Le Bistro du Village

Anyone who had ever been to Crepe du Jour on Sulgrave Avenue in Mount Washington realized that while they had a wide selection of sweet and savory crepes available, they also had a full menu of French favorites like soupe a l'oignon and coq au vin. Those who had never been there, however, probably thought it was just a crepe shop. Mais non! To end seventeen years of possible confusion, owner Mustapha Snoussi changed the name of his French restaurant to Le Bistro du Village. A bit of truth in advertising, as their web site notes.

To help spread the word about the name change and the menu they've always offered, the restaurant invited a select group of local media influencers in for a lovely three course dinner. I was happy for the opportunity to sink my teeth into some duck confit and escargots.

The menu at Le Bistro du Village is divided into several parts. Hors d'oeuvres, les salades composer, les moules maison, and les soupes du jour are essentially appetizers, although many dishes could be a meal unto themselves. Plats Principaux are entrees; there are also sides and, of course, crepes. Desserts, too, for those who don't want to end their meal with a sweet crepe.

We started with four apps for the table. My favorite was the seafood vol-au-vent, a puff pastry shell filled with a mixture of shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms in a tomato-based Provençal sauce. The seafood was tender, and the sauce was simply delicious.

I also enjoyed the moules marinières, a classic preparation of mussels cooked in white wine, with tomatoes, garlic, parsley, & shallots. The mussels were small (a good thing - I find large mussels to be tough) and tender, and the sauce begged for lots of crusty bread with which to mop it up.

We also sampled a salade Niçoise, a classic composed salad usually (but not always) involving tuna, tomatoes, eggs, and green beans. This dish especially would make a nice light supper on its own.

And what's a French dinner without escargots in garlic butter? A travesty. These were classic all the way. Honestly, more restaurants should use escargots. They are really delicious.

For my entree I chose the duck, which included a confit leg and duck breast that was cooked a la sous vide before the skin was browned in a pan. It came with potatoes, spinach, and an orange sauce. At first I was worried that the orange sauce would be too sweet (my first experience with duck a l'orange came at age 11, with cold duck and cloying sauce) but was happy to find that the one at Le Bistro du Village is light and well-balanced. And the dish is beautiful, no?

Also lovely was the carré d'agneau aux herbes, herbed rack of lamb to you and me. The perfect pink chops came with asparagus, roasted potatoes, and a Dijon mustard sauce.

Others at the table ordered the perfectly cooked salmon filet and the unphotogenic but tasty coq au vin, which came over a bed of noodles. There are also plenty of other classic French dishes on the menu, like boeuf Bouguignon and chicken cordon bleu, but also a burger topped with Brie and bacon, for those not wanting to venture too far into the unfamiliar territory of a foreign cuisine. (I am being facetious. Some people just like burgers.)

Our dessert choices were between crepes Suzette and chocolate mousse. All but one of us opted for the crepe, which was not flambeed for us at tableside (the number of crepes would have created quite a blaze!) but still had the classic citrus/Grand Marnier flavor. The crepe was so light and tender, despite its size, most of us had no problem polishing off the whole thing.

Le Bistro du Village is open 7 days a week for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The space is cozy and inviting, and the staff and owner are delightful. I will definitely be visiting more often, and you should, too.

Le Bistro du Village
1609 Sulgrave Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209-3617
410-542-9000

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Posted on Minxeats.com.

13.5% Wine Bar + Food

I know, I know - you're thinking that we should change the name of this blog to "Stuff Cyrus Keefer Feeds Us." And maybe we should. We've covered his cuisine at Fork & Wrench, his Pique pop-up, and at his most recent gig, 13.5% Wine Bar. And we're doing it again. This time, we were invited to a media tasting, which meant we would get to try several more of his dishes than the two of us would normally order on our own.

13.5% Wine Bar has really embraced their new chef. For one thing, notice the recently added "+ Food" in their name. While it's still a great place to enjoy a glass or three of vino, the food game has been stepped up considerably. It's now a place that even non-wine-drinkers can enjoy (they have cocktails and beer, if you're still into the booze). The restaurant is bigger, with table seating for 70, 20 additional at the bar, and al fresco dining, too, courtesy of the new retractable facade.

But we were there for the food, so let's jump right into it. Here's the current menu, for your perusal.

Cyrus started us with an off-menu app of tuna and tomato crudo with miso poached mozzarella. The mozz and tomato made it a bit like a Caprese, but with tuna instead of basil, and the chef's customary touches of Asian flavors, like kombu. This dish hit so many flavor points - tangy, sweet, umami, salty - and I would love to see a larger version of it on the menu.

We had two types of pizza next, the "pizza pie," which had classic pizza flavors and aromas on a crust of pate brisee, or regular pie crust dough. The other was a French bread-style pizza topped with snails and chorizo. The two versions were as different as night and day, the "pie" version light and fresh (despite the very buttery crust) and the other rich and garlicky. Not expecting to get so much other food, we each ate two slices, almost (but not quite) regretting it later in the meal.

Then came a salad of sauteed zucchini, white corn, and baby arugula with fresh cherries and avocado. The vinaigrette showed off the chef's talent with such sauces, being both savory and acidic, with the lightest kiss of black truffle oil. While I normally don't see the point of white corn, especially the tiny kerneled-type, here it punctuated the salad with juicy bursts of texture.

We also tried the tender and cheesy gnocchi-esque goat cheese dumplings with smoked tomato caper sauce and the sous vide octopus with a similarly smoky red pepper sauce, zucchini puree, and polenta. My palate doesn't enjoy smoked + some non-fish seafood, but the octopus was so fork-tender, I ate it all anyway.

So. Much. Food. And we're not done, folks! We also tried "our heavenly take on ramen," which was on the menu the last time we ate at 13.5%. (If soft shells hadn't also been on offer, I would have ordered it.) The soup takes elements from traditional Japanese tonkotsu and Hokkaido-style broths by using both pork (in the form of house-made bacon) and corn (a corn dashi). The genius noodles are actually house-made linguine with baking soda, to give them a very ramen-like bite. There's also a soft-boiled egg, kale, and mushrooms in the mix. There was no way I could finish the dish, so thank goodness for doggie bags.

Our last item, which I didn't photograph, were the pork belly and smoked shrimp spring rolls we had eaten before. They were lovely then and still lovely today, even though I had to eat mine slightly soggy at lunch the next day. Best spring roll in town though.

Whew. Lots of food. No room for Morgaine Brunn's desserts (which could have been a wee peach ice cream-stuffed almond macaron, were we not stuffed). Lots of excellent flavors and textures, too. Cyrus has some great and clever ideas floating around in his head, and the ability to execute them.

The whole purpose of this post is to continue to get the word out about the new focus on food at 13.5% Wine Bar + Food. If you don't go, I'll just have to post again in the future. You are forewarned.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sweet Potato Spaetzle

I recently bought a potato ricer that was highly rated by America's Test Kitchen. It came with two plates with differently sized holes; the larger one seemed perfect for spaetzle. I had never made them before, so why not try? The first time we went to Birroteca, almost exactly two years ago, we tried a dish of Parmesan spaetzle with snails. It was unusual and delicious and the memory of it stuck with me. We had a can of snails in the cupboard, so that was that.

We also had a plethora of veg hanging around from a recent CSA delivery: fennel, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, a lone sweet potato, cherry tomatoes. I couldn't quite imagine a spaetzle dish that used all of those veg AND snails, but I thought maybe I could mash the potato and add it to the batter. The cauliflower was the most neutral of the ingredients left, so I figured I could work that in somehow, too.

I looked up spaetzle recipes on the 'net. It seemed simple enough: eggs, flour, milk. One of my favorite bloggers, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, determined that an egg-rich batter made the lightest noodles. I hoped that adding a cup of mashed sweet potato would contribute enough moisture that I wouldn't have to add as many eggs to my batter as she did (seven!). I put in three eggs as a compromise, as many recipes I found called for just two.

Now that I had the dish figured out (after a run to the store for parsley and smoked Gouda), I was ready to commence cooking. Little did I know that I'd be using three pots, a colander, a potato masher, a baking pan, and multiple bowls for this project. I think I washed more dishes (without a dish washer) than I cooked actual food! The batter is sticky and made a mess, and the spaetzle never dried out completely so they had to spend quite a bit of time in the saute pan to get even a little crusty, but in the end, it was all worth it. So worth it. The noodles were tender, the cauliflower added a bit of crisp texture, and all of the flavors went together wonderfully.

Mr Minx said it was restaurant quality. I thought so to. Would definitely do it again, especially now that I have a batch of already cooked spaetzle in the freezer.

Sweet Potato Spaetzle
Read the whole recipe before proceeding, please!

For the spaetzle:
1 cup mashed sweet potato
3 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

To finish the dish:
1 onion, sliced thinly
Olive oil
Butter
1 cup shredded cauliflower
1 7-oz can escargots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 ounces smoked Gouda, shredded

To make the spaetzle: Combine the sweet potato, eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the flour. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water and set near the stove.

Place the large hole blade into your potato ricer. Fill ricer half full with batter and squeeze gently into the boiling water, shaking the noodles loose as you squeeze. Use a spoon to cut the noodles that refuse to break off on their own, then stir the pot vigorously to keep noodles separate. I got three squeezes of noodles out of one half-full ricer, but your mileage may vary, depending on the size of your ricer. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove noodles to the ice bath. Repeat with remaining batter until it's all gone.

Remove spaetzle from ice bath and place in a colander over a bowl to catch any drainage. Drizzle on a bit of olive oil. Store in the fridge in a tightly covered container until ready to use. This recipe makes quite a bit of spaetzle, so you may want to freeze some. I put about half of it in a zip top bag and spread it out flat so the noodles weren't clumped together and put it in the freezer that way. If you are lucky enough to have a big empty freezer, spread the noodles onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze them individually. When frozen, dump them into a zip top bag and put back in the freezer. This way they stay separate and won't turn into a big lump.

To finish the dish: While the spaetzle batter is resting in the fridge, you can do some of the prep. Cook the onion over medium heat in a mixture of olive oil and butter with a pinch of salt until very soft, brown, and caramelized, about 30 minutes.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet. When it is screaming hot, add the cauliflower and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender and browned in areas, about 10 minutes. Remove cauliflower to a bowl and set aside.

Drain the escargots and place in a bowl. Cover with cold water and let them soak for 10 minutes or so. Drain again and cut the escargots into thirds or quarters, depending on size (the ones I had were mammoth). Put a bit of olive oil in a skillet and cook the mushrooms until they give up their juices. Add the escargots and a pat of butter. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic. Cook about 5 minutes until everything is warm and garlic is no longer raw. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once your spaetzle has been cooked and drained thoroughly, heat up a large skillet. Add a bit of olive oil and about half the spaetzle (the rest you can freeze or refrigerate to eat later). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the spaetzle is lightly browned in spots and vaguely crispy, about 15-20 minutes. (If you managed to get them really dry, it might take less time.) Stir in the cooked cauliflower, the cooked mushrooms and escargots, and about half the parsley. Once everything is warmed through, spoon into serving bowls. Garnish with a big spoonful of caramelized onions, the remaining parsley and shredded Gouda.

Serves 4.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Fork & Wrench

My father and I had dinner at Fork & Wrench not long after it opened in 2012. I wanted to eat there to get a feel of the place before adding it to the Food Lover's Guide to Baltimore but after ordering what our waiter talked me into (the duck) rather than what I wanted (the scallops), I left the restaurant feeling unsatisfied and probably wouldn't have returned. But then Cyrus Keefer became the new chef at Fork & Wrench and that changed everything.

In the year that Chef Keefer has been at the restaurant, he's cooked at the James Beard House twice. Maybe that coveted award will be his one day.

Mr Minx and I were invited to a media dinner to taste what's been going down at Fork & Wrench these days.

Because I love escargot, and also because Chef Keefer donated the recipe for his escargot buns to Baltimore Chef's Table, I just had to try it. It's hard to describe - the bun is a cross between Chinese-style steamed and baked buns. Almost like a giant potsticker, with its soft edges and crusty top. And filled and topped with snails! So good. Mr Minx chose the Scotch egg for his appetizer and was pleasantly surprised to find a soft-boiled egg inside, rather than the typical dry hard-boiled egg. Not so easy to wrap sausage around a soft egg and fry it while keeping the yolk runny. Very impressive.

One of my dining companions chose the poutine to share with the table. It was topped with a ragu of pork and stracciatella ("ripped" or "shredded" in Italian). Who needs cheese curds? This was outstanding, and hard to stop eating. And the portion is definitely large enough to share.

I haven't had a really good soft shell crab in a while, and the lightly tempura-battered whale served to me at Fork & Wrench really hit the spot. It was served in a bacon dashi with a saute of fiddlehead ferns and porcini mushrooms. Finally, fiddleheads with flavor! Mr Minx had the fried shrimp, which came with cornmeal gnocchi, shishito peppers, and a tomato broth. The shrimp had that nice, er, shrimpy flavor that we like, and the diminuitive size of the gnocchi made them nice and light.

Chef Keefer was surprised that none of us had ordered the octopus, so he sent a tentacle to the table for us to try. It was accompanied by papas bravas, salsa verde aioli, and a pepper broth. Nearly fork-tender and lightly smoky, it was some of the best octopus we've tried. Another dish we enjoyed was the duck preparation du jour, seared breast served with parsnips and blackberries. Unlike the duck I had the first time around at Fork & Wrench, this baby was tender, juicy, and not ringed with fat. And perfectly seasoned, as was everything we ate that evening. Both of our other dining companions chose the arctic char. Served with petit pois, fried batter bits, and a malt vinegar-infused butter sauce, the flavors of the dish evoked a haute cuisine fish and chips.

Finally, we had to have dessert. There were only three offerings on the list, so we tried all of them. Mr Minx's went for the milk and cookies, an assortment of rather large cookies including a snickerdoodle, peanut butter/oatmeal, one flavored with lemon peel, a brownie-like square, and a mammoth chocolate chip cookie, all made by pastry chef Janae Aiken. I had the creme catalonia. Not a flan, nor was it a creme brulee, it was rich and lemony, with a texture like dense pudding. The rest of the table chose the chocolate cake layered with chocolate cheesecake, which was outstanding, but a bit too rich for anyone to finish.

The decor at Fork & Wrench has always been something to see, with it's jumble of industrial bric-a-brac and tools. And now it has cuisine that makes it truly a place worth visiting.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

The Dogwood

A few months ago, I became reconnected with an old college friend of mine. (Perhaps I shouldn't say "old" but hey, we are middle-aged.) At the Maryland Institute College of Art, we shared many a lunch together, dining upon the student center's eclectic offerings (broccoli knishes, super-oniony tabbouleh, "Earth" pitas, all often in the same meal) while complaining about the latest illustration assignment or gossiping about our classmates. Since graduation, as we went our separate ways, both of us formed an interest in cooking, so it seemed only natural that when she came to Baltimore for a visit that we would go out to dinner.

But first - a visit to that block in Hampden that has dubbed itself "Christmas Street." (Wonder if anyone is going to trademark those words?) My new favorite display this year was the robot nativity.

After an invigorating jaunt through the neighborhood, we headed to The Dogwood, which would be the last new-to-us dining experience of 2010. I've heard lots of good things about it, so my expectations were high. I can't say that I was disappointed, but the meal wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

The Dogwood is housed in the same space on 36th Street that once belonged to a restaurant called Mamie's, where my friend Kate and I regularly indulged in their mid-week lobster special. At that time, the dining room was divided up into smaller areas full of knick-knacks; eating there was not unlike supping in a cheap flea market and a bit too folksy for my tastes. The Dogwood has taken down the various partitions and French doors that once cluttered the area, installed a bar, and probably enlarged the kitchen as the space seems smaller overall. Instead of figurines and old furniture, there is "art" (photographs, murals, and childish paintings) that takes me out of the flea market and puts me instead in a kindergarten classroom.

The menu is similarly cluttered with categories such as "amuse the palate," "small plates," and "casual fare," which don't say a whole lot and are not necessarily indicative of portion sizes. For instance, the plate of Gruyere gougeres ordered by Mr Minx contained five of the choux pastries, each as large as a healthy dinner roll. These fell under the "amuse the palate" category (how is that title really any different in meaning than "appetizer?") but may have better been categorized as "for the table." In any case, they were fine, although I would have preferred them to be more cheesy.

The gougeres were even better when opened and filled with some of my "small plate" starter of braised escargot in acorn squash with wild mushrooms, autumn squash-roasted garlic cream, and apple-pumpkin relish. I've been on an escargot kick recently and was excited to see it offered on yet another local menu. Apart from an aggressive amount of pepper on the top and waxy, barely-cooked squash which wasn't worth eating, the mushrooms and escargot (which have similar textures, btw - if you're a mushroom lover, don't be afraid to try snails) were quite nice.

While Mr Minx and I ate escargot-filled gougeres, Leslie enjoyed a Farmer’s Market Salad with a basil-balsamic vinaigrette from the "salads" category.

By the time our entrees arrived, the restaurant was full and noisy and I turned the flash off on the camera, which explains the horrible quality of the next few photos.

Mr Minx went for the thyme roasted organic airline breast of chicken served with potato rosti and wild mushrooms. It was well-cooked and moist, but a chicken breast is a chicken breast. The sauce and mushrooms were the most flavorful parts of this dish.

Leslie went for the Maine lobster-stuffed ravioli with leeks and ricotta, shiitake mushroom-fennel sauté, Laughing Bird shrimp, and Madeira cream. The stripes on the ravioli and the mushroom sauce made the dish visually interesting, but it did not photograph well at all. Fortunately, the elements worked harmoniously together, nicely accented with a touch of sweetness from the Madeira and bold shellfish flavors.

I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted two "small plates" or something from the "casual fare" category or even the Wednesday night "community special" (cioppino). Mr Minx had expressed interest in tasting the teres major, but when I pointed out the inclusion of sweet potatoes in its accompanying gratin, he demurred. So I decided to check it out. Again there was an aggressive amount of black pepper in my first bites, but the plate's overall flavors were nice. Apart from the steak. Teres major, also known as the "shoulder tender" is supposedly the second most-tender cut after the tenderloin. My portion, despite being perfectly cooked to the rare side of medium, needed some strenuous chewing and had as much flavor as its tenderloin cousin. That is to say, none. Don't they make steak that tastes like beef anymore?  Despite that, I loved the gratin, the mushrooms and the various root and green vegetables on the plate.

With ten types of cookies at home, plus home-made candies and pumpkin cheesecake, we eschewed dessert and coffee. Because the restaurant was so full, I think they were happy to see us leave - before we had our coats on, the hostess had started to re-set our table for the next diners. Despite this, the service was otherwise very good and attentive.

It's obvious that the restaurant has a way with vegetables, and is definitely mushroom-happy. I think next time we try the place, I'll opt to order something vegetarian to take advantage of The Dogwood's strengths.

The Dogwood
911 West 36th Street
(410) 889-0952