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Baltimore Dining Examiner
Showing entries for Category: Rave
Showing entries for Category: Rave
Behind the Gulumki
 Some might say they are behind the eight ball but I’m behind the gulumki. I should have written the review of Ze Mean Bean Café weeks ago. The fans of Ze Mean Bean Café, and there are many, enjoy their menu offerings which honor old world Slavic home-styled dishes (stuffed cabbage, borscht, periogies, goulash etc) to their contemporary crab cake served with spicy Polish honey vodka sauce over greens and asparagus or sea scallops with chorizo rum vinaigrette.The best place to start is at the beginning. My fellow food blogger, Jake Slagle of Unique Culinary Adventures wanted to interview me about my new gig writing for Examiner.com and what better way to Ze Mean Bean's Borscht Photo by Dara Bunjon Getting Down on Gulumki So let’s get to what matters, the food. I couldn’t pass up the borscht and it didn’t disappoint. The ruby red broth of the Russian borscht ($5) was perfect. It was rich with the natural sweetness of the root vegetables but not cloyingly sweet and the chicken that was used in making the broth was a nice light touch over the heavier flavors of a beef stock. It reminded me of my Lithuanian grandmother’s borscht. In our family, the borscht was served cold or at room temperature. While I enjoyed my borscht, Jake indulged in the spinach salad with the fruity Parmesan tuile ($8). I moved on to the Holupki (Gulumki) Dinner ($10) that offered two plumb cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and rice in a light tomato sauce with potato cake and vegetable of the day. It was a fair value for the dollar, plenty of food. I prefer my stuffed cabbage with a little less rice than what was served but that goes back to what you grew up eating and your expectations. Jake just loved his crab cake, he felt the crabmeat tasted extremely fresh, from the Atlantic but in reality he knew it was too early in the season. You can order the crab cake as an appetizer or entrée and it is market price. Sweet Finishes Aaaah, desserts – we can’t forget something sweet to finish off the meal. Our lovely and attentive waitress informed us that the owner’s mother makes the desserts. There was a large selection that day (remember Ze Mean Bean started out as a dessert and coffee café). Let’s see if I can make heads or tails of my notes on our selection for that afternoon: Chocolate Mousse Pie  Apple Dutch Cake Apple Pie with Caramel Crunch & Nuts Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake Chocolate Babka and woe was us…they were out of the bread pudding. Jake said he would take a bite of whatever I ordered but he was watching his waistline. I lost my waistline about 15 years ago so it didn’t matter to me. I chose the Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake and it was worth every single calorie. The cake was dense, moist, flavorful and not too sweet. How good was it? Well I gave up eating it half way through because I was just too full when Jake decided that one bite was not sufficient for him and preceded to help finish the dessert. Ze Mean Bean isn’t all about Slavic food or homemade desserts there is Ze Mean Bean's Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake - Photo by Dara Bunjon Polish Dining Footnotes: 1. The Polish Festival is this weekend at Patterson’s Park Pulaski Monument, Eastern Avenue at Linwood – enjoy entertainment, dancing and food. (May 30th, 31st & June 1st) 2. Wednesday, June 4th Sotto Sopra Restaurant is offering a 4-course Home Cooked Polish Dinner. Yes, Sotto Sopra is an Italian restaurant but the owner’s in-laws are in visiting from Poland and his mother-in-law and wife are preparing the special dinner. It is limited seating, it is communal and family style dining. For more info: Ze Mean Bean Café Eastern European Café & Wine Bar 1739 Fleet Street (Fells Point) Baltimore, MD 21231 (410) 675-5999 Beat the Inflation Heat: Every Tuesday their chef creates a three-course menu that is sure to tantalize your taste buds. This delectable menu is a steal at only $19.95 per person, and $29.95 with specially paired wines. Every Tuesday receive any bottle of wine from their list at half price with the purchase of two Chef Specialty entrees!
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Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Desserts?
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I must recount a very memorable dining experience at Le Cirque 2000 in New York and if I had camera with me there would be pictures posted here. Jacques Torres, the pastry chef at Le Cirque at that time and star of two public broadcasting series Dessert Circus had extended a tour of the pastry kitchen at Le Cirque when I had visited his TV set months earlier. So with my posse of two women friends, we rode into Le Cirque for luncheon and the pastry kitchen tour. Jacques Torres' girlfriend Kris Kruid said once at the restaurant just walk back into the kitchen. We weren't comfortable with that so we announced we had an invitation and were escorted back past the enclosed kitchen table, the magazine photographer at work, passed the open kitchen stirring with chefs galore to the far hinterlands of the kitchen. Jacques, the handsome and charming Frenchman that he is gave us a wonderful welcome. This was a spotless, specially cooled room with everything a pastry chef would dream of having. We saw parts to desserts, like Lego toys that would be assembled later into great structures. Jacques suggested that we have our lunch and he would send a "Dee~Zert Saompling" (trying to get the French accent in there) to our table. Off we went to dine! Luncheon was kicked off by a glass of Champagne. We started with appetizers and in-between the appetizer course and entree a complimentary lobster risotto from the chef was placed before us. Entrees came and went and everything was wonderful! We were quite full though dessert was on our mind.  One of my two companions suggested we order Jacques trademark Stove dessert. I suggested we wait and see what the "Dee~Zert Saompling" might be. As the same said companion was off powdering her nose, seven, count them seven full-sized assorted desserts were sent to our table. All breathtaking in their artistic glory and assembled yearning to reach the sky, their arrival to our table created a silence in the dining room ~ all eyes were focused on our circus of desserts.Upon returning to the table, my companion looked like Lot's wife, she turned white as salt and frozen in her tracks at the vision of the seven confectionary creations overloading our table. Today's trends with desserts and dining out, a dessert is ordered with 2 to 4 forks and everyone shares the dessert. The ratio had changed that afternoon, 2 1/3 desserts for each of us. Good foodies that we were we would just rotate the plates amongst us and sample everyone. We put a serious dent in all 7 desserts, something I don't think we are proud of but when would this ever happen again ~ we were living in the moment. They cleared dessert plates from our table but why were they taking the centerpiece from the table? It seems we weren't finished. Jacques sent out his own centerpiece, on a mirrored base came a chocolate tree with confections hanging from it armatures and lining the base. It took about five minutes for us from staring at it to munching (only God knows where we got the room) as well as extracting the remaining delicacies from the tree into tissues and then into our purses. The question I ask, "is there such a thing as too many desserts?" For that day, time and place the answer was "no, it was just the right amount!" |
New Farmer's Market Coming to Baltimore
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On Saturdays, starting June 14th through October 25th Baltimore is welcoming FreshFarm Markets, responsible for many farmer’s markets including one of the nation’s best at Dupont Circle as well as Annapolis, Silver Spring and St. Michaels. The new location will be East Harbor at 1000 Lancaster Street between South Exeter Street and Central Avenue, on the InnerHarbor. The farmer/producers and partner organizations have not been announced. Keep your eye on Fresh Farm Markets .
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New Find for Dim Sum - Asian Court
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There is a new restaurant and probably the only place now serving Dim Sum in Baltimore (really Ellicott City) called Asian Court. The recommendation came a roundabout way from my sister who lives in California who corresponds with an old friend, Jeff Davis, who lives most of the time in Hong Kong and was recently in Baltimore and found this new gem. When I advised Jeff that I had made it to Asian Court for Dim Sum for lunch this week he replied. “hope u can return there on the wkend for the dimsum specials, as it is quite worthwile 'n u will see a mix of almost 95% Asian there w/their families, 'n w/it a whole different feeling 'n atmosphere, not unlike the real thing found more often in Asia...and the food served reinforces same...” (quite obviously Jeff is a cryptologist as well – only joking). Dim Sum to the Chinese is like hors d’ouevres to the French or appetizers to us. Their origins come from Chinese tea houses. The literal translation is “to touch your heart.” Getting There I had put out an all-points bulletin to my food buddies but scheduling has been a problem. I like traveling in numbers for food, it means I get to sample more dishes. It was decided we would go one weekend for the dim sum when it is served on the rolling carts. The dim sum is cooked to order during the weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on the Saturday, Sunday and holidays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the carts as stated above. Well scheduling with everyone has been difficult and when another friend said she and her husband were available for lunch this week we went over to the west side of town to Asian Court in Ellicott City. It is in a strip mall just passed Home Depot heading west from where 29 intersects Route 40. Let the Dining Begin The restaurant wasn’t full but as Jeff Davis said above, the majority of the people in the restaurant were Asian – always a good sign. The dining room seemed divided with tables with tablecloths and some without. The restaurant is nicely appointed with a tank of beautifully colored fish between the sushi section and the bar. The entrance was marble. Don’t let me lead you astray with the dim sum; this restaurant serves a broad selection of Chinese dishes from ones we have come to know and ones that Anthony Bourdain might eat like Sauteed Pigs Intestine with Sour Cabbage and Pigs Feet with Bean Curd Sauce. Asian Court has a broad Japanese menu along with some delicious sushi. Also there is a large vegetarian selection. So my dining posse and I wanted to try a little of this and a little of that and we kicked it off with Char Siu Bao-$3.25 ( bun stuffed with barbecued pork – your choice steamed or fried), Fung Jeow $3.25 (chicken feet, deep fried, then marinated with oyster sauce and steamed), Fun Gor $3.25 (translucent dumplings that are filled with ground pork with peanuts) and finally Stuffed Eggplant 3.95 (purple eggplant stuffed with a shrimp paste, fried and topped with a sauce).  I grew up eating chicken feet in my mother’s chicken fricassee and she used them to make chicken soup so this wasn’t a stretch for me. They are messy, they have a lot of bones but if you are so inspired, do give them a try and ask for extra napkins.  Next on our adventure was some sushi and as you can see it arrived beautifully displayed. We ordered Maki Rolls: Salmon Skin Roll $4.50, Eel with Cucumber $4.95, Shrimp Tempura $4.95 and Spicy Tuna Roll for $4.50. I really liked their sushi and it was because of their rice, it was well seasoned. So many times I get sushi and the rice is tasteless and too sticky (that happens when it isn’t cooled down properly*).  My friend Patti ordered the luncheon portion of pepper steak $7.45 which came with spring rolls and white rice. It was nicely prepared; it wasn’t too salty as this dish tends to be.  During luncheon we were chatting with Mei-Lin Louie and her husband Sam, what a charming couple. They informed me that they own another restaurant in Silver Spring called Asian Bistro Café. Mei-Lin sent out coconut pudding, which is a rice and coconut milk concoction with a jiggle like Jello. Mei-Lin explained that Chinese desserts aren’t very sweet.  I really enjoyed this restaurant and I have many dishes I want to try above and beyond the dim sum so I will be back, probably many times. I’m intrigued with the soups and noodle dishes. If you live in the area they have delivery for a $25.00 order or more and curbside pick up. * Chef Nyghia Hoang told me that to properly cool sushi rice it must be done in a wooden bowl or box which can absorb some of the moisture as opposed to something plastic which keep the rice sitting in moisture. You will see fans blowing on the rice to help this process. Asian Court 9180 Baltimore National Pike Ellicott City, MD 21042 410.461.8388 Open 7 days Chinese – from all regions Japanese |
How They Got On TOP CHEF
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If you are the foodie gone awry like me you are watching one or both of the chef reality shows. I have watched Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen and my take at the moment is Top Chef keeps bettering itself each season and Hell's Kitchen has become like watching a Jerry Springer show with contrived misfits, so I'm not watching. This season, Top Chef has eliminated bringing in contestants that are culinary students, small caterers and really brought in skilled chefs - more of an equal playing field. I enjoy seeing the quick fire challenges and what these chefs can create. Some make sense and some, well - watch the video from Ilan Hall and the dish he presented to Chef Eric Ripert. For my chef friends and famous chef wannabees I give you two videos that I made (you will be able to tell their mine from the lack of quality and unsteady hand) of Season's 2's winner, Ilan Hall and contestant, Michael Midgley discussing how they auditioned for the show.
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Dining Dish
Dining Dish (a.k.a, Dara Bunjon) is founder of Dara Does It, which caters to the food industry everything from PR to food styling to cooking instructions, and more. Enjoy her rants, raves, recipes and food adventures, and let her know yours!
Dining Dish (a.k.a, Dara Bunjon) is founder of Dara Does It, which caters to the food industry everything from PR to food styling to cooking instructions, and more. Enjoy her rants, raves, recipes and food adventures, and let her know yours!
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