Link: T-Bonz on the Baltimore Beer Guy

T-Bonz Grille & Pub in Ellicott City gets a thumbs up from the Baltimore Beer Guy blog in the middle of his January roundup of beer events.

The BBG blog is the place if you're looking for local craft beers and seasonal brews.  The BBG says T-Bonz is a place to go if you're looking to actually drink something interesting:

I only discovered they were a beer place by stopping by for the food. Lo and behold its actually a legit craft beer bar as well, with around 10 taps and an interesting collection of bottles and seasonal themed offerings. Nobody talks about them but seriously they're probably the best (craft beer) thing going in Howard County after the Holy Trinity that is Frisco Grille/The Judges Bench/Victoria Gastro Pub.

Link: Timbuktu on Kevin & Ann

Kevin went for the "famous" crabcakes at Timbuktu in Elkridge, and he didn't leave impressed, according to his post on Kevin & Ann Eat Everything.  I remember enjoying my crabcake at Timbuktu, but not enough that I have been back since late 2008.

Like Kevin, I stopped at Timbuktu on the way home from BWI.  Now, I think I'd stop for post-flight dinner at the Maiwand Kabob just off the BW Parkway on Arundel Mills Road.  It's the same menu and same quality as the Maiwand Kabob in Columbia.

Link: The White House Chef on Columbia Talk

The White House chef Cristeta Comerford lives in Columbia -- a fact that I just learned from the Columbia Talk blog and that I thought was cool enough to link.

I'd love to know where the White House chef eats in Howard County.  If someone knew them, I'd love ask politely.  My email is in the right column.

Good News For January: Local Restaurants Opening Or Expanding This Month

To leaven the bad news about local businesses, I remind you of three new opportunities this month to sample some food with aspirations around Howard County:

• Chick'n Pollo should fire up the Peruvian chicken around January 7 to the Hickory Ridge Village Center in Columbia. This is roast chicken -- and Mexican food according to the menus -- that should be a lunch or takeout option. They're around back closer to the Luna Bella pizzeria than the Giant.  (Update: Chuck emailed me that people were hanging a "Grand Opening" banner on January 6. And now, Chick'n Pollo is open in Columbia.)
• Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery in Columbia will start selling breakfast. Dzoey left a comment saying that the talk in late December was that the egg sandwiches and other items will be flying in early January, maybe the second week. I'm a huge fan of Bon Fresco's breads and sandwiches. They serve fresh, flavorful fillings on their own baguettes, ciabattas, and other breads and really qualify as one of my best restaurants in Howard County.
• Facci Ristorante will bring wood-fired pizza and full-service Italian to the Columbia/Fulton line with a grand opening around January 11. I hate the official designation of the JHU Applied Physics Lab neighborhood because "Laurel" to me means U.S. 1, but I love seeing Gino Palma-Esposito turn the Pasta Blitz on Johns Hopkins Road into a casual table-service restaurant. This is the shopping center with that includes La Palapa Too and Kloby's Smokehouse just west of Rte 29.

On top of those, keep an eye out for Union Jack's to open in mid-January in the former That's Amore near the Columbia Mall. I haven't heard anyone tout Union Jack's food, but it does sound like a lively scene along the lines of Looney's in Fulton. Union Jack's in Columbia was seeking employees and talking up a pub with a separate fine dining room in a Craiglist posting in December. You can sign up for news on their Web site.

(Update:  Five Guys does appear to be opening in Columbia, replacing the former Party, Party, Party store on Dobbin Road.  Apparently, there is now a sign there, according to the comment below.)

(Update: Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean BBQ is opening an Ellicott City branch on Rte 40 west of Rte 29.  They have pulled building permits, and they're having their plumbing inspected this week.)

Stuffed Grape Leaves At Roots

You have probably cooked and eaten more than you actually wanted over the holidays.

If you want simple and smart, pick up the stuffed grape leaves from the refrigerated section of Roots Market in Clarksville. RDA Doc taught me about these. I'm naturally cautious about most prepared foods, especially at the prices at organic markets that compete with Whole Foods. But the Roots stuffed grape leaves are a terrific convenience food -- packets that taste of the grape leaves, rice and mild spices. Fresh, clean flavor. No oiliness. No tinny taste that ruins most canned grape leaves.

Check out Roots for an easy -- although still pricey -- dinner of grape leaves, olives, cheese and bread. Maybe some hummus that you could buy at a cheaper joint. Roots has the best selection of cheese in 

Howard County, and they sell good breads as long as you read the labels to see whether the baguettes and other breads were delivered that day. Check out the refrigerated section for other dips, salads and items that could make your weeknight easier. You can fill a tray -- and several stomachs -- with a few bowls, a plate of stuffed grape leaves, and a chunk of Stilton or some other assertive cheese.

If you're feeling really flush, check out the baklava bites in the open refrigerated case near the cheese. RDA Doc served them, and they're spectacular. A bit much for my everyday dinner, but the closest that I have found here to the Middle Eastern bakery that I left behind in Virginia.

The organic markets like Roots and Mom's Organic Market in Jessup offer up the best version of the Wegman's prepared foods that I dream about. Click here for my take on organic shopping in Howard County.

Sarah and Desmond's Appears To Be Closed

Sarah & Desmond's Bakery and Cafe in downtown Ellicott City appears to be closed. I had heard comments about this, and Wordbones found a district court notice taped to the door yesterday -- as he posted on the Tales of Two Cities blog. Wendi of Bon Appetit Hon emailed me that she saw vendor invoices taped to the door as well.

Sarah & Desmond's was a unique little cafe and coffee shop. I always hope that people's troubles are temporary, but the shop will be missed if they're truly gone.

Want To Buy Java Grande?

The Java Grande coffee shop in Ellicott City may be for sale, at least according to Ken who pointed to the following advertisement on Craigslist:

COFFEE HOUSE FOR SALE. Turn Key Coffee House business for SALE. This beautiful, spacious, 2 year old coffee house is ripe for a new enthusiastic, sales focused owner. This coffee cafe is located on a busy route, at a light in a prime location for thousands of travelers to pass everyday. . . . This coffee house is beautifully decorated with large windows that allows customers to enjoy memorable sun rises and sunsets. . . . For a $229,000 investment, the new owner can simply turn the key and begin a new venture in the coffee business. . . .

The ad doesn't identify the coffee house. Ken's comment says the ad is for Java Grande. Certainly, the description -- Ellicott City, busy route, at a light, large windows -- sounds like Java Grande and not really anything else that comes to mind. I had posted in early December about a commenter who had heard talk about a combination of Java Grande and the pottery shop a few doors down -- although an anonymous comment there said Java Grande wasn't closing.

Click here for my take on coffee shops in Howard County.

Have You Heard About a Downtown Ellicott City Cafe Closing?

Not 100% sure what is going on, so I'm fishing to see if anyone has news about a downtown Ellicott City cafe closing.

I'm being coy about the name because I don't want to wrongly say that someone closed if they're just taking a week off for the holidays. But someone posted a credible-looking comment saying they're closed for good, and no one is answering the phone at the cafe. Email me if you know more.

(Update: Sarah & Desmond's Bakery & Cafe appears to have closed.)

Link: House of India on Technology & MSG

House of India turned out great food, and Alex of the Technology & MSG blog turned out way better photos than I can ever get at the Columbia restaurant.

Alex wrote a positive review about House of India's lunch buffet -- noting the "subtly regal" interior and highlighting the quality and variety of the buffet.

Click here for my post about the best Indian restaurants in Howard County.

Facci Ristorante -- Wood Fired Pizza Replacing Pasta Blitz In Laurel

A piece of the local Pasta Blitz chain will be changings its name and menu -- and they're bringing wood-fired competition to Coal Fire Pizza.

Beth sent me an email yesterday about stopping at Pasta Blitz on Johns Hopkins Road to discover people building a wood-fired pizza oven and planning a January name change to Facci Ristorante:

I stopped in at my local Pasta Blitz today to get a gift certificate today and the owner (Mr. Gino Palma-Esposito-per his business card) told me that the name and menu are changing January 6th. It will be Facci- ristorante-wood fire pizza-winebar. The fire hearth was being built as I stood there.

He assured me that the gift certificate will be good at the new place and that they will make anything from the current menu that's not on the new menu. Great for my elderly neighbor who loves the place.

Pasta Blitz is a big deal around here, although it hasn't been a regular place for me. So I broke my "no reporting for the blog" rule and called the Clarksville Pasta Blitz where Esposito was happy to talk about the new Facci Ristorante.

The Pasta Blitz on Johns Hopkins Road will be changing to Facci and going for a "city feeling," according to Esposito. They're going to have a bar and full service. He says they're trying to keep prices down, but they sound like they're aiming to compete with casual dining places like La Palapa Too, Victoria Gastropub, etc. They're aiming for a private, soft opening on January 6 and a public opening around January 11.

Facci's wood-fired pizza oven could be spectacular. Esposito is from Naples, and he is importing tomato, cheese and flour for an authentic taste that he says require Italian ingredients. Think $10 for a personal margherita pizza. As I have written before, I know it is hard to deliver reliable, great food. But I'm a fan of Coal Fire on Rte 108 even when it isn't perfect, and Johns Hopkins Road is close enough that I could walk there in the next blizzard if the pizza is good enough.

Again, Facci is only replacing the Pasta Blitz next to the JHU Applied Physics Lab. Officially, it's Laurel, but it is really caught between Columbia and Fulton. If Facci is a hit, Facci said he might change the Clarksville location, but that's in the future. First, we'll need a review of Facci by the Pizzablogger.

Facci Ristorante (as of January 2010)
7530 Montpelier Road
Laurel, MD 20723-6014
(301) 604-5555

NEAR: This is on Johns Hopkins Road just west of Rte 29. It is a shopping center that includes La Palapa Too and Kloby's Smokehouse. This is just south of Columbia and just north of Fulton.

Halal "Rice Crispies" At Columbia Halal Meat

The rice crispy treat is a holy dessert in the HowChow family. Mrs. HowChow doesn't like cake, so we cut a giant rice and marshmallow treat in the midst of our wedding reception.

Columbia Halal Meat in Elkridge specializes in, well, halal meat, but they have a pretty good rice crispy treat for sale at the cash register under the brand Halal Crispy Treats -- 59 cents each, two for a dollar.

Most pre-packaged treats are failures, either too sweet or a soft texture that misses the original. Mrs. HowChow loved Starbucks' version, but someone messed with that recipe about a year ago. In our taste test, we split on the Halal Crispy Treat. I thought it was good -- noticeably less sweet than the official supermarket Rice Crispie Treats and a definite snack options. Mrs. HowChow wants her told Starbucks treat back. She thought the Halal Crispy Treat still had a chemical taste common to prepackaged versions. (They're all still better than the Cheerios and Tang bars that my healthy mother served in decades past.)

If you're looking for more-traditional baked goods, check out my post about the best bakeries in Howard County.

Grace Garden For Christmas

'Tis the season to try some authentic Chinese food.

Grace Garden in Odenton says that they'll be on open on Christmas, and this is your chance to sample -- or to go back for -- the authentic dishes that get so many people up in a twist.

For more than a year, I have thought Grace Garden was one of Howard County's best restaurant although it is actually a little east of the county line. Even with that, our dinner two weeks ago was better than anything that we have ever had before.

For the first time, we tried the fish noodles and the braised pork, and I haven't eaten anything better all year. The noodles are literally noodles made from ground fish. They have the texture of rustic pasta, and a mild flavor that says meat without being fishy at all. I have no idea how Chef Li puts that together, and, if anything, the pork is an even greater mystery. This is pork belly -- the same cut that people use for bacon. But Grace Garden serves pork that is crispy and tender, a flavor of pork and the spicy sauce. No greasiness at all. We

rounded out with the pea shoots to get some vegetable on the plate, and we packed up containers with leftover pork and pea shoots. (The fish noodles don't reheat well, we were told. So we finished them happily.)

After my first review of tofu pockets and braised beef, I thought this was the best Chinese restaurant in Howard County, but Mrs. HowChow stayed loyal to Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro. The fish noodles and pork pulled her across. While we were still at the table, we were already talking about a Christmas return. Still haven't tried the head-on shrimp that Kevin talks up, but we'll try something new.

Click here for my original post about Grace Garden, which links to a bunch of other bloggers and directions to the Odenton restaurant.

Three Months To Free Rita's (And Spring)

Three months until spring. Just three months until spring -- measured officially by opening day at Rita's when they give away Italian ice from noon to 10 pm. For more about the March 20, 2010 giveaways, click the Rita's Facebook page. Hold on -- the warmth will return.

Thanks to Brian G for the reminder that spring will come. If you need another reminder of spring, check out my 2009 post about places to enjoy ice cream on a summer night.

Chick'n Pollo To Open Jan. 7 In Columbia

The Peruvian chicken place in Hickory Ridge Village Center should open on January 7 -- at least according to the guys walking out of Chick'n Pollo on Tuesday evening.

I reported by accident. I went past Chick'n Pollo in the hopes of grabbing dinner, but I arrived to find three guys locking up the doors. The restaurant looks just as ready to go as it did in mid-November. But the guys -- who looked like a manager/owner and a contractor -- said that they just got their final approval from the county.

They said they'll open on January 7. The menus suggest that they'll sell Peruvian chicken, along with Mexican food. They're on the back side of Hickory Ridge -- closer to the Luna Bella Pizzeria than the Giant.

Until Chick'n Pollo opens, you need to get your Peruvian chicken at Pollo Fuego in Jessup. Or check out the great fried chicken at Chick N' Friends in the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia.

HowChow: The Worm Edition

I'm reviewing garbage. Seriously.

When you want food for yourself, you'll find great stuff at Howard County's organic markets. But you should ask at the same markets to get some food for your worms. Roots in Clarksville and MOM's Organic Market in Jessup will happily give you their old produce to add to your compost pile. They're crucial at this time of year when I have piles of shredded leaves, but no grass clippings on the horizon.

 Last winter, I got two pick-up loads of leaves and mixed in a dozen or more boxes of old vegetables over the course of the winter -- turning the pile every week or two and adding more vegetables when nothing recognizable remained. By spring, I had spectacular compost to start my own vegetable garden and a few thousand worms happily crawling through the pile.

Of course, this is a review. All trash is not created equal -- at least, it isn't packaged equally. First, Roots has a salad bar, so half of the trash is trimmings and cutting that break down fast. Second, Roots stores its trash in plastic bags. I'm super-grateful to MOM's for giving me their stuff, but it's often in open-slat produce boxes, which have leaked liquid in my car. Not a crisis, but you want to put down plastic to catch the liquid.

No  matter where you get the vegetables, you can break up any whole fruit by either stamping on it or cutting it with the edge of a shovel. Apples, squash, and cucumbers all compost faster if you bust them up and expose their inner flesh to the worms and bacteria that do your composting work.

In all seriousness, nothing improves a garden like compost, and nothing makes better compost than a mix of organic fruits and vegetables. Your worms will love you for it.

If you're going to get old vegetables, call ahead in the morning, and the produce folks will generally set aside a few bags/boxes for you. They like you to pick up in the afternoon.

Biscuits At Victoria Gastropub

The photo is terrible, but the biscuits at Victoria Gastropub are one of the great food trinkets that you'll get around here.

House of India puts out papad as you peruse the menu. But that's the only competition that I remember for the square biscuits that I ate as I faked reading the options at Victoria.

Like I was going to order anything other than the best burger in Howard County. They put out a basket right after the water glasses. I had the time to split the biscuit in half and spread butter thinly across each piece in turn. Absolutely delicious, then a smile when Mrs. HowChow asked for a second basket.


(Update: I posted again about Columbia's Victoria Gastro Pub in 2010.)

Bon Fresco To Start Breakfast This Week

The talk at Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery in Columbia is that breakfast service may start as early as this week, including egg sandwiches on the bakery's own breads.

(Update: See Momteachs comment below that breakfast hasn't happened and isn't on the plans in May 2010.)

Bon Fresco on Oakland Mills Road at Snowden River Parkway is a real treasure. They serve fresh, flavorful fillings on their own baguettes, ciabattas, and other breads. These are interesting, intelligent sandwiches that really qualify as one of my best restaurants in Howard County.

Saturday, we stopped to split a sandwich on the way to Target, and we were very happy to see every table full. We stopped back for a baguette that became French toast on Sunday morning.

Breakfast will be another way to get our Bon Fresco bread!

"Japanese" Peanuts At Panam Supermarket

Imagine an M&M remade by some crazy modern chef.

You enrobe a peanut with a tasty coating and crunchy shell. But instead of sweet milk chocolate and a candy shell, you create a savory shell from flour and starch and then dust each one with chili powder.

That savory shell makes a snacks that classy enough for a cocktail party. That chili powder provides a zesty bite -- so zesty that my stomach noticed after about the 10th handful. I put the peanuts aside to avoid a chili overdose.

Mexican snackers eat these peanuts by the bag. For some reason, they call them Japanese peanuts -- and the only explanations appear on Web sites that seem less than credible.

You can pick up the El Chilar brand Japanese peanuts at the Panam Supermarket in Laurel. Bags are about peanuts are a about $2. If you stop by Panam, definitely check out the produce and the meat department. Also watch for a woman outside the door selling hot tamales and other Mexican food.

Tutti Frutti Has Opened In Ellicott City

The tart yogurt trend expanded again without my noticing -- which is why it's lucky that the Kevin & Ann Eat Everything blog wrote last week about the new Tutti Frutti on Rte 40 in Ellicott City.

This is yogurt like the Yogiberry in the Columbia Mall and Mangoberry in Catonsville, but it's better because Kevin reports that there was non-stop mochi. (Although they charge by weight so heavy mochi eaters should still consider buying their own toppings at the H Mart.)

Thanks also to Eric who posted a comment about the opening last week.

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.