Mid-week vacation

Last night felt like a little taste of a vacation in the middle of the week. Our fridge is completely depleted, sans two cucumbers and a carton of sour whipping cream, so we went out to preempt our Black Keys concert.

The concert was at Ram's Head Live!, so we took a cab straight to Power Plant and went into Babalu Grill. We decided to grab dinner at the bar and just hang out til concert time. No one approached us for a good five minutes until finally the manager came over. We'd been watching him run around like a crazy man trying to work the bar by himself in his suit. When he finally came to us, he apologized for the wait. Apparently his bartender was getting sick in the bathroom. Poor guy. We softened up after that and were even considering jumping behind the bar to help him out.

Joe got the spring rolls and quesadilla. I got the chicken tortilla soup and salad. I thought I ordered the Cuban Style Salad, but I didn't realize until just now that I think they brought me something different. The greens were served inside a hollowed out pineapple. The salad was tossed with goat cheese and a light vinaigrette, and pineapple slices dotted the permiter of the plate. Nice presentation.

Chicken tortilla soup was ok, but I couldn't help but thinking it would be better if it didn't have chicken in it. Joe said the same thing about his spring rolls. They were chock full of flavorless chicken. Too bad.

After selling our extra concert tickets to a couple drunk and obnoxious women (who cares, they bought the tickets!), we headed to Ram's Head. It's been a while since I'd been there for a concert, and we had a good time. I wasn't familiar with The Black Keys, but Joe and our buddy Scott really like them. It's just two guys - a guitarist and a drummer. Their website describes them as rock/blues, but they were definitely banging out the rock last night. It's hard to go wrong with live music.

Ram's Head was packed. Looking around, I was so grateful not to be 17 anymore. (I'm sure one day I'll regret saying this). The high schoolers were lining the walls and chugging illegal beers as fast as they could and rubbing up all over each other. And the relationship drama definitely unfolded right in front of us. Man, drunk girls are obnoxious. Not that that's EVER been me...

Our buddy Ben is coming into town tomorrow night for dinner, so we're excited to take him out! And Joe actually has the entire weekend off, as in Saturday AND Sunday! I feel like we should fly to Europe or something with all that free time ;)

Pazza Luna

Saturday night we went to dinner at Pazza Luna in our favorite neighborhood, Locust Point. We spent so much time house hunting there last year that it felt like coming home as we drove down Key Highway, past Domino Sugar and Tide Point, across the railroad tracks and through the residential streets.

We'd eaten at Pazza Luna during our neighborhood "research" last year, but the dining experience was totally different. We were pleased to find every table taken at the restaurant, so the host warmly offered us a seat at the bar and promised a table within five minutes. I ordered us two glasses of Prosecco while we waited, but the bartender informed me they were out. Instead, he gave us Champagne on the house. Oh darn. But that generous gesture set the tone for the rest of our evening.

The interior is deep and narrow like most restaurants in Baltimore rowhomes. We had a cozy table for two upstairs, which we hadn't seen before. Warm yellow walls, celestial decor, candles on tables. It almost felt like dining at someone's house - very welcoming and comfortable.

I had the artichoke salad with red onion (Insalata Pazza Luna), and Joe got the spinach bisque to start. My salad was great. The artichokes tasted like they'd been smoked. Joe's bisque was a shocking green color, not completely visually appealing, but really delicious. Tasted just like creamed spinach.

For my entree I ordered the Manicotti stuffed with butternut squash, spinach ricotta, butter sage and shaved parmesan. Delicious, and a very manageable portion. Joe was intrigued by the use of ossobuco in a stew, so he ordered the Pappardelle. We were envisioning an actual stew, but it was Pappardelle noodles (large and flat) tossed with ossobuco veal stew. He loved it.

He ordered the Tiramisu for his dessert while I ordered the Apple Streudel. Joe insists you can tell a good restaurant by their Tiramisu. According to him, the dessert should retain a blend of crunch and mousse textures. Pazza Luna's was exquisite, but he said it lacked a distinct crunch. My Apple Streudel had cherries in it, along with the apples, so I was in heaven.

Our entire dinner conversation revolved around Locust Point and how we can't wait to live there at some point. I asked the bartender if they've seen more traffic with the opening of Silo Point, and he credited that and the new townhomes across the street with the surge in popularity. Good! I'm glad things are going well at the neighborhood joint. Hopefully we'll be able to walk to Pazza Luna from our house one day.

Frank and Nic's comes to the Westside

Yesterday was a day to celebrate! A new president, a new era! I had four different news mediums on all day long to soak up as much detail as I could. Twitter was my best friend and gave me the itty bittiest details of how people on the Mall were feeling, what the lines were like, how cool the presidential limo was in real life, etc.

So when I got home from work, I literally tackled Joe and said, we're going to go have champagne and dissect every detail of this inauguration! We walked to Frank and Nic's West End Grille, which just opened one block from our house. Finally, restaurants are coming to the west side! Frank and Nic's sits on the first floor of the Zenith apartment building at the corner of Pratt and Paca, across the street from the new Hilton.

Its website description took the words right out of my mouth - it's a "casually elegant destination" that leans a bit towards a sports bar. I wore jeans and a baseball hat and fit in just fine with the post-conference businessmen in suits. We sat on the bar side so we could watch their beautiful HD flatscreens. (I needed a clear picture of Michelle Obama's ball gown, which was lovely, I must say). They passed Joe's music test by playing artists like Thievery Corporation, Stone Temple Pilots, and a song from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack! I got so excited to hear this music somewhere other than my living room where I've been blaring it on repeat :)

I got a champagne split to complement my celebratory spirit. To start, we sampled the Asian dumplings and Seared Tuna Sashimi. The sashimi was served with an Asian slaw spring roll, and all was delicious. The Asian dumplings were pork fried dumplings served with soy and peanut sauces. Perfect as they were.

Our sever recommended the BLT 9, which was chock full of tomatoes, so I couldn't pass it up. They fried a red tomato and served it with crispy bacon, avocado, lettuce and mozzarella cheese on lightly toasted bread. It usually comes with mayo, but I passed. The sandwich was very good but was lacking the "glue" that ties all the flavors together, which I assume would have been the mayo that I nixed. In lieu of mayo, I spread a little ketchup on the toast to moisten it up. Never can have too many tomato products in one meal! Sandwiches come with fries, which were thinly sliced and totally addicting. Joe got the Roast Veggie Panini, but I didn't get a bite of it, so I can't comment.

CNN was just starting to cover all the inaugural balls, so we weren't in a hurry to leave the bar. To help pass the time, we ordered the Banana Bread Pudding served a la mode. The warm, gooey bread was the perfect ending to our celebration.

Our buddy Scott needed an outlet to celebrate too, so he joined us after dessert for a beer. He seemed to approve of the place, so hopefully we can convince other folks to come over to the west side a little more often. It's clear that Frank and Nic's money time will be baseball and football seasons. Sitting right next to Camden Yards can be a lonely place when there are no games. But if the restaurant can ride out the next three months til O's Opening Day, they should be set for a successful first year.

Visit with Uncle Dan

My uncle Dan is in town for a few days to provide security for the inauguration. Last night he asked us to join him for dinner after his shift ended, so Joe and I met him at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore, supposedly Baltimore's oldest hotel. Ironically, I had stayed here with my family as a kid when we came up for our first O's game. At 11, 8, and 5, my brother, sister and I thought it was the most beautiful hotel we'd ever seen. I remember the circus came to town the day after the O's game, and we were able to convince our parents to stay an extra night and take us to the circus. God bless you, mom and dad!

I was so happy someone from the Norville side of the family got to meet Joe so they could spread the word that he actually exists! Some family and friends still think he's this phantom boyfriend I've made up since his work schedule rarely allows him to leave town with me. I've considered putting a picture of his head on a stick and taking that to family functions with me. Just kidding :)

We hung out in the Radisson bar, sipping day-old coffee and munching on a bucket of popcorn from this carnival-style popcorn machine, watching the Ravens vs. Steelers and waiting for uncle Dan's shift to finish. Then we headed to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Harbor East. It had always seemed like a fun place to try, so we crossed it off our list.

The place was dead since the whole town was camped out at dive bars watching the Ravens make a run for the Super Bowl. We, on the other hand, were happy to take advantage of a quiet city. Roy's atmosphere is warm with purple and golden hues and soft lighting. It appears dressy casual, but I'll bet you can get away with pretty much anything.

Uncle Dan got the blackened shrimp served with polenta and spinach, Joe got the Roy's Classic Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi, and I got the Jade Pesto Grilled Hawaiian Ono, the fish special of the day. It was served on a bed of Bangkok noodles with shrimp and black bean stir fry. It was a very neutral, light-tasting fish, so the stir fry really had an opportunity to shine.

Dessert was Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle for uncle Dan, and the Caramel Macadamia Almond Nut Tarte for Joe and I, served a la mode. To say dinner was good would be an understatement. Roy's presentation was impressive, and the food was as flavorful as you could hope. Next time I'd like to try their sashimi and sushi, just for kicks.

Thanks uncle Dan for spending time with us in Baltimore! I love your visits. Good luck with the inauguration! The people are in great hands.

Jack's Bistro in Canton

Jack's Bistro has been on our list of restaurants to visit, and last night we finally got to check it out. Our friend, Claudia, was visiting from NYC, so we used this as an opportunity to check out a new place. On our drive to Canton (which we never venture over to), we confirmed that Baltimore seriously has a bar on every corner between the Inner Harbor and 95. Wow. Great dives that I'm dying to check out like Ale Mary's (a classic I've heard), Bad Decisions (the stomping ground of my colleagues), and Jack's neighboring bar, Pickled Parrot. Mmmm, tasty. I should do a dive bar crawl one night. THAT would be a colorful blog entry.

I'd read a bunch of reviews of Jack's Bistro, so I was really looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about. Turns out, not much. The place is small and narrow like lots of Baltimore restaurants. But there was no place for us to stand while we waited for our table, so we huddled in a corner up against the bar, bracing ourselves every time the door blew open and frigid air blasted us. The bar takes up most of the space, and it was packed to the gills. Felt a little too much like a crowded college bar.

We were finally seated in a small booth still in the bar area, so we battled the noise of a dozen other conversations all night. It was hard to talk across the table, and I found myself eavesdropping on other conversations simply because they were unavoidable. Not a good place to go when you want to play catch-up with a visitor.

Drink was The Fritz, champagne with St. Germaine elderberry. Very good, but almost too sweet. Good summer drink. Nursed this the whole meal.

The menu had some interesting items, like crisp sea beans (?), but for the most part, it was fatty comfort food. So when in Rome...I ordered the Mac + Cheese + Chocolate appetizer because how can you not order something that sounds that blissful? Cheese and chocolate?! Joe got the toast + mushrooms + egg, which was served toast on the bottom covered by sauteed oyster and button mushrooms with a poached-looking egg on top. The egg had been cooked at 147-degrees for two hours, so when he stabbed it with his fork it wouldn't crumble. Interesting idea. Not sure if the egg was necessary though since it was just a solid yolk. Mushrooms were great. Mac + cheese + chocolate was good but certainly not the tastebud explosion I'd been hoping for. It was just really cheesy mac and cheese with cocoa powder dusted over top. The server described the taste as the savory experience you get from a chocolate-covered pretzel - a little salty and a little sweet, yet complementary.

Since my appetizer was the farthest thing from healthy, I chose the Lolla Rosa salad, which appeared very simple and clean on the menu. Sike! It was basically a plate of thick white salad dressing drowning beautiful red lettuce leaves. I was able to save a couple sundried tomatoes from submerging in the dressing pool, but the rest was unsalvageable. So long lettuce. Joe got shrimp fettucine. Pretty basic.

Dessert was a diabetic's nightmare - Fried 'Smores. It was served on a tray with three circles, so it presented nicely. In the middle was a scoop of Maggie Moo's Smores ice cream, and on each end was a ball of deep graham cracker crumbs with marshmallow on the inside and melted chocolate on the outside of the graham cracker. Shocker, the deep fried fat was wonderful. We practically licked the serving dish.

However, when the check came, I was left feeling like I'd seriously overpaid for a very loud, pre-atherosclerosis meal that completely lacked atmosphere. When we first arrived, Claudia pointed out a review from The Sun's Elizabeth Large who only gave the place 3 stars. At first I was shocked, but now I can see why.

Reunion at Paolo's

Have I mentioned how much I love girls' night? I love it. I do.

Last night five girlfriends from my former agency got together and just gabbed, gabbed, gabbed. We sat in the bar, which we thought would be more "gab" friendly, but we think a booth of three guys actually "ssshhh"d us at one point. Ew.

We all get together every couple months or so, and it seems like everyone has so much going on. Babies on the way, weddings to plan, new jobs they're settling into. But somehow despite all the new developments, it's always so easy to pick right up where we left off.

We met at Paolo's in Towson since it's kind of in the middle for everyone. I think I've blogged about their sangria in the summer and their fabulous olive tapenade and breadsticks. Had some of those, plus fried calamari and bruschetta. But there was so much talking going on, the food was really an afterthought to essentially pay for our seats.

Cheers to great girlfriends! You never can have too many!

New twist on sweet potatoes

I love eating sweet potatoes simply baked and sprinkled with a little cinnamon. But last night, Joe tried something new to fancy up this modest tuber.

It was getting late, so we wanted to make something quickly for dinner. I zapped a medium sweet potato for seven minutes in the microwave so that the skin just peeled right off the flesh.

In the meantime, Joe whisked a cup of cream with a half of a hand-squeezed lemon and a dash of pepper. I split the sweet potato in half and mashed each half separately in our bowls. He drizzled this lemon cream over top of the potato mound to bring it to life.

He was afraid it wasn't going to taste very good, but how can you go wrong with cream and lemon? The end result was DELICIOUS! The lemon flavor was very light and reminded me of summer. It was a welcome change of flavor from our recent winter recipes. It was all done in seven minutes!