"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!
