Cunningham's Cafe

Recently, Mr Minx and I got to try samples of the delicious goodies available for breakfast and lunch at the new Cunningham's Cafe in Towson. Located under Cunningham's restaurant, this rustic-chic cafe features a menu of breakfast and lunch favorites that are served from 7am - 5pm Monday through Friday, and from 8am to 3pm on weekends.

As with Cunningham's upstairs and the other Bagby Group restaurants, everything at the Cafe is made in-house, and much of it is sourced from their own Cunningham Farms. Like the pork in the Porchetta sandwich, for example, which is served with fontina cheese, sweet peppers, broccoli raab, and aioli on a French roll. We also sampled the tender Roast Beef Boursin with onion, tomato, and horseradish aioli on a French roll and, my favorite, the more simple Tomato Jam with scallions on a cheddar biscuit. The petite oyster po' boys were delicious as well, and I am looking forward to going back and tucking into a full-sized model.

Also sampled were the lusciously creamy mac and cheese, and a plethora of desserts, including moist carrot cake cupcakes and ginormous chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. There's plenty more on offer as far as sweets are concerned, with pound cake, brownies, macarons, and more, all made by pastry chef Angie Lee. Head Baker John Aversa's products are also for sale. An array of his crisp-crusted breads are displayed behind the counter and are a focal point of the room. At least to this bread-lover. (We snagged a loaf of rosemary lemon, one of the regularly featured varieties. So good!)

There are beverages, too, including the Cafe's own cold-brewed iced coffee, made with beans from Annapolis' Ceremony Coffee Roasters, and a specialty cinnamon toast latte that will make you forget all about the seasonal drinks from that multinational coffee company down the street.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, please to enjoy the slideshow of our peek at Cunningham's Cafe, and then mosey on over there when you get a chance.

Cunningham’s Café & Bakery
1 Olympic Place
Towson, Maryland 21204
410-339-7750
info@cunninghamstowson.com



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Cracking the Barrel at Fork & Wrench

Canton’s The Fork & Wrench Restaurant and Bar at 2322 Boston Street is cracking open the barrel-aged Vieux Carré and Negroni cocktails tonight!

Barrel-aged cocktails are where a mixologist pre-mixes cocktails and puts them in individual wooden barrels for a couple of weeks so the flavors become more harmonious and rounded, the strong edges smoothed and softened. It is startling how wood and air can alter the taste of a drink.

Cocktail connoisseurs and novices alike will have the option of enjoying the barrel-aged cocktails: 1) full size; 2) half portion of a Vieux Carré and half of a Negroni; 3) or taste a half of a barrel aged Vieux Carré or Negroni and compare it to a non-barrel aged rendition.

Both drinks have interesting back stories:

The classic New Orleans Vieux Carré (pronounced veeyou care-ay, meaning "old square" and referring to the French Quarter) is said to be the most responsive to barrel aging. A fine balance of rye whiskey, brandy, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, and Peychaud’s bitters, the drink was created by Walter Bergeron at the Hotel Monteleone back in the 30’s.

No one knows the Negroni's origins for sure. It is said that in the early 1900’s, a Count Camillo Negroni invented the drink when he requested that his bartender replace the soda water in his then-favorite cocktail, the Americano, with gin. The bartender also added an orange garnish instead of the typical lemon. A simple cocktail with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, the Negroni can be thrown off if one ingredient is not exactly in the right proportion.

The Fork & Wrench’s mixologist, Shana Leachman, has timed the aging of both these cocktails for premium taste and robust flavor notes. The Fork & Wrench will serve no barrel-aged cocktail until its time. Notices will go up on their Facebook page and Twitter account @ForkandWrench, but pencil in Thursday, April 3rd and be the first to imbibe!



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Vivo Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar

If you've heard mention of "West County" recently and wasn't sure what it referred to, it's the western part of Anne Arundel County, which includes Hanover, Odenton, and Fort Meade. Not exactly the most glamorous area, unless you consider the fastest growing part of West County, Hanover's Arundel Mills development. In addition to the mall and Maryland Live! casino, Arundel Mills now boasts plenty of new housing and amenities. One of the newest communities in the development is Arundel Preserve. Just off 295 on Arundel Mills Boulevard, the Preserve is home to the swank new Hotel at Arundel Preserve and its two restaurants by New York restaurateur George Martin, Vivo and Grillfire.

Mr Minx and I were invited to taste some of Vivo's offerings at a recent media dinner. We started out with a few appetizers for the table before ordering entrees of our own.

Charcuterie plate with Sopressata, proscuitto, bresaola, gorgonzola, provolone, and taleggio,
with marinated olives, toasted stone oven flatbreads, and fig jam

We started out with a generous charcuterie plate featuring three Italian meats and three Italian cheeses, a nice combination of salty, savory, and creamy, punctuated by a sweet fig jam and olives. With a bottle of wine, it could make a nice meal in itself. And it was served on a gorgeous slab of burl wood that sadly was too large to fit in my purse....

Margherita pizza

We also sampled one of the restaurant's dozen pizzas, made in the Wood Stone oven visible just beyond the window into the open kitchen. In addition to the classic Margherita and white pizzas, Vivo has creative variations like crab imperial with mascarpone and a red pepper aioli, and proscuitto & pear with gorgonzola dolce. Yes, please!

Spinach arancini 

We also received a sampling of Vivo's arancini, which our host, Diane, says is the best she's had since her trip to Italy. The generously-sized balls of risotto and spinach were indeed quite nice, creamy and piping hot inside, with a delicate crust that was just barely able to hold in the molten rice.

Bucatini Carbonara with peas and a soft cooked egg

When Mr Minx, aka Mr Pasta, saw that Vivo offered one of his favorite pasta preparations, pasta Carbonara, he had to order it. The house-made bucatini was coated in a rich and cheesy sauce studded with bits of pancetta and peas and topped with a soft cooked egg. It was decadently delicious.

Pork shank osso buco with rosemary potatoes and tomato pan gravy

I opted to avoid pasta and chose a meat entree that came with potatoes, just to be different. While osso buco is traditionally made with veal shank, pork shank works just as well. The one I received was gargantuan, and the spoon-tender meat was glazed with a sheen of tomato gravy and a sprinkle of herbs. The potatoes were darkly roasted and had a mild rosemary flavor that did not detract from the lusciousness of the meat.

Chicken Parmesan, without the cheese

Other dishes at our table include chicken Parmesan, which our tiny host ordered without cheese because she's afraid of getting fat like me. (I'm happy to eat her cheese for her.) The breast cutlets were thin and crispy, and I liked that the breading wasn't over-seasoned.

Bucatini with lobster and shrimp

Another tablemate had the bucatini in a creamy sauce flavored with Chardonnay and thyme and studded with bits of lobster and shrimp. After tasting it, I almost regretted my decision not to order pasta, because it was delicious, with a nice brininess from the seafood. Vivo makes all of its pasta (except the linguine) in-house, from gnocchi to ravioli to rigatoni, using their fancy imported pasta machine. 

Despite being stuffed, we also sampled a trio of the restaurant's desserts, including a lovely light tiramisu served in a jar and garnished with a crisp biscotto. While cute, the jar lid was heavy and made the container a little tipsy.

...a moist olive oil cake topped with fig jam and vanilla ice cream...

...and crisp miniature cannoli stuffed with Nutella-infused ricotta.

Despite trying several dishes, we really tasted only a small selection of the goodies Vivo has to offer. We can hardly wait to go back and try the crispy Parmesan polenta, lobster risotto, malfadine Bolognese, rockfish and baby clams Livornese, and some of the more non-traditional pizzas. But first, we have to check out Grillfire, the George Martin restaurant across the lobby, which seems to have a pretty rocking happy hour....

Vivo Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar
7793-B Arundel Mills Blvd
Hanover, MD 21076
(410) 799-7440
http://www.vivotrattoria.com/





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Wit on the Water

Wit & Wisdom, in the Four Seasons Baltimore, will be reopening their lovely outdoor patio very soon. Very soon. In fact the kickoff will be next Wednesday, April 9th, a joint event with Audi Hunt Valley to introduce the new 2015 Audi A3. Starting at 4pm, attendees can enjoy live music, lite fare, a photo booth, and an exclusive chance to preview the new A3. There will also be a special A3 Mule cocktail to commemorate the event. And...the first 100 guests to arrive will receive complimentary valet parking, courtesy of Audi Hunt Valley.

Executive Chef Zack Mill's tavern menu will include housemade charcuterie and four burgers like the bourbon steak, topped with Cabot clothbound cheddar, sour pickles, and top-secret sauce. There's also a lamb burger with confit tomatoes, pan-seared onions, and tzatziki. And in warmer weather, we'll all be happy to slurp the War Shore Oyster Company oysters and crack the crab on the ice-cold shellfish platter.

Lest you think that April 9th seems a bit early for outdoor dining, Wit on the Water will be equipped with new outdoor heaters, which will allow for extending the season well into the fall. There are also new flat screen televisions, and a special Wednesday happy hour that extends the usual festivities and dining specials a full hour to 8pm.

For more information visit Wit & Wisdom’s website at www.witandwisdombaltimore.com or call 410.576.5800.



Posted on Minxeats.com.