Clementine at the Creative Alliance Opening Tomorrow!

I'd been waiting for this for ages and, last week, got to go to Clementine at the Creative Alliance's "soft opening." I should have gotten this post up earlier, but life kind of got in the way.  Well, tomorrow is the "official opening" so I'm hustling to get this done.  Hey, you need to know what you're missing if you don't go!!! Oh yeah, I'll be there!

"So, how was it?" you ask.  Well, absolutely awesome, of course!  Sarah (who is turning into my "You want to go eat?" buddy) and I actually went twice, both Friday and Saturday.  Ummm, yeah, the food would be why!  

Jeremy and Chris were rockin' the kitchen and Mirah and Cristin were making sure everyone was happy out front. I'm going to go the "a picture is worth a thousand words" route today and just show you some of the new menu.  We'll do Saturday first because the light for the pics was much better:

This, friends, is pork belly at it's finest.  The pic here is missing a piece o'belly because Sarah and I dug in before I could whip out my trusty cell phone.  Sarah had never had pork belly and was a bit cautious, initially. I got one bite, folks.  ONE. After Sarah had a bite, she immediately commandeered the plate. I groused a bit but let her do it - she'd had a crummy day, and this is comfort food on steroids. It's braised in hard cider - that's a Yukon Gold mousseline around it and a mostarda the guys whipped up on top.

I was OK with her cheek because I had this gorgeous plate of juicy heirloom tomatoes. It sported a lovely chevre and a lemon balm gremolata on top. Oh, and a sprinkling of smoked sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Can you say, "summer on a plate?"

Sarah had liked the duck tostada she'd had Friday so much she wondered if she should get it again.  I don't know about you, but when I eat, I want to be happy - ordering the same thing two nights in a row is more than fine in my book.  As you can see from Friday's pic (scroll down), the guys made it just a scoch different to mix things up. We both some kind of love duck confit. If you've never had confit, get your buns down here and try it before it's off the menu. (I made a goose confit last year and between the meat, the cracklin' skin and using the cooking fat for 'taters and stuff, I think I gained five pounds.)

Jeremy and Chris decided to send me the Corvina. I don't suppose I need to mention it was perfectly cooked - seared outside, flaky and moist inside. Topped with lobster pate. (Jeremy simply can not do a less than fabulous pate.) On silky saffron risotto. A dab of sweetness from a lemon jam and the tangy dilled green beans balanced everything out.  Sarah's comment on tasting the beans was, "The beans make me sad." Huh???? "Sad that I will never be able to make beans that taste that good.  Ever."  Chris assured her it was a simple recipe and walked her through it right there at the table.  Is that a gentleman or is that a gentleman?

Now we're down to the first day of the soft opening.  The pics are flash because we were seated next to a wall - nice seats, but no light from the windows to help with the shots. But I did get a good one of the bar without flash - isn't it fantastic?  

The vibe is more urban than Clementine on Harford Road. Lovely as it is, with Romey and Chris in the kitchen, atmosphere is soooooo secondary to the chow.

The table receives foccasia with herbed oil to nibble on while you peruse the menu and enjoy a lovely beverage.  The bread is nicely chewy and the oil scrumptious. We had to stop ourselves so it wouldn't be gone before our drinks came!  Yummm!

Now, I have to confess, we got so excited, I forgot to take a picture of the lovely lobster consume.  A clear broth with scallions, scented with lemongrass.

Next up, the gents brought us two small plates.  This is the duck tostada, with which Sarah fell in love. Oh, yeah!  Lively veg, rich duck and, as Sarah said, a tostada they could sell just plain. I could eat the corn salsa on it by the bucket.

And Romey brought out a beautifully seared, dry pack scallop, on a sticky rice cake, with his home made kimchi. I think kimchi is somewhat of an acquired taste. Acquire it already! Kind of like coffee - first time you're not so sure you like it.  Next time, it's not so bad. Before you know it, it's the elixir of life. Anyway, a little sriracha-type sauce just to point things up and, oh my.  A happy Lisa.

At this point we sat back and said, "You know, we could stop here. That was plenty." But no, there was more to come!

Sarah had ordered the Culotte steak.  Oh, lordy. It's got a sour cherry and ox tail demi glace. Hohohohoho. The 'taters are roasted and mustardy and the asparagus brightens everything up.  Sarah was also sad about the asparagus as her maiden attempt to cook them, a couple of weeks ago, did not approach the goodness of these luscious spears.

The boys chose the quail on dirty rice for me. I just wish this pic did the dish justice. Where do I begin?  Quail is not something I usually order - see, letting the kitchen choose is good for ya! You eat things you wouldn't have otherwise and get over your silly prejudices!  But I digress.  The quail was pan fried and just succulent. It was served with Killer's pork sausage.  Meet Killer:

This young man is tearing up the charcuterie at Clementine.  I wish I could remember Killer's real name!!  Dang. We'll just have to go with Killer until my memory kicks in.

Anyway, back to the food...

Now, when you add sweet, briny oysters to dirty rice, what do you get?  Frickin' delicious is right!  Chicken livers and oysters are a natural. Add in some beet greens and scapes and your foot is thumping under the table it's so darn good!

And, because we clearly were shooting to be rolled out of there, instead of walking, we finished off the meal with Mirah's s'more (yep, Mirah can cook, too!) and Jeremy's coffee brulee - I'm so sorry I didn't get a pic.  They were a perfect end to an awesome meal!!

See ya tomorrow!  And, to my little circle of friends and family who read this, get your posteriors in gear and treat yourselves this weekend!! The new joint is truly worthy! Not that I expected anything less, of course!  :-D

I know, I know... I swear I don't always eat at Clementine... really!  There are some other posts in the pipeline but I just am crazy busy right now. I promise I'll get some of them up.  But I had to do another Clem post 'cause Romey and the gang done good and tomorrow is their big day!!  Besides, the blog is really for me so I can remember the good stuff I ate and, one day, try to recreate some of it!

It's the 7th of May, but what the heck!

Oh, yeah,! Sister, Lori, and I made sure to pop in at Los Amigos on Cinco de Mayo! No pics, but this should make up for it: Nice to see the local folks getting some press! (And, yes, Mama Rosa is as tiny as she looks!)  I've been going here since they opened. Actually, this is where Steve and I dated and spent, I think, every anniversary. So when we broke up and Mama Rosa, Maria and Marco would ask "Where's Papa?" it was tough. At first I could say, "He's working," because he was... and slowly I stopped going.

But I'm back! Friends Carol and Sarah wanted to go a few weeks ago and then Sarah and I stopped by for some refreshment a couple of times. I popped on the intertubes to see what they'd been up to and saw reviews indicating quality had become somewhat inconsistent (I don't know, I wasn't there if it had, see above). But, if my visits over the last couple of weeks are any indication, they took the reviews to heart and are back in the swing of things - everything in my last four visits have been delicious.

I love the Peruvian offerings on the menu.  Carnitas are moist, savory chunks of pork that have been slow cooked in beer and herbs and finished off under heat for bits of crispy exterior.  Yummm... this is not dry pork loin but pork, with just enough of the flavorful fat the good Lord gave it, to melt in your mouth and make your tongue happy.  I always order a side of pico de gallo - an awesome condiment for many of the dishes here. Many of the dishes are served with refried beans, about which I can not say enough.  I could eat a plate of just these.  I read a review of Los Amigos years ago that said you could tell they're made in a Latin kitchen, slowly, with lots of love and lard!  That's OK by me!

Lomo Saltado is also a wonderful.  Strips of beef, tomato and onion sauteed in olive oil and herbs and served over french fries.  When I first saw the menu item it took me aback - french fries???? So I asked.  Well, duhhhh... Peru is home of the potato.  Fried potatoes there are called french fries here.  Very, very yummy. And surprisingly combination of rich on the tongue but light on the tummy. How is that possible with french fries in the mix?

Speaking of potatoes, Sarah agreed that Papa Hauncaina, broiled 'tater topped with a creamy cheese sauce and piquant Peruvian olives is a winner:

Don'tch love those tablecloths?

And the seafood quesadilla and burrito here rock.  Fresh fish, scallops and shrimp lovingly sauced and smothered.  Can't even see the burrito, can you?  Well, all the toppings work with this!  The guac is wonderfully fresh. Just smothered - yum! I usually can't finish the burrito and look forward to the leftovers!

Note size of shrimp.

For dessert, the flan is usually a good choice.  I understand Mama Rosa makes them herself.  Occasionally there's a miss and you can tell they were done in too shallow a water bath (it only affects texture, not taste), but usually it's spot on.  Note:  I may be a little picky here because egg custard is one of my personal go-to desserts and, if I do say so myself, mine are awesome.  The whipped cream and cherry aren't necessary, but are, indeed, festive:

Another great tablecloth, Tres Leche and Flan.

The last two Fridays they've had Gil Bruns playing.  Love having live music with my meals!  We've heard selections from Jimmy Buffett, Beatles, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Snow Patrol and many more.  As much as the music, I loved his interaction with the crowd.  Last Friday, Happy Birthday was sung for someone and, as soon as we were finished, a young man ran up and said it was his dad's birthday, too.  Gil asked what his dad's name was and the young man replied, "Daddy!!"  Laughing, Gil said, "Of course it is!" and led us in a chorus of "Happy Birthday, dear Daddy."  Later, the same young man bolted up and said he knew a song. Gil let him sing it and helped him.  It was the sweetest "Twinkle, Twinkle" and the crowd just loved it!

El Gil and his protege.

Marco on bar duty.

Oh, I should mention that before my hiatus, I loved the ceviche here!  I didn't get it in the last few visits so I'm sure we'll have another post when I do!

Shout Out to Tim Booth on the Day after His Natal Remembrance Celebration

Dang it, dang it, dang it!  I meant to get this post up before Tim's birthday was over (it's about 1 am, here on the east coast).  *sigh* Ah, well, let's just plow ahead and thank the man for many a wonderful meal. 

Thank you, Tim!!!!

Tim is a soup Czar, for one thing.  Here's a shot of Wednesday night's dessert, courtesy of the maestro:

Oh, soooo freakin' good!  Turkey Curry Sausage Soup.  Now who woulda thunk of that?  Really??  Well, Tim did and it rocked! And, yep, you read that right, dessert.  After a very satisfying entree I still wanted more... but not sweet.  His soup was the perfect finish.

Creamy, but light.  Loaded with savory sausage, bright veggies and flavor, flavor, flavor.  It was still on the menu tonight so you may get lucky if you head to Clementine Friday for lunch or dinner and be able to get some.  If you ever see Tim's cream of crab on the menu, do not stop, do not pass go, put in your order.  You will not be disappointed.  Again, creamy but light (how does he do that???) full of deep crab flavor - awesome!  Totally unlike the gloppy concoctions that are usually passed off as cream of crab around here.  I have two friends, who live in Harford County, who have made me swear to call them when it reappears so they can come get a fix.  I do not think the man knows how to make a mediocre soup.

Soup, of course, is not all he does!  A while back I broke my routine - I usually do supper at Clementine - and went in for breakfast.  Tim sent out a salmon frittata to die for.  Eggs perfect. Capers. Dill. Succulent salmon.  Forget bagels and lox and satisfy your salmon urges with this!

I wish I had a pic of my all time favorite (up to now, of course) Tim dish.  I had it last year and fervently wish it would appear on the menu again.  It was an awesome seafood dish, with the best polenta cakes I've ever had (bar none), bearing up full bodied, plump, sweet shrimp, in a moat of the most superb clear broth.  This dish was Meg Ryan good.  Yeah, you know what I mean!  My highest accolade.  

Happy Birthday, Sir Tim!  Wishing you many, many more!

Grilled Black Bass, Rhode Island Squid and Cardamom Cream Pie

And that's all that was left - bones and aromatics.

Ahhhh, that looks more like it, eh?

Holy Cow!  Jill and Chris and Chad were on tonight! Mr. Bass here was stuffed with citrus and Thai basil (from Hamilton Crop Circle - rock on, Sir Arthur!), served with roasted veggies, including melting little gold 'taters, and spiced up with a tangy kalamata tapenade.  Oh, my! This bass was so darn sweet, I was sucking on the few bones that didn't willingly give it up. The fact that there wasn't anything left of, well, anything, kinda says it. Go on over to Clementine get yourself some!!

Now I know most folks don't like tails and fins, which is why restaurants remove them, but for me, that's part of eating a whole fish. It's an aesthetic thing - fish look so sad without their tails, don't you think? No matter, he tasted just as good without it! Glad they left the head, though.  If you haven't discovered them, fish cheeks are delish!

I kinda started in the middle of the meal 'cause I had that fun pic of the skeleton... workin' backward, the evening started off with:

Yes, boys and girls, that's succulent squid.  And zingy jalapenos (the RI component, I believe!), more of those yummy 'taters, and hiding inside, where you can't see it is shaved fennel. Have I mentioned how much I love squid???  No, of course I haven't - I just started writing this blog! But back to the appetizer - this was done properly.  So tender - perfect with the crunchy freshness of the fennel, the smooth ramp dressing and the bite of the chili. 

Have you ever seen The Mirror Has Two Faces? There's a scene where Rose is creating "the perfect bite" of her salad and Gregory notices, winning her over with his understanding.  I ate this whole appetizer that way - being sure I got a bit of each flavor into each bite, playing with proportions.  Come to think of it, I've done that with my meals here on more than one occasion. Fun! Don't you love playing with your food?

And, as if that wasn't enough (I mean look at the size of those portions!), with a glimmer in her eye, Caitlin said she'd choose my dessert.  Oh boy! Can't say no to that! Well, Caitlin's choice proved that Miz Amanda could once again outdo herself. Meet Cardamom Cream Pie:

See those chunky little things on top? Those are pistachio brittle.  OMG! What a garnish for this lovely scented bit of Mid-East (cardamom and pistachio) meets Mid-West (the flaky pie). Perfect with a cup of hot, full bodied joe.

And, if anybody cares, yes, I do eat at other places and I do cook. Time has just been short and I haven't blogged the way I'd hoped to... and I won't apologize - I love Clementine, so I eat there a lot. I'll try to get up that 3 Pepper Skillet and report on my evening at Tooloulou soon!

I love shots of folks working so, on a pass to the ladies room, I waited for the kitchen door to open a got a pic of the maestros in action:

Thanks, folks - I'm a happy camper!

PS - Chad, I don't know your last name or I'd give you a label and a shout out, too... and Jill, get a FB page or website or something, so I can link to you, gal!

Honey Brined Chicken Tikka Masala

Do not be fooled - that knife is monster big. This was a honkin' portion of chicken.

Oh, yeah, back at Clementine tonight!  Actually I went there every day last week. Why? 'Cause Romey is leaving (*sob*) and Jill is new and I was having a crappy week - so I got myself an endorphin bath every night by treating myself.  (Better for ya than any number of mood altering substances, eh?) Blew my budget and don't even want to step on the scale. What can I say?  I'm a Clemgirlfan.

And yes, you will get to hear about other places, too. But with the upcoming change in kitchen staff, there will be a lot of Clementine for a while. Besides, this blog is for me!!

I want to catch Jeremy while he's close. Papa J and Chris were manning the kitchen with him tonight and I went home full and warm and happy.  They're using Zahradka's chicken, which I've come to love.  Yep, chickens that have been running around are more muscle bound but, man, are they tasty.  I'll trade exercising my jaw muscles just a scoch for flavor from decently raised birds any day. This one was brined with Pristine Valley Farms honey.  Gents, the bird tonight was just a hair drier than usual. Do not take that as a complaint, just an observation - it's just that usually I'm astounded by the juiciness of your free range birds. You know you can count on me to be straight on this stuff so the abject compliments you rack up mean something!

Instead of floating in sauce, as you see so often, the airline breast was napped with the Tikka Masala.  At first I wondered if there was enough sauce to make me happy (I know, Romey, I should have never questioned your wisdom).   Yes, indeed there was.  Beautiful balance between the roasted veggies (also from Zahradka), basmati rice, the poultry and the sauce.  Look at the browning (read flavor) on that bird! And the sauce. Oh, so score!  I told Carrie Ann I run out of words to compliment this kitchen. Wonderfully savory, velvety on the tongue, with clean bright veggies, in a nice mouth-full dice, and that lovely rice for contrast.

Oh, and I should mention the meal started out with Chicken Liver Pate with Rum and Cranberries and a rockin' St. Andre... and, of course, Lucille's pickles (Winston's grandma's recipe).

I'll catch you up on last week's meals tomorrow.  Some yummy, yummy stuff! Oh, and Tuesday I made my 'ol standby, 3 Pepper Skillet, which isn't so much a recipe as a weekday dump'n'stir to make use of an over abundance of sweet peppers - I'll get that up, too.

The Bacon Taco of Awesome

Via friend Sue Hayes, the Bacon Taco of Awesome. No recipe, but I gotta try me this. Layer up some bacon in a pan, let it fuse together whilst frying. Bend it at the crisp but not brittle stage.  OMG! See, I'm really not a foodie if this is making me fantasize!

Clementine has got a new chef and soon we have to go to Highlandtown to eat Romey's food

I went to Clementine on Wednesday and host Andy told me that there was a new chef in the kitchen. I froze and tried not to panic. Andy, always observant, was quick to assure me that Jeremy was still with the Clempire - on May 17th, they'll be opening up a new spot at the Creative Alliance.  Whew!!  And yay for Jeremy!  A new adventure for him!

The wonderful Jeremy Price.

Those who know me know I think a lot of Jeremy and all the guys in the kitchen here, so this was no minor bit of panic.  Fortunately, the Creative Alliance is only a small schlep down to Highlandtown, and I need not deprive myself of Romey's cooking (about which I will undoubtedly wax poetic in future posts).

The new chef is Jill Snyder - and Wednseday was her first night.  She's been around B'more - the Red Maple, Woodbury Kitchen and even made an appearance on Top Chef.

Do I have any pics of the food at this auspicious occasion?  Did I take good notes about the food? Of course not!  I didn't know I'd be starting this blog! C'est la vie.  (And heck, I don't know if I'll even be any good at blogging about food!) This particular post is more to let you know about Jeremy's great opportunity and to welcome Jill to the kitchen at Clementine.

A little background - I have a tendency to just let the kitchen send out whatever it wants to - the first time I did it was because I was brain dead after work and couldn't make a decision - and I got something fabulous in return.  It got easier and easier after that to turn it over to the pros.  Besides, how much risk is there really? You know the chef isn't going to send something that stinks and I've now tried, and loved, many a dish I might not have ordered otherwise!

I heard Jill was a little nervous about this but that the staff told her not to worry, I'll try anything. (Besides, Tim, Chris, Chad and Matt were backing her up that night! Relax, you've got a good crew!) She whipped up a bluefish with crackling skin and melting interior and laid it on a bed of amazingly dressed dandelion greens.  Excellent!  And, as is so often true, I wanted to keep eating, but not something sweet - so I asked that she recommend an appetizer... and she made something not on the menu!  It was a really cool little toast, house made bologna and egg concoction.  Sounds simple, was sooooo much more.  They need to get that on the brunch menu!!  Yummm!

Jill Snyder - from the Red Maple, to Woodbury Kitchen, 

to my very own neighborhood Clementine.

So, welcome to Jill, I'm looking forward to you working with the Clemteam. And Romey, I'll be by Clementine as often as I can until you make me hike down to Highlandtown to enjoy your cookin'!!