Weekend In Baltimore

With over 60 interviews performed over the past 1.5 weeks, and the final hiring decisions made, I left work at 4:00 on Thursday, determined to make it to Tio Pepe in downtown Baltimore in reasonable time for dinner.

I met my parents and my aunt and uncle at this classic taberna just of

St. Paul Street

. The restaurant was segmented into what seemed to be arms of a cave, completely white-washed on the sides. Wait staff were clad in bow ties as our portly and jolly waiter brought in our pitcher of sangria. I started my meal slightly later with a bowl of garlic soup. The heady, red broth was inundated with a unctuous shavings of garlic. Spanish spices and onion melded together to create a mélange of flavor. My seafood dinner was topped with a thick orange seafood sauce that coated my plate with buttery flavor accented with cumin and curry-like spices. My mother got the duck which was crispy to the point of me wanted to eat its bones. Crab covered rockfish was one of the specialties of the evening which came in a huge portion and was, like my seafood platter, covered in the rich sauce. Dessert was a rolled cake with French silk pie-like filling. One of the cakes came topped with toasted pine nuts, their smokiness and sweetness truly coming to front.

The next day, after a vigorous, self-guided walking tour of the city, my mother and I went to Lumbini, a Nepalese and Indian restaurant. As I have mentioned before, I prefer the lunch buffets because of the variety and deal they offer. Both goat and fish curries were available, the former primarily consisting of fatty and connective tissue filled cuts of goat. The tandoori chicken and pallak paneer were always a welcome addition, as was the complimentary milk tea at the end of the buffet line.

Museums, more walking, sunshine, and a trip to a four stall farmers market built up our appetite for Cazbar. Open table allowed me to make a 1000 point reservation at 5:45. My mother and I split the grilled meats platter, and I also had the bean soup. Comparable to any spicy, home made black bean soup, the cup was not out of this world. However, the lamb, kofka, chicken, and beef were superb. Each was charred to medium perfection and was served with rice, salad, and cucumber yogurt sauce, still with string of cucumber rather than being completely integrated.

Having only split an entrée, Tir na Nog was our next stop. An array of appetizers brought forth scallops, still slightly gritty, yet perfectly yielding to the knife, set in a broth that was reminiscent of French onion soup reduced. Grilled oysters were covered in a creamy crab dip and broiled. However, the star of the show was the crab cake. There was just enough egg to hold the lump meat together, while it was drizzled with capers, pine nuts, and a sauce that tasted of old bay and butter, but thicker.

The following morning brought the National Aquarium and the well-known Phillips crab cakes. They were, like the ones at Tir Na Nog, just barely held together with egg, but the spices and/or sauces were absent, leaving me to add my own old bay at the table.

Dinner was a simple concoction of potatoes, grilled chicken, green beans, tossed in a balsamic yogurt sauce. Next to some Caesar salad, red wine, and pineapple for dessert, made for a great night.

Showing us a good time, my parents and other aunt and uncle (both live in the Baltimore area) set out for Paladar Latin Kitchen and Rum Bar. The Caribbean rum sampling had a smooth, a rich, and a paint thinner of a rum. The triplet of cirviches was good and tasted fresh, but was not knock your socks off. What was interesting was that the tortilla chips basket also had plantain chips and taro root chips, a welcome departure from the norm.

After again, walking and shopping to build the appetite, we all took off for Level. This small plates restaurant is wonderful. Seasonal and local ingredients mean a changing menu. The only drawback is that often the plates are so small that sharing can be difficult. The rockfish above a bean coulee was filling and satisfying, the green garlic risotto was thick, creamy, rich, and cheesy. The bison satays were succulent and tender, despite the lack of fat in the meat. The tuna tartar was plated in a pool of soy sauce which was slightly spicy and had both black and white sesame seeds. My only regret is that I couldn’t taste the sweetbreads. My uncle ordered it and was unwilling to share. I cant blame him, as you don’t get in between a man and his thymus gland.