The Iron Bridge Wine Company
10435 State Route 108
Columbia, Maryland 21044

410-997-3456 (Phone)
410-997-3807 (Fax)

For a Google map, click here.

Last night we had dinner at the Iron Bridge Wine Company after a long absence.  The absence, incidentally, was not accidental — we’d had a couple of disappointing meals and stayed away for a couple of years.

Last night’s experience didn’t disappoint.  First we noticed that they offer (on Sundays and Wednesdays) a very good deal — $33 for a three course meal.  You pick what you like from the starters, the main courses, and desserts.

We all started with foie gras with three of us opting for the pan seared foie gras, which was served on a piece of toasted brioche with a plum and mango relish.  It was nicely done — a gently cooked and very tasty piece of liver.  One of us opted for Foie Gras Chips & Dip.  This dish consisted of  Yukon Gold Potato Chips and  a White Truffle Foie Gras Mousse.  Although I would not have chosen this for myself, I tasted it and thought it was very good indeed.  The dip definitely tasted of foie gras although my fear was that it wouldn’t!

Washoo, a fish from Hawaii

Three of us chose Wahoo, a firm white-fleshed fish from Hawaii.  It was covered with an artichoke-based sauce, and I found that mine was cooked to perfection with firm meat and a nice juicy texture.  (One person in our party found hers to be a little dry).

One of us chose the 8 oz. Grilled Flat Iron served with Sweet Potato Fries, Roasted Cippolini Onions and  House Made Worcestershire Sauce).  She felt that the steak was adequate but only adequate, and lamented that there was a lack of available choices on a menu.  When I countered that a short menu is usually a good thing, she argued that she was yearning for a rack of lamb that she had eaten in this restaurant before.  Besides, she said, how can any restaurant have a menu that offers no chicken, no lamb, and no pork on its list of main courses? I had to agree with her.

Lemon custard with rice pudding

We also had excellent desserts.  The most notable was a sort of mousse made with mocha and raspberries.  One of us had a very nice and tart lemon custard served with a small portion of rice pudding that we all thought was too sweet.

Raspberry and Mocha Moussel

I am going to start coming to the Iron Bridge again.  The people are friendly, and it was nicely served.  Besides, it is so nice to go to a restaurant with original cooking that is not part of a chain.  I also appreciate the $10 corkage charge for wine (waived on Thursdays!).

All in all, a nice evening!  And a very fair bill — $171 for four people, including tax (but not the tip) for four three-course dinners and a good bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir, a good compromise between the fish-eaters and the person who chose the steak.

Morrell’s Wine Bar

1 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY 10020-2003

www.morrellwinebar.com

212 262 7700

Drinking Seis 2007 at Morrell's wine bar

As many readers already know, I made a resolution to visit New York once a month.  I really want to get to know this fascinating city well.

Although I try to make sure I see places that I have not seen before, Morrell’s wine bar just off the Rockefeller Center draws me back time after time.  It has a list that is almost the size of a phone directory with more than 2,000 interesting and reasonably priced wines, a friendly bar where I almost always seem to wind up sharing experiences (and wine) with a new friend, and a good list of appetizers to have with your wine.  You can drink by the bottle and have access to the full selection, and you can choose to drink by the glass from a list of about 100 wines.  (I am amazed that the servers always find your choice of wine instantly, and it always tastes fresh.  Quite an achievement when the choice is so broad!)  The wines by the glass start at about $8.00.

The wine in the picture is a 2007 Seis from Luberri from Rioja.  This is 100% Tempranillo from vines that are 15 to 25 years old.  It is bursting with dark fruit (raspberry and blackberry) with smoky overtones and reveals soft tannins as you swallow.  A very concentrated and well made wine that retails at around $12.00 a bottle. Highly recommended.

The people who serve the wine seem to know their stuff.  I also like the way they place the wine in front of you at the bar even if you are only drinking a glass so that you can caress the bottle and inspect it.  All the wine is served in nice glass, and they serve interesting, well-chosen, low priced wine as well as seriously delicious and expensive stuff.

They offer things to eat as well.  I sometimes have their steak tartare, which comes with a quail’s egg in the middle ($16/$25), or the plate of charcuterie plate (Jamon Serrano Ham, Saucisson De l’ail, Sopressata, Rillette de Gascogne, $16).  You can have a complete lunch or dinner although I have only had appetizers at the bar.

Although it is more expensive to eat Morrell’s, I wouldn’t be tempted by the Dean and Deluca shop next door.  I have eaten there on several occasions with the family, and it is nothing more than an over-priced and overcrowded fast food joint.  It never fails to disappoint.

I often spend some time at Morrell’s retail shop next door, but unfortunately they often seem to be unable to produce a bottle of the stuff that you have just enjoyed at the wine bar.

Kababji Grill

1351 Connecticut Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20036-1801
(202) 822-8999

The occasion was the graduation of our daughter, Roya, with her MA from Georgetown in English.  (Isn’t she clever!)  The idea was to mark the occasion with a meal to honor her and three of the other graduates from the same program with a good meal.  Three sets of parents and other friends and supporters made this a party of twelve.

We originally planned to go to an Indian restaurant but changed our minds as some of the party didn’t like Indian food.  So we booked a table for twelve of us at Kababji, a Lebanese restaurant on Connecticut Avenue about half a block away from Dupont Circle.  We weren’t disappointed.

Kababji was founded in Lebanon in 1993, and it has expanded all over the Middle East with branches in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.  This restaurant opened in 2009 and is the first Kababji in North America.  The food concept is to serve fresh food with healthy Lebanese/Mediterranean ingredients in a simple and modern atmosphere.  The menu and cooking are exactly what you’d expect on a Lebanese menu with an emphasis clearly on excellence in execution rather than innovation.  Main courses are (as the name of the restaurant suggests) mostly kababs cooked on an open fire and brought straight to the table.

We started off with mezze.  Each of us ordered a traditional Middle Eastern appetizer, which we passed around the table.  (The portions were enormous.)  I ordered foul medammas, a dish that I had fallen in love with on a business trip to Egypt a few years ago.  It consists of mashed fava beans, chopped parley, lemon juice, chopped tomatoes and spices.  Traditionally served for breakfast in Egypt, part of the fun of this dish is to put it together yourself so that you can decide for yourself on the proportions of each ingredient.  At Kebabji, it comes already assembled — delightful but my memories of the “real thing” in Cairo left me feeling just faintly disappointed.  (I also missed the charm of this dish being transliterated as foul madams as it appeared on the menu in Cairo!)

The other appetizers — and I tried most of them — included hommos (their spelling), baba ganoush, and mashed chick peas with yoghurt.  I was especially impressed with the baba ganoush, an eggplant puree, which had the distinctive smoky flavor but without tasting artificial.  The eggplant is flamed over an open fire to give it the smoky taste and then blended with tahini, salt, lemon, and olive oil.  Simple, healthy and delicious!

I had grilled lamb chops for my main course.  The chops had been marinated with lemon, olive oil, parsley, and spices, and were served medium.  It was very good indeed.

Most of us had no dessert although the restaurant kindly provided tiramisu and sparkling wine for each of the graduates.  Some of us (very good) Turkish coffee.

Since this was a large party, they automatically added a service charge, and the bill for all twelve people — with about two thirds of us drinking wine or cocktails — was $431.  A very good value, considering the location, the nice decor, and the quality of the food.

The only negative on this restaurant was the service.  Although he was obviously trying hard to give us a pleasant and memorable experience, our waiter forgot some orders, forgot to ask certain members of the party what they wanted, and, when the food came, he seemed to have a hard time getting the right dish to the right person.

I didn’t photograph the beautifully presented food as I was too busy talking and eating.  But, if you are thinking of going to this restaurant, I would encourage you to go their website where they have an excellent collection of photographs of the restaurant and the food.

Pitango Gelato

Logan Circle

1451 P Street, NW

Washingtom DC

202 332 8877

http://www.pitangogelato.com/

I recently wrote about, Dolcezza, a gelato place in Georgetown (Washington, DC), and it was only a few days later that I discovered another one — Pitango in the Logan Circle area of Washington.

After a very pleasant dinner at a Thai restaurant, Rice, we decided to walk about and have dessert at a gelato place.

Like Dolcezza, Pitango prides itself on fresh ingredients.  Its dairy products come from a single herd of grass fed cows from a farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Preferring sorbet to ice cream, we chose quince, mojito, white grapefruit, and bosch pear.  All were excellent although I think that Dolcezza seems to have more imaginative flavors and they do something really special with the textures.  But the flavors were intense and tasted both fresh and natural.

Pitango is certainly worth a visit.  We all had the smallest size, which gives you two scoops for about $4.75 each.

Recommended!

Pitango has four branches.  Two of them are in Washington, DC, and one is in Reston.  The other is in the Fells Point area of Baltimore.

Ruddy Duck Brewery and Grill

13200 Dowell Road

Solomons, MD 20629

www.ruddyduckbrewery.com

410 FYI DUCK

This will be a short post because it was a short visit.  We’d had dinner and simply wanted a quick drink before going to bed.  I had an instinct that this would be a very good place, and I had two beers.  Most of the beers are brewed on the premises although they also have some “guest” ales.  I decided to try the stuff that they made themselves.

The first was a Belgian Style Tripel.  This was a very fragrant but full flavored beer.  With its golden brown color and a total absence of harshness, I wouldn’t have guessed an alcohol level of 8.7%.  Excellent.

Even better was the full flavored and hoppy Dubbel.  This was much darker in color because of the malt.  Wonderful balance of sweetness and bitterness.  The alcohol content was 8.4%.

Although we’d already had dinner, I looked at the menu.  It seemed to be mostly standard bar fare but a bit more interesting and a promise that the produce was sourced from local farmers and people who could guarantee fresh ingredients.

I will definitely be back and spend longer next time I am in the area.

Dolcezza

1560 Wisconsin Avenue

Washington, DC 2007

202 333 4646

http://dolcezzagelato.com/

Dolcezza in Georgetown

This is a seriously amazing place.  Seasonal ingredients, local fruits, and supporting local farms.  The gelatos here are to die for!  Dolcezza ia an Argentinian sorbet store.

Exciting Sorbets!

I don’t know if you ever feel like a little walk after dinner.  You want dessert, but a stretch, and a walk would make you feel so much better.  This is the place to go in Georgetown — have your dinner somewhere else, and come here for your dessert.elat

I have always been a bit of a traditionalist with my gelato.  In Italy, I will usually go for a simple lemon and usually avoid the more fancy mixtures.  Not here!  They have all sorts of really exciting sounding flavors — and they don’t disappoint.

I usually get the small size, which gives you the opportunity to try two of their flavors.  Last time I had Sicilian Blood Orange and Grapefruit Campari.  Another exciting one is Avocado Honey Orange.

The flavors of the gelatos are intense, delicious, and they somehow manage to convey the texture of the fruit as well.  This alone is a good reason to try the Avocado Honey Orange — amazing to have the texture of an avocado in a sorbet.

For a gelato shop, it is expensive — I can’t remember exactly how much — but it’s a lot cheaper than eating your dessert in the restaurant, and probably healthier as well.

Dolcezza has another branch in Bethesda, which I have never been to, but I am sure it is just as good as the excellent branch in Georgetown.

Lots of my friends ask me about the pictures that appear randomly at the top of the page when you access the site.  At some stage, I’ll get round to labeling them so people know where they come from.

But the picture that I get asked about more than any other is the Cabbages and Condoms picture, and the picture below shows Iran, Roya, and Hannah standing outside this intriguing Bangkok establishment.

Cabbages and Condoms -- Bangkok

Cabbages and Condoms is a restaurant run by The Population and Community Development Association [PDA].  PDA’s description on their web site is as follows:

Founded in 1974, PDA is one of Thailand’s most well established and diverse non-government organisations. Operating from Bangkok, 16 regional development centres and and branch offices in rural Thailand, PDA’s programs are based on the belief that local people are best suited to shape and sustain their own development. PDA has pioneered grassroots growth marked by extensive villager involvement not only as beneficiaries but also as planners, managers and leaders.

With over 30 years experience PDA looks forward with renewed commitment to respond to current social and economic dilemmas with the innovation and ingenuity that have marked its achievements through the years.

PDA was first active in promoting family planning in urban and rural areas of Thailand, where knowledge of and access to such services were scarce. PDA recruited and trained respected members of local urban and rural neighbourhoods to distribute and provide information on affordable contraceptives directly to their communities. Other campaigns were tailored to the health of specific target groups such as factory workers, hill tribe villagers and adolescents. In total 12,000 volunteers plus several mobile health units distributed contraceptives to over 10,000 villages. Today PDA programs cover over one third of the country, helping to lower the national population growth rate from 3.2% to 1%.

The restaurant serves excellent Thai food at very good prices, and customers get additional satisfaction from knowing that the profits from the restaurant go to a good cause.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Cabbages and Condoms and recommend it to anyone visiting Bangkok.

Cabbages and Condoms is located in the Sukhumvit business district and you can get there easily from the Asok Skytrain stop.

After you have eaten, instead of being given the customary mints, you get a condom!

No mints! Take a condom instead!

And the whole place is decorated with condoms as you can see in the photo of the condom Santa below.

Chemin de Pommayrac

11250

Verzeille

L’Auberge de Pommayrac, a smart little restaurant about 12km south of Carcassonne, and just outside the quiet village of Verzeille, opens for business from March to November every year.  

The restaurant is run solely by one couple, one of whom cooks, whilst the other serves. The lady, who serves, was charming and professional, and tried to make everything as easy and pleasant as she could for us.

The most economical way to eat at the restaurant is by having the ‘menu du jour’ for €18, which consistes of starter, main course and dessert, each of which is specified but changes every day, and is always an addition to the choices on the à la carte menu, as opposed to merely a dish plucked from it.

This is just as well, however,  as the à la carte menu offers only four choices for each course. If you are after a 3 course meal then eating this way is not cheap, with all starters and desserts priced at €10, and all main courses at €15.

I decided to have two courses: for the main, I plumped for the papillon de cabillaud et legumes (literally a cod and vegetable parcel), which was cod and caramalised vegetables, all wrapped up together and steamed in a little transparent package which is tied loosely at the top, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a butterfly.

The cod was beautifully cooked: flavoursome, and flaky to just the right extent; and the vegeteables (a mix of leeks, onions and peppers) were sweet, soft and succulent, without being sticky or sickly. A beautiful dish.

My only quibble would be that I would have liked to see a little more food and a little less plasticky, butterfly-like parcel on the plate. I doubt a small piece of fish and a small quantity of vegetables, however delicious, would even half fill the stomach of the majority of people, and after paying €15 for a dish, you shouldn’t really go away hungry. This is obviously a menu decised to make people eat 3 courses, and therefore part with €35 euros per meal!

My second (and final) course was a dessert of ‘Crème à la violette’. This was simulataneously a gorgeous and impressive, but rather flawed creation.

Firstly, its presentation, despite effectively being a blob of purplish grey stuff, with something grey on top, was in fact stunning, rescued by the addition of a beautfiul, vibrant purple, sugared violet leaf, and the splash of red provided by the strawberries.

As regards the actual taste of the dessert, the crème was absolutely delicious- rich and sumptuous,and thoroughly decandent- probably a little too dacedent for my tastes actually, as I would have enjoyed it more a tiny bit less creamy and a fair bit less sweet. The base was pleasant tasting, but had that horrid soggy cake texture of bad tiramisu or cheap trifles. Fortunately it was in a small enough proportion that it didn’t effect the rest of the dessert much.

The amount of violet was just right. I had feared it would either not taste of violets at all, or else be over-flavoured and be like eating perfume. In reality, it was just perfect. A delightful dessert.

All in all, I would say that the restaurant is classy and elegant and serves creative and well cooked food. The negatives are however that it is rather over-priced and slightly pretentious, and puts too much cream in the desserts and and not enough food on the plate.

It is somwhere that I enjoyed dining, but would not pay for a meal there in future, as it is rather out of my budget.

Bloom’n Thai

(570) 387-5003

442 East St
Bloomsburg, PA 17815

Click here for a Google map.

For some reason that is still not clear to me, this is not a restaurant, but a private dining club.  And before you eat, one person at the table has to join the club.  The cost?  One dollar for a lifetime membership.

The appetizers were, in my opinion, only average.  We had Chicken Satay (about $7.00) and Calamari (about $7.00).  I was not impressed by the calamari — served cold and without an interesting sauce.  But all the main courses were excellent.  We had a Shrimp Pad Thai, a Chicken dish served in a Thai curry sauce with mangoes, and a Shrimp and Garlic dish.  We really liked the big pieces of fresh sliced mango in the curry sauce.

The total bill for three was about $60 including the tip.

You can’t get alcoholic drinks here, but they let you bring your own in.  The nearest shop selling wine was too far so we go beer from the bar across the street, which sells carry-out beer at outrageous prices ($15.00 for a six-pack) of Hoegaarden.

The service was courteous and good.  Customers should remember that the food is freshly cooked, and you need to wait for it.  (Personally, I prefer to wait for a good meal than get something poor in a hurry!)

Recommended — but bring your own wine.

Click here to go to Bloom’n Thai’s website and browse the menu.