Baltimore things, hon
Jun. 25th, 2008 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksYay for B-Rob's 1,000th hit!
And many thanks to Baltimore Snacker for posting about Sotto Sopra's Tuesday dinners with Daniela. After reading about the lovely homecooked Sardinian meal he enjoyed at Sotto Sopra a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to finally try SS -- I've lived downtown for 8 years and driven by innumerable times, but had never crossed the threshhold. C was supposed to meet me there so we could catch up, but he bailed. The maitre'd offered me the table of my choice -- it was very slow when I arrived at about 6:50pm. I declined a table (why waste a seat?) and sat instead at the bar in the back.
Upon the recommendation of the bartender, I had an excellent cocktail, a basil lemonade martini. It tasted like the best lemonade ever, with just a hint of the basil. The alcohol was unnoticeable, so it's the kind of drink that would easy to consume in quantity, only to realize shortly after drinking that you are totally snockered.
I've linked to the menu above, but since I enjoyed it so much, I'll share details.
First course: slices of a savory sort of roll up. Pastry dough wrapped around ricotta and spinach, with a bit of red sauce on top. And another of pastry dough wrapped around ham and mozarella, this time with a cream tomato sauce. The salty ham paired very well with the mild cheese. And the spinach ricotta mix was lovely. The pastry itself was delicious, both crisp and buttery.
Second course: gnocchi in a fresh tomato sauce with little sausage bits (baby meatballs?) and a bit of pepperoni or other salami type meat. I'm not a huge fan of gnocchi normally, because it always seems to be either cooked to mush or too al dente. These were gorgeous, perfectly formed, and the sauce just set them off. I thought they were manufactured -- they were that perfectly shaped! -- but while I was eating, the owner (or co-owner? or maybe just wife of one of the owners?) and Daniela came out and we chatted, and I learned that she had made them from scratch. I was quite impressed.
Third course: beef tenderloin that was dregdged and fried, along with a salad of mixed greens, apples, corn and walnuts. The beef was good. I'm not sure if it was sliced thin or it was a medallion that was pounded flat. Either way, it was tender enough that I *almost* didn't need a knife to cut it. The salad was tasty, although not necessarily to my taste -- I'm picky about vinagrette on salads to the point that I often prefer to eat salad "naked". Others probably would love this salad; I enjoyed the component parts, but would've liked it more "naked".
Dessert: this was very light and a bit of a surprise. The plate came out with a flat pastry on it, shaped rather like a poached egg, drizzled with honey. Made to order, the pastry's "egg" center was actually a purse of pecorino cheese, and it was prepared and popped into the oven just before being served. The high heat and quick cooking made the pastry quite crisp -- I was wondering if it had been fried -- and the salt of the pecorino contrasted very well with the sweet of the honey.
Chatting with the owner again, I learned that one of Daniela's best dishes is her lasagna, which they usually alternate in and out of the Tuesday menu. I'm definitely going to have to check it out.
By the time I left, a little after 8pm, business had picked up. Tuesday isn't the busiest of restaurant nights and 8pm is still relatively early for a summer evening, but I have to wonder if the not-full dining room is a reflection of the economy.
And many thanks to Baltimore Snacker for posting about Sotto Sopra's Tuesday dinners with Daniela. After reading about the lovely homecooked Sardinian meal he enjoyed at Sotto Sopra a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to finally try SS -- I've lived downtown for 8 years and driven by innumerable times, but had never crossed the threshhold. C was supposed to meet me there so we could catch up, but he bailed. The maitre'd offered me the table of my choice -- it was very slow when I arrived at about 6:50pm. I declined a table (why waste a seat?) and sat instead at the bar in the back.
Upon the recommendation of the bartender, I had an excellent cocktail, a basil lemonade martini. It tasted like the best lemonade ever, with just a hint of the basil. The alcohol was unnoticeable, so it's the kind of drink that would easy to consume in quantity, only to realize shortly after drinking that you are totally snockered.
I've linked to the menu above, but since I enjoyed it so much, I'll share details.
First course: slices of a savory sort of roll up. Pastry dough wrapped around ricotta and spinach, with a bit of red sauce on top. And another of pastry dough wrapped around ham and mozarella, this time with a cream tomato sauce. The salty ham paired very well with the mild cheese. And the spinach ricotta mix was lovely. The pastry itself was delicious, both crisp and buttery.
Second course: gnocchi in a fresh tomato sauce with little sausage bits (baby meatballs?) and a bit of pepperoni or other salami type meat. I'm not a huge fan of gnocchi normally, because it always seems to be either cooked to mush or too al dente. These were gorgeous, perfectly formed, and the sauce just set them off. I thought they were manufactured -- they were that perfectly shaped! -- but while I was eating, the owner (or co-owner? or maybe just wife of one of the owners?) and Daniela came out and we chatted, and I learned that she had made them from scratch. I was quite impressed.
Third course: beef tenderloin that was dre
Dessert: this was very light and a bit of a surprise. The plate came out with a flat pastry on it, shaped rather like a poached egg, drizzled with honey. Made to order, the pastry's "egg" center was actually a purse of pecorino cheese, and it was prepared and popped into the oven just before being served. The high heat and quick cooking made the pastry quite crisp -- I was wondering if it had been fried -- and the salt of the pecorino contrasted very well with the sweet of the honey.
Chatting with the owner again, I learned that one of Daniela's best dishes is her lasagna, which they usually alternate in and out of the Tuesday menu. I'm definitely going to have to check it out.
By the time I left, a little after 8pm, business had picked up. Tuesday isn't the busiest of restaurant nights and 8pm is still relatively early for a summer evening, but I have to wonder if the not-full dining room is a reflection of the economy.
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Date: 2008-06-25 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-25 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-25 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-25 04:26 pm (UTC)How has your stay in the UK been? I've read about your trips on your blog, and wondered how the day to day stuff was going.