Muffuletta, Muffoletta, Muffaletta… I’ll Take All Three!

This article has been published in the February 2011 issue of Town Favorites Magazine. You can visit the Town Favorites website at http://www.townfavorites.com/, follow them on Twitter @TownFavorites, "Like" them at Facebook.com/TownFavorites, and find their magazines at over 150 restaurants and businesses around Baton Rouge! Pick up a copy today!

Muffuletta, Muffoletta, Muffaletta… I’ll Take All Three!
By Jay D. Ducote

While there may not be a lot of agreement about the spelling of the famous sandwich’s name, there is hardly any argument about the greatness of the muffuletta. Many suggest that the New Orleans specialty is one of the best sandwiches in the world, and I wouldn’t care to disagree. The muffuletta gets its name from the Sicilian bread loaf of the same name, but it was Central Grocery in the French Quarter that gets credit for first turning the bread into the sandwich that it is today. Combining the flat, round loaf with a unique olive dressing, ham, salami, and other meats and cheeses, the muffuletta has become a staple of New Orleans cuisine. Though it is hard to find them anywhere other than the Big Easy, Baton Rouge has its fair share of delis and restaurants that serve their own version of the classic Italian-style sandwich.

Anthony's Italian Deli's Muffoletta

The Red Stick’s most famous spot for a muffuletta is Anthony’s Italian Deli on Florida Boulevard. Home to the “best muffoletta since 1978,” Anthony’s version resembles its New Orleans counterparts closer than most. Anthony’s wife Maria and son Marco run the hole-in-the-wall, authentic Italian deli, which is actually the oldest in Baton Rouge. The muffoletta itself combines homemade olive dressing with mortadella, ham, genoa salami, capicola, and provolone cheese. The deli still uses the same recipes that Anthony started with in 1978. The bread is baked to his specifications and the olive dressing remains unchanged over the years. Anthony’s muffoletta is plenty to feed two people, though I’m tempted to try to tackle it by myself one day. The sandwich is loaded with substantial amounts of fine meats and cheese to give it a true Italian flavor. The muffoletta is then placed on a sandwich press and toasted to warm the provolone and slightly crisp the bread. It is deliciously and texturally magnificent.

A muffoletta wedge at Anthony's

There is no doubt about the passion and authenticity inside Anthony’s Italian Deli. The tiny restaurant also plays home to an Italian grocery store. It is impossible to fit much more imported ingredients inside the building, and customers often find little room to sit down, but that is part of the special appeal of Anthony’s which has clearly built a loyal clientele. The atmosphere is like stepping back in time, and nobody seems to mind. Every customer in the restaurant when I was there bragged about the muffolettas. Every single person claimed that not only is it the best muffuletta in Baton Rouge, but that Anthony’s also triumphs over New Orleans’ Central Grocery. That’s a bold statement, but having had both in the past couple months, I have to agree!

Maria, Marco, and Jay at Anthony's Italian Deli

Anthony’s might be a local favorite for muffulettas, but it is far from the only place to grab the exceptional sandwich in town. Monjuni’s has two locations in Baton Rouge, and I stopped by the Highland Road spot to sample their muffaletta with General Manager and Executive Chef Blair Kornegay. The Monjuni’s original muffaletta varies from the more traditional versions, but is exceptional in its own right. The Monjuni’s muffaletta is first highlighted by the bread. The roll is shaped like other muffuletta breads, but the Monjuni’s version is sweeter, softer, and downright delicious. On top of the bread Chef Kornegay piles ham, salami, provolone, Roma tomatoes, and porcini peppers then cooks the sandwich open-faced in the oven before adding their own olive mix. While the tomatoes and peppers aren’t quite the norm, they still help make the Monjuni’s muffaletta different, unique and pretty freaking tasty.

Monjuni's muffaletta

Monjuni’s also gives their customers an interesting twist on muffulettas. The turkey and vegetarian versions are rather enjoyable in their own right. The turkey muff replaces the ham with turkey. They will also remove the salami if you don’t want any pork products at all. The vegetarian version would be vegan if you removed the cheese. Instead of ham and salami, it features Portobello mushrooms, roasted artichoke hearts, and red bell pepper. The veggie muffaletta is certainly different from other varieties, but it is also a really delicious sandwich. I can see myself ordering more in the future and I certainly recommend it to any vegetarians out there.

The veggie muffaletta at Monjuni's

I also checked out the muffaletta at George’s under the Perkins Road Overpass. Unlike other muffulettas, George’s scraps the traditional bread and just makes theirs on poboy style French bread. George’s keeps it simple with plenty of ham, salami, Swiss cheese, and their homemade olive spread. While a far cry from the original New Orleans style sandwich, the poboy (interestingly enough, also a famous New Orleans sandwich) still packs plenty of that well known flavor.

George's Muffaletta Poboy

Baton Rouge has quite a few other places to choose from when it comes to muffulettas. Several other Italian delis serve their own, and quite a few restaurants run one on their sandwich menu or as a special. No matter where you find one, the saltiness of that olive dressing will keep licking your lips and going back for another bite. There’s a reason that the muffuletta is considered to be one of the great sandwiches of the world, and we should feel fortunate that we have so many to choose from right here in our great city! 

Jay D. Ducote is the author of the blog Bite and Booze, which chronicles his culinary and indulgent cultural experiences around Baton Rouge, south Louisiana, and the world. It can be found at www.biteandbooze.com. You can also reach him by email at jay@biteandbooze.com, like the Bite and Booze fan page on facebook.com/biteandbooze, and follow him on Twitter @biteandbooze.

Thanks to Eric Ducote of BRBeerScene.com for taking pictures for this article.

The Buffet of Buffets: Las Vegas, Nevada

The Buffet of Buffets

Not too long ago a crew of mine from my younger days descended upon Las Vegas, Nevada for a reunion weekend of shenanigans and tomfoolery.  While most of the acts that occurred in Vegas will "stay in Vegas," I couldn't resist returning home to write about one of the most incredible offers known to man: The Buffet of Buffets!

Thanks to Cheetz for the Limo!

In order from left to right, Chetan, John, Tyler, myself, and Chad, met at the airport where a limo picked us up and brought us to the Plaza Hotel and Casino.  I really enjoyed staying off of The Strip as downtown is such a more relaxed and old-school Vegas atmosphere.  Still, a couple nights later we made our way to Las Vegas Boulevard to experience a culinary conquest like no others.  The Buffet of Buffets is offered by seven Harrah's owned properties.  For one very reasonable price ($39.99 for rewards card holders, $44.99 without the card), diners get 24 hours of access to all seven buffets.  Conceivably it is possible to do all seven.  Perhaps one day I'll try that.  But since we had other things to occupy our time in between buffets, we did manage to hit three of their most famous destinations of glutony.

Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas

Our first stop brought the clan to lunch at the Lago Buffet in Caesar's Palace.  No, Caesar didn't actually live there.  But, the casino/resort is a spectacular place with statues, vaulted archways, and decor that really brings you back to the days of old... minus the constant ringing of slot machines that echo the majestic halls.

Chefs at the Lago Buffet

Lago Buffet had a line accumulated outside its entrance at 1 PM.  Despite the wait time, we knew our dining experience would be worth it.  The Buffet of Buffets kicks off when you arrive at any of the seven buffets on the Harrah's list.  Upon purchasing the buffet, your rewards card is activated that allows their computer system to know exactly when its 24 hour window has expired.  With a time stamp of around 2 PM, we knew how long we had to make our rounds the following day.

The Lago Buffet stuck to their specialties.  The menu featured some Italian and Asian cuisines as well as some excellent herb-roasted meats, a divine dish of braised beef, and some of the best biscotti I've ever tasted.  All in all the buffet offered legitimate quality, wide enough selection, and a commitment to keeping up the standards of the cuisine they produced.  While the Lago Buffet did not offer food from all four corners of the map, they made up for it with doing what they do really well.

Prime rib (left) and bacon-wrapped pork (right)

Plate #2 at Lago Buffet.. the mac & cheese and green beans held their own

Dessert plate at Lago Buffet: the biscotti (far left) stole the show

No caption needed

By the time that evening rolled around we had somehow rolled our way over to the Rio.  We killed a couple hours gambling and allowing our stomachs to settle before meandering over to the world famous Carnival World Buffet.  This behemoth of an eatery seems easily as large as a football field.  It is a hike to get from one end to the other.  Carnival World's gimmick is to offer such a wide variety of international and American cuisines that it would be impossible to not find something to satisfy your taste buds.  The buffet stretched from country to country, continent to continent to come pretty darn close to capturing global cuisine all in one spot.  On my first plate I hit up the meats that were right in the center of the World.  Fresh glazed ham, tender and rare prime rib, and surprisingly delicious sausage were sliced on site and plated to order.  The clear winner, among everything that the Carnival World Buffet had to offer, was the prime rib.  That night, I'd venture to say they had the best prime rib in Vegas.  It was cooked rare, expertly seasoned, and as juicy as a fresh peach.  I got both the end and a center cut off the slab of beef and went to town.  The flavor popped in my mouth and for a brief moment, while I was sitting there amongst a sea of indulgence, I didn't care about anything in the world other than getting that next fork of cow into my mouth.

Ham, prime rib, and sausage awaiting their digestion

Immaculate.  Glorious.  Beef.

Unfortunately, while the prime rib highlighted the trip to Carnival World, the rest of the fare didn't stack up.  It seemed to me that they tried to do too much and focused way more on quantity than the quality of all the little niche cuisine offerings.  The Mexican section didn't even look edible, the sushi was a poor attempt at sub-par rolls, the pizza was alright, but not stellar for the kind of oven they had there, and the American section was downright disappointing.  Still, I'd go back from the prime rib.  I hope it wasn't a fluke.

Carnival World plate #1: check out that prime rib!

You think they go through some crab legs?

Carnival World plate #2... you can actually see the plate in this picture!  And yes, that is a corn dog.  No, it wasn't good.

Desserts at Carnival World... the cookies and cream gelato rocked.

After another night at the blackjack tables at the Plaza with our new friends Janice, Toi, and Kimmy (oops, maybe that was supposed to stay in Vegas... nah, it's on Facebook, so it's official), we were set to leave Vegas.  However, none of us flew out until around 6 PM the next day so we naturally had time to hit up one more buffet in order to make the Buffet of Buffets worth it.  We had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, so needless to say we skipped breakfast and decided to head back to The Strip where we would hit up lunch at Planet Hollywood's Spice Market Buffet.  While our bellies and digestive tracts were still a little out of sorts from the two buffets the previous day, I was really looking forward to the Spice Market Buffet.  Unfortunately, it fell flat on its face.  We made it through the line just in time to be within our 24 hour window, and from a distance the food looked great.  Like the setup at Carnival World, the Spice Market had a carving station in the middle and was flanked on each side by as series of international cuisine stations.

Plate #1 at the Spice Market Buffet in the Planet Hollywood Casino

After loading up a plate with a selection of prime rib, some Asian fare, a small taste of Mexico and France, and a few morsels of dried out chicken that represented the Middle East, I met my buddies at the table and began to chow down.  Unfortunately, I was hard pressed to find something on my plate that I wanted to take more than one bite of.  The prime rib was the biggest disappointment by far.  One look at that picture and you can tell how well done and over-cooked it was.  It looked to me like they left last night's beef in the oven for too long.  After eating the beautiful rare prime rib the night before, I pushed this rubbish off to the side and refused to take a second bite.  I went back to the prime rib station at Carnival World twice more before leaving, and every chuck of bovine glory that they sliced was well done.  What a shame.  As for the rest of the food, the best item may have been the spicy boneless chicken wings.  Yeah, exactly.  If that's the best thing, I could have just gone to get chicken wings at Hooters (or anywhere else for that matter).  Oh well.  I guess "lunch" on a Monday at Planet Hollywood really just means "Sunday dinner's leftovers."

All in all I was still blown away by the value of the Buffet of Buffets.  For $40 I got three full, gigantic meals at three totally different buffets inside of three of Vegas's most famous resorts... and there were still another four that I never got to try!  The Lago Buffet at Caesar's Palace wins my award for best all-around buffet of the three.  The selection wasn't as great, but what they lacked in quantity to the other two buffets was easily made up for in quality.  My other award for best single food item goes to the prime rib at Carnival World at the Rio.  I could have eaten nothing but that for three days and been satisfied.  The biscotti at Lago would come in second.  In closing, God Bless America, and thanks to Harrah's for allowing us to wallow around Vegas in such glutinous glory!

Alabama's White Sand Beaches: Part II

Saturday morning came early after night one in Alabama, but Eric and I were ready to head to Tacky Jacks for breakfast to meet the rest of our blogger gang. I had heard good things about Tacky Jack's and had already been told by Lori that I was going to be ordering a Farmer's Omelet, so I prepared myself to be stuffed.

The Large Farmer's Omelet at Tacky Jacks Took Up the Entire Plate!

The omelet utilized two egg cakes (they looked like pancakes) to serve as the outer layers of this over-stuffed gargantuan breakfast.  Between the two layers of eggs there were potatoes, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and ham, with plenty of American and cheddar cheese located inside and on top.  As if this wasn't enough food, the Farmer's Omelet also came with a choice of bread, so I opted for the biscuit which was sliced in half, coated in butter, and toasted on the flat top.

The omelet itself didn't quite live up to the overall atmosphere of Tacky Jacks.  It is a pretty neat place right on the water with multiple levels of outdoor deck seating.  I'd gladly go back for the culture... and for the Bushwackers!!

The Famous Bushwacker at Tacky Jacks

The Bushwacker is Alabama Gulf Coast's famous alcoholic beverage... so I had two or three for breakfast!  Tacky Jacks' version of the creative concoction mixes white rum, coconut rum, coffee liqueur, and a little 151 proof rum over vanilla ice cream.  This Bushwacker put its stamp on the meal and most certainly earned its spot as my favorite Bushwacker if Gulf Shores/Orange Beach!

Things To Do
Orange Beach

Pimanyoli’s Sidewalk Cafe Dishes up Some Succulent Summer Barbeque

This article has been published in the July 2010 issue of Town Favorites Magazine. You can visit the Town Favorites website at http://www.townfavorites.com/, follow them on Twitter @TownFavorites, and find their magazines at over 150 restaurants and businesses around Baton Rouge! Pick up a copy today!

Pimanyoli’s Sidewalk Cafe Dishes up Some Succulent Summer Barbeque 

by Jay D. Ducote

In a strip mall along Airline Highway, across the street from the Klienpeter Dairy, sits an unimposing barbeque restaurant that exceeded all of my expectations… and I expected it to be great! Pimanyoli’s Sidewalk Cafe & Catering serves smoked meats, incredible sides, and terrific tamales to the various crowds that come through its doors. Piman and Yolanda (nicknamed Yoli, hence the name) are a husband and wife combo that got into the restaurant business after catering as a hobby. Both of them had professional jobs but made sure to cater together part time on the side. Deciding to follow their dreams, they opened Pimanyoli’s to focus on their culinary talents and share their delicious food with more people.

Piman, Yoli, and Jay Ducote at Pimanyoli's Sidewalk Cafe

However, following this dream did not prove to be easy. Pimanyoli’s opened its doors on June 23rd, 2008. Shortly after their debut in the Baton Rouge restaurant scene Hurricane Gustav hit, and their vision nearly faded away. Piman and Yolanda lost everything in their freezers as they, and most of Baton Rouge, were without power for over a week. Despite this setback, they got back to work after the storm and tried to make a name for themselves and their business. Still, Yoli describes the entire first year as a bust. “There were really rough times,” Yoli said. “But lately the word has gotten out and business has picked up.” Having just celebrated their second anniversary of serving great food, Pimanyoli’s has made it through the hard times. While they certainly struggled, things are now looking up.

I had the pleasure of dining at Pimanyoli’s recently and having a great conversation with Yoli about the business. As I entered the restaurant I wasn’t exactly sure what to think. It’s rare to find good barbeque in a strip mall, and even more rare to find a place in a strip mall that refers to itself as a sidewalk cafe. I looked around and there was no sidewalk to be seen. Something seemed odd on the outside, but after walking in, everything felt right. The ambiance of the newer restaurant welcomed me in and put me at ease. Piman and Yoli have created a casual, relaxed environment in a space where you can get a really nice lunch or dinner.

I took a seat near at the bar and began chatting with a gentleman who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying a pulled pork sandwich smothered in slaw. I asked him for his thoughts about the restaurant since he seemed like a regular customer. “Let me put it this way,” Jason Pitre said, “My wife told me to stop coming because I spend too much money here.” I hope that doesn’t come back to haunt him as his wife’s comments clearly didn’t keep him out of Pimanyoli’s for lunch that day! Perhaps this says something about the customer base that they have developed. I couldn’t wait to try some barbeque!

Piman's Meat Plate with Pulled Pork, Brisket, and Ribs

Piman brought out a plate with ribs, pulled pork, and brisket. Yoli followed with a sampling of green beans, baked beans, potato salad, and mac & cheese. I started salivating at first sight and found it difficult to wait for Eric to take the pictures before digging in. The green beans were reasonably normal aside from the huge chunks of tender ham that filled up the bowl. The recipe for Yoli’s baked beans has been used for 27 years, and I can understand why. The deliciously sweet beans had enough brown sugar and bacon to make shoe leather taste good, though at the same time I still tasted the beautifully prepared beans in every bite. The potato salad is a specialty of Piman, who also works the smoker and grill. It didn’t blow me away, but the homemade potato salad certainly did not disappoint. Finally, the mac & cheese might have stolen the show from the other sides. The creamy creation contained a blend of two cheeses, though Yoli wouldn’t tell me more than that. The recipe had been passed down from her mom and she swore it to secrecy, only adding that “it didn’t come from a blue box or a yellow box!” There is no doubt about that.

Green Beans, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, and Mac & Cheese Fill a Plate of Sides

I started the main course with all little taste of pulled pork and brisket from Piman’s meat plate. The pulled pork tasted pretty ordinary. It needed a little of Piman’s homemade barbeque sauce featuring 21 ingredients to kick it up a little. This is the only sauce at Pimanyoli’s, and for good reason. It is a delightful vinegar-based sauce that had sweet and tangy elements with a unique flavor. The recommendation is to get the pulled pork on a sandwich, topped with slaw, and smothered in sauce. The brisket at Pimanyoli’s is actually their top seller. This surprises me a bit because I found the brisket to be dry and crumbly. Perhaps this is preferable for some eaters, but I’m looking for a moist brisket that pulls apart but doesn’t crumble in your hands.

A Full Rack of St. Louis Style Ribs at Pimanyoli's

The main reason I wanted to try Pimanyoli’s was the ribs. I heard they had some of the best in town, and being an extreme lover of ribs, I thought I should go check it out for myself. Piman smokes his St. Louis style ribs (and the rest of this barbeque) with Louisiana pecan wood. I’ve always loved pecan for smoking because of its mild, sweet taste. The ribs are coated in a rub that Piman puts together himself and served with the sauce on the side, as it really should be. I wish more barbeque restaurants would figure that out. To me, when you sauce ribs for the customer it says that you are trying to hide something. Letting the customer decide the fate of the barbeque sauce says, “Here are my ribs, they are good, but eat them wet or dry as you please.” The ribs at Pimanyoli’s were salty and mildly spicy. They had just enough heat to tingle the tongue without being noticeably hot. The meat pulled off the bone with a gentle tug from the incisors. Again, this is how true ribs should be. I don’t want my rib meat to fall off just from handling it. Instead, a little pull should slide the meat clean off the bone. The ribs were deliciously moist and well seasoned and were so tender that they nearly melted in my mouth. They exceeded all of my expectations about ribs that I could find anywhere in Baton Rouge, and that is saying something!

Jay Ducote Digs Into a Succulent Rib

Yoli capped our meal off with some bread pudding and apple cobbler. The bread pudding had a light and airy consistency with raisins, nutmeg, and a homemade vanilla rum sauce. The cobbler featured fresh apples that had been cooked down into soft chunks of sweet fruit that filled every bite. Both desserts were absolutely delicious and are worthy of capping off any meal at Pimanyoli’s.

Bread Pudding with Vanilla Rum Sauce

The trip to Pimanyoli’s resurrected my feelings about Baton Rouge barbeque. There are some good places in town, but for the most part few of them are truly great. While the brisket left a little to be desire for my taste buds, the ribs absolutely blew me away and were exactly what I hoped to find in my Baton Rouge culinary journeys. Pimanyoli’s is well on its way to becoming on Baton Rouge’s “Town Favorites!”


Jay D. Ducote is the author of the blog Bite and Booze, which chronicles his culinary and indulgent cultural adventures around Baton Rouge, South Louisiana, and the world. It can be found at www.biteandbooze.com. You can also reach him by email at jaydducote@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @biteandbooze.

Thanks to Eric Ducote of BRBeerScene.com for taking all the pictures for this article.

Things To Do
Baton Rouge

Portugal - The 2010 FIFA World Cup Bites and Boozes

Portugal

Portugal is one of the World Cup nations that I have actually been to so it's nice to be able to write about cuisine and beverages that I've actually consumed.  In the summer of 2006 I spent a week finding my way from Oporto (Porto) in the North all the way down to Faro on the South coast of Portugal.  The trip also included a little time in Coimbra, Lisboa (Lisbon), Cascais, and Fuseta along the way.  With a long Atlantic coastline, seafood clearly belonged as a major staple of Portuguese cuisine.  I recall eating grilled sardines that had just been pulled out of the ocean, among other fresh dishes.  Still, the food brings back the recurring dreams from my memory is the authentic Francesinha sandwich that I ate in Porto.  Oh, and don't forget the Port wine itself!

First, as an introduction to the famous Francesinha, I found this video to show you.  If it doesn't make your mouth water then perhaps you don't like sandwiches.  This is easily one of my top 10 sandwiches that I've ever had in my life and certainly belongs in the same discussion as the very best New Orleans Poboys and Darrell's Specials that I've eaten.

Our first Francesinha from Nando Cuca on Vimeo.

Francesinha (meaning Little Frenchie or simply Frenchie in Portuguese) is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with molten cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries.  Essentially it is a grilled sandwich that comes loaded with delicious meats and cheeses, then gets topped with more cheese that is melted all over it, and then smothered again with a house-specialty tomato-beer sauce.  It can also be topped with fried egg, just for that extra bit of ridiculousness.  I've seen very few more beautiful sights in the world.

I really had never tried Port until I visited Portugal.  After learning about the fortified wine, how the grapes are shipped down the Douro River to Porto, and how the caves serve has chambers for the wine before they are shipped, I decided that I should give it a try. Port is produced from grapes grown and processed in the demarcated Douro region. The wine produced is then fortified by the addition of a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente in order to stop the fermentation, leaving residual sugar in the wine, and to boost the alcohol content. The wine is then stored and aged, often in barrels stored in a cave before being bottled. The wine received its name, "Port", in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe. The Douro valley where Port wine is produced was defined and established as a protected region, or appellation in 1756 — making it the third oldest defined and protected wine region in the world after Chianti (1716) and Tokaj (1730).

For some information on Portuguese beer, check the BR Beer Scene!

Thanks and Credits:

http://vimeo.com/9017753

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesinha

http://laseriedemivida.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/1x22-mi-francesinha/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine

http://quevedoportwine.com/wine/some-great-port-wine-treasures-kept-secretly-in-american-private-cellarsalguns-tesouros-de-vinho-do-porto-guardados-nas-garrafeiras-dos-americanos/

Addie's: Let's Eat Outside of DC

Addie's delivered exactly what I was hoping for.  In the Washington DC suburb of Rockville, MD, I found myself surrounded by national chains and shopping mall cuisine, of which I wanted no part of.  I traveled to the District for a work conference, and the last thing I wanted to do was settle for food that I pass up on routinely back home.  After doing a little web searching for some local eateries, I stumbled across Addie's.  Only a 15 minute walk from my hotel, I decided that I'd give it a try and hopefully have something to add to Bite and Booze from the East Coast.

Upon arriving at Addie's I realized that the restaurant is set in an old house.  I really like that restaurant setting and have talked about that being the kind of establishment I'd like to own one day, so my excitement had really piqued at that point.  At 7 pm when I stepped in the front door, the place bustled with dining excitement.  I stood there for a second and looked around.  I really liked the atmosphere, but there was no host to greet me or waiter to help me.  After a few seconds, I stepped out to reevaluate my thoughts on the evening.  On one hand, the restaurant had to be good to be that slammed on a Wednesday night.  On the other, I did not get greeted at all, and perhaps that was indicative of the dining service as well.  Before I could give it too much thought, I noticed that right next door was a little pub serving well priced cold beer.  That seemed like a better option to determine my next move, so I walked into Dietle's Tavern and ordered a pint of Yuengling Lager.  I enjoy this regional brew and certainly prefer Yuengling on tap over most other American macrobrews.  There was baseball on the TV, Nationals and Orioles "fans" talking ball, and a cold beer in my hand.  Happiness is simple.

Bread and Wine at Addie's in Rockville, MD

After a couple pints my hunger reappeared and I figured the time had come to go back to the neighboring Addie's to check on the grub situation.  This time around the staff promptly greeted me as I walked in the door and sat me at a cozy table in the corner of the former living room of the house.  I ordered a bottle of '08 La Linda Malbec and the restaurant brought out a course of bread and butter.  Addie's served freshly baked French-style white bread as well as a pseudo cornbread that tasted like it had teamed up with pound cake and fruit cake.  It really was quite fantastic, especially when eaten with the accompanying creamy butter.  The Malbec also hit the spot and the half bottle lasted me perfectly through the entire meal.

Benton Ham and Green Leaf Salad

I wanted a cup of the asparagus and parmesan soup but they had sold out of the rotating daily special, so I settled for a salad instead.  My waiter, Octavio, suggested the Benton Ham and Green Leaf Salad.  The salad  came with a deconstructed deviled egg where the boiled whites were mixed in with the ham and greens while the yolks were turned into a paste and spread on the side.  I really enjoyed the egg and the plating, but overall the salad did not quite live up to the anticipation.  The greens were mixed with macerated red onion and an herb vinaigrette.  The ham from their charcuterie selection was money, but the greens and dressing lacked just the smallest amount of flavor to put the salad over the top.  Still the egg yolks and ham made up for minimalist dressing and slightly bland greens.

My Entrée from Addie's: Locally Raised Pork Chop

There were several amazing options for a main course, but I easily settled on the pork chop because I thought it would pair well with the Malbec I had been sipping on.  The chop came from locally raised swine.  I asked for the thick cut pork to be cooked to a medium temperature and it came out exactly as ordered.  Accompanying pork chop was black pepper spaetzle, fava beans, lemon confit, and a brown ale mustard sauce.  The succulent chop tasted terrific with new and interesting flavors compared to the Louisiana cuisine that I'm used to.  

Mexican Chocolate Creme Brulee

When Octavio told me about the dessert options I immediately decided on the Mexican chocolate creme brulee.  The sweet treat had a beautiful blend of warm and cool temperatures as well as crunchy and smooth textures.  The brittle top layer combined with smooth creme to leave a rich yet delicate dessert with a distinctively Mexican flavor that added a just the right touch of uniqueness to the dish.  My extreme compliments go to the pastry chef for delivering the top dish of the night!

Things To Do
Washington DC