks anywhere anymore.) The blog offers a bit more detail; I have endeavored to take users on a stroll through the city while pointing out restaurants along the way. In addition to the walking posts, I have been writing others that put certain favorite restaurants of mine in a spotlight. I thought I could share those here with you.
----------------------------------------------------
If you find yourself in the Midtown Baltimore neighborhood of Mount Vernon looking for a place to indulge in some serious food and even more serious beer, go to the Brewer’s Art. Named Esquire Magazine’s “Best Bar in America” for 2009, it also made the list of Draft Magazine’s 100 Best Bars in America 2015, and Gayot’s Top 10 Brewpubs in the US 2017. As far as I’m concerned, the place deserves every kudos.

Brewer’s Art has 60 or so seasonal beers, many in the Belgian style. My personal favorite is the GPT, an intoxicating 9% ABV tripel spiced with green peppercorns that is available for a very short time in the winter. I’m also a fan of their regular year-round also-available-in-stores Resurrection (a full-bodied abbey brown ale) and Beazly (a golden “devil” ale). The latter was originally named Ozzy, after the Black Sabbath singer and MTV reality star, until a cease-and-desist letter from Mr Osbourne put an end to things--ten years after the brew was introduced. I guess it just took him a while to notice. (Note to our neighbors with the dog named Ozzy: you may be next.) And lest you think the Brewer’s Art is only a beer bar, I can reassure you that there are fancy house cocktails (and any classics you’d like) and a modest wine list as well.

Situated in an elegant rowhouse mansion on a somewhat quiet block of North Charles Street, the Brewer’s Art also shows a fair bit of artistry in the kitchen portion of the establishment. The restaurant’s chef is Andrew Weinzirl, who worked previously at Maggie’s Farm (which he also co-owned), the Wine Market, Chameleon Cafe, and the Dogwood, all very well-regarded Baltimore-area restaurants with strong farm-to-table sensibilities. The menu at Brewer’s Art has, in the past, had strong European influences but Chef Weinzirl’s approach is a little more on the global side. One can still get a dish of pierogies or steak frites, but a recent menu also offered red lentil croquettes in a curry laksa broth that got rave reviews from foodies. Weinzirl has also incorporated beer into several menu items, including a soup of Beazly with celery root, chicken, and dill creme fraiche. He also uses Beazly to steam spicy sambal cockles and to brine the pasture-raised chicken available on the lunch and bar menu. Obviously a very versatile beer, that one. (I’d have no problems if it had been named after me.) Weinzirl has even used spent grain left over from the brewing process in a cornbread appetizer. As they say, waste not want not!

Among always-on-the-menu favorites are the rosemary garlic fries. For some reason, people have gotten it in their heads that they are cooked in duck fat, but that’s never been the case. Isn’t rosemary and garlic enough? They’re delish nonetheless, and come with a side of mayonnaise, in the Belgian style. The frites are available in both the dining room and in the bar, but that’s about all their menus have in common, at least at dinner time. If you have a hankering for a burger (the beef comes from local Roseda Farms) with cheddar, beer onions, horseradish pickles, and BA’s version of “animal sauce,” then you’ll have to eat it in the bar. That also goes for the cheesesteak sandwich. And it’s not just any old beef cheesesteak (this ain’t Philly)--it’s a lamb cheesesteak, topped with smoked provolone. And roasted mushrooms. And broccolini. When faced with a difficult decision such as this--eat in the dining room or eat in the bar--sometimes the deciding factor is the noise level. On a rollicking evening (pretty much every evening), the decibel level in the bar can be high. Those of us with more sensitive ears might prefer to eat in the dining room, which is a little more reasonable as far as noise is concerned.

No matter what you end up doing at the Brewer’s Art--spending some time at the bar tasting various of their fine beers or having a full-blown meal--it’s definitely a place worth stopping by, even if you’re not already in the neighborhood.



Posted on Minxeats.com.