Woodberry Kitchen

Woodberry Kitchen

2010 Clipper Park Road, No. 126
Baltimore, MD 21211

410-464-8000

For Mr_BTM's birthday I took him out to dinner at Woodberry Kitchen, located in the restored Clipper Mill near Hampden. Their philosophy is farm to table, getting all of their produce, seafood and meat from local farmers and fisherman. It's not all organic but it's all local. I like that idea. The menu is simple American cuisine featuring cold plates, warm plates, oysters, flat breads and entrees. We both chose our items from the specials menu instead

of the regular house menu. We started with a half dozen oysters on the half shell (2 varieties). Following that was a flatbread with house sausage, which was paired well with the Spanish Rioja we had. The flatbreads are all baked in a wood burning stove, which gives the crust a great smokey flavor and a great crunch. For entrees I went with the bison rigatoni (fresh made) and Mr_BTM went with the Poppy Cod with fava beans and beets in a leek broth. My dish had a nice surprise veggies of fresh peas and a sauce based on the glaze for the bison. It was good, but the bison was a little overpowering of the rest of the dish. Mr's dish was nice and light in flavor and well seasoned. He enjoyed his dish.

For dessert, since it's berry season, Mr_BTM went with the 2 berry cobbler (cherry and blackberry) with a side of vanilla ice cream and I got the poached apricots with blackberries, sesame toast and yogurt panna cotta. Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience at Woodberry Kitchen and would love to go back and try more of their menu!

One Straw Farm

This year we signed up for a share in a Community Supported Agriculture program ("CSA"). The CSA is with One Straw Farm, the largest organic vegetable farm in Maryland. The CSA provides weekly produce (whatever is ripe!) from June through November. Each week you get 8 items that you pick up at a nearby site and you'll have more than enough produce to last you the week. We had our first pick up this week and got a lot of stuff! Below is the list:

1 bunch romaine
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
1 bunch green leaf lettuce
1 bunch kale
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 bunch red chard
1 bunch arugula
1 pint strawberries

Maryland Film Festival

This past weekend was the Maryland Film Festival in the Station North neighborhood. We decided to go this year when we saw there were two Korean films included in the festival. The two films included Daytime Drinking, directed by Noh Young-seok, and Treeless Mountain, directed by So Yong-kim. We decided to see Daytime Drinking since it was the only one we could see (had plans when Treeless Mountain was playing). Daytime Drinking was presented at the Toronto Film Festival last year and a few others since then. It was highly praised as a comedy but we really didn't think it was all that funny. Knowing a bit of the culture really let me see past the slap stick funny stuff and realized that what was going on in the film would not be a laughable moment in Korea. Interesting to have that perspective. Depending on the film listing next year, we may go back, we may not. Lots of film snobs at that event!

Peter's Inn

Peter's Inn
504 S. Ann Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-675-7313
Closed Sundays & Mondays

We have tried eating at Peter's Inn on two earlier occasions and both times were met with long wait times. Of course, both of these attempts were on Saturday nights. So, with the power out last night and it being our anniversary and all, we decided to try Peter's Inn on a weekday evening. Good choice on our part! We were able to find a table right away with no wait. The menu changes weekly so we weren't entirely sure what would be offered. We quickly noticed that the menu consisted solely of meat and fish dishes, no vegetarian options were offered (excluding the house salad, which isn't an entree). Even the garlic & potato soup came with salmon crostini. We both started with the house salad, served with a large slice of garlic bread. The salad was simple, just greens and a light dressing, and went well with the warm garlic bread. I ordered the wild rockfish fillet with a lobster, bacon and potato hash and Mr_BTM ordered the braised veal cheeks a la bourguignonne. My dish was pretty good and the hash did have large chunks of lobster, carrots and potatoes. The rockfish still had its' skin on, which made a nice addition to a regular fillet and added some much needed flavor. Mr_BTM's dish was also good, served with white onions, carrots and mashed potatoes. We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of the petite syrah. The service here was good and overall had no complaints with the meal. I do hope they incorporate more vegetarian options in future menus, especially now that summer is coming soon!

Dangerously Delicious Pies

Dangerously Delicious Pies
1036 Light Street, Baltimore, MD - Federal Hill
and
3547 Chestnut Ave., Baltimore, MD - Hampden
410-662-PIES
Closed Mondays

We've had the pleasure of eating at the Hampden location and ordering pies to go from the Fed Hill location. The Hampden spot is located on the first floor of a rowhouse just off The Avenue and has a small bakery in the front and a few tables in the back. The place is really cute and offers coffee and tea in addition to the pies. We shared a generous slice of the mixed berry pie, which they warmed up before serving. It was a great way to end a day of shopping on The Ave!

We've never eaten at the Fed Hill location but have ordered pies from there. For Christmas we ordered a Lemon Chess pie for desert. This pie was really sweet and had a nice lemon flavor. However, we found that we could only eat half a slice at a time due to the sweetness of this pie. So, for our trip to Snowshoe, we decided to try one of the savory pies as well as getting another one of those mixed berry pies! We decided on the steak, mushroom and gruyere savory pie. We had this for lunch at Snowshoe and we warmed it in the oven for a delicious lunch, accompanied by a side salad. The savory pie was so delicious and packed with lots of meat, mushrooms and cheese! Simply delicious! The only downfall I see is that these pies are calorie laden and not very diet friendly. But, for an occasional treat, these pies are worth every penny!

El Trovador

El Trovador
318 S Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-276-6200

This past Friday for Caitlin's birthday, we had a rather large group that wanted to eat dinner together. After Iggie's didn't work out because of the wait, we decided to head to Fells Point. The Mr & I have been to this restaurant in Fells Point twice now and suggested it to the group since most of us had been to Arcos on Broadway already. The group was seated immediately and we all decided to have the Sangria as our beverage of choice for the evening. The menu here offers a variety of combo platters with both Mexican and Salvadorian options. I got the Jalisco platter with 2 beef enchiladas, one chicken taco and one pork tamale, served with sides of beans and rice ($13.95). I managed to finish only half of this platter as the portion sizes are generous. The Mr got the Plato Tipico Salvadoreno ($12.50) which included a fried plantain, a papusa, a fried corn tamale, skirt steak, rice and beans. He had no trouble finishing his dish, but did confess he ate too much at the end of the meal. The others enjoyed various dishes from the menu and everyone enjoyed their meal. While the Sangria was a little pricey ($20 per pitcher), the overall value here is quite amazing. We all had ample portions for a relatively low cost. The service was friendly and the decor nice. This place is a nice gem on Broadway and we'll be sure to visit again.