Surprise: I Went For Chicken Tenders And Went Back For Frisco Tap House's Ancho Glaze Wings

Ancho glaze wings at Frisco Tap House

Frisco Tap House has been many things in my decade in Howard County -- a Southwestern restaurant, a beer bar, a brewery.

Somehow, I was pleasantly surprised to discover my current favorite wings in Howard County when I stopped there for lunch.

Lil' Chow won't nap at home.  We've developed a pattern for weekends or other days without daycare.  We have morning fun, then eat lunch, then nap in the car.  For months, we looped and looped.  Now, I can stop driving once he falls asleep.

So I went to Frisco for the chicken and fries.  Lil' Chow requested a special treat, and I wanted somewhere new that would put a little extra effort into chicken tenders.  It was a complete bonus that my lunch had that extra effort as well.

This is part of a "Surprise" series that I'm writing as I try to start blogging again.  Come back for more in the next few days.

Lil' Chow's chicken and fries

Eight big meaty wings.  Or at least meaty half-wings.  Years ago, there were several local joints serving exceptional wings, but I'd given them up recently because they'd switched to tiny products that were mostly bone and skin.  Frisco sells wings as an appetizer, but they've been lunch twice for me.

Once, a Thai special.  Once, the regular ancho pepper glaze.  It's a real glaze, almost crunchy and nothing like the globs of barbecue sauce that I've seen over other plates.  The wings come slightly charred, crisp to the teeth and then moist inside.  I started to write myself a note that the wings were sweet, not spicy.  Then my lips started a warm tingle and I realized the ancho was doing its work.  There is skill in those wings, and they're one of those treats that I can't pull off in my own kitchen.

Frisco is a friendly place for lunch.  Half full on both of my recent visits.  Just enough conversation and noise to give the place some energy.  It's a nice escape from being trapped with a toddler, and even the young staff is personable.  One waiter played along when I deflected Lil's Chow's 10th question of "Where is our food now?"  The waiter explained the chicken and fries were cooking in the kitchen.  That finally satisfied the kid.  Well, that and the chicken tenders.

Where else do people recommend for wings these days?  Bon Chon Chicken in Ellicott City is my absolute favorite, but Korean fried chicken seems separate from the competition for wings.  The Town Grille in Lisbon guaranteed a Ravens Super Bowl with their special wings and a bunch of people commented on that 2013 post.  I've liked garam masala wings at Tandoor Grill on Johns Hopkins Road and the Old Bay Wings at Second Chance Saloon in Columbia.

While I've Been: Victoria's Burger Is Such A Tasty Old Friend That I Never Order Anything Else

Burger and fries

I swear that I planned to order something when we took my parents to Victoria Gastro Pub for my father's birthday.

Our restaurant trips have been fewer in 2015, and many stops have been old haunts where we know that we'll find something good for everyone.  Victoria Gastro Pub fits that bill.  We have been enjoying the food and beer since it opened in 2008, but I focused on their burgers and fries on those early trips and never took my eyes off the meat.

The entire table actually ordered burgers during our August visit.  Except for Lil' Chow who emptied a kid's order of pasta and asked for a second.

Victoria's bicuit

It's just that simple.  Everyone read the menu.  Everyone saw options.  But we each returned to the burgers because they're ideal.  Thick patties that are juicy and meaty without being greasy.  Hearty buns that hold up to the holding and biting.  Fresh, simple tomato, lettuce and pickles.

This is part of my "While I've Been Out" series to restart the blog.  Late last year, the blog got some serious competition.  I'm still working out how to keep writing while I'm doing so many other new things as well.  Tomorrow, I'll follow this old friend with my favorite place that is "new for 2015."

That burger is a success every time, and it's the kind of relaxation that I want from a dinner out.

I added to the fun last month by trying my first Manor Hill beers -- brewed up by the same Marriner family.  I sampled two and forgot to write down my selection.  I'm drifting from the hops stream that had carried me from IPA to IPA for many summers.  I asked for something with flavor, but less bitterness.  I can't remember what I got, but it worked exactly as I wanted.

If you haven't been to Victoria before, then you should also go for the biscuits that they offer once you order.  They're perfect.  Tender but not crumbly.  Rich but not greasy.  I believe they bake them in-house, and it's a terrific advertisement for the care that Victoria takes with their food.

While I've Been Out: Reporting On Lil' Finds And Starting To Catch Up On Openings and Closings

Gyro at Hickory Ridge Grill

While I've been out, the good food has kept rolling.  Even when I couldn't post, I appreciated all the comments and emails, and I'm trying to start blogging again.

Let's start with the gyro at the Hickory Ridge Grill in Columbia.  Over the years, the little diner has renovated itself into a nice, casual restaurant off Cedar Lane.  In our early weeks home, we took a posse there for Sunday breakfast -- eggs, pancakes

Our last visit was dinner on a summer night.  Lil' Chow and I were part of my new reality -- sitting down at 5:30 pm and looking first at the kid's menu.  It's a tough schedule for blogging, but we still eat well.  He went kid's spaghetti.  I considered something light, but went gyro under the idea that I try to eat good versions of food that might be bad for me.

This is part of my "While I've Been Out" series to restart the blog.  Late last year, the blog got some serious competition.  I'm still working out how to keep writing while I'm doing so many other new things as well.  Saturday, I noted that Wegmans seems to be trying again to open a liquor store in their Columbia location.  Tomorrow, a full post about new places opening, old places closing, and big questions that I hope folks can answer.

The gyro made my night.  Gyros can be a come-on with great smells, then provide more grease than flavor.  In contrast, the Hickory Ridge gyro was meaty and nicely charred on the edges, and it came with a fresh topping of tomatoes and lettuce and salty cheese that cut through heaviness.

I ate all the fries.  You can see the heap in the photo above.  I promised myself that I'd stop halfway through.  I gave a few to Lil' Chow, who preferred his pasta.  Then I kept dipping fries into the tzaziki until there was nothing left of either.

Lil's Chow's birthday on Ananda's watermelon salad

We have had a good year even though I haven't been able to write as much as I hoped.  The long adoption wait may prepare some new parents for the changes.  It didn't prepare us.

Along the way, we have had great food.  Lil' Chow's birthday dinner at Tian Chinese Cuisine in Ellicott City with black bean noodles that are always a hit there or at Da Rae Won in Beltsville.  His birthday brunch with family at Ananda in Fulton, truly become one of the best restaurants around.

We had a spring brunch at Ananda that is truly the great "lost HowChow post" for the ages.  As I have noted before, I got a few lines of notes into my phone, then never had time to write more.  But it was a perfect mean.   A warm morning on Ananda's open-window patio with the Cordis Couple -- a table where Lil' Chow discovered Ananda's  French toast and I ate a special duck dumplings.

The French toast is a regular, and it's reason enough to go to Ananda for a weekend brunch.  Cooked in the oven and lightly twisted with a cardamon maple syrup.  It's a perfect example of how Ananda succeeds.  It's full of flavor, yet fresh, lighter than you'd expect.  It's a dish that you'd recognize, yet done with a twist that I wouldn't do at home and I can't find anywhere else.

I hope folks will be patient with HowChow's new reality.  I'm going to try to start again this week.  I have tried to collect news for tomorrow and then some posts for the next two weeks.  As always, I love comments and would love people to propose Trolling posts to augment my opinions.  See the rules for Trolling posts here.

See you tomorrow!

Thanks to Mrs. HowChow who ran a long Saturday morning through a gymnastic class to Sushi Sono to give me time to write posts.  We're trying hard.  Mostly, it's working out.

Centre Park Grill Has Opened In The Former Cafe De Paris; Upscale Cousin To Mt. Airy Tavern

The new Centre Park Grill

Centre Park Grill has soft-opened in the former Columbia home of Cafe De Paris offering an upscale variation on their work at the Mt. Airy Tavern.

I haven't had a chance to stop at Centre Park yet.  I was chuckling recently when I remembered that I once had so much free time that I stopped at Gadsby's on opening day.

The bourbon that I'll try when I get there

Centre Park is run by Jim DiChiara and the folks behind the Mt. Airy Tavern.  They took over the space that used to be Cafe de Paris on Rte 108 near Rte 100.  They renovated, and Jim was aiming to stretch in his new kitchen -- a little more culinary flair, a little less bar food.

I had to laugh because the Centre Park folks sent me a few photos, including a bourbon that I really want to try on its own.  It was exactly the come-on that I need -- although I have to admit that our eating out has been just toddler quickies.

Check out Centre Park on their Web site or on Facebook.  I'd love folks to try to new place and leave comments with reactions and suggestions.

Seasons 52 Has Opened In The Columbia Mall

Seasons 52 has opened in the Columbia Mall.  This is the outdoor walkway with Maggiano's and the terrific oils and vinegars at Secolari.

Seasons 52 is a national chain that I have seen mostly in upscale malls.  They do a seasonal menu with specials each week.  They do lunch and dinner every day.

Let me know if you visit.  Let me know what you recommend.

Bean & Burgundy Bread Does The Korean-American Split And Pleases Even Little Diners

Bi bim bop at Bean & Burgundy Bread

The RDADoc went on a limb this weekend after visiting the Miller Library to celebrate National Pink Day.  She rode with her five- and three-year-olds down Rte 40 and gave a try to Bean & Burgundy Bread.

This large, modern-looking space opened late last fall in Ellicott City with a hybrid menu of American food, Korean food, coffees and desserts.  It's good-looking, and I had heard that they spent much of the winter making changes to the menu.

But Mrs. HowChow and I still haven't gotten there, which made us curious about RDADoc's lunch.  She reported:

As we all know preschoolers don't always make the best restaurant guests. However, after going there today I feel comfortable recommending Bean & Burgundy Bread to people with young children. 

Grilled cheese

The atmosphere is casual and kid friend and I did notice several young children there. However, my one caveat is that the only item on the kids menu is grilled cheese.  So this isn't the place for you if your children are looking for a traditional American kids menu including pizza, chicken nuggets or hot dogs.

The lunch menu included both sandwiches and Korean dishes. I ordered Bibimbap which is a signature Korean dish served with warm rice, vegetables, gochujang (chili pepper paste), and soy sauce.  I ordered mine with brown rice and tofu although they did offer chicken or meat as options.  I am no where near as well versed in Korean dishes as the HowChows, but I very much enjoyed it.  I just ordered plain tea, but they did have an extensive tea, coffee and smoothie menu.  My children were very pleased with their hot chocolate (which was served with a beautiful heart design), grilled cheese and broccoli.  All in all it was an enjoyable experience.

Bean & Burgundy Bread does a full day menu -- from breakfast to dinner.  Does anyone else have reports?  Elizabeth talked up her meal on the Bare Midriff blog in March.  I'd love to know what other folks think or recommend.  So far, I'm drawn to the baked sweets at Shilla Bakery just east on Rte 40.  The Bean & Burgundy sweets hadn't pulled me away, but there are tons of menu items to try.

First Thoughts On White Oak Tavern: Some Real Success And Warmer Seasons On The Way

White Oak's burger, fries and housemade ketchup

MEMO
To: Richard Gorelick, Baltimore Sun
Date: March 20, 2014

We had a fun night at White Oak Tavern, but we hope that you'll let them get a few more months under their belts before you visit.

White Oak is new Ellicott City restaurant that aims to celebrate local farms, seasonal food, and craft beers.  It's a friendly place, newly-renovated with wood and stone and newly-joined into the "farm to table" trend.  It's a smart place with real ambition.

There's nothing better than meeting a restaurant that wants to show off its wares.  I read the beer list, and I couldn't pick between two.  The waitress went straight to offering tastes of both.  Two tastes.  Both excellent beer.  Both described perfectly.  And one was just wrong.  I clearly don't like beers with "caramel."  I ended up with a hoppy, bitter IPA that absolutely made my meal.

The fun parts of our meal were corn bread, a burger and a great dessert.  The menu has small plates and entrees.  They're trying for seasonal food.  They're trying for local farms.  They're trying to be unique.  The corn bread comes in a dense, moist wedge sparked up by a thin layer of melted cheese.  The burger comes with house-made ketchup, a tangy sauce, and Atwater's brioche roll that made it stand out.

"Cookies and Cream"

All those make White Oak a definite place to check out -- especially if you want to try 30 taps of craft beers with good food to go along.  Folks are guaranteed wings, burgers and hearty fare that's a thoughtful step above most places.  They should seek out the kitchen's special effort -- like extra sauce on that burger.  We just want you and your Sun colleagues to hold off a few months so that White Oak can work out what it means when the waitress says "farm to table" and the menu has entrees in the 20s.

Mid-winter is never a fair time to judge a seasonal restaurant, especially one that wants to thrive on Maryland produce.  On the winter menu, the only vegetables on the small plate menu were deep-fried mushrooms, so the farm product that drew us in was a beet salad that turned out to be a mistake.  Cubed beets.  Slivered fennel.  Huge chunks of soft onion.  Oranges and goat cheese, all with a cup of quinoa dumped alongside.

My fear is that a real restaurant reviewer would stop in his tracks.  Nothing held the salad together.  The flavor was flat and bland.  The fennel was too small to crunch.  The onion so big that it felt sad.  I want to see more quinoa in the world, but the next menu will hopefully edit that salad.  My hope is that spring and summer will bring vegetables so delicious that White Oak can really put them front and center.  Maybe the vegetables listed as "ala carte" are special enough be like small plates that we have had Pure Wine Cafe or Woodberry Kitchen.  We realized afterwards that we might have enjoyed kale or broccolini.

It takes ambition to be something special, and it takes time to work that ambition into meals like Woodberry and 8407 Kitchen Bar where this "farm to table" trend makes drama from simple ingredients.  While we're waiting, I'm going back to White Oak for more dessert.  We had a "Cookies and Cream."  That's vanilla ice cream served with dark gingerbread cookies.  Ice cream from South Mountain Creamery in Middletown.  Cookies made with real ingredients that leave threads of ginger and a deep, intense flavor.

We both agreed that White Oak's cookies ranked up with Le Comptoir, which makes many of the best desserts around.  If anything, we'd want them notched into the ice cream so we could pick them up for dipping -- rather than lined with chocolate sauce and put under the ice cream.

White Oak is a cool place, and it's definitely worth seeking out on Rte 40.  I want success for this round of new restaurants that want to be special enough to draw diners from across the county and reviewers from Baltimore -- White Oak, Gadsby's Bar American, the Highland Inn, and Petit Louis.  I want to give them time to do all that work.

Could someone explain the allure of beer lists on televisions?  Kloby's Smokehouse has them.  White Oak has two in the dining room.  I don't have young eyes anymore, but I can't read them across the room.  Even when I can, it is just a name.  White Oak had a terrific two-page beer list with a paragraph on each beer.  The descriptions helped me pick -- and made me want to order more.

Hawaiian Food Comes Just Outside The County; Poke, Comfort Food Worth Searching Out

Spicy tuna chirashi zushi

The Taste of Aloha has brought the taste of Hawaii to the border of Howard County, and it's worth the drive to bring a little sunshine into your winter.

This is a small family-run restaurant in Arbutus that brings casual Hawaiian food -- with its mix of Asian and American influences, its range from light raw fish dishes through noodle soups to hearty burgers and "plate lunch."

I don't want you to go with heightened expectations, but Taste of Aloha reminds me of R&R Taqueria. It's a guy who wants to cook authentic food.  Bare-bones seating.  A short menu that changes with the ingredients.  And a real focus on making things from scratch.  Let's just say that we left disappointed that we had passed on macaroni salad because lunch made us realized that we had probably underestimated it.

Saimin and fish tacos

First, you need to hit up Taste of Aloha just for the raw fish.  Hawaiians make these wonderful dishes called poke where fish is cubed, then mixed with vegetables and often a dressing.  There are endless varieties, and they were one of our favorite parts of vacation.

Last weekend, Taste of Aloha was serving a poke cousin called spicy tuna chirashi zushi.  A scoop of warm perfect rice surrounded by cubed tuna mixed with a spicy emulsion.  A touch of creaminess, but mostly a bright, light spiciness.  A dash of furikake gave a little salt and crunch.  As a $6 appetizer, it was one of my favorite dishes that I have eaten this year.  On a china plate, it would have been at home at a high-end restaurant.

Second, you should come expecting authenticity.  Hawaii has developed a unique culture with input from places like Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Portugal.  During out single meal, we listened to two other tables exclaim about how the food tasted just like they remembered from their time on the islands. The menu included kalbi, chicken katsu, several burgers, and kahlua pig served as a hoagie or as a big plate lunch.

Mrs. HowChow ordered mahi-mahi tacos that had perfectly grilled fish with a kimchi slaw and pineapple salsa.  I tried saimin, a noodle soup that starts with a mushroom-vegetable broth and then lets you add spam, shrimp, tofu, dumplings or a bunch of other proteins to bulk it up.  It was a cloudy broth and a filling soup perfect for a cold day.  I jazzed mine with a dash of soy sauce and a squirt of hot sauce.

Again, this is the vibe of R&R Taqueria where the folks take the food seriously even though they're cooking in a gas station.  We heard folks talk about how the chef makes his own sauces and marinades, including his own teriyaki sauce.  That's the kind of effort that we tasted in all our dishes and that makes me want to go back to try the kalbi, the roast pork, and maybe even the dishes made with spam.  That was also when we realized that the macaroni salad side dish was homemade -- and probably delicious.

Don't go with crazy expectations.  This is a casual place with a one-man kitchen.  But Taste of Aloha is really worth checking out because they're making an effort to do something special.  Plus, it's a unique menu that will give you a little taste of the islands without even driving to BWI.

Thanks to Jonalyne and Dorothy, who turned me onto Taste of Aloha.  Katie at Cupcake RN even wrote about eating there last month, but I actually hid the place for a few weeks so that I could surprise Mrs. HowChow with poke.  If you're going to make a special trip, I recommend following the restaurant on Twitter or on Facebook to see when they announce poke, chirashi zushi or other raw fish dishes.

Taste of Aloha
1405 Sulphur Spg Rd
Arbutus, MD 21227
(410) 501-3030

NEAR: Taste of Aloha is a little south and east of Catonsville. Get directions. From Ellicott City, you can take Frederick Road to Rolling Road and then into Arbutus. From the south, you'll probably come up I-95 and then loop around on I-195 and local roads. You probably won't happen across Taste of Aloha from Howard County, but it's pretty easy to find.

Gadsby's American Grill: New Restaurant From Robert Gadsby Quietly Replaces Greystone Grill

Pit beef sandwich from the first day of lunch service

New kitchens come

on little Gat feet.

They come cooking

beside Route 100

starting with lunches

and then dinner's on.

With apologizes to Carl Sandburg, we can announce that Robert Gadsby has unveiled a new restaurant in the heart of Howard County.   His team is doing it quietly.  You might say they're creeping in like the fog.

The new menu kicked off today at lunch.  The restaurant is Gadsby's Bar American.  It's in the space that used to be -- and still has signs for -- Greystone Grill just off Rte 100 in the Columbia 100 development near Centre Park Road.

You can still get directions from the Greystone Grill Web site.  The transition appears gradual.  The new name and new lunch menu started today.  I ate a pit beef sandwich, and I loved the horseradish sauce and the raw onion.  I'd never put raw onion on a sandwich, even at pit beef stands where it is a basic condiment.  I love when a kitchen shows me that I'm wrong.  The onion and horseradish were crunch and bite on the thin-sliced beef, and I may never eat pit beef without onion again.

I'm sure it will take time for Gadsby to turn the restaurant into his own place.  The bartender and a bunch of the servers seemed like long-time folks.  I assume the dinner menu and signs will change over time.

But even the first lunch menu says that Gadsby is going to try to do something notable.  The menu looks upscale American -- starting off with burgers, po' boys, pulled pork and other standards offering tweeks and specials like my horseradish sauce.  Then, it runs through more-posh items like a warm potato salad with smoked salmon, a pasta with house-made fennel sausage, and slow-cooked lamb shank with mashed potatoes, carrots and wilted greens.

I ate from the nice selection of $8-9 sandwiches that makes Gadsby's an option for anyone.  But they had a three-course lunch option that looks like fun -- $21 for a soup/salad, a pasta and a main plate.  In the same vein, my server talked up the persimmon in one of the salads, and the lunch menu has five desserts and 14 wines.  That's a place that wants to be special.  It wants you to come for everything from a quick lunch at the bar to fancy meals for business or pleasure.

Give 'em some time to get the place working.  My sandwich was absolutely worth the visit.  There will be big expectations -- especially for a $21 lunch or its equivalent.  I'd love for this to be a Restaurant of Big Shoulders.

If you haven't followed the prior posts in HowChow, Robert Gadsby is a chef with a high-end pedigree and a history in LA and DC.  He has opened a terrific barbecue place on U.S. 1 in Laurel called RG's BBQ Cafe, and folks were talking about his taking over a restaurant in Maple Lawn.   Hat tip to _____ for emailing me about the new menu.

(Update:  The 2 Dudes met Gadsby when they had lunch at the new place.  They talked to him and posted about the conversation.)

Gadsby's Bar American
8850 Columbia 100 Parkway
Columbia, MD 21045
410-715-4739

NEAR:  Gadsby's is the space that used to be Greystone Grill.  It's just off Rte 100.  From either Rte 108 or Rte 100, you turn onto Centre Park Drive.  Then you turn onto Columbia 100 Parkway.  Gadsby's is in the base of a small office building that backs against Rte 100.

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.

New Restaurant - Gluten Free - Opens In E. City

A new restaurant has opened on Hillsborough Road -- with a twist that its an entirely gluten-free menu, reports the Ellicott City Patch.

The One Dish Cuisine Cafe is in a residential area north of Rte 103.  The Patch reports that the company started delivering gluten free food to hospitals, health food stores like David's Natural Market, and elsewhere.  Now, they've opened the restaurant.

One Dish Cuisine Cafe, Deli & Bakery
8001 Hillsborough Rd
Taylor Village Center, 
Ellicott City, MD

Clyde's Columbia To Renovate, Close For 8 Weeks

The Columbia Clyde's will get a full renovation starting in January -- more of the changes coming to the Columbia waterfront, reports Luke Lavoie in the Sun.

The restaurant re-upped a new 10-year lease, so they're doing cosmetic and structural improvements.  They'll close during the renovations, probably for about eight weeks.  This is part of many changes coming to down Columbia, and Wordbones has the broader real estate view on Tales of Two Cities.

Small Cheeses At Roots Market -- Special Chunks On The Salad Bar Make An Easy Cheese Plate

Cheeses from Roots, paired with green tomato pickles and spicy tomato jam

I went into Roots Market Saturday looking for vegetables, but I came out with an entire cheese plate of surprises.

Walking past the salad bar, I saw a section filled with small pieces of cheese wrapped in plastic.  Roots in Clarksville has long been one of my favorite places for cheese, but this innovation changed my plans for dinner.  Each piece was $2-4, and I quickly sorted out three varieties that seemed to go together.

Small cheeses on the salad bar

I actually got advice from Roots' cheese specialist who was going off work, but stopped to recommend varieties.  She talked up one that had mustard.  She said she had cut pieces so that people could sample.

I'm in!  Three small cheeses meant big, easy fun.  I put them on a platter with spicy tomato jam that I canned last fall and thin-sliced green tomato pickles.  Three of us sat on the patio with crackers and enjoyed the warm, dry evening while the vegetables grilled.  That's Somederale Red Dragon, Petit Basque and Cotswold -- all winners.

The small cheeses will bring me back to Roots' salad bar.  I'm happy to spend money on great cheese, but you could drop $20 on three cheeses -- and then have way more than you could eat in any reasonable time.  The small cheeses were perfect for a single plate -- and keep an eye out for the Un Mondo chorizo at Roots as well. 

Doner Kebab At Rudy's Mediterranean

Doner platter at Rudy's

Doner kebab is one of those dishes that you can find all around the world because it satisfies carnivores across cultures.

It's a Turkish cousin to the shwarma or gyro.  A roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit, then carved off in slices that run from a crispy edge to a moist interior.  The Turks have spread them across Europe, and Rudy's Mediterranean has brought them to Columbia.

The 2 Dudes Who Love Food blog were the first to write up Rudy's.  The dudes have eaten in Istanbul, and they said that they felt the place when they ate hummus, an eggplant salad, doner, a minced lamb kabob, and more.

I can't vouch for Rudy's authenticity, but I can vouch for the meat.  Bad gyros taste of the freezer or have monotonous flavor across the sandwich.  Rudy's "Iskender Kebab" dinner tastes sliced for the order.  The edges are crisp, and the meat has a rich flavor without being greasy.  With the pita bread and the garlicy yogurt sauce, it's delicious and definitely the taste of a kitchen trying to do something unusual.

Turkish coffee

Rudy's is a relatively new place that serves a massive menu.  They do a full American or diner selection plus the Turkish offerings.  We enjoyed our other entree, which was roasted eggplant topped with meat and tomato sauce.  They serve a nice basic rice and a fresh salad with every meal.  (I would pass on the stuffed grape leaves, which were limp and tasted like nothing more than rice.)

Reviews on Urbanspoon and Yelp are as wide as the menu.  Some talk up the breakfast, the lentil soup, the rice pudding; others weren't happy at all.  I really recommend the doner.  That's the kind of meat that makes me want to splurge.  They serve a wrap for lunch and a few entrees at dinner.  I hope you can just get a sandwich with pita and the doner meat.

One bonus: Rudy's serves Turkish coffee as part of its dinner entrees.  It's fun.  It's tiny cups of strong coffee.  Definitely a touch -- like the free green tea at Sushi Sono -- that helps to create a special feel.

Rudy's Mediterranean Grill
7185 Columbia Gateway Drive
Columbia, MD 21046
410-290-2004

NEAR:  Rudy's is easy to reach even though you can't see it from the road.  It's just south of Rte 175 on Columbia Gateway Drive.  (That's the signs that I thought meant "Colonel Gateway Drive" for years.)  You curve a bit to get there.  Follow the knife and fork signs and then turn right up into a shopping center.  The same center has the Flavors of India restaurant as well.

Ma's Kettle In Savage

We went for lunch at Ma's Kettle on one of the first chilly, rainy day of the fall.

The Savage restaurant was cozy inside with a menu of American standards -- sandwiches, salads, barbecue and meatloaf.  The signs promote a homemade taste so the '34 Act Gourmet and I went with homemade creations, a pork barbecue sandwich and the meatloaf.

Meatloaf comes with a gravy, a pretty nice way to warm up and fill up.  The sandwich was packed with shredded meat and a relatively sweet sauce.  This isn't reinventing a classic.  This is the classic with a homemade taste just like they advertise.  It's comfort food, and we enjoyed the lunch even if half of a order is all of the meatloaf that I personally need.

If you go to Ma's Kettle, I'd go straight-forward.  The mashed potatoes were thick and creamy.  Skip the vegetables because you can steam broccoli at home.  The barbecue isn't Kloby's Smokehouse, but it was a fine sandwich as we talked and kept an eye on four-month-old Ethan who had eaten at home.

Ma's Kettle is open for breakfast and lunch.  They close at 3 pm.  It's a friendly place.  They split our orders onto two plates.  They kept filling the iced tea.  If you go, consider making your dinner by stopping in the Savage Mill for a loaf of Bonaparte Bread.

Ma's Kettle
8949 Baltimore Street
Savage, MD 20763

NEAR:  Ma's Kettle is near the Savage Mill.  It's easy to access from U.S. 1 or Gorman Road and just south of Rte 32.  From Gorman Road, turn north on Foundary Street.  That is the intersection with the huge bridge that leads to Savage Mill.  Go past the mill, then turn right at Baltimore Street.  Ma's Kettle is a block up on the right.

 

Harvest Fried Chicken in Woodbine -- Perfect For A Pick-Your Own Picnic At Larriland Farms

Now is the time to plan your fried chicken picnic to go with an afternoon of picking your own fruit.

Larriland Farms is kicking into high gear.  Peaches, plums and blackberries are coming out in the heat, and the next three months run through raspberries, tomatoes, apples, and the Halloween events.

You have to get out there, and you should pair a healthy excursion with a fried chicken picnic.  Get your chicken at Harvest Fried Chicken -- a counter-service spot at the same exit off Rte 70.  Their chicken comes crisp and moist even out of the display.

I devoured a breast and wing as takeout.  There's a salty punch to the skin.  They're bulky pieces.  Even the wing had real meat, and the breast had that perfect ratio of chicken to coating.  On a Sunday afternoon, the customers flowed through, so I feel like the chicken hadn't sat long under the heating lamp.  I tasted a touch of oil obviously, but it's fresh, not greasy or tired.

For me, you can't beat homestyle chicken, especially because I don't have the appetite to coat my kitchen in oil by frying at home.  Harvest has a dining room, but it's an uninspired spot.  I recommend takeout and picnicking at Larriland -- just from your car or sitting on the edge of an orchard.

Personally, I would bring my own sides to the picnic.  Christian L. talks up the coleslaw and baked beans on Yelp, and they look homemade.  But I like something lighter where the main course is fried.  I made sauteed cucumbers from Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen that would contrast nicely.  Or I'd look for a salad with vinegar or a touch of spice.

Of course, I might try a piece of Harvest's pie.

Harvest Fried Chicken is in a shopping center just north of I-70 at the same exit as Larriland.   The alternative to fried chicken is a picnic of pulled pork and barbecue.  The Town Grill in Lisbon is just south of I-70 off the same exit.  They smoke and grill meats -- including pulled pork, ribs, and smoked salmon that you could bring home.


If you want fried chicken in the more-developed part of Howard County, check out Chick 'n Friends in Columbia, which now delivers to offices.


Harvest Fried Chicken
710 Lisbon Center Dr
Woodbine, MD 21797
(410) 489-5870

NEAR:  Harvest is in a shopping center with a Food Lion.  It is behind a gas station and a Pizza Hut.  Take the Rte 94 exit off I-70 and turn northbound.  The shopping center is right after the first traffic circle, so you can turn right at the circle and drive through the gas station or go through the circle and then turn right at the next driveway.

Link: The Sun Drinks Deeply At Rumor Mill, But The Food Does Not Make Gorelick As Happy

The Rumor Mill got a pretty friendly write-up in the Sun on Sunday, but the bad news is the review that wasn't enthusiastic about the food.

Richard Gorelick clearly liked chef Mathew Milani and his ambition, and he recommends the infused vodkas and rums that the Rumor Mill makes in-house.  But that didn't translate into the food Gorelick ate.  A tiny chunk:

. . . I have run into few chefs as eager to please as Milani, who paid a pleasant visit to our table and who appears absolutely in earnest about his restaurant's mission. It would be much easier to turn a buck in Ellicott City with pub grub. I admire Milani for sticking to his guns.

But I find myself without a single dish to lavish praise on. A duck dish came very close: This was a simply presented dish of cardamom-infused sous-vide duck breast, thinly sliced, served with brined cherries and pomegranate oil. If it suffered from anything, it was being in such uninspired company.

Oddly, Gorelick had just listed Rumor Mill as the 12th best restaurant in Howard County (and 28th best in his Top 50 in Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties).  That had kicked off comments from people like Ken Oh, who talked up Johnny's and complained about Rumor Mill's inconsistency.


I have actually never been to the Rumor Mill.  HoCo Rising recommends it and already defended the bread pudding against charges of density.  The bread pudding was HoCo Rising's #3 favorite food in Howard County -- ahead of burgers and lobster grilled cheese!

Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia 2010

I keep coming back to Victoria Gastropub even thought I return to a corner of the restaurant's menu.

Victoria wants to push the high cuisine side of pub food.  Its theme is a classy twist on simple foods -- lobster in the grilled cheese, duck fat on the fries, and kobe beef in the burger -- and that menu packed in the crowds.  On a summer Tuesday, we had to wait 20 minutes for a table.

I have had many good nights at Victoria.  It's a casual scene, but nice enough that I have recommended it to people for dates or taking out-of-town family.  The bar has an energetic buzz.  The patio is great on a warm night.  Dinners start with biscuits that excite Mrs. HowChow every time.


In the end, I recommend the burger and a beer.  As I said, Victoria wants to upscale pub dishes.  I have eaten a bunch of the menu, and it's good.  The French dip was meaty and dunked beautifully in jus.  The lobster grilled cheese has its fans, although it seemed like a gimmick to me.  And my most-recent night with short ribs and filet was a classy meal -- with the restaurant reward of a plate that I couldn't cook myself.

But I left wishing that I had ordered Victoria's burger.  Not even the kobe one.  Even with its standard meat, Victoria puts together the best burger around.  The right burger on a light, flavorful bun that I wish I could buy for my own grilling nights.  Lettuce, superb pickles, and a half plate of crispy fries.  Send the fries back if they're not perfect.  Victoria wants to serve you high end food, and the fries at their best are a salty, crispy treat.  In January, the burger and fries are a way to warm up in a friendly place.  In July, the same meal tastes summer fresh.


The real change for the seasons is the beer.  Victoria prides itself on dozens of beer choices, and it pleases connoisseurs like the Baltimore Beer Guy who posts regularly about Victoria's rotating craft beers.  But it also caters to lightweights like me -- people who like beer, but don't know enough to pick from the huge menu.  I appreciate the smart advice that the staff has given me every time, really listening to what I wanted and suggesting beers that I have loved.  The last one was Wihenstephan Hefe Dunkel, which hit my "wheat beer" spot.

I know the recommendations are good because I haven't liked every beer at Victoria.  Victoria sells a beer sampler, and I love picking wide varieties, making sure to get something I wouldn't buy if I only had one glass.  It's great fun.  With the five-beer sampler, I have had beers that I hated.  Nothing bad.  But bitter, strong beers maybe aimed at brew crazies like the BBGuy.  Victoria wants to serve interesting food -- not just the basics that you'd get at a neighborhood bar.

I really recommend Victoria, and you should check out the whole menu, which I have said was small enough to fit on a page and smart enough to make half of the items interesting to me.  Try those entrees.  And definitely try the desserts.  We have had several great desserts,which they bake in-house and sometimes augment with herbs or fruits from their own garden.  But when in doubt, have a burger, a beer, and one of my favorite nights out in Howard County.

(Update: Read the comments below.  People are recommending a few of their favorite things.)

Victoria Gastro Pub
8201 Snowden River Parkway
Columbia, MD 21045
410-750-1880

NEAR: Victoria is easy to reach from Rte 108 or Rte 100.  It's at the intersection of Rte 108 and Snowden River Parkway, so you can take the Snowden exit from Rte 100 or come from either direction of Rte 108.  It's down from Eggspectation and next to McDonalds.

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.)

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.