Team Dean

or Gun Jumping Top Chef



The upcoming season of Top Chef has been filming in DC and the publicity blitz for the June 16 premiere is about to start. The list of cheftestants has been released and one of them is Baltimore restaurateur Timothy Dean.

I first went to his place in Baltimore several years ago for Mothers Day when it was known as Timothy Dean Bistro. Then it featured gourmet southern and soul food. Later it was an ill-fated night club and now it has re-opened as Prime with the specialty being steaks and chops. But there is still a lot of soul in the kitchen. The catfish was lightly breaded and served on top of an enormous bed of grits. I got the filet mignon and it was butter-tender on the inside with a fierce herb-encrusted sear on it. As good as that was, the macaroni and cheese side dish (unlike chain steakhouses, each entree comes with one side dish) was the real surprise. It looked fairly mundane, but it was rich and creamy beyond words. Almost as rich as the corn soup which had huge lumps of crabmeat in it.

On an early Sunday evening, the place only had a few customers so when Timothy Dean overheard me lamenting that my water was empty he came out and set it right. That also gave me the opportunity to buttonhole him a little about the Top Chef process. You do not apply for Top Chef; Top Chef finds you. But beyond that there are a lot of hoops to jump through before you get on the air.

As Eli Kirshtein (the evil gnome) from last season told me when we ate at Eno in Atlanta (I am such a food-whore name dropper, aren't I?), being on Top Chef can easily double your business. Dean told me that he was warning his staff to prepare for the onslaught. In fact, the only snag in my visit was trying to reach someone for a reservation. As I mentioned, this particular night showing up without a reservation was not a problem, but I expect it soon will be.

Prime is in Fell's Point which is better known for Bertha and her mussels than for fine dining. Furthermore, it is in the northern end just off Broadway on Eastern Avenue in an area more known for its tacquerias and take-out chinese joints than gourmet steakhouses. But it's just a short walk from the waterfront and offers valet service, always a plus in parking space deprived Fell's Point.

Part of the fun of reality shows is picking a contestant and cheering for them. As a Baltimoron, I am going to be a big-time homer and form Team Dean. Not only is he the local hero, but his cooking has the chops to go over big at the judge's table.

Wasted At The Wine Festival

Last weekend we braved the icy pit that is post-Snopocalypse Washington DC to go to the D.C. International Wine and Food Festival. Held in the lobby of the Reagan Trade Center (ironically, the largest government office building in the district), there were over a hundred wineries pouring samples.

Knowing that I had no hope of remembering how many wines I sampled or even what they were, I took to videoing a short clip of me sipping each wine I sampled. Count along as I go through them:



As you can see, there was more than wine there. The food portion was on the balcony overlooking the main floor and was the most disappointing portion of the show. But the wines were the draw. Spain was the most prominent exhibitor with several tables and dozens of wineries.

Our favorite was Red Cat from Hazlitt 1852, a winery on the Finger Lakes. They served their wines over ice with a fruit garnish billing them as picnic or hot tub wines. I don't have a hot tub, but I will definitely hunt down a few bottles this summer.

And while I didn't feel any less sober after three hours of wine sipping, we did take the precaution of riding Metro back to our hotel. Definitely the way to do this type of event.

Chin-chin.

Top Chef Finals

It may come as no surprise to readers of this blog that I have become just a teensy bit obsessed with the current season of Top Chef. It has been one of my goals to eat at as many of the cheftestants' restaurants as I can. Of the final three, I have dined at two of their establishments. Let's compare.

Restaurant	Volt Frederick, MD	Woodfire Grill Atlanta, GA
Chef	Bryan Voltaggio	Kevin Gillespie
Cuisine	Modern American	Local-vore Rustic
Top Chef Reputation	While just as intense as his brother Michael, Bryan came off as the more relaxed and friendlier of the two Voltaggio Brothers.	Friendly bear-like Kevin was everybody’s body. His food was mocked (mostly by Michael V.) as being too simple, but he won challenge after challenge.
Atmosphere	Located in the semi-seedy downtown of Frederick, Maryland, Volt is located in an old mansion tarted up to look like a modern art museum.	Located in a semi-seedy area of Atlanta, Woodfire Grille looks like a dumpy barbecue joint, but on the inside it has high ceilings and earth tones that make it resemble a 70s era ski chalet.
Food	The food is high end gourmet and comparable to fancy New York places. The meat tray included both pate and head cheese. Both of our first courses came covered with foam. The goat cheese ravioli was fine, but the lobster was just out of this world. For the main dishes, the pork tenderloin was cut with a butter knife tender but the presentation was a little busy with at least three little side bits on a rather small plate. The fish dish was tasty but not spectacular. Both desserts were deconstructed and rather bizarre. Service by the black and Converse clad wait staff was attentive to the point of obsequiousness. The only glitch was that the bar was slammed by cargo shorts wearing refugees from a downtown street festival and our cocktails didn't arrive until halfway through the appetizers.	We sprang for the tasting menu which is not listed in advance. Appetizer was a shrimp something which was very good. Next was a diver scallop that was only so-so. Third course was a deboned quail. Such a tasty scrumptious thing. Like a little baby slice of heaven. The main entree was, wait for it, pork belly and every calorie laden bite was delicious. The first dessert was frozen solid so they replaced it with another one featuring candied bacon. Pork as a dessert is a wonderful thing. The service was nearly the best I ever had anywhere. Our seasoned to the point of looking grizzled waiter explained the whole life story of every animal that died for our dinner as it came out. Midway through the meal he suggested a perfect wine pairing for just one course with overselling the rest of the meal.
Chef Sighting	We were in the Main Dining Room, not the Chef’s Dining Room, so we didn’t get to gawk at Bryan in action, but he was in the back looking all serious slicing and dicing like a mad man. The next time we may have to spring for the 21 course tasting menu.	We were one of the first seatings, so kevin wasn’t around when we arrived, but as we were leaving, he was hard at work at the titular woodfire grille. He stopped for a photo and signed a copy of the tasting menu for us.
Verdict	Volt is an oasis of fine dining in central Maryland that can compete with the best restaurants anywhere in the country. It is fancy enough to more than impress a date, but not so stuffy that you can’t take the whole family for a special occasion. Top Chef has made Bryan and prodigal brother Michael local celebrities so reservations are now tough to get. But since it is in downtown Frederick, there are plenty of places to get a tattoo nearby.	One of the best places to just relax and have a fine meal anywhere. I had a cocktail called the Rendezvous (high west rye whiskey, fresh grapefruit juice, cardamom syrup, and lemon juice) that was about the best I have ever had. It’s a little too expensive to go to on a weekly basis, but you sure wish that you could. And for after dinner entertainment, the infamous Tattletales (link NSFW) is just a few blocks away.

I will be on the couch watching the finale and if either of these two wins, I can see why. Both are Top Chefs no matter who Tom and Padme finally pick.

Night At The Newseum

This post includes spoilers for tonight's Newseum episode of Dinner Impossible.

About two months ago, as members of the Newseum in Washington, we received notice that there was going to be a Food Network event with a special mystery chef. Other than that, we had no idea what to expect. At 6:30 they let people in to see the giant big screen in the lobby showing a Dinner Impossible logo.



I was unfamiliar with the show's format, but I quickly caught on. Each week they take hunky chef Robert Irvine to a different location and make him cook for a big group of people around some sort of theme.



At just a little past 7, Robert Irvine came out to announce that the mission was accomplished "just barely." He then quickly ducked out to never be seen again, but that meant it was time for the eating.

There were four stations with the two closest to us representing television dinners and Julia Childs respectively. We divided and conquered and we each got one entree from each line. The TV dinner came in a little aluminum tray with a Dinner Impossible logo on the cardboard lid. This was no tinny tasting reheated processed food. Each little item was delicious and the brown betty was best of all.



The Julia Childs food line had all sorts of French food right out of Julie and Julia. As we were eating, a film crew was coming around filming reaction shots to the food. My wife loved it, but they made her do her blurb a couple of times for the right amount of enthusiasm. We had to sign releases, but that is no guarantee or bits will make the final cut.



We went back to the final two stations. One was based on World War One vegetarian dishes and the other was the first Thanksgiving. By the time we made it around, the venison was gone but there plenty of other things left. The vegetarian dishes were interesting, but not as good as the stuff we had already eaten.



As the crowds were dwindling we saw the film units going around and setting up the glamour shots of each of the dishes. A couple of hours after we showed up we left feeling like a part of history. Mission Delicious.