Mad Chef Kitchen & Bar

Last year's Mason Dixon Master Chef Tournament winner Fabio Mura is a busy man these days. Not only does he run the kitchen at Grille 620 and River Hill Grill, he's also in charge of food at the new Mad Chef Kitchen & Bar. Located in the same Turf Valley Town Square shopping center as Grille 620, Mad Chef Kitchen & Bar has the same casually elegant vibe as its two sister restaurants. But while the menu at Grille 620 has more of a steakhouse vibe and River Hill Grill has the elevated bar food thing perfected, the food at Mad Chef Kitchen has a bit more of an international flair. Evidence of Chef Mura's Sardinian roots peek in here and there, too.

Full disclosure: we've worked with Chef Mura in the past. He was featured in our book, Baltimore Chef's Table. That doesn't prevent us from speaking about his food honestly.

Between consulting with our waitress and the Chef, we decided on two small plates, one shared entree, and two desserts.

Mura drew inspiration for his Sardinian fonduta (the Italian version of fondue) from several things: a recent trip to Italy; the Sardinian honey and cheese pastries known as seadas; even fajitas. These elements became melty broiled provolone cheese drizzled with honey, citrus zest, and almonds, served on a hot cast iron plate with crispy rustic bread on the side. The flavors of the dish played well against each other, with the orange zest being an especially welcome addition. The cheese was also hot and somewhat gooey, but unlike melted mozzarella which tends to stay soft and traditional fondue which has a more liquid quality, the provolone was a little more solid and needed to be cut with a knife before manipulating it onto bread. Still, a flavorful start to the meal. I couldn't help think that this combination of ingredients would be killer on a pizza crust.

We didn't order the empanadas because we didn't want to be greedy, but Chef Mura sent them out anyway. The pastry was light, crisp, and greaseless, with a flavorful ground beef and onion filling. The accompanying salsa had a nice kick to it, but the empanadas were moist enough not to need a sauce other than their drizzle of lime crema.

We're a sucker for lamb ribs and are happy to see them pop up on menus more and more frequently. These were billed as "Korean barbecue" but didn't strike me as being from any one particular area of Asia. The sauce was light and sweet, but not cloying. The ribs themselves were very meaty, extremely tender and easy-to-eat, with a nice lamb-y flavor.

The luxurious paella for two included shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, lobster, and sizable chunks of scallop. I've made paella at home, but it was nowhere near as good as this stuff. The short-grain Bomba rice, redolent of saffron and seafood stock, was perfectly cooked, and the various sea creatures adorning it were tender. The scallops in particular were delightful, and I did my best to bogart all of them for myself.

Then there was dessert. Chef Mura himself said we must order the zeppole and his tiramisu, which had "a new twist." The twist turned out to be pretty innovative; rather than coffee-soaked ladyfingers topped with a mascarpone cream, the cream was layered between crepes. The dish had all of the flavors of the original, but with a completely different texture. Pretty clever, Chef!

While the tiramisu was delicious, the zeppole were fan-freaking-tastic. The sugar-dusted orbs of fried dough were impossibly fluffy and moist on the inside; pretty much perfect on their own. But a drizzle of the accompanying dark chocolate hazelnut orange sauce made them absolute heaven. A must-order.

Mr Minx and I very much enjoyed our meal at Mad Chef Kitchen & Bar. The restaurant was comfortable, the staff friendly, knowledgeable, and on-the-ball, and the food was very good.

A shout out to the young man who refilled our water glasses. His reply of "my pleasure" to our "thank you" was a refreshing change from the current usual reply of "no problem." It shouldn't be a problem to serve a paying guest, and indicating that possibility could exist tends to make guests over a certain age uncomfortable.

Mad Chef Kitchen & Bar
Turf Valley Towne Center
11085 Resort Road, #404
Ellicott City, MD 21042
(410) 203-0327
https://www.madchefkitchen.com/

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Sneha Indian Cuisine

The Catonsville/Ellicott City area has become a bastion of Asian cuisine and we're all better for it. The new, elegantly decorated Sneha Indian Cuisine is a welcome addition to the scene. Recently, the Minx and I were invited to try out a selection of their menu items. Our host for the evening, general manager Ravi Kuriseti, hails from Andhra Pradesh in southern India where the cuisine is richly seasoned and often quite hot in the pepper sense, so we looked forward to seeing how different Sneha's spicy fare would be compared to other Indian restaurants we've tried.

Mr Kuriseti strives to make his dishes authentic and has secured for Sneha what he thinks are some of the best recipes from cooks all over India. Though he's from the south, the dishes at Sneha represent several of the various native cuisines of India. This includes many of the Punjabi dishes that come to mind when most Americans think of Indian food, such as items prepared in a tandoor oven.

Sneha doesn't have a liquor license, but if you don't want to BYOB, there are plenty of beverage options, from the yogurt drinks called lassi, to masala tea, to typical Indian soft drinks. The Minx is an avid reader of modern Indian literature, so was eager to try the drinks she had read about again and again - Thums Up and Limca. Thums Up is a cola that's a bit sharper in taste to something like Coke or Pepsi. Limca is a lemon/lime drink which seems to have that similar sharp quality. Not sure what's going on there, but it's definitely different from what we're used to in the U.S.

We started our meal with a simple tomato soup, which was pleasantly creamy with a light black pepper bite. We also sampled the Tandoor Mixed Grill, featuring chicken, shrimp, and both lamb seekh kabobs and lamb chops. Everything had that wonderful smoky flavor and light char that can only be achieved with a tandoor oven.

Something new for me was the chat, typically a savory snack served by Indian street vendors. Sneha serves three varities of chat, the favorite of which is kale, lightly coated in gram flour and butter, then flash fried. Served with red onion and a sweet tamarind yogurt sauce, it's a delightful way to eat your vegetables. We gobbled it up.

It's super crisp when it comes to the table, but gets soggy fast so is best eaten quickly.

Pakoda, or pakora, when made with vegetables, tend to be like fritters. Chicken pakoda, however, are more like chicken nuggets: tender pieces of boneless chicken thigh that are lightly battered and fried. They're crispy, spicy, and juicy - definitely the best chicken pakoda (or pakora) we've ever had.

We also were treated to paneer grilled in the tandoor. Paneer is a firm, fresh cheese that can make for a great meat substitute. Giving it the high-temperature tandoor treatment makes perfect sense, as this cheese doesn't easily melt, and is quite tasty with grilled vegetables and the lovely coriander achaar (Indian pickles) sauce that came with all of the grilled or fried appetizers.

On to entrees. I chose the lamb roganjosh: boneless lamb in a hearty sauce of onion, cumin, and yogurt. I always felt that Indian dishes like this are wonderful comfort food. Hearty sauce, tender meat, complex seasoning, and (often) tongue-numbing heat. Served with basmati rice and naan, this made me very happy.

The Minx opted for the palak Lababdar, paneer nestled in a rich, spicy, sauce of tomato, onion, and chiles. It was also quite hearty and delicious, traits that make Indian vegetarian dishes as satisfying as those with meat.

The spicy shrimp fry enjoyed by others in our party is a hometown favorite of Mr Kuriseti. Tiny shrimp are dry-fried with onion, green chili, curry leaves, and cumin. The dish packs a kick that seems almost mild at first but quickly builds in intensity. The spice is addictive in that good way that entices one to keep eating more.

The chicken dum biryani is a little different than what most Americans might expect from this familiar rice dish. The "dum" part of the name refers the layering of the dish. The spicy chicken is on the bottom of the dish, with the rice on top. If you only take some rice from the top, it will seem mild. You must dig deep with your serving spoon to pull up the chicken in order to get the full impact of the chiles.

We also sampled three kinds of excellent naan--plain, garlic, and chili garlic--that were thinner and crisper than the pillowy stuff we were used to eating.

The desserts were also new to me. Rabri is milk that is cooked with sugar for six hours to create an almost milkshake consistency. Essentially a non-sticky sweetened condensed milk, it reminded us of a sweet, very smooth, rice pudding.

Junnu is a lumpy concoction made from jaggery (concentrated cane sugar) and cow's colostrum milk. (The colostrum is the first milk a cow makes after giving birth, and is high in nutrients. )That might sound a little off-putting, but the end result is a sweet, vaguely yogurt-like, custard with a subtle caramel flavor.

In addition to some old favorites, Sneha Indian Cuisine introduced me to several Indian dishes I had never experienced before. In fact, there is also a whole world of unfamiliar southern Indian foods represented on the menu. I'm looking forward to going back and trying some of the various dosa (thin crepes made from a fermented rice batter) and idli (steamed savory cakes).

While many of the dishes we tried were familiar to us--the roganjosh, and the biryani, for example--they were far from typical. Much of the Indian food we'd eaten in the past was clearly geared toward the American palate, sweet and creamy. While there was no shortage of richness and cream at Sneha, the flavors were far more intense and there was a bit of heat in most of the dishes we sampled. It was an eye-opening experience and a meal that left me feeling quite contented.

Sneha Indian Cuisine
6600 Baltimore National Pike
Catonsville, MD 21228
443-251-2187



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Honey Pig

After hearing about the greatness of Honey Pig's Korean bbq, we finally made a pilgrimage on a cloudy Friday afternoon. As soon as we were seated, someone rushed over with dishes of banchan, the little plates of pickles and such one normally gets in a Korean restaurant. Unlike some other places, Honey Pig's selection isn't particularly large, but it hits all the necessary garlick-y/tart/fishy/sweet notes.

As soon as we placed our order for bulgogi and pork belly, another server brought the raw goods to the table. Yet another person dumped the pork belly onto the grill and came back occasionally to turn the meat and rearrange it to optimize cooking. 

Soon everything was cooked, including a side dish of kimchi and beansprouts, and we were able to dig in. 

Both meats were tender and flavorful, possibly the best I've tasted (not that I have that much experience with Korean bbq, but I've eaten it here and there). The seafood pancake, or haemul pajeon, that we ordered as an appetizer came to the table during the Cooking of the Meat. We dug into the pancake's piping hot crispiness immediately. It was full of chewy bits of squid and scallions, and we devoured it.

Everything at Honey Pig was seriously delicious, except maybe the neon yellow lemonade, which was super sweet and artificial tasting. Next time, we'll stick to water. And we'll try other meats, the dumplings, and perhaps one of the soups or a bibimbap.

Honey Pig
10045 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042
(410) 696-2426




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Grille 620

Mr Minx and I were invited to dinner at Grille 620, a new restaurant in the Ellicott City (Marriottsville) area. Located in the new Turf Valley Towne Square complex, a couple left turns off I-70 W exit 83, the restaurant was hopping on a Wednesday night, a sign that the area not only needed a nice restaurant, but that the residents have already embraced it.

Grille 620 is owned by Ali Sadeghi and Gaby Haddad--both veterans of Ruth's Chris--and former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas. Running the kitchen is Sardinian chef Fabio Mura, whose menu is Modern American with some fusion-y bits. But not too many--mostly Asian touches here and there on familiar meat and seafood dishes.

Because we were a relatively large party that wanted to taste a bit of everything, we were presented with an appetizer sampler that included tuna tartare on wonton chips, grilled octopus with bean salad and lemon caper vinaigrette, and a pile of lump crabmeat with a little remoulade. We also received the chef's sampler of the day, a trio of Mediterranean dips including roasted garlic hummus, a finely diced Caprese salad, and Kalamata olive tapenade. Among the appetizers, the most flavorful were the tender octopus (that I couldn't stop eating) and the supremely fresh tuna tartare. We also sampled and enjoyed a selection of fresh oysters, including Blue Points, Malpeques, and some from the Chesapeake, served on the half shell with a tangy mignonette.

We each ordered an entree and did our best to sample both meat and seafood items. We ended up with a Creekstone Farms strip steak, stuffed chicken, lamb chops, diver scallops, crab cakes, and Thai bouillabaisse, plus side dishes of roasted asparagus, truffled mac and cheese, and three kinds of potato: Lyonnaise, steak fries, and baked. Mr Minx and I had the lamb chops and crab cakes and can attest that both were quite good.

The chops were cooked to medium, and came with a little pile of roasted brussels sprouts and a mint pesto-infused sauce. The broiled crab cakes were served with a tangy jicama and carrot slaw and a bit of creamy remoulade. While I like my crab cakes a little darker/crustier on the outside, the innards were the perfect ratio of meat to binder to breading: mostly meat, very slightly saucy, no detectable breading.

We also sampled seafood from the bouillabaisse that was ordered by a tablemate. The dish didn't really have anything Thai about it, nor was it particularly a bouillabaisse, since there wasn't nearly enough broth. What it was, however, was a pile of very fresh seafood including a chunk of mahi mahi and a humongous scallop, all cooked perfectly and most likely individually.

"Fresh" is the word at Grille 620. They have no freezer on premises, so all of their food is procured not all that long before being cooked; that freshness really showed with the seafood dishes.

Another diner seemed very  happy with his stuffed chicken.

The sides, particularly the potato dishes, were all successes. I'm not a huge potato eater, but I did enjoy the Lyonnaise-style new potatoes. The steak fries (below) were garnished with bacon, and also quite good.

We finished the meal with a trio of desserts, including a special strawberry shortcake, a dense bread pudding, and s'mores made with a rich chocolate ganache. My favorite was the bread pudding, which would make a fine dessert to share.

Overall, we were quite impressed with the food at Grille 620. The restaurant's atmosphere was somewhere between casual and upscale, and the food straddled the same line. One can get a Creekstone Farms burger at the bar, or something more elegant in the dining room. I definitely recommend trying the octopus, the oysters, and perhaps the enormous well-cooked scallops or the lamb chops. But the burgers sound pretty darn good, which means my next meal there is likely to be at the bar....

Grille 620
11099 Resort Road, Ellicott City
410-203-0620
http://grille620.com





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