Bird Food at the Wild Bird Center

You know where to get food for yourself, but what about delicacies for your fine feathered friends?

The Wild Bird Center off Snowden River Parkway in Columbia is a store that specializes in bird food, bird feeders and some accessories like stuffed animals, lawn art, and cards.  I'm no expert on bird food, but these folks will sell you a mix designed to attract exactly the birds that you want to see on your feeders.

I'm a generalist, but I like buying mixes that won't germinate in my garden.  My bird feeders are among shrubs, and the wrong mix of seeds creates a carpet of weeds in a matter of weeks.  Wild Bird Center is in the same Columbia shopping center as Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery -- so it's a great excuse to get a snack for yourself and snack for the birds as well.

Wild Bird Center
6955F Oakland Mills Road
Columbia, MD  21045
301-596-2990

NEAR:  This is in the shopping center at Oakland Mills and Snowden River Parkway.  You enter from Oakland Mills, then take the first right.  You'll pass Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery on the right, then you'll see the Wild Bird Center at the end of the shopping center on the left.  It faces away from Snowden.

"Stanford Grill" To Replace Lone Star in Columbia

A new restaurant aimed to compete with Clyde's and Victoria Gastropub will replace the shuttered Lone Star restaurant in Columbia, according to the Tales of Two Cities blog.

The Stanford Grill aims to open in March, and Wordbones describes the plan as a "business casual bar and restaurant similar to Houston's."  That paints a picture for me.  I love the term "business casual bar and restaurant."

The former Lone Star is visible from Rte 175 just west of Snowden, but it sits on Stanford Boulevard.  You reach it from McGaw Road or Dobbin Road.

Mom's Organic Market Is Expanding

Mom's Organic Market in the Columbia East shopping center is going to expand -- adding 2,000 square feet of organic groceries.

The Jessup store -- formerly called "My Organic Market" -- will get 20% bigger, according to one of the Mom's employees who emailed with me on DonRockwell.com.  Construction should begin in February and take a couple of months.  They have already leased the space between Mom's and Ollie's.

Click here for my take on organic shopping in Howard County.   If you go to Mom's in Columbia East, you should check out the takeout taco's at R&R Deli in the Shell Station at U.S. 1 and Rte 175.  Seriously.  It is catty-corner to the Columbia East shopping center.

Do The Floors Make The Store?

Is there any difference between Howard County liquor stores?  I don't drink that often, but I feel like I drive past a liquor store in every strip mall on every road.  Even half-filled new shopping centers have a liquor store.

Many of the new places seem to be going upscale.  Even old joints are renovating with wood floors and classy designs.  Perfect Pour in Elkridge appears unique because of its sheer size and the beer wall inside.  But I went looking for a special wine last year and realized that any liquor store will order anything if you give them a week or so to get delivery.

Are there Howard County liquor stores that are worth a drive?  Mrs. HowChow wants her house wine House Wine, but I'd be happy to check out a special place.

Buffalo Wild Wings Coming To Dobbin Road?

Buffalo Wild Wings is negotiating to take over the former Rocky Run restaurant on Dobbin Road in Columbia, according to the Tales of Two Cities blog.

Wordbones knows the local commercial scene, although he makes the self-depricating comment that his source is the same person who predicted that Potbelly would replace the Atlanta Bread Company.

Link: El Azteca Gets Love From The WPost

El Azteca in Clarksville gets praise from the WPost's takeout column in today's Food section.  They talk up the chicken mole and more.

Thanks to emkenton for the tip.  The WPost removed its newspaper box from the Laurel MARC station, so I haven't read the paper in months.

Stay Warm: Hot Soup, Hot Chocolate, Hot Pot

It's too cold this winter, so you need to warm yourself with food.  A cozy kitchen is a wonderful place to escape -- for example with the water dumplings from Andrea Nguyen's Asian Dumplings cookbook.  But Howard County has a bunch of nice places to warm you up as well with hot soup, hot chocolate and more.  My two inspirations:

• If you want a daytime snack, check out the hot chocolate at Touche Touchet Bakery in Columbia.  It's a mix, but a creamy thick mix.  The hot chocolate and maybe a cupcake make for a perfect escape from winter.
• If you want a meal, check out the soup at An Loi Pho in Columbia.  Pho is actually a breakfast food in Vietnam, although we tend to eat it as a winter speciality.  Actually, Mrs. HowChow likes the lemongrass chicken noodle dish.  I tend to order a large pho with brisket and maybe another meat.  The real attraction is the enormous bowl of broth filled with noodles and doctored with bean sprouts, Thai basil, hot sauce and lime.   It's an inexpensive meal, and I leave warm, stuffed but not overly full.  You can even get a second round of heat from the sweet "French" coffee.
• If you want a new adventure, check out the tea tree mushroom casserole at Hunan Taste.  This is a new restaurant in the H Mart shopping center in Catonsville.  Delicious Chinese food cooked in an authentic Hunan style.  The dish comes out as thin, chewy mushrooms, flavored with pork, and served in a hot broth.  I'll write more about Hunan Taste, but it will warm you up in many ways.

What else do you eat when you want something warm?  The bread at Maiwand Kabob?  Is there somewhere cozy that you like to curl up to get out of the cold?

Gorman Farm CSA Accepting 2010 Applications

If you want to eat local vegetables all summer, you should submit your application for the Gorman Farm CSA program for 2010.  You can get the form on the Gorman Web site.

I will try to update my 2009 post about community supported agriculture in Howard County to add information about the Shaw Farm CSA.  I love the CSA idea, but I can't make Gorman's rules -- which will require a pickup between 2 and 6 pm on either Thursday or Friday.  They'll assign your day.  Hope that's convenient for you.  Unfortunately, I never get home before 6 pm.  I guess I'm stuck with pesticides.

Thanks to Kiki for the Gorman tip.  If you are flexible enough for Gorman to assign you a day, check out my post about Vegetable Shopping in Howard County or my posts about the local farmers markets.

Comments About Portalli's, Bon Fresco and Honey Pig

Even though 2009 has left us, you can still learn from last year -- or at least from the many people who left their opinion or suggestions as comments on prior posts.

Within days of Chick'n Pollo opening, Penny, Chan, inagada.davita and other had added their reviews to my opening-night observations.  If you're looking for a broader second opinion, you should definitely check out the 100 reviews by Trip Klaus on Urbanspoon. He eats far and wide, but you'll find reviews of many Howard County places that I haven't tried yet like the Pure Wine Cafe.  He also comments on HowChow -- like his recommendation of Cava's harissa and feta at Roots and his observation that Cuba de Ayer and Bistro Blanc seem different enough to warrant different stars from the WPost reviewer.  (Update:  After I drafted this, I saw that Trip Klaus also has an interesting take on restaurant weeks on the Dining & Large blog.)

I'm going to try to use the new HowChow Twitter feed and Facebook page to highlight substantive comments, although I'll keep doing some roundups on the blog:

• People continue to talk up Bon Fresco, including Kristi who had chicken on ciabatta.  Does anyone know if they're serving breakfast yet?
• People continue to describe the up-and-down moments at Coal Fire -- like the Baltimore Beer Guy and Matthew, who says half his pizzas have been great and the other half aren't cooked right.  (The BBG also recommends the Tuesday ribs deal at T-Bonz, which he calls one of the county's better beer bars.)
• People are excited for Honey Pig BBQ even though it hasn't opened yet in Ellicott City -- Matthew, CK1, and Kevin all say they'll head there for Korean barbeque.  They're mixed on Venegas Prime Filet, the new steakhouse in Maple Lawn, but Morty Abzug says it shows a lot of promise if they fix some issues.
• Portalli's has kicked up a string of comments.  I haven't been yet, but people are describing their meals -- and teasing that some of the comments read a bit like inside jobs.
• Momomom reports that David's Natural Market declined to provide her with their old produce -- so head to Root's of Mom's Organic Market if you need good stuff for your compost pile.
• Dzoey reported on several meals -- a Greystone Grill lunch where he says you have to try the chocolate souffle and use a restaurant.com coupon and chicken at Pollo Fuego in Jessup that he liked.
• Anonymous enjoyed lunch at Trattoria Montese -- spaghetti pie, Greek salad, and the meat calzone.
• Amber F. recommended buying the pizza dough at Harris Teeter.  I have used this dough, and I agree that it's a deal at $2.
• Mary recommended the crazy girl roll, the American eagle roll and the jumbo crab roll at Katana sushi in Clarksville.
• In response to kam's request, several people posted their favorite Sushi Sono items.
• Meri added her favorite Laurel Main Street places to my driving tour of the south county, including a rib spot, Linny's Deli, and the summer farmers market.
• Anonymous says that Asia Supermarket in Catonsville sells shaoxing rice wine.  Anonymous also says Giant -- or at least the one on Center Park Drive -- now sells Orinoco coffee, which is locally roasted.  Along the same line, Lar asked whether anyone knows to buy Zeke's coffee nearby -- not that Sarah & Desmond's appears to have closed.
• Several people talked about Frisco Grille's menu, including K8teebug who loves the tofu tacos, Chrissy who loves chorizo anything, and Flissy who noted that the main menu includes many animal-free dishes -- particularly the rice and meals that are cooked with pork in other places.

Link: Hunan Manor on Kevin & Ann Eat Everything

If you eat in Howard County, you need to read Kevin & Ann's post from last month about Hunan Manor.

Hunan Manor is the heavyweight of local Chinese restaurants, and I have heard an endless wail about how it isn't as good as it used to be.  But Kevin & Ann wrote a hilarious, meandering post about a huge family dinner there -- highlighting the Peking duck and other dishes that they really enjoyed:

It's been a long history between the Rhee family and Columbia's Chinese institution. Every year, there is one less flock of ducks in the world because they reside in our respective bellies. The Rhee family motto is "And you will know us by the trail of dead...ducks". This year was no exception. If it comes to pass that some insane Wall Street warrior creates an ETF for ducks (NYSE: QCK) and brings them to the open market, go long.

This is food blogging at its best.  The Sun can't let its food critic ridicule her aunt or make these jokes.  I'm happy with the voice that has developed here at HowChow, but I laugh way more at the energy in Kevin & Ann Eat Everything.

On a side note, I will post in the next week about Hunan Taste, which blew me away with its Chinese food in Catonsville.

New Five Guys On Dobbin Road Is Hiring

The second Five Guys in Howard County is hiring and appears to be outfitted except for the tables and chairs, according to a comment by Leasol and to an ad on Craiglist.

The delays at Fatburger in Elkridge taught me to never predict when a restaurant will open, but it sounds like the former Party Party Party store on Dobbin Road will be full of burgers and fries soon.  The first Five Guts at the Columbia Mall seems busy when I walk past, but the ambiance (and the comments) haven't pulled me in for a bite yet.

(Update: The typo above was inadvertent.  But I'm leaving it -- after being alerted by the comment below -- because it makes me laugh.)

(Update: Great wry comment below form Smirkman: "Dobbin Center is the food court of East Columbia.")

Facci Ristorante -- First Thoughts On The Soft Open

Facci Restaurant opens tonight with wood-fired pizza and Italian off Johns Hopkins Road, but Mrs. HowChow scored us seats on Saturday during the "soft open."

Facci's arrival should be big news.  The owners renovated a Pasta Blitz branch to add a bar, a wood-fired pizza oven, and an Italian menu aiming for a middle ground with prices low enough for casual nights but quality high enough for special food.

We got inside Saturday because Mrs. HowChow stopped that afternoon to stare in the windows, and the manager stepped outside to introduce herself.  She invited us to the "soft opening" where the chefs were learning recipes and the waiters were learning the ropes.

We gorged ourselves.  Started with the "Italian boat" antipasta platter.  Meats, cheese, toasted bread, grilled zucchini and roasted peppers.  It's an auspicious start because each piece was delicious, and each offered a distinct flavor -- charred zucchini, sweet peppers, salty cheeses.  The zucchini was tender with a vinegar bite.  The bread was perfectly brushed with oil, then toasted.  The stone and wood create a cozy spot, but, five minutes into dinner, we were talking about summer nights on Facci's patio with that antipasta and a drink.

Then, we moved on to white pizza and pesto-covered ravioli.  Again, stand-out flavors.  The pizza came with terrific cheese, broccoli rabe, and a unique sausage.  The ravioli were stuffed with smoked mozzarella and coated with a creamy pesto.  The pesto tasted like July.  Basil that put me again to thoughts of warm nights on the Facci patio.  Mrs. HowChow picked the ravioli because they were made in-house.  The kitchen makes the ravioli, the gnocchi and some of the other pastas.

They also, of course, make the pizza.  Facci imports tomatoes, flour and more from Italy, and they char the pies in a wood-fired oven.  They imported the oven as well.  The pizzas aren't huge.  They're $9-14 for six slices, and they come with an array of cheeses, meats and vegetables.  I loved the pizza.  I also photographed the crust for the Pizzablogger, who saw promise:

It's hard to tell. The pic certainly shows the pizza was most likely cooked at an adequate/good temperature (700-800°F floor likely) from the char...which appears to be pushing being burnt in the upper left of the pic. More importantly is the overall golden tone of the slice in your pic. This is (hopefully) indicative of a good amount of sugars being naturally released from fermentation and being present at the time of firing the pizza.....those sugars being what caramelize and color the crust that color, which would most likely mean some degree of developed flavors in the crust from fermentation by-products.

That overall golden tone could also be indicative of sugars being added to the dough while mixing, be it cane sugar, honey, diastatic malt or some other additive....which could lead to an overly sweet tasting crust.

In short, the pic shows some promise and I am looking forward to going there very soon!

Facci is aiming at an exciting niche.  Less expensive than Greystone Grill or Azul 17, but more unique  than straight casual places like Bon Fresco and An Loi.  Appetizers and salads run $5-11.  The pastas run $9-14, and the meat dishes top out at $13-18.  It's a place you could justify any day, but delivers enough for date night.  (Seriously, Mrs. HowChow loved the ladies room.  Modern sink and cool open faucet.  It's a date-night bathroom.  Just ask for a date-night table in the dining room because the bar televisions loom over the other half of the room.)

We went to Facci with no expectations, and it was a terrific experience.   Stuffed with that much food, we have turned down dozens of fine desserts.  I was headed that way until Mrs. HowChow heard that Facci makes it's own canoli.  Crisp shell and a filling that tasted of vanilla and cream.  A strawberry sauce that tasted like fruit.  A spectacular end, and we were already planning on a return with RDAdoc and family.

I look forward to other people's views on Facci Ristorante.  It's unique  in my eyes, and I hope they can keep the quality up every day.  The Pizzablogger recently posted about the inconsistent pies at Coal Fire Pizza, and I'm really aware that serving good food can be hard business.

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.

Link: Ceviche at Mango's Grill on Mixed Stew Blog

The Mixed Stew blog takes you off-menu to recommend fish and seafood ceviche at Mango's Grill restaurant in Laurel -- a mom-and-pop joint that I have put on my to-do list.

Mango's Grill is on U.S. 1 near Rte 198.  There are a mess of restaurants around there, and I never know which ones are worth a visit.  The Mixed Stew blog gives a big vote for this Mexican/Salvadoran place.   There are a few reviews on Yelp, but I'll go just to taste the ceviche that the Mixed Stew highlights:

The dish is a blend of white fish, shrimp and baby squid (tentacles and all) drenched in a delightful, light marinade of citrus, cilantro and onions. It is served with wedges of lime or lemon to squeeze over the dish and wake up the flavors on the table. With a side order of flour tortillas, the ceviche can be eaten as an entree, even though it is on the appetizer portion of the menu.

Thanks to C.B. for sending me the link to The Mixed Stew.  I'm not sure if the authors George and Nelly are local or live in the middle of Pacific.  There are more reviews of Guam than Laurel!

HowChow on Twitter and Facebook

You can now follow HowChow on Facebook and Twitter.

It seems like a way to attract readers and keep people up-to-date on HowChow posts, although it risks violating my pledge not to overdo time on the blog.  Please become a fan or a follower on either.

Chick'n Pollo -- First Thoughts On Opening Night

I hope that Chick'n Pollo in Columbia is always successful, but I hope it is never as busy as it was Thursday night.

The Peruvian chicken restaurant in the Hickory Ridge Village Center opened to a packed house last night.  Tasked with bringing home dinner, I thought I was being clever to stop there.  But I ended up spending 45 minutes in line and waiting for my meal.  The aroma kept me in line.  Chick'n Pollo smelled delicious, and that seemed to keep the crowd patient and happy.

The chicken was delicious.  There are real fanatics for this Peruvian roasted bird, and I don't claim enough expertise to join the Chowhound debates -- like this one about El Pollo Kiki Riki in Wheaton.  But the Chick'n Pollo bird was bigger and tasted better than the supermarket rotisserie chickens, which I have recently taken up as convenience food.

My meal was moist and had a seasoned flavor that steps up from the supermarket.  There are just a few pieces of skin, crispy and delicious even though you know it's bad for you.  I also love the side sauces -- a green spicy one and a yellow creamy one that still offers real flavor.  A half-chicken is perfect for our dinner because we're a Sprat family -- one loves white meat, one is quite happy with a wing and drumstick.  A full chicken would fill some brown bag lunches.

But I also hope that the food will improve a bit as Chick'n Pollo settles into a normal groove.  The side dishes -- although fried perfectly to crisp, but oily -- are expensive.  ($3.50 for beans and rice?)  The yuca was really dry when we got it home, and the plantains weren't right.  Too starchy.   Not sweet enough.  That might be a style issue, but my favorite plantains are always soft and sweet.  These might not have been ripe enough yet.  (The HowChow tip:  Call ahead and have someone turn your home oven to 400 while you're at Chick'n Pollo.  Yucca fries cool as you carry them home.  A few minutes in a hot oven make them fresh and crisp again.  Our leftovers were actually better for lunch today because they were hot )

This looks like a great addition.  I'd go just for the chicken, but they have some burritos that I have to try -- burritos . . . in a Peruvian place . . . that claim to use Thai green or red curry sauce.  I love America.

If you want to compare the local Peruvian chickens, you can test Chick'n Pollo against Pollo Fuego in Jessup. Or check out the great fried chicken at Chick N' Friends in the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia.

Chick'n Pollo
6470 Freetown Road
Columbia, MD 21044-4016
(410) 531-8689

NEAR:  This is in the back side of the Hickory Ridge Village Center.  It is off Cedar Lane north of Rte 32.  You can park around back, or you can park near the Giant and walk through the center.  Very convenient.

Pottery Stop May Take Over Java Grande

The owners of the Pottery Stop store are negotiating to take over the space now occupied by the Java Grande coffee shop on Rte 40 in Ellicott City, according to a comment to a prior post.

That prior post linked to a Craigslist advertisement that appeared to describe Java Grande and said there was a two-year-old coffee house for sale.  The owner of the Pottery Stop -- a paint-your-own pottery store in the same shopping center -- posted a comment to set the record straight:

The Pottery Stop is in negotiations to move into Java Grande's space after they vacate at the end of January. If we make the move, we will become a paint-your-own pottery studio that also sells coffee, snacks and desserts. What fun! We'll gain much needed elbow room and a truly private party area as well.

For those of you who frequent Java, we hope you'll enjoy The Pottery Stop and Coffee Shop (yes, that'll be the new name...) just as much. Maybe we'll even convince you to paint your own coffee mug.

That's actually a cool touch.  I imagine those (probably mythical) bars where regulars had their own beer steins on the wall.  The Pottery Stop could have a wall where you store your own hand-painted mug.

In all seriousness, I don't enjoy writing about any business that has to close.  Nobody will celebrate if Java Grande closes.  (We watched You've Got Mail over the holidays, and it's awful when Meg Ryan had to close the book store.)  But people should know what's happening, so I try to write what's true.

Howard County Restaurant Weeks

Howard County Restaurant Weeks' winter edition runs January 18-31, 2010, and this is your chance to treat yourself or explore a new place.

It's not as simple as the original restaurant weeks with their single fixed-price menus.  More than 25 Howard County kitchens have signed up.  They're all trying to use local produce and to produce international food, but the menus range from $10.01 to $40.01.

The county Web site has a list of the participating restaurants, and they plan on linking to menus as soon as the restaurants submit them.  A centralized list would make it so much easier to get excited!  I'll post more as I hear.

Please comment below if you hear about any specific deals.  I'm thinking about a return to Aida Bistro or Azul 17 or maybe new joints like Pure Wine Cafe or Tersiguel's.  We'll have to see what deals they're offering.

Sushi Sono Charts At #40 in Washingtonian

Sushi Sono has hit it big by being named the #40 restaurant in Washington by Washingtonian magazine.

Washingtonian names the Top 100 restaurants in its January edition, and emkenton emailed me to say that Columbia's Sushi Sono was #40 -- "Some of the most creative, exuberant sushi-making in the area emerges from the busy kitchen at this lakefront restaurant."  That has to drive traffic there.

 I don't see a link to the full Top 100, which makes sense because the list is a reason to buy the magazine.  We don't get Washingtonian because, frankly, they never seemed that interested in Howard County.  But we'll get my parents' copy at the next visit.

Sushi Sono makes my post about the best restaurants in Howard County, although not the Top 10 list for 2009.  You know these lists are all arbitrary!

Honey Pig Korean BBQ Coming to Ellicott City

Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean BBQ is bringing its Korean barbeque from Annandale to Ellicott City, according to an anonymous comment from yesterday and some Howard County building permits.

Does anyone know the time table to open?  The work isn't complete on electrical and plumbing permits issued in December 2009.  Honey Pig drew its first permit in August 2009, but they were still passing plumbing inspections yesterday.  (They got a 1,000 gallon grease trap.  Is that something that I want to know?)

Anyone have thoughts about how Honey Pig will compare to the Ellicott City establishment like Shin Chon Garden or Bethany Seafood House?  The Annandale location is a 24-hour joint that was very hot for a while after it opened.  The Washington Post review highlights the food and says that its cheaper than other BBQ restaurants and dominated by a young crowd.  There are comments on Chowhound and Don Rockwell.  You should also check out Arthur K who writes good reviews on Yelp, where there are dozens of opinions.  Lot of talk about Honey Pig looking like Seoul.

Thanks so much for the tips.  Check out my post about the other new restaurants in Howard County.  If you want Korean food before Honey Pig opens, definitely check out Shin Chon Garden or all of my posts about Korean food in Howard County.

Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean BBQ
10045 Baltimore National Pike (Rte 40)
Ellicott City, MD 21041

NEAR:  Honey Pig is going into the shopping center behind the Double T diner.  From east-bound Rte 40, you turn right at the red sign for Quest Fitness and drive up hill.  This is west of Rte 29 near the Soft Stuff ice cream stand and the Enchanted Forest shopping center.

Andrea Nguyen: Asian Dumplings

The real magic occurs in cookbooks where the author has something to say, not just something to sell.

Andrea Nguyen's Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More offers an education about a continent's snacks and meals.  Avoid the celebrity cookbooks and learn instead to make everything from Indian samosas to Filipino desserts, from dumplings filled with soup to steamed buns stuffed with pork.  Nguyen teaches technique, and she opens a series of mouth-watering doors -- foods that I have never cooked and that really taste like the Asian restaurants that I love.

Asian Dumplings is a book of projects. This isn't Jack Bishop's ideas for weeknight vegetables. Nguyen has instructions for dough, diagrams for dumpling folding, and dozens of recipes that run for two pages of text. The steamed buns recipe is actually a reference to three other recipes -- a basic yeast dough, a barbecued pork, and a pork filling that you make from the barbeque.  In the wrong hands, this could have been a quaint book about Chinese grandmothers or a fussy volume clogged with detail.  But Nguyen applies a professional writer's eye to explain how to make dumplings and why you would want to try.  Perfect for any modern cook with a little time to prepare ahead. My first project was Shanghai soup dumplings, and they're worth every minute -- plus $20 for the book. I served swirled dumplings in ceramic Chinese spoons. They burst when you bite them, and soup pours into your spoon. It's just fun to spoon out Nguyen's little packets and watch people smile.