Bistro Blanc's Janny Kim Having Success In The Kitchen And In The Mason-Dixon Challenge

The chef from Bistro Blanc is carrying the Howard County flag into a local battle among restaurants.

Janny Kim has reached the semi-finals of the Mason-Dixon Challenge, a contest where chefs cook head-to-head similar to Iron Chef or other reality shows.

Kim takes on a Timonium chef on Monday in "Battle South East Asia" at the Inn At The Collonade in Baltimore.  You can buy tickets to the event.

We need to get out and give Bistro Blanc another try.  In April, the Glenelg restaurant got a resounding review from Richard Gorelick in the Sun.  Gorelick loved everything from small plates to fish to dessert.  It's another place on my list to re-try.

Chef Change At Bistro Blanc; Marc Dixon To Balt.

The original chef at Bistro Blanc has moved to a Baltimore restaurant -- that's Marc Dixon heading to Bond Street Social, reports Richard Gorelick in the Sun.  Gorelick says the new chef at Bistro Blanc is Janny Kim.

What Could Have Been At Bistro Blanc

Burgers at Bistro Blanc

Just for the record, they invited me for burgers at Bistro Blanc.

The mass email on Wednesday promoted half-priced burgers, and I made an impulse decision to go to Glenelg for gourmet beef and beer.

It could have been great.  The pickle was awesome.  The dehydrated mushrooms were inspired.  Some of the fries were the perfect  execution that you'd want in a high-end restaurant -- scattered with melted parmesan and served with sweet roasted garlic cloves.

But the night had collapsed by the time those arrived.

Five minutes waiting for them to set the table we had reserved.  Five minutes standing at the empty bar hoping in vain someone could tell me about the beers.  Forty minutes after ordering that we waited for our meal.

Forty minutes, and we weren't alone.  At one point, there were only two tables with food, and everyone else was waiting.  The table next to us waited longer than we did, and they were actually told "We ran out of buns.  They're bringing more from the supermarket.  They'll be here in four minutes."  Then the waiter promised a cheese plate that no one delivered.

By the end, the entire staff had given up.  Our waitress just apologized.  Clearly, something had gone wrong in back.  Really wrong.  We knew immediately that the burgers were medium rare, not medium well.  We just couldn't endure sending them back.  Mrs. HowChow ended up leaving the raw center on her plate.  One of the "supermarket" burgers must have been similar because the other table did send it back.

We have friends who really enjoy Bistro Blanc.  We even loved bits of the meal like those pickles, the mushrooms, sprouts and lettuce garnishes, and the bread basket.  But we have had a series of sloppy, disappointing dinners, including an epic failure in 2009.  We couldn't get over last night's experience -- a lonely 40 minutes and badly-cooked meat.

Most of the time, poor meals just disappear for us.  We recommend good things on HowChow and just don't mention the disappointments.  But Bistro Blanc wants to be something special.  That burger normally costs $14.  It can't be raw on the night when they invite people over for burgers.

Bistro Blanc Opening Chef's Table & Private Dining, Plus Mirocjo News And Hot Dog Stand

The "cellar" room at Bistro Blanc

One bit of news for local diners -- Bistro Blanc in Glenelg is opening a new "cellar" room next week for private dining and a chef table looking into the kitchen.

This is a standard these days in city restaurants.  But I don't know another "chef table" in Howard County (although I admit that most of my meals aren't spent in high-end places).  Rajneesh emailed me about the new space, which they have renovated and will soon outfit with a custom chef table.

(Update:  See Mary's comment below.  Aida Bistro has a chef table for two to four, and that would be a great place to eat as well.)

The new space is on the same level as the main dining room, but renovated out like a stone cellar.  Rajneesh says they will be able to accomodate 18 for private dining and eight for the chef table looking into the kitchen.  We actually chose Bistro Blanc for my birthday, and I'm months late to write an update post.

(The open kitchen made me remember again Marc Maron's great interview with Anthony Bourdain and the snippet where Bourdain talked about missing the days of closed kitchen when he could scratch himself anywhere without diners watching.  If you like podcasts, check out Maron's adult interviews of comedians and other entertainers -- 50 free on iTunes and 150+ more through his app.)

Others news, questions and comments from the past week:

• Does anyone know about an ice cream shop / hot dog cart opening in downtown Ellicott City, asked s5.
• What about tamales?  Ted emailed me asking if I knew anywhere to buy tamales.  He remembers a Columbia Flier article about a local woman who makes thousands of tamales at the holiday season.  Ted wants tamales.
• And what about Nora's Kabob?  Kevin emailed to say he has seen a sign on the shopping center on Rte 40.  But he couldn't find the restaurant.
• There will be a new restaurant in Gateway Plaza in Columbia called Rudy's Mediterranean Grill, reports Junior Barnes.  He said last week that it looked like it might be opening soon.



Egg crepe at Wong Gee in Wheaton

• Several folks posted about the Frostberry frozen yogurt place on Rte 40 in Ellicott City, including Brian in EC.  Unclear if it is actually open.  This is the spot that used to be called Iceberry.  Kmmalloyzz said the manager said last fall that the name changed because of their bubble tea recipes.
• Min emailed me that Micocjo in Ellicott City was renovated this fall and recently reopened.  That was  Korean restaurant with a generalist / barbecue menu.  Has anyone been to the new place?  Min went outside HoCo for her recommendation -- egg crepes with durian cream on the Sunday dim sum menu at Wong Gee in Wheaton. Another place I need to try.

WPost Critic Says Bistro Blanc "Worth The Drive"

If you want to go to Bistro Blanc soon, you had better make your reservations today.

On Sunday, food critic Tom Sietsema will publish a two-star review of the Glenelg restaurant in the Washington Post Magazine -- full of comments that you shouldn't miss certain dishes and under a headline saying "worth the drive." Thanks to Trip Klaus for alerting me to the oncoming review. Thanks to HowICook, I got to share the early read.

Congratulations to Raj, Marc and everyone at Bistro Blanc. Originally, I posted the entire review because it was on a public page of the WPost's Web site, but one I was concerned might be linked back to my source. This is just a taste because BillZ found the official page:

Bistro Blanc? The name of the wine shop and restaurant in rural, wealthy Glenelg comes as a bit of a surprise when I make the establishment's acquaintance. Everywhere I look, I see dark evidence to the contrary: red wines, burnt-orange walls, amber lighting and servers in black uniforms.

Bistro Blanc in Glenelg

Bistro Blanc has served my best meal in Howard County and the worst meal of my life.

You should check out Bistro Blanc on Rte 32 in Glenelg. You can get spectacular food. Imaginative food. A meal that Elizabeth Large

thinks is worth a drive from Baltimore, so it's a no-brainer if you're lucky enough to live around here. But you need to be a tough customer.

Bistro Blanc is trendy in the best possible way. The seasonal trend means changing, imaginative dishes. Small plates let you experiment and share a table's worth of fun. These are the trends that spawned Woodberry Kitchen and Iron Bridge Wine Co, and they created a magical meal on my first visit to Bistro Blanc. We thrilled through a series of bright, full flavors. A watermelon carpaccio. An avocado soup. A cheese tart with plums. Each course was inventive, then exceeded by the next. We ended with an herbed panna cotta that was so perfect that I strained to remember the details of the dishes that came before. I left convinced that it was the best restaurant in Howard County.

That is why our Labor Day disaster was such a surprise. We went back so that I could profile Bistro Blanc energized by great food, and we ended up with bad food and bad service. Really bad service. I'm not going into detail. I have set aside my overly-detailed, overtly-angry first draft and offer instead some basic advice:

• If you get anything bad at Bistro Blanc, send it back immediately. Don't smile politely when they say your fig tart has no figs because they're out of season. Ask for a different dish. Bistro Blanc wants to serve magical food. If they fall short, tell someone -- politely. They want you happy.
• Stay on top of your waiter. Don't expect perfection. Both times, waiters we liked were a bit goofy and mis-described the menu or food. Fine with us. But our Labor Day disaster occurred because our main waitress took our order and never returned even though we were sitting 15 feet from the manager. By the time I made my stand, we had been abandoned to bad food and dirty dishes, and our evening was a mess.

Nothing at Bistro Blanc should be a mess. When the kitchen is on, the dishes are beautiful. Unique, sculptural plates with unique, sculptural food. The chef Marc Dixon started at Iron Bridge, and Bistro Blanc

shares the same concept of wine store / wine bar / restaurant. I love Iron Bridge for the cozy atmosphere and the sometimes funny food -- the "burger, fries and a milkshake" that Mrs. HowChow and I still talk about. Bistro Blanc is more precise than funny. Imagine a fruit and cheese tart covered with greens on plate dotted with sauces. That could be a vegetarian thicket of bitter lettuces, but it came together beautifully. Great flavor. The illusion that I controlled the dish by dipping in sauces, but the truth was that the chef had thought out each piece and assembled something that I would never imagine at home. (And it would have been worth ordering if it had figs.)

Bistro Blanc's owner heard about my disaster because I mentioned it to BillZ of Live in Howard County. The owner emailed to apologize. It turned out my wife had been right to wonder whether people had taken off the holiday. The second team -- no Chef Dixon, no owner out front -- had ruined the tuna and served the fig tart with watermelon. Don't let that anomaly keep you away. Bistro Blanc still serves terrific food, and there are surprises -- of the good kind -- yet to eat out there.

(Update: There are some detailed comments about Bistro Blanc below. Read them. Trip Klaus writes great reviews on Urbanspoon. Lukes appears to be starting a food blog, and I'm always trying to support the locals.)

If you enjoy seasonal cuisine, definitely check out Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore and Iron Bridge in Columbia. Because Bistro Blanc is on Rte 32 just south of I-70, it would be fun to pair with a visit to Larriland for pick-your-own apples and pumpkins this fall.

(Update: I put Bistro Blanc on my Top 10 list. Click here for the 2009 "best restaurants" in Howard County.)

Bistro Blanc
3800 Ten Oaks Rd
Glenelg, MD 21737
(410) 489-7907

NEAR: Drive west on Rte 32. It is a really easy drive about 11 miles west of Rte 108. Take the exit ramp for Ten Oaks Road. At the top of the ramp, use the traffic circle to cross back over Rte 32 on the new bridge. On the other side, use the traffic circle to go on Ten Oaks Road. Ten Oaks runs parallel to Rte 32, and you have basically headed back in the opposite direction. Bistro Blanc is on the right in the first shopping center.

DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE DIRECTIONS because they don't account for the new bridge that eliminated the "at grade" intersection of Rte 32 and Ten Oaks Road.

Bistro Blanc Gets A Nice Review -- And Offers Some Wine Dinners

Bistro Blanc got a very nice review Sunday from Elizabeth Large in the Sun.  She says the small plates paired with wine are worth a drive from Baltimore -- so this is certainly a place worth checking out if you're lucky enough to live closer.

The Glenelg restaurant is run by the former chef at Iron Bridge Wine Company.  I haven't been yet, but Bistro Blanc shares the Iron Bridge formula of small plates, refined food, and a focus on wine. 

Bistro Blanc is offering two wine dinners this summer where winemakers will actually come talk about their vintages over four-course meals.  On June 22, the dinner will cost $75 and feature wines from Wolf Blass in Australia.  On July 20, the dinner will cost $100 and feature California wines from Duckhorn Vineyards.

For more information, check out the restaurant's own blog.  BillZ of the Live in Howard County blog is working for Bistro Blanc and publicizing news and other items about the restaurant and its chef Marc Dixon.

Bistro Blanc To Be Reviewed In The Sun

The Baltimore Sun is coming to Howard County this Sunday when Elizabeth Large reviews Bistro Blanc in Glenelg.  Her blog post says it is "well worth the drive" -- and you know the Sun means the drive from Pikesville or Roland Park, so it must be worth the drive from here.

I haven't been to this restaurant, which is run by a former chef from Iron Bridge Wine Company.  But BillZ at Live in Howard County raves about the place.  BillZ's dining update about Bistro Blanc is here.  (And I see that he noticed Large's blog post yesterday.)