What's going on in Lovetsville, VA?

Lovettsville is a bucolic little town in extreme Northern Virginia, near the Potomac river and close to both the Maryland and West Virginia state lines. The 2000 US Census listed the population at 853 and the 2005-2009 American Community Survey listed it at 1187. It was originally settled by German immigrants in 1722 and was then called The German Settlement. It's a little less than an hour north of where we live and, for the second month in a row, we went there for what turned out to be a really good meal.

Last month we had a truly extraordinary meal at the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm and we filed this report. This past Saturday night we went back to Lovettsville and the Market Table Bistro. After another much better than average meal, it's clear that something good is happening in Lovettsville.

The restaurant is an unimposing building on the main street in Lovettsville. We were warmly greeted and seated immediately. The main room is comfortable and bright. The staff, from the hostess who seated us, the young lady who served us water, and the waitress who not only served us but treated us as long lost friends finally come over to see the place, were all clearly well trained and couldn't have been more pleasant.

Now, on to the food............

The menu focuses on local ingredients and Chef Jason Lage is a staunch supporter of the farm to table concept. We started by sharing one of the "small bites" offered on the menu for $5.00 each. The warm Mediterranean olives with garlic, rosemary and peppadew peppers were served in an extra virgin olive oil sort of dressing.  It was perfect for dipping the made on premises farmhouse white bread. This may seem like an exaggeration but it may be the best $5.00 food item I've ever had. Sometimes it's the little things in life.

First Course, Al
Lots of good choices but I knew what I was going to have as soon as I saw it on the menu.The Market Table Bistro Mac and Cheese had my name all over it. I'll admit I was tempted by the Pinto Beans and Pork Chilli, but the blend of Gruyere, cheddar and asiago cheeses with Kites country ham, Riscossa pasta and fresh herbs was too hard for me to pass up. It was served, directly from the broiler, in a cast iron dish with the cheeses still bubbling. It was rich without being heavy. I could taste and identify each of the cheeses and the herbs were noticeable without being overwhelming. I really liked this as a starter and did everything but lick the last little bit of cheese from the bottom of the dish.

First Course, Cyn
For the record, once we started on the olives, I kinda sorta wanted to change my appy order to another bowl of those bad boys.  They were a perfect mix of at least 6 different olives, all with their own unique flavors, sizes and colors,  marinated in slivers of garlic, spicy red peppers and rosemary - pretty sure a bottle of red wine, a loaf of their gorgeous house bread and a hunk o'cheese would be a perfect picnic meal at WolfTrap concert this summer....but I digress.

The Velvety Black Bean and Chipotle Soup was indeed velvety and chipotle-y, the earthiness of the black beans playing nice with the rich spiciness of the chipotle.  Chopped chives and creme fraiche were perfect garnish, the dollop of cream providing a respite from the not unwelcome heat of the chipotle.  Although not an inspired combination, it was perfectly executed.  I love soup as a first course, and this one was terrific for waking up those taste buds and honing the edge of hunger.  Add one of the two choices of salads on the menu and it'd be a great lunch, add a dessert to that, a great dinner.

Entree, Al
Again, there were several things I wanted to try so making a decision was not easy. There was their version of shrimp and grits called Laughing Bird Shrimp, and a Spring Mushroom Pasta with, among other things, truffle oil, each of which got some consideration.

In the end, I went with the Crispy Wild Chesapeake Blue Catfish served with Plumfield Plantation rice, black eyed peas and a lemon caper butter sauce. I was unfamiliar with the term blue catfish and wanted to try it to see if I could discern any difference from my days of living in Alabama where I learned to love catfish. Apparently it is one of the larger species of catfish and can grow up to 65" and 150 pounds!  Good catfish done well, is a wonderfully light and flavorful fish. It can, however, sometimes have a "muddy" flavor. They are, after all bottom dwelling opportunistic eaters.

This catfish was everything one could want. Prepared perfectly, crispy of the outside but super tender on the inside the rice and black eyed peas took up the flavor of the lemon butter and the capers added a slight bit of brininess that was welcome. Oh, and did I mention it looked nice too?

Entree, Cyn 
There were 7 or 8 entree choices on the menu.  I would have happily eaten all but one - the salmon - my old Enemy.  I don't have a problem with salmon my brother has caught, or anything smoked or raw, but farm raised salmon doesn't taste like salmon should.  Perhaps I am a salmon snob?  I don't even ask whether the salmon is wild or farmed anymore, I just don't order it.  Except for this one place in King of Prussia, PA, where they made a fabulous BBQ salmon.  I ate it for lunch at least once a week in my previous life as a Financial Analyst.  But again....I digress.

There are some dishes that if done well, elevate a humble ingredient to rock star status.  Risotto is one of those for me.  A simple fat grain of rice is transformed into a creamy unctuous amalgam of flavor, studded in this case, with crunchy, chewy, slippery spring vegetables.  With a mirepoix base, peas, ramps, spinach and asparagus rounded out the generous portion, and it was garnished with edible flower petals and sprouts of some kind - most likely radish.

The rice was perfectly cooked, a little tooth left to the grains, and the veg were tender and crisp.  A quick  microplane grating of parmigiano on top and the proper seasoning - a filling yet light dish.  Yes, I said light!  Risotto is not supposed to be slathered in cream or butter - that's lazy man's risotto.  Someone who didn't care enough to stir to coax the starch from the grains, but cooked the rice and added fat to simulate the starch.  This restaurant clearly has a team in the kitchen who cares, their risotto is delicious.  And light.

Bottom Line, Al
All in all this was a very good experience. The service was above average, the setting was pleasant and welcoming and the food was very good and a good value. The attention to detail and devotion to fresh, local ingredients was obvious and appreciated. I guess there IS something going on in Lovettsville and that something is good food. The Market Table Bistro is a strong part of that.


Bottom Line, Cyn
Dessert offerings were many, and I thought a little boring for the caliber of food to this point.  A creme brulee, a cheesecake, some chocolate thingy - typical desserts.  There was a salted caramel pudding that sounded delicious and a skillet chocolate chip cookie and milk combo.  But nothing intriguing enough to get me to pull the trigger.  Where have all the pies and tarts gone?  I could write a manifesto on the dearth of interesting desserts, they've all been dumbed down for the masses.  Sorry for the rant MTB, you don't deserve the brunt of my dessert desertion!  But a little almond crusted tart filled with a basil pastry cream and the season's first strawberries would have been lovely.  Just sayin'.

I wish the Market Table Bistro were closer to home.  The superb wait staff, very reasonable prices and care the kitchen takes in preparing beautiful and tasty dishes would ensure I was a regular.  As in at least once a week.  How about a satellite location???

Tallula's in Arlington, VA

So, it was the first Saturday of the month already and we needed to pick a restaurant from the Top 50 in Northern Virginia list. Originally, we had settled on a restaurant in bucolic Clifton, VA called Trummer's on Main, but after looking at their most recent online menu we felt uninspired and went back to the drawing board. Cyn did the research while I shivered in the arctic temperatures of Amsterdam. Her suggestion? A restaurant called Tallula in Arlington, VA, much closer to Washington, DC. I think it was the gnudi that got her. More about that later.

Tallula turned out to be a rather discreet atmosphere, almost club-like, with lots of wood and low lighting. I liked the feel as soon as I walked in. Since we both had appetizers, mains and desserts, I thought it might be fun to alternatively record our thoughts on each course.

Al

I settled on a roasted sweet potato soup with whipped goat cheese, chorizo oil and pumpernickel croutons for my first course. Since I like my hot soups hot, I was disappointed that it was served kind of lukewarm. I'm not sure if this was the chef's intention or not, but I would have preferred it hotter. The soup had a clean sweet potato taste and was silky smooth. The whipped goat cheese was a nice touch but the chorizo oil was lost on me. I could see it, but I didn't really taste it. The pumpernickel bits were very nice, adding a little texture to the soup. All in all, good, but somewhat under seasoned and missing some element that I haven't yet been able to figure out.

Cyn

Seared beef carpaccio, with quail egg, crispy parsnips and a smoky shallot dressing was my choice of starter. Beautiful presentation, a circle of thinly sliced beef rounds were under a mound of arugula and crispy 'snip strips, a personal favorite, with a quartered hard boiled quail egg nesting in the greens as well. The smoky shallot concoction was hidden under the arugula in the center of the round o'beef. It certainly pleasing to the eye and each individual ingredient well prepared, but the arugula and vinaigrette were palette killers when paired with the subtle beef and quail egg. There was simply too much of both for the beef to support. Arugula and the dressing were nice together. I think I may have mentioned the dressing as a 'remoulade gone rogue' at the time.

Al

For my main course I picked the porcini ravioli of chestnut and cabbage, with mushrooms, sweet potatoes and Fontana cream. All of the pasta dishes were offered in smaller and full size portions, a nice touch I wish more restaurants would follow. I chose the smaller portion anticipating that I would want the cheese course for dessert. Turns out, I made a good decision. The "smaller" portion was actually quite generous and, due to the components, rich and filling. While the first course was a bit of a disappointment, this one made up for it. The ravioli were clearly house made, the dough having been blended with porcini, making it a medium brown color, and the chestnut and cabbage filling was savory with a little unexpected sweetness. The mushrooms and sweet potatoes added to the dish without distracting from the ravioli and the fontina cream sauce was flavorful but light on what was an already hearty dish.

Cyn

As an official Short Rib Slut, I couldn't resist the spinach and ricotta gnudi with Yukon Gold potato, braised beef short rib and mustard greens. And I would like to say right up front that I enjoyed this dish, but would love to hear what the chef intended, as I didn't 'get' it. In my mind, I pictured pillowy clouds of gnudi on a bed of short rib and gravy with a nice hit of mustard green to cut all the richness, and hey, if they wanted to add potato, who I am to complain? What arrived was a pillow of pureed potato topped with the aforeimagined (yes, I know it's not a word) short ribs and their glistening juices, slightly chewy pan fried gnudi atop that, and fried mustard green shards over all. Thank goodness I was prescient enough to order the half portion! While each component was delicious, the heavy on heavy on heavy could have benefited from a slight tweaking of the ingredients, for my taste. If you must have a base, do something interesting like turnip, carrot or parsnip- and for goodness sake, I'm all into fried greens as much as the next person, but not on uber rich unless you're superman and can make the oil clinging to the greens a non issue.

I think my discontent may stem from the kitchen re-heating each component, and not actually cooking anything for me. Not a sin, of course it happens all the time, and I do like a meal to move along. Did I mention we were through three courses and were back out the door in a little over an hour?

Al

One of my favorite surprises is when I find a restaurant offers a cheese course. For me, I find this much more satisfying after a meal than a sweet dessert. Tallula offered a nicely thought out cheese and house made charcuterie selection. From their selection of six, I ordered two goat's milk cheeses (cave aged Cardona from Wisconsin and a Cherry Glen Ash from Maryland (one of my very favorite cheeses), and a beautiful cow's milk Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue from Vermont. Again, the portions were very generous and they were served with a port fig compote and crostini which were a bit over toasted.

Cyn

Anytime there's a plate or platter of multiple items for tasting on a menu, I'm your gal. For dessert I decided to tackle the Cookies and Confections - cashew snickers, hostess cupcake, cheesecake brownie, mint chip ice cream and oatmeal cream pie, in mini portions. I would go back to this restaurant just to eat that cashew snickers and the peanut butter ice cream they substituted for the mint chip for me (bad schnaps experience in college still prevents me from enjoying some mint flavors....). Hostess cupcake- dry and forgettable. Cheesecake brownie - kind of forgettable as well. The oatmeal cookies were very, very good, but the cream in between was all but MIA and added little, if anything to the party.

Al

For me, after a slow start, Tallula was a mostly redeemed itself with several nice and unexpected touches and good value for what they served. Was it a Northern Virginia Top 50. I guess, because it said so in the magazine.

Cyn

I realize I'm pretty hard on restaurants. Especially ones that have such a lovely menu and build my expectations. While I enjoyed my meal, rather than go back to Talullah, I'm up for visiting the attached Eat Bar and sampling that simple and clean, but elevated menu. The kitchen at T is doing some lovely things, but I think they're getting in their own way to fussy things up when they shouldn't.

Meatless Monday in Amsterdam

When I realized that I was going to be in Amsterdam on a Monday, I immediately started to wonder what the challenges of staying meatless might be. For those of you that travel, I'm sure you know that meals can often be scripted, restaurants can be chosen for you and food options can sometimes be limited. Now don't get me wrong, Amsterdam is a completely cosmopolitan city with a very broad and exciting food scene. I just didn't know in advance where I would be eating my three Monday meals.

Breakfast was easy. I ate at the hotel buffet and able to stick with fresh fruit, cereal and yogurt. OK, I admit there might have been some aged Gouda cheese that migrated onto my plate. I'm in Amsterdam after all. Have to eat the Gouda while over here.

Lunch was during a scheduled meeting, brought in by the meeting organizer. I had called ahead to one of my European colleagues and mentioned I was not eating meat on Monday's and after explaining that no, I wasn't a vegetarian, he told me that he would see what the caterer could do. But that was more that a month ago, so the day of the meeting I was entirely pleased to see a beautiful dish of pasta with steamed vegetables brought in for me - just me. The sandwiches and other food looked good too, but I did get a few looks that might have bordered on jealousy from some of the other meeting attendees. Thanks for taking care of me Mike!

On to dinner. I was fortunate to be invited to join a group at a wonderful restaurant called De Kersentuin. The name translates to The Cherry Orchard and the restaurant is located in the Bilderberg Hotel. Turned out I was in for a real treat.

Soon after being seated our group was treated to an amuse-bouche plate with three offerings. The first was a tall shot glass of pumpkin soup with a Parmesean cheese foam. Second was a perfectly savory mushroom panna cotta topped with chopped pine nuts. The third little bit was a satiny smooth parsnip puree with a small piece of crispy potato. All three were delicious and I promise you this picture, and the ones to follow, do not do the food justice.

To my pleasant surprise there were appetizers, soups and main courses available that were meatless - and not just available, but,as it turned out, wonderfully prepared and presented.

Following the generous amuse-bouche, I felt I didn't need an appetizer, so i moved right to the soup. My choice was a cream of parsnip with roasted walnuts and a "cloud" of rorippa (I admit I had to look this one up). I didn't lick the bowl(mostly because my boss was sitting directly across from me) but I wanted to. It was that good.

The meatless main choice on the menu that evening was a porcini risotto. It was beautifully plated with a fried egg, grilled bolets, beetroot, smoked celeriac, marinated spring onion and a cream of caramelized onion with a frothy sauce of Parmasean cheese. Quite the mouthful both figuratively and literally!

Those of you that follow along know I'm not big on desserts. But when someone says "cheese course", I'm all in. And then someone said cheese course. The chef picked out four beautiful locally made cheeses for us to sample. Unfortunately, at this point I was a bit overwhelmed and didn't pay close enough attention to the presentation to get the names. I did manage to snap this picture.

Lastly, my companions on both sides of me were kind enough to let me take pictures of their main courses. They were both worth noting and I'll share them here.

The roasted leg of venison was served with turnip with cinnamon, cream of quince, fondant potato and a Jamaican pepper sauce.

The Thai curry of giant prawns were served with stir fried bokchoi, finely shredded spring onion, coriander and pandan rice.

Thanks for sharing Johanne and Jay.

All I can add is that you are in Amsterdam and want a memorable meal, check out De Kersentuin.