When looking at a restaurant menu, if there are more choices than waiters, it’s usually an indication that the restaurant is a quantity over quality type of establishment. It’s impossible to perfect over 50 dishes on a menu, so usually they are okay, but not great. Although not every restaurant needs to be fine dinning, when it comes to local, organic, sustainable food, there are few options for more casual dinning. Luckily there is one restaurant that bridges that gap. Founding Farmers opened their second restaurant at Potomac Park, Maryland in November.
The first pleasant surprise is the focus on organic libations. The craft cocktails really stuck out with their organic liquors and unique blends. The “Constitution” is a ginger-infused gin with blueberries and chamomile tea, lemon juice and splash of seltzer that is reminiscence of a lemonade spritzer and equally as tasty. Their other popular drink is Organic Cucumber Delight.
The menu is unique to its location and features American comfort foods that are sourced locally as much as possible. This allows for the freshest, tastiest ingredients that are mostly organic.
There are several items on the menu that are notable appetizers, like the pickled seasonal vegetables, which come in a mason jar. Another showstopper is the Farmers Fork. Literally served on a fork, guests can choose between bacon and tater tots. The bacon is a candied bacon, which is much more sweet than it is savory. Tater tots can be such an underappreciated potato, but these are perfectly fried and crispy with that tender inside, served with honey mustard.
The table experienced the “Supper” menu, which is a family-style multicourse meal that runs the gamut from breads and salads to chicken, meat, fish, veggies and ends with a baked-to-order bread pudding. It’s a great way to sample the featured dishes on the menu. While everything was tasty and delicious, there were a few clear stars of the evening. The first was the skillet corn bread. This could be a meal in and of its own. It’s flavorful, filled with actual corn, moist but not crumbly and served with honey butter. The honey is gathered from Founding Farmer’s own downtown aviary.
Of the entrée dishes, the ND Mills Gnocchi over Braised Beef Ragu is the perfect winter dish. The rich taste and texture of the braised beef is perfectly topped with light gnocchi that works with the dish so that it’s well balanced and just melts in your mouth.
The trio of chicken makes everyone go into a frenzy over which one they’ll taste. There’s the Northern Fried Chicken, encased in batter and wickedly crispy, the Southern Fried Chicken that is lightly battered allowing a bit of fried batter, but mostly featuring the moist chicken, and the intensely flavorful Honey Thyme Glazed Spatchcock Chicken, which is finished in the wood burning oven.
The grilled skirt steak with chimichurri sauce was tender and delightfully flavorful. The fresh trio of fish featured salmon, hake, and sheep’s head that were perfectly cooked.
And the dessert of bread pudding was a decadent way of ending a really delicious meal.
The “Supper” menu runs $48 per person, but the regular menu features the same items that can be ordered individually and range in prices $12 - $28.
Parking is validated for 2-3 hours, so you don’t have to worry about paying.
Location:
12505 Park Potomac Ave. Potomac, MD 20854
301-340-8783
Website
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