Family Meal - Baltimore

Chef Bryan Voltaggio has made quite a name for himself in the Baltimore/DC area. He started with one ambitious restaurant in Frederick, Volt, then went on to open Lunchbox, Range, Family Meal, and Aggio. There's an Aggio in Baltimore now, and just recently a third Family Meal opened here too.

Located on Pier 4, just past the Power Plant and across from the National Aquarium, Family Meal's space is open and clean, with an open kitchen and welcoming bar area. Mr Minx and I were among more than a dozen members of the media invited to a tasting of Chef Voltaggio's classic American fare.

The Keeper

The food at Family Meal borrows heavily from home cooking. Some of it, like the fried chicken, biscuits, pimento mac and cheese, and braised greens, has a Southern touch. The meatloaf, breakfast for dinner, and milkshakes bring to mind an upscale diner. And the little touches, like housemade pickles and hot sauce, creme fraiche with the chili, and the touch of salt cod in the spinach artichoke dip let you know you're in a Nice Restaurant. Albeit a family-friendly one (there's a kids' menu, too).

Onion rings

We started out with a couple cocktails, the Raven (vodka, ginger beer, black berries, creme de violette) and the Family Meal Sous Vide Sazerac (Catoctin Creek rye, lemon, fennel, peychauds bitters). Later we sampled the Devil You Knew (reposado tequila, pomegranate syrup, ginger, lemon) and the Keeper (vodka infused with "our bay" seasoning, pickle brine). All four of beverage director Dane Nakamura's drinks were refreshingly un-sweet and easy to drink. We especially enjoyed the Keeper, a nice twist on a (very) dirty martini.

On to the grub. There was so much of it, yet we didn't taste everything on the menu by far. What we did try: deviled eggs with smoked applewood bacon; cornflake breaded onion rings with bacon horseradish dip; spinach artichoke dip with salt cod, homemade seasoned soda crackers; chili with the fixins, charred lime crema, and aerated cheese; beef and onion soup; a wedge salad and a chopped salad that was like an antipasti plate or Italian cold cut sub in a bowl, but without the hot peppers; a lobster roll; fried chicken with jalapeno biscuits and housemade hot sauce; meatloaf with "everything" mashed potatoes and garlicky spinach; salmon with cannellini beans and cabbage; pimento mac and cheese; braised greens; banana scotch pudding; cream-sicle pie; and last but not least, a brownie-like chocolate dessert topped with ice cream, caramel sauce, and peanut butter powder.

Banana scotch pudding, chocolate/pb/caramel yumminess

Whew.

While every dish was well-thought-out, fresh, and delicious, there were some real stand-outs. That beef and onion soup, for example, is Chef Voltaggio's spin on French onion soup. There are caramelized onions, chunks of braised short rib, and croutons, all smothered in a blanket of the stretchiest aged Vermont cheddar imaginable. So rich and unctuous, it would definitely make a satisfying meal if paired with one of the lighter salads. The spinach and artichoke dip, flavored with a soupcon of salt cod, was so far elevated above the typical home-made party-food version that it practically levitated. There were housemade saltines on the side, but I was eating it with a spoon. We also loved loved loved the desserts, particularly the banana scotch pudding, which was surprisingly light.

While Bryan Voltaggio is the owner and face of Family Meal, I also have to give a shout-out to his Chef de Cuisine, Keith Long, who is in charge of the day-to-day running of the restaurant. Full disclosure: a couple of Chef Long's recipe were featured in our cookbook, Baltimore Chef's Table.

Check out all the images from our meal in this slideshow.






Posted on Minxeats.com.

Top Chef Las Vegas Finale Part Two Recap

Here we are at last, finally the final finale for Top Chef Las Vegas, a season of sheer professionalism and relative lack of drama. Honestly, I miss the shenanigans of past seasons - they made for more entertaining recaps.

It's been a long, long, long season and our three remaining cheftestants are looking forward to their final battle. Kevin is both "pumped" and "stoked." And the Brothers Voltaggio are bickering amongst themselves. At least neither of them says "awesome" or walks around with hugemongous umbrellas.

They stop needling each other long enough to put on their chef coats and head out to the Rutherford Hill Winery, where they find Tom and Padma standing in the blazing sun.

Tom gives them their final challenge - prepare a three course meal. Sounds simple enough, right? But this is Top Chef, so there's a twist. The first course must be prepared from a Chopped-style "Mystery Box." (The Food Network has been ripping off Top Chef in their competitions for a few years now. Turnaround is fair play, I suppose.) For the second course, the cheftestants can prepare anything they wish from any available ingredients. And finally, the third course must be dessert. The meal will be prepared and served at Cyrus, a Michelin 2-Star restaurant in Healdsburg, and served to top restaurateurs. Tom says that this meal can make their careers.

Then Padma tells the cheftestants they will have help, and from the surrounding vineyard emerge the first 437 eliminated chefs, from Jen Z to Jen C. Jen C. is carrying the knife block, the sight of which causes Michael to say that there are a couple of names he could pull that would make him slit his own throat.

It would have been fun had he picked Robin, but the ensuing bloodbath would probably have been too much of a distraction for Kevin and Bryan. And one of those two is going to win this thing, right? Instead, he gets Jesse and Eli. Kevin ends up with Preeti and Ash, and Bryan gets the best of the bunch with Jen C. and Ashley. One of these sous chefs will help them with prep, the other will help them cook the next day.

With 15 minutes to plan, the chefs head to the kitchen to examine their Mystery Box [insert dirty joke here]. It contains Pacific rockfish, kabocha squash, Dungeness crab, Meyer lemon, matsutake mushrooms, and anise hyssop.

I love the way my spell check is recommending different words for kobocha (kaboom, kabob), Dungeness (dungeons, dungarees, strangeness), and matsutake (matchmaker, mistake) but seems to think that "hyssop" is just fine.

Kevin is upset at getting stuck with "I'm a Lesbian But I Can't Shuck Clams" Preeti. He doesn't have much faith in her abilities so gives her very few things to do, none of which involve pasta salad. Bryan, on the other hand, is quite pleased with his own personal lesbian helper, Ashley. And Michael is on his knees thanking the heavens that he didn't pull Robin.

The next morning, Kevin is upset because he feels he lost the whole first day being mad at Preeti. Michael is still contemplating the contents of the Mystery Box. Suddenly, there's an ominous knock on the door. Immediately they speculate that it's Padma announcing another twist, but instead they find...

Mom Gillespie reminds me of a faded country singer, with her sparkly eye shadow and blue eye-liner.

Voltaggio Mom helps her little boys button their jackets and roll their sleeves and reminds them that they are brothers and best friends, no matter what happens. :::sniff:::

Mom Gillespie lets her little boy roll his own sleeves, but tells Kevin to be himself and that he's got what it takes to beat the Volt Boys.

They then leave their Moms behind and head to Cyrus to finish prepping and cooking. Tom meets them there and finally gives them the expected extra twist. Instead of a three-course meal, they must now prepare a four-course meal, with the first course being an hommage to their mommies. Something inspired by a childhood dish.

Kevin decides to make something with chicken skin, since that was his mama's favorite part of the chicken (a woman after my own heart). Bryan says his parents divorced when the kids were very young, and if that wasn't bad enough, their mom made a lot of tuna casserole. And he was going to make it even yuckier by using sardines. Michael said he likes to transform things he doesn't like to eat into things he does like to eat, so he opts to play with the hated broccoli.

With three hours left until they must plate the first dish, they have to get cracking, especially with a fourth course on the table. Michael has finally figured out what he wants to make with his Mystery Box, and calls it a "scavenger hunt" of flavor. Later, when it's time to plate his first course, we hear him say that it's "bold and rustic" as he's spooning some spooge-like foam onto the broccoli. Doesn't get more rustic than foam....

The cheftestants enter the dining room with their first dishes and notice their moms seated at the table along with Tom, Gail, Toby, and Padma, plus restaurateurs Douglas Keane of Cyrus, Donatella Arpaia, Stephen Starr, Drew Nieporent, Sam Nazarian, and wine guy Bill Terlato. Padma then apologizes to the moms, saying that the judges' comments to their baby boys may seem a little harsh.

After the first course, the moms are unceremoniously kicked out. Next up is the Mystery Box course. Kevin's dish is merely ok, and features a tough mushroom. Bryan's dish is bland and safe and is compared to a "blind date you don't want to go on." As if anyone ever looks forward to a blind date. (I had one and it was a nightmare. The guy didn't make eye contact, nor did he speak to me even once. Thank goodness it was a double date with my then-best friend. Believe me, bland fish would have been far preferable.) Michael's dish is the best-received of the three, although nobody mentions scavenger hunts.

The third course is "Chef's Choice" and of course Kevin chooses to make pork. Unfortunately, it seems that his pork belly didn't get cooked long enough. And at this point I'm realizing he's not going to win this competition. That means Bryan is going to be victorious, right?

Bryan, who reveals to all assembled that he hunts, is told that his venison dish is perfectly cooked, "rich and pungent," and not at all bland. That gives me hope. Michael's squab is excellent, but Gail thought the sundry mushroom and pistachio garnishes were gimmicky. Ok! Go Bryan!

Finally - the dreaded mandatory dessert course. Kevin had worried earlier on that dessert was not his strong suit, so he opted to use an ingredient that was more in his wheelhouse - bacon. Bacon desserts are starting to be a bit played out, I'm afraid, and there were mixed emotions about Kevin's bacon and bananas among the judges. Michael's cake was overbaked and dry, but overall it was "almost very good." Bryan's cheesecake with fig sorbet, on the other hand, showed real finesse. Yay! Bryan is going to take this competition! Right? Right?

Despite my wishful thinking, at this point I'm positive Kevin has lost. I'm (obviously) rooting for Bryan, but a small sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me that Michael is going to end up winning this thing.

Next we see the cheftestants once again stewing in the Please Buy Chimney Rock Wines Stew and Sip room, this time without the wine to take the edge off. I need a glass myself, at this point.

Bryan, Michael, and Kevin all head off to Judges' Table by themselves, like big boys, without Padma having to come in to get them or their mommies to re-roll their sleeves.

The judges tell the cheftestants about their successes and mistakes. And then Padma asks the always-stupid question "why do you deserve to be Top Chef?" Bryan seems a bit flustered, but tells the judges that he thought he expressed his cuisine well throughout the competition. Michael wants to win because he doesn't want Bryan to win. Then he adds, "Food is me. Food is how I express myself." Damn good thing he has food, because grammar isn't his strong suit. And we hear from Kevin that he loves food (no!) and its ability to comfort people.

Back at the stew room, all three seemed slightly depressed.

The judges make their decision and call the cheftestants out to stand before them one last time.

Padma fakes us out by saying, "Kevin..." (long pause) "...you are not Top Chef." At which point he hugs everyone and goes back to the stew room to be comforted by his mom.

It's down to the Volt Boys. And the winner is....

Bah. Oh, he deserves to win alright, unlike Hosea. He's a talented chef, but he was my fourth choice to be Top Chef, after Bryan, Kevin, and Jen C. Sigh.

Next week: A Top Chef Reunion where we, no doubt, will hear how much certain people hated Robin. Yawn.

Top Chef Las Vegas Finale Part One Recap

This week on Top Chef - the Finale, Part Un!

The chefs are in the verdant, grape-filled Napa Valley, ready for the penultimate battle. In a confidential, Jen tells us she is excited to be in Napa and says she's on Top Chef for her mom, who taught her how to cook. And apparently gave her a quick make-up lesson when she got back home.

We then cut to Jen hanging out at a quaint old train station. Michael shows up and tells us he thinks the competitive level is equal among the four. Notice he said "competitive level" not "quality of chefs" because you know he's still thinking he's better than Kevin. And everyone else.

Kevin arrives next. He made a promise to himself to not be happy accepting anything other than a spot in the finals. So he would be happy coming in second, third, or fourth? Doubt it.

Finally, Bryan comes strolling down the platform with a huge fucking umbrella, big enough for the four of them and a small herd of cattle. Suddenly I'm annoyed, remembering how big umbrellas on crowded sidewalks piss me off. It happened just yesterday afternoon, in fact. And then Bryan tries to charm himself back into my good graces by talking about how his son greeted him at Dulles when he flew back home after all those weeks in Vegas. Yeah, right. He probably started rifling through his bags while saying, "What did you bring me?" like all kids do when their dads get back from business trips.

Meanwhile, back at the station....

A train pulls in from which emerges a pregnant Padma wearing a tight sweater dress that shows off her baby bump. With her is my least favorite Top Chef Masters finalist, Michael Chiarello.

We then hear Michael Voltaggio proclaim Chiarello "awesome," which only adds to my Voltaggio-fueled annoyance.

Padma then breaks it to the four remaining cheftestants that, since they are in wine country, they will be using grapes as the main ingredient for the Quickfire Challenge.

They will have 30 minutes to cook and serve their dishes to Padma and Chiarello - all on the train. This is also the final "High Stakes" Quickfire, this time the prize is a 2010 Toyota Prius. I can't see "Prius" without thinking of the South Park episode "Smug Alert!" in which everyone drives a "Pious" and loves the smell of their own farts.

We then see the chefs in their whites, scurrying about on the moving train.

Accidentally. Of course. Poor Kevin suffers from motion sickness and ponders how to incorporate vomit into his dish.

Michael runs off and snags a quiet corner to himself before Bryan can steal the same area; this pisses off Big Brother who is forced to work in a confined space with two other people. One of whom is worried about knives slipping and the other of whom is trying not to puke.

The cooking is over in the blink of an eye. All four chefs serve Padma and Chiarello at once. Kevin goes first with his mousse-and-spew combo. Michael then serves his stuffed grape leaves. Bryan serves a game hen with Brussels sprouts and concord grapes, which gets a raised eyebrow from Chiarello - although concords were on the Table O' Grapes, they are not really a Napa product. Jen does a chicken liver and clam dish that sounds kinda gross but turns on Chiarello enough that he says he may steal it for his restaurant. But he's not turned on enough to give her the win, which he instead awards to Michael. Padma tosses him the keys to the car, at which point he farts and bends over to inhale.

Come on! You had to have seen that coming!

The next morning, we find the chefs at the Meritage Resort and Spa where they are allowed cellphones - for product placement reasons, of course. They then head to the Rutherford Hill Winery where they once again find Padma and Chiarello. The Pregnant One tells them they will be catering a "Crush Party" for 150 guests. Each cheftestant will have to create one vegetarian and one meat dish, in five hours, using only local ingredients. Part of the 5 hours will be spent sourcing the food, conveniently located at a faux farmers' market set up at Long Meadow Ranch. Bryan tells us he chose his restaurant location because it's near fresh ingredients. He thinks farmers markets are fun. And Jen tells us she has 5,000,000 ideas in her head but she's choosing to work with duck.

They cart their vegetable bounty to the kitchens at Brix, where they will be cooking and serving their food.

Jen, as always, is a little scattered.

I guess with 5,000,000 ideas in one's head, it's easy to forget things.

Kevin wants to beat Michael to show him that simple cooking can win.

The man is ready, can you tell?

Jen sets up her station near Kevin, who asks her if she has her ideas straight. Between the two of them, at least, there's comraderie.

On the other side of the room, however, the Voltaggios are secretly seething at each other. Bryan thinks that since he uses local ingredients all the time, this challenge is more up his alley than his brother's. But honestly? I don't want to know what's up Michael's alley.

Tom comes in for his Sniff 'n' Sneer and surprisingly doesn't have anything particularly snide or superior to say to any of the chefs.

Soon the cooking time is up and they must carry their wares outside to feed the impending hoardes of hungry guests.

The judges - Padma, Chiarello, Tom, Gail, and The Boobies - descend upon Bryan's table first, where he serves them goat cheese ravioli and short ribs. Despite general undersalting, both dishes are successful. Michael is next. His foie gras and turnip soup is good (a partygoer called him a genius, if I remember correctly), but the poached egg in his vegetarian dish is a little too snotty around the edges for Padma's taste. And you know if Padma doesn't like something, we're going to hear about it for the rest of the episode.

Kevin's simple vegetable dish of beets and carrots was a "brilliant" use of seasonal vegetables. His polenta was also appreciated, but his still-not-tender brisket was called out as being too ropy. Jen's goat cheese with radishes and basil was an interesting combination of flavors but suffered from too much salt. Her duck, which she confitted rather than smoked as she had originally intended, "tasted like duck." Which one can assume is: 1) what it should taste like; 2) a good thing. But you never know with these judges.

Fakeout Scene!

The four cheftestants go to wine caves and meet Tony Terlato who tries to get them drunk. Jen admits to having a high alcohol tolerance.

/fakeout

The stew room and Judges Table are held at the Chimney Rock Winery. It's a much classier stew room than the cheftestants are used to - they get to sit on real chairs at a real table and there are no piles of Glad products in the corners. Padma comes into the Please Buy Chimney Rock Wines Stew and Sip Room and asks for the presence of all four cheftestants at Judges' Table.

Kevin's vegetarian dish was "stellar" and "stunning in its simplicity" but his beef was tough. Bryan's pasta dough was perfect, and his dishes had a surprising level of flavor, although there wasn't enough of the advertised fig glaze on his beef. Even still, it was enough to get him the win. And Chiarello didn't even give him a cheesy cookbook.

Michael's vegetarian dish suffered from the brunoise of vegetables which Gail suggested could have had a more rustic cut for more texture, and of course Padma's runny egg was the big issue. His foie gras was great, but Gail thought there was too much of the bitter turnip green soup.

Jen's cheesy course was good, albeit too salty. Once again her duck was pronounced to have great duckiness. But that's apparently the best thing they could say about the dish.

Although it seemed that Michael's errors were more egregious - after all, how can one forgive a runny egg? - Jen's dishes had more flaws. Or something like that. I think they all drank too much wine, although presumably not Padma. She's pregnant, after all.

Next week - the final three duke it out for $125,000 and Padma wears more tight clothing!