Weekend Ramblings and Buzz....

After our sketchy holiday period with goods and bads, it's nice when you have some experiences of good and good. Such was our last weekend! When you’re “retired”, your weekend can begin whenever you wish it to..however Monday must always be faced so we’ll (try to) be brief today.


Anyway, I called Friday morning the beginning of my weekend, and kicked off what turned out to be a great day (and rest of the weekend) with a coffee with a good friend at the Coffee Quarter in San Souci.. I like that venue for meeting somebody where you might like a little private conversation. Coffee and service is another story for another time. After that, I went over to Target and actually procured a Yogi mat (what’s that? Yes, I am going to try Yogi to help the body age more gracefully). In the process of doing that, discovered that Target has a quite large “food market” section with fresh fruits, veggies, frozen stuff, and packaged meats. As I was gawking around (where the TV’s used to be) what turned out to be the manager of the section approached me and gave me a little tour after observing my gawking… Nice lady. Maybe feeling pressure from the “Mart’s” Clean and nice, check it out sometime..

I then took a late lunch at Blue Wind Gourmet where I enjoyed a bowl of the white bean soup, a Firestone Ale, and was able to lounge my way through the latest edition of “Sauce” the great foodie paper from St. Louis.

In the evening, MFO and I went over to Leonardtown for the first “First Friday” of the New Year. Lots of folks enjoying art (and wine) at the North End Gallery (celebrating their 25th year), shopping a bit at Quality Street, looking at stuff in the Stichery, enjoyed a few tunes by John Shaw in Fenwick Street Books plus a nice conversation with Joe the owner, always fun to talk to. Lots of familiar faces to see, and spend a little time with. We finished all that around 8 and decided to get a bite. We headed for the Front Porch (see note below!), but it was pretty packed and we decided to pass this time. Besides, I had recently noticed my “oyster tank” was empty and so we went over to Thompson’s Korner Kafe where I figured I could get a nice refill. It was toward the end of the evening, but there were a few tables available so we sat down. When we went to the counter to order (menu or white board choices) I asked what the “oyster cup” was, and was told it was “about half a dozen fried oysters and fries”. Okay, fine. That, and a Bud Light (a great pairing). MFO decided on the vegetable crab soup and a egg salad sandwich (still kind of recovering from our “Wisconsin scourge”). When our dishes came out I found out my “cup” runneth over. There were 14 (I counted them!) large golden brown, crunchy coated oysters that were just “set”. Boy they were good. Of course everything is served on Styrofoam, but that’s okay, it’s just right (of which I am a fan of!). Kevin came over to check. That’s a nice place. I like it..

So that was our first weekend day. For our second, we started off attending a joint meeting of the St. Mary’s and Calvert County Education Association. They have an annual “Legislative Meeting” where they meet with delegates to let them know about needs and wants and the legislators tell them there is no money. Pretty much that was the norm for this meeting, although it’s always fun to fun to listen to the silver tongued delegates dance around the questions. Part of their equipment I guess. The breakfast was at Lennie’s, and was the steam table buffet one might expect. A little culinary note here, I have noticed that lately it has become fashionable to serve sausages that (I hope are) Maple Flavored. What they turn out to be is a slightly sweety, medicinal chemical taste that isn’t too good. I think.

After that, we came back to the digs (in the snow), loaded up the MOMSTER, and headed North to attend the holiday party hosted by the outfit that pays me money to be smart about flutter. They have the “corporate” offices in Falls Church and they were having a wine and cheese reception there, and then we were to go on to dinner. Life in the private sector is good. They reserved rooms in the nearby Marriott for an overnight stay for all the Southern Marylanders. So we arrived as the temperature dropped, checked in, relaxed and got DFD’d and met one of my SOMD co-workers in the bar for a pregame drink. I ordered the drink test, and the only failure was that it was put “up” instead of over the rocks, but I shut up. We then dashed across the parking lot to the “offices” had had a very nice glass of wine and some cheeses. Lest the impression comes across of a huge crowd, this is a small business so there were only maybe twenty folks there including significant others.

After that we were to meet at “2941” a restaurant pretty highly acclaimed by Sietsema and (FWIW) 18th on “best 100” list just published in the January issue of the Washingtonian. It was relatively close by, but further than walking could support, especially in that weather. So MFO and I got back in the MOMSTER and said we’d meet others there. We had not been to this restaurant before, but no matter, I had its address in my trusty little GPS in the Droid. In the car, on with the system, called up the address, got navigation started and off we go in the dark following the lady’s demands. The GPS did its thing and expertly guided us to an empty parking lot in front of a dark building that no way resembled a restaurant. Uh oh. Technology failure! However with a couple of phone calls, more GPS work finally found us at the entrance to 2941, the nice valets took care of the MOMSTER, and we went inside. 2941 is a cavernous place, with lots of chrome, décor, and gleaming white tablecloths and silver in the main dining spaces. However, we were led to a side room, one of many, as they are well equipped to handle parties such as ours.

Our group was in the “waterfall” room, and due to our tour of northern Virginia, they were already into the wine and appetizers, so we had to make up for lost time. The room had a view of an outside water feature (hence the name and was very pleasant). A full bar and passed appetizers such as Satays and crab balls made a nice start to the dinner. Eventually we all sat around a large single table set with silver and crystal. In front of each plate was a napkin cradling a menu for the evening. There were choices for each of three courses, Appetizers, Main Courses and Desserts. There had nice options, with appetizers offering a wild mushroom mille feuille or crab salad, main courses of chestnut ravioli, beef tenderloin, or grilled swordfish, and finishing with either a warm chocolate cake or sticky apple pudding. Each course included a little description of the dish. For instance the swordfish was with butternut squash, celery root, cauliflower, truffle sauce. A bit difficult to imagine, but at least you knew what you were going to get. I chose the mushrooms, the fish and the cake, with MFO going opposite (for tasting) salad, beef, and pudding. Meanwhile the conversation and wine flowed profusely, and try as I might I was unable to see the labels on the wines, but they were quite nice. They also had those sort of oversize glasses you get sometimes when ordering off the “cellar” list so that was nice. Baskets of tasty bread helped sop the wine. Eventually dishes began appearing, and I didn’t really take close notice, but it seemed that the appetizers came out with the “all mushroom, then salad” approach rather than by seat. I am not sure if that continued throughout the meal, but with a small party it wasn’t so bad, or at least I didn’t get agitated. The food was quite good. The mushrooms were pungent and earthy, the swordfish was meaty and the sauce tasty. I thought the sauce was a bit “bright” in that it was a real orangey, which on a white plate with white fish was a bit much, but the fish was good. MFO’s tenderloin came with a “short rib dumpling” which was kind of unique. Anyway, for a group setting I thought they did a good job. I would go back on our own, although a small loan would be appropriate if you look at “regular” pricing. A nice touch was that when we left, there were wrapped baguette to take with you if you desired. We did, and it was good car food the next day.

So a leisurely ride home on Sunday morning after an okay breakfast (with more of those odd sausages) in the Marriott concluded the “out and about” portion of the weekend. The rest was spent on the couch observing the Ravens and Packer’s victories. Nice weekend..

The times, they keep a changin..

It’s funny about the restaurant/food service trade. The only thing that seems common is change. Things open, things close. She leaves, he comes in. I haven’t kept a good record of changes around here, but now we hear that there will be more changes to the Front Porch in Leonardtown. You remember that after Corbels went dark, it opened as a “more accessible” (for want of a better term) place with reduced pricing and a more varied menu. It now appears that the Chef (Brendan Cahill) who was lately from The Old Field Inn in Prince Frederick will bring his talents to the space. Maybe a better fit as he is familiar with dining in historic places. Too early for any real substantial changes, just wait and see what works out. We'll hope for the best. I also have heard that they may take more stock of the historic aspects of the space (The Sterling House) which IMHO would be a good idea. Harmony in all things… MFO did have lunch there today and appreciated the roasted red pepper soup.

maybe more pressure to

DFD