Flashback Friday - The Food Market

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on December 12, 2012.

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After being urged by several different people to try the Food Market, we did, with some delicious results.

The place is popular. Seriously. We eat dinner early, partly to miss the crowd, partly because we're old. By 6pm on a Saturday, the place was hopping, and getting louder by the minute. The music was loud, the people were louder, and the restaurant has no sound-absorbing materials at all, apart from the barely-padded banquette seats. So bring earplugs and a hearty appetite because there's lots to try.

The menu at the Food Market has categories like "little," "small," "big," and "in-between," which translates as "finger food appetizers (plus a soup)," "appetizers that require a fork," "entrees," and "sandwiches." (You're welcome.) Absolutely everything sounded like something we wanted to eat, so it was a bit hard to narrow down our choices. Eventually we settled on two littles, two smalls, and one in-between to share.

The Amish soft pretzels were less the stereotypical salty twists and more like buttery bread fingers (think Aunt Annie's). The generous portion of beer cheese fondue was spiked with jalapeno and had a nice kick. It was so good, we hated to waste it; even after the pretzels were gone, we kept the cheese sauce as a dip for french fries and the tasty foccacia that was brought to the table when we arrived.

Amish soft pretzels, beer cheese fondue

The meatloaf fries were fat little fingers of very good, very moist, homestyle meatloaf, dipped in tempura batter and deep fried. Complete overkill, but quite tasty. I think I might enjoy the meatloaf more if it were served in a more traditional manner.

Meatloaf fries crispy tempura
ketchup & black pepper beef gravy

At this point, after only two courses, I was getting full. The next two dishes that arrived were thankfully somewhat lighter. Yes, the pork belly seemed lighter than the meatloaf, probably because it hadn't been deep fried. Not that there's anything wrong with deep frying....

There was a nice ratio of fat to meat on the chubby chunk of belly, which can sometimes seem too fatty. (Not that there's anything wrong with fatty....) The brown sugar topping added a perfect amount of sweetness and married well with the toasted pecans. My favorite dish of the evening.

Brown sugar pork belly, petite greens, toasted pecans,
cherry tomatoes, bangin’ honey mustard vinaigrette

We also ordered the chopped salad, which the kitchen thoughtfully split for us. It wasn't quite a chopped salad, as the lettuce was whole and the sprouts were cut in half, but it was an interesting combination of flavors, and quite autumnal. I thought it was odd that the sprouts were warm, and everything else was at room temperature, and felt the macadamia nut crumble was merely a texture and not a flavor, but Mr Minx gobbled it up. And he's not a fan of either beets or cooked carrots.

Chopped salad lemon cream cheese, roasted brussels, beets, 
carrots, mac nut crumble, cranberry vinaigrette

Finally, we shared the Pat LaFrieda burger, which the kitchen again split for us. The saltiness of the bacon predominated, rendering even the pickles mute. But the meat was perfectly cooked, and the bun held up to the large amount of filling. The crinkle cut fries on the side were a touch of nostalgia.

Pat LaFrieda Burger diced bacon, lettuce, tomato, 
onion, sesame bun, cheese, pickles

And then we ordered dessert. I was tempted by the sound of pumpkin cannoli, but would have preferred a single large cannoli to the three small ones. I'm more about the filling than the shell, which was a bit dry and dense.

Pumpkin Cannoli

Mr Minx ordered the Heath bar bread pudding, which was lovely and moist, but far too sweet for my taste. The plain whipped cream was a welcome relief from the sugar overload, although it's probably odd to look to a pile of what is essentially whipped fat to lighten anything.

Heath bar bread pudding

I have mixed emotions about the Food Market. I love the concept, always love small plates, but think it really takes some advance knowledge of the dishes to put together a meal that feels like a meal, rather than a sundry combination of snack foods (granted, we did perhaps order oddly). Several of the diners around us were ordering big plates only, which might be the way to go. And speaking of other diners - the tables are fairly close together, so it's easy to overhear conversations. For instance, the table of annoyingly giggly female 20-somethings to our left threw out a few bons mots, my favorite being, "ooh...the Baltimore Club looks really good. Except for the shrimp salad." (A Baltimore club is generally a crabcake paired with shrimp salad. Without the shrimp salad, it's a crab cake sandwich.)

That said, I'd like to go back and try a few more things. The pork belly was seriously good (everything was, in its own way), and both the cracker fried oysters and lil' lamb porterhouses seem like items I'd really enjoy. And they have scallops, which almost always turns me on.

The Food Market
1017 West 36th Street
Baltimore, MD 21211
(410) 366-0606
thefoodmarketbaltimore.com

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Spotlight On - Points South Latin Kitchen

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.
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Bryson Keens and Rey Eugenio were once managing partner and chef partner at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion at Harbor East some years ago. This was back in the days before there were so many restaurants to choose from in the area, and Roy’s was the place to go. The menu, featuring dishes served in all Roy’s nationwide plus some local twists, was uniformly delicious. However, it was during the restaurant’s special wine dinners that Chef Eugenio’s cuisine really shone. Coupled with the amiable Mr Keen’s turn as emcee, plus wine, those dinners were a guaranteed good time. (Except perhaps for the husband who managed to talk his wife into leaving the kids with a sitter that night, only to find the dinner featured course after course of cute animals like Mary’s little lamb, Bambi, and Donald Duck, which the wife refused to eat. Fun fun sitting across from them!) Man, I loved those dinners. All good things must come to an end, of course: Rey eventually left Roy’s to work at a new Greek restaurant that quickly topped Baltimore’s Best Restaurant list. Bryson left a few years later to open his own place: Points South Latin Kitchen, in Fells Point. Chef Eugenio was brought on as a consultant, and now he’s running the kitchen. The food, predictably, is fan-fecking-tastic.

Points South is one of those places where making a simple decision about dinner can be quite difficult because everything sounds so tempting. Last time I was there with my family, we ordered what seemed like everything on the menu. We started out with the yuca croquettes, shrimp ceviche, lamb ribs, and grilled octopus, then went on to the beef short ribs and duck prepared two ways. A dish of chicharrónes, too, because every meal needs to have a side dish comprised entirely of slabs of fried pork belly. Every meal. Each dish was better than the last. Smothered in a honey chipotle barbeque sauce and complimented with garlic chips, scallions, and creamy mojo, the lamb ribs were a huge hit. Even my Dad, who has had a lifelong aversion to lamb, said they were so good, he would have eaten the bones if he could. The fork-tender beef short ribs, too, were excellent, infused with the spicy flavor of bittersweet chocolate sauce. We could easily have polished off a second order. But there was also that duck dish, a special that night: a large confit leg with luscious meat and crispy skin plus medium-rare duck breast, served with mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables.

We were too stuffed to get dessert, and would’ve had trouble deciding between the flourless marble cake of Venezuelan dark chocolate, dulce de leche, and cafe au lait whipped cream, and the pastel de maiz, a corn cake with chile-lime macerated berries, candied lime zest, and coconut whipped cream. The flan with orange liqueur caramel sounds yummy, too.

Points South also serves brunch and lunch. The “platos pequenos” (small plates) are similar among the three meals, but entrees are replaced by a selection of pupusas, a Salvadoran dish of thick corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and/or other items like beans or meat. There are egg dishes at brunch as well. Cocktails ranging from the Latin American classics mojitos, caipirinhas, and pisco sours to house signatures like the tequila-based Cucumber Fresco are available with every meal (as are those chicharrónes).

This summer, Points South will be hosting the Mason Dixon Master Chef Tournament. If you’re lucky enough to be in Baltimore from June into early August, you can attend one of the battles, which are held on Mondays and Tuesday evenings. The Tournament pits two local area chefs against each other in a themed three-course battle, not unlike the televised Iron Chef competition that originated in Japan and continued on the Food Network for many years (and is poised to make a comeback). Please see http://www.masondixonmasterchef.com/ for information and to purchase tickets.

Points South Latin Kitchen
1640 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
443-563-2018



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Mission Chinese Food

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 26, 2013.
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Korean-born, Oklahoma-raised Danny Bowien is one of the hottest properties around. In 2011, Mission Chinese Food, in San Francisco, was named one of Bon Appetit's best new restaurants, and now he's featured in the July 2013 issue of Food & Wine as one of the country's best new chefs.

The New York branch of Mission Chinese Food opened in 2012, and I've read nothing but raves. (Ok, there have been some bellyaching on Yelp, but that's to be expected.) On my recent trip to New York, I planned to be in the vicinity (SoHo) and thought it would make a great spot for lunch.

Turns out lunch is the best time to visit Mission Chinese Food. I got there a few minutes before the opening time of noon and there was already a short line. (At dinner time, the tiny restaurant's line, and, consequently, the wait, is far longer.) After a brief amount of time, I was taken to the dining room and, as I was a lone diner, given a seat at the bar, where all of the servers were incredibly nice and attentive to my needs.

Mission Chinese is famous for their spicy "Americanized Oriental food" with dishes like kung pao pastrami and thrice-cooked bacon. Both of those entrees have two flame symbols next to them on the menu, which according to the legend means "very freakin spicy." It was very hot and humid in New York and I had already done my fair share of sweating, so I figured one-flame spicy was about as hot as I wanted to go. I ordered two dishes from the hot appetizer section of the menu, the shaved pork belly with soy caramel, garlic, and Sichuan pepper, and the salt and peppered soft shell crab with buttermilk ranch dressing.

The menu suggests that the pork belly needs an accompaniment of a la carte rice, so I shelled out the additional $2 for a bowl. I suppose that was a warning to me that the dish was very spicy, but I chose not to heed that warning, instead putting faith in the fact that the dish had only one flame symbol. Dummy.

The dish was served cold, rather than hot, but that did not detract from the flavors and textures of this dish. The shavings of pork belly were meltingly tender. The sauce was a darkly-flavored melange of garlic, caramelized soy, maybe some Chingkaing vinegar, with some raw garlic on top for good measure. And it was full of the sensation the Chinese call ma la - numbing and spicy. There was so much Sichuan peppercorn in the dish, my nose went numb after a few forkfuls. What was worse, the dish was firey as I was eating it, of course, but when I attempted to put out the flames with the rice, it only served to fan them even higher. So the rice was a big bomb. What I needed was a glass of milk. If I drank milk.

The soft shell crab was much milder, provided I didn't eat any of the slices of green chile pepper scattered on top. It was a tad too salty though. I can't fault the crisp texture of the crust, or the ranch dressing, which tasted like tartar sauce, if tartar sauce were made with buttermilk.

There was a large party at the table next to the bar and they ordered a great many delicious-looking dishes. I heard several times, "this is really spicy," and have to wonder why restaurants make food hot just for the sake of making things hot. Some of us enjoy a nice bit of heat, but we're not all "chile-heads."

Senses completely overloaded, I headed out once more into the incredible humidity, in search for something cooling, like ice cream.

Mission Chinese Food
154 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
http://missionchinesefood.com 



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Waterfront Kitchen Mixes Old and New

We 've written about Waterfront Kitchen on numerous occasions, both on this blog and in our books. The incredible view from their airy dining room, the emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients in their cuisine, and the friendly atmosphere have always been a constant. The menu itself has changed over the years as each new chef has brought his own personal spin on the restaurant's traditions. Chef Cyrus Keefer, who's become well known in Baltimore for his inventive cuisine, is the current chef at Waterfront Kitchen and he brings a whole hosts of new ideas to the menu. We were eager to check it out. 

The Minx started off with the Strawberry & Basil cocktail made with basil vodka and muddled strawberries. I've finally come around to drinking gin in the summertime so I ordered the gin-based Cucumber & Lavender. Both drinks were light and refreshing for a warm day.

While our plan was to focus on some of the more popular dinner menu options, Chef Keefer had put together a special tasting menu for a group coming to the restaurant that night and he wanted us to sample some of the items. The pork belly pizzette was served on a soft crust topped with romanesco cauliflower, two kinds of cherries, and edible flowers from the BUGS greenhouse down the street. As we've mentioned in other posts, Waterfront Kitchen gets a great deal of their fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables from the Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) Greenhouse, which is on the Living Classrooms campus on Caroline Street. Kids from low-income neighborhoods develop social, academic, and creative skills by learning how to grow food. They also sell some of the produce at an annual farmers’ market event.

We fell in love with Chef Keefer's calamari when he was working at Birroteca, and it's still amazingly tender in this latest incarnation, served with baba ganoush made black by squid ink and a green olive insalada. The delicious house-marinated green olives are also available as a separate dish with some hummus, greens, and flatbread. Also on the dish are some of the edible flowers from the BUGS Greenhouse which bring a floral dimension to the dish I've never experienced before.

These shumai-style dumplings held a mixture of confit chicken and housemade 'nduja, a spicy, spreadable, pork salami. N'duja has become a new favorite thing of mine and this combination, nestled in a tender dumpling wrapper, took me to my happy place. At first glance, I thought the flecks in the sauce were grains of rice, but it turned out to be chopped up pieces of that tender calamari we love so much, Chef Keefer never stops inventing.

Okay, so now we're moving on to the regular dinner menu. We wanted to focus on the tried-and-true sorts of dishes that summer tourists might order, so we started with the clam chowder. This version of the New England staple has a bisque-like miso-enriched broth. The clams are served in their shells, and chunks of sunchoke, also called Jerusalem artichoke, stand in for the potatoes.

We had to try the crab cakes because - Baltimore - and we were intrigued by Chef Keefer's pronouncement that the cakes have no filler in them whatsoever. What they do have is plenty of lump crab and just the right amount of seasoning and another element that we won't give away. The result is a meaty yet light crab cake that's quite flavorful. The cakes were served with deviled asparagus, a subtle chorizo vin blanc, and a romesco sauce made with shishito peppers.

Our final entree was another New England classic, the lobster roll. The roll itself was the classic toasted split-top hot dog bun. From there, things take an eclectic turn as green curry and avocado sauce redolent of kaffir lime are tossed into the hefty pile of lobster meat and delicate pea shoots are sprinkled on top. Served with a side of French fries, this is a lobster roll that is a cut above.

Waterfront Kitchen's pastry chef, Kelsey Willis, is only 21 years old but she shows a finesse with desserts that belies her youth. Our dessert had squares of moist chocolate cake filled with a beer-flavored custard all enrobed in a classic chocolate ganache. Housemade Old Bay-seasoned caramel corn is sprinkled on top and the plate is decorated with white chocolate tinted in yellow and red, making the dessert resemble an abstracted Maryland flag. On top of all that, it tasted great.

We're happy that Chef Keefer is working at Waterfront Kitchen these days, giving us an excuse to eat there more often. Not that we need an excuse, it's just that we don't get to Fells Point as often as we should.

Waterfront Kitchen
1417 Thames St.
Baltimore, MD 21231
(443) 681-5310


Posted on Minxeats.com.

Rhubarb Mostarda

I picked up some rhubarb at the farmers' market a couple weeks ago, because I like to buy rhubarb. I never know what to do with it once I have it though. I never buy enough for pie, and even if I did, never remember to buy strawberries. Sometimes I just boil the rhurbarb with sugar for a while and call it a jam. This time I wanted to be different and try something savory. I saw something called rhubarb mostarda on a restaurant menu; a google search brought up a recipe from a blog called the Joy of Cooking. That recipe claimed to be more of a chutney than a true mostarda, and I wanted something more similar to the pear mostarda I had eaten at Momofuku Ssam Bar. That is, something that tasted very much of the source fruit, but also very much like mustard. I basically just eliminated the golden raisins called for by the recipe and changed the other proportions a bit. I also used brown mustard seeds because that's all I could find in the pantry, despite swearing that I recently bought a fairly large quantity of yellow mustard seeds for another project. (I'll probably find them when I don't need them and then misplace them again.)

What did I serve the mostarda with? Braised pork belly. I had some sliced pork belly languishing in the freezer and figured it was best to just use it up. There's really no recipe here, just guidelines: brown the pork belly on all sides. Add enough chicken stock to cover and then season it as you wish. I added a tablespoon of brown sugar, a couple glugs of soy sauce, a half-teaspoonful of grains of paradise (you can use regular peppercorns), a bay leaf, a clove of garlic, a bit of fresh thyme, some onion powder, and some smoked paprika. Cover and cook at a low simmer  until very tender, 3-4 hours. Remove the meat from the pot and reduce the sauce until it's thick and syrupy. Add the pork back to the sauce and turn to coat.

I also made some simple polenta as a base, and cooked some frozen peas (what? you think I'm going to shell peas? if I could even find them now), added a knob of butter, and lots of fresh chopped herbs from our newly-planted garden (mint, basil, chives, thyme flowers).

Personally, I think this turned out great. I should do the pork belly thing more often. It's dead simple, just throw stuff in a pot and cook it, and it comes out restaurant-quality. The fat was juicy, the meat was moist, completely yummy. And the tangy mostarda was a perfect foil.

Just a really nice dinner all around, and despite the fancy looks, not a lot of effort. I even got Mr Minx to trim and chop the rhubarb for me.

Rhubarb Mostarda (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

1 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon powdered mustard
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons water

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and cook until rhubarb is soft and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Stir regularly to prevent rhubarb from sticking (mine didn't, but YMMV.)

Store in a covered jar in the fridge. Makes about 1/2 - 3/4 cup.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Best of 2016, Part 1

Every year we compile a list of what we felt were the best dishes of the year, both at home and in restaurants. These are completely subjective, of course - it's what tasted most delicious to our palates. First up: the best of restaurant dishes. They are in order of posting, starting, of course, with January.

January

This rockfish dish at Waterfront Kitchen came with a plethora of carrots, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

February

A dinner at the Food Market's Private Kitchen included these succulent lamb chops, which we were happy to eat with our fingers in order to get every morsel of meat from the bones.

March

I indulged in a rather extravagant multi-course Korean meal at Gaonnuri in NY early last year. My favorite course was the kalbi, or short ribs, easily the best I've ever eaten. The bibimbap was pretty delicious, too.

Mr Minx and I had a great meal at Seasons 52. We enjoyed every course, but I think the sea bass with black rice was my favorite. Honestly, it was hard to choose.

April

Another tasty sea bass dish was had at the Rusty Scupper during an introduction to their Spring menu. Mr Minx also had blue crab ravioli that hit the spot.

May

Lamb shoulder isn't the first thing one thinks about when one considers chiles rellenos, but Chef Mike Ransom's lamb-stuffed chile in an ancho bbq sauce was among the best dishes at a B & O American Brasserie dinner where everything was pretty wonderful.

June

We went to a media preview of Gnocco in the spring, and honestly, there wasn't a bad dish in the house. The agnolotti with goat cheese, chanterelles, and hazelnuts was probably my favorite, though.

July

I'd never think I'd include a kale dish in a "best of" post, but here it is. The kale chaat from Sneha Indian Cuisine is an odd hodgepodge of crispy fried kale and a sweet tamarind yogurt sauce, and it was both unusual (not a classic "chaat" dish at all) and delicious.

September

In September, Mr Minx wrote about the best pizza we had all year - the cape sante di pancetta at Cosima. Topped with smoked baby scallops, smoked mozzarella, basil, caramelized bacon, and tiny whole onions, the pizza was fabulously unusual and unusually fabulous. The whole meal was excellent, but we gotta go back for this pizza.

October

It's hard to pick our favorite dish at Points South Latin Kitchen. Everything was marvelous, including this slab of meltingly tender short rib braised in a sauce containing bittersweet chocolate. The pork belly chicharrones and the evening's duck special were also amazing. One of the top meals of 2016.

November

Is it weird to have a salad on the best of list? This one,.the Fall Harvest Salad at the newly remodeled Milton Inn had mixed greens, maple vinaigrette, roasted butternut squash, feta cheese, and pistachio nuts and totally hit all the right spots.

B&O American Brasserie has yet another new chef, this time it's Scott Hines, who had been their executive sous chef for a while prior to his promotion. We love Scott - he's a great chef and a good guy, and always willing to help us out with recipes. He contributed several to our latest book, Maryland's Chesapeake. He's come up with some delicious dishes for the B&O's dinner menu, among them is this house-made pappardelle with veal sugo and an unexpected orange and marjoram gremolata. Another dish we need to have more of before the season ends and it comes off the menu. His oxtail marmalade and lamb dishes are notable as well.

December

We were invited to Charles Levine's new restaurant at Quarry Lake, Citron, where we had a lovely meal. There were many high points, the highest of which may have been this lobster bisque. Redolent of shellfish broth and containing two butter-poached claws, it is last-meal-worthy.

That's it for 2016. Not a good year in many respects, but not bad at all when it comes to restaurant food. Still, we can hope that 2017 is even better!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Points South Latin Kitchen

When we went to Points South Latin Kitchen last winter for a media tasting, we didn't get any decent pictures to post. We've been looking for an opportunity to go back, order a large meal, and get plenty of nice photos, so we figured the Dining Out for Life event might be the best time to do it. Points South was donating 25% of that evening's receipts to Moveable Feast, a charity that delivers meals to people living with AIDS/HIV, cancer, or other life-threatening illnesses. We brought along Minxbro and Minxdad to help us drive up the bill as high as possible for a good cause.

Since the weather was mild, we took an outside table and enjoyed the hustle bustle on Thames Street while we shared a pitcher of red sangria. Since so many of the small plate items sounded intriguing, we decided to try five, the first being the shrimp ceviche. Bright and refreshing, the shrimp were dressed with salad spread across a bed of avocado.

We had eaten the carimanolas, or yucca croquettes, at the media tasting and wanted to have them again. Lightly crisp on the outside and creamy smooth on the inside, the croquettes have the added bonus of a beef filling. It's almost like a mini shepherd's pie with the yucca standing in for potatoes, but yucca has its own flavor and texture. An avocado crema is provided for dipping, adding a nice touch of tang and richness.

Since we tend to order calamari everywhere we go, we thought we'd shake things up a bit and get the grilled octopus. The octopus was amazingly tender and the accompaniment of romesco, olives, and chili-dusted jicama made for a pleasant salad dressed in smoky achiote oil.

The pork belly had a crackling crust on the fat layer and unctuously tender meat, exactly the way pork belly should be served. In this case, I don't recall having any pork belly that was quite this good.

Minxdad has long insisted that he does not like lamb, but since the rest of us do, we decided to order the Denver lamb ribs while he was distracted with people watching. Smothered in a honey chipotle barbeque sauce and complimented with garlic chips, scallions, and creamy mojo, Minxdad gobbled down every bite of his rib and declared that he would've eaten the bone if he could. Only then did we reveal to him the true nature of the protein. He offered a sheepish shrug.

Duck confit was the special that day and, given how much we all love duck, we ordered it. The confit leg was meltingly soft, with a crisp skin, exactly as it should be. It was accompanied by a bit of medium rare duck breast, which was also tender and flavorful.The creamy potatoes and roasted root vegetables and squash made for a filling entree that hinted of the coming fall season.

We finished with the beef short ribs braised in bittersweet chocolate sauce. Fork tender and infused with the spicy chocolate flavor, the ribs were my favorite dish of the evening. I could've devoured the whole dish on my own, but I'm sure I would've had a fight on my hands had I tried.

As the late summer sun disappeared behind the buildings, we felt quite full and satisfied. Not only did we have a great meal, but we were supporting a great cause. We have to make sure we don't wait another nine months to return.

Points South Latin Kitchen
1640 Thames St.
Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: (443) 563-2018



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Langermann's

Langermann's, in the old American Can Company Building, has been a favorite of ours for many years. When we were writing and promoting our first two books, Neal Langermann was a great help to us. While Chef Langermann has moved on to other endeavors, his namesake restaurant carries on with his original concept of offering a refined take on "lowcountry" southern cuisine. The Minx and I were invited back for a chance to sample some of their current menu choices.

We started off with drinks. I had an unusual gin & tonic with a pleasing orange flavor and aroma instead of the usual lime. Other guests in our party enjoyed the southern classic, Pimm's Cup. The Minx opted for a glass of French rosé, which has become her new summer drink of choice.

Our meal began with a quite satisfying amuse of shrimp and grits. The creamy grits--a Georgia heirloom variety, custom ground--were served in a broth of clam juice and white wine and topped with slices of mild andouille sausage in addition to the shrimp.

We also sampled the baby arugula salad and Scotch egg starters. With shaved Parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a lemon olive oil dressing, the salad was light and refreshing for a hot summer day. The Scotch egg was heartier, with its crisp sausage coating and accompanying sweet sriracha-style sauce and stone-ground mustard.

A perennial favorite at Langermann's, the Low Country Louie adds lobster and shrimp to the traditional crab salad. The Creole mayo dressing makes the salad pleasantly spicy, and the corn kernels provide a bit of texture and sweetness to the dish.

We also sampled the pork belly appetizer, served over more of those delicious grits. The meat was perfectly cooked, with a crispy top layer and melt-in-your-mouth tender pork underneath. While it was lovely on its own, the smoky tomato jam and a sauce made from a reduction of the braising liquids made the dish more special. 

We also sampled a fellow diner's Pork Pops, savory spirals of roast pork and bacon with date and fig jam speared on lollipop sticks and glazed with hot honey. Maybe a bit trendy, but fun to eat and tasty to boot.

For an entree, I had a perfectly cooked piece of pan-roasted Alaskan halibut with a nice crusty top, served on a bed of corn, asparagus, and brown rice. The topping of sweet pickled peaches was unexpected, and the jury is still out on that.

The Minx's seared diver scallops were served in a rather autumnal cider butter sauce over a hash of sweet potato and mushroom. Coupled with the steamy hot weather outside, the dish really made her long for cooler weather. And while it all worked fine with scallops, the accompaniments would have been really perfect for a fat pork chop.

For dessert, the Minx had the rich bread pudding with creme anglaise while I opted for the light and citrussy key lime pie. Both were satisfying endings to a substantial meal.

Despite all of the many new restaurants that have been popping up in Canton recently, Langermann's still seems to be going strong. The spacious dining room was fairly busy that night, and there were several patrons enjoying the bar area as well. Langermann's has outdoor patio seating, too, where one can watch the comings and goings of Cantonites up and down Boston Street--a perfect way to spend a summer evening.

Langermann's
American Can Co, Building
2400 Boston St #101a
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-534-3287



Posted on Minxeats.com.