Tuesday November 1 was the 4th and final installment of The Baltimore Sun's Secret Supper series for 2016. As I mentioned in the three previous articles I wrote after attending the inaugural Secret Supper event at , the second at Cunningham's, and the third at Wine Market Bistro, Baltimore has become a real heavyweight in the culinary scene, and one of the premiere cities for great food, and no, I'm not joking. In fact, Baltimore was rated number 2 in Zagat's top food cities in 2015! Awesome, right? I sure think so.
With that ranking in mind, the folks from The Baltimore Sun scoured the city to find this year's outstanding restaurants, and hand selected their favorites to host their Secret Supper series. The Baltimore Sun invites us all to experience an extraordinary menu at one of the city's top restaurants. They just can't tell you where...yet!
So this past Tuesday morning, to be totally honest, I had forgotten about the upcoming dinner out. How could I do that? I have no idea. I've been running around, doing a whole lot of everything. Between having my birthday last week, and all the Halloween festivities, Major's activities, and just living life as a mom of 2 young boys, I forgot.
So a little after 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, I was just minding my own business, taking a break from doing some housework while my little man Jack was napping, when my inbox alerted me that I had mail.
It was from The Baltimore Sun Media group, letting the secret out! Heck yeah! What a happy surprise. I opened the mail, and learned the final supper of 2016 would be held at , a true destination for modern, rustic Italian cuisine crafted using ingredients sourced from local ranchers, farmers and watermen, headed up by seasoned executive chef, Matt Campbell.
Exciting stuff. I couldn't wait! I told Michael where we'd be dining, and once I did, he was beyond excited as well. This final secret supper would double as a date night for the two of us to have some adult-only time to celebrate my birthday, and I was so happy we had this opportunity.
So when the time came and the babysitter was settled in with the boys, Michael and I hit the road, destination: Birroteca.
We arrived at 7 p.m., and found a completely full lot, but with some luck and finagling, we f0und (created) a spot, and we were able to say that we'd arrived. Hurrah! We waited in line at the door to be seated, and my anticipation was strong.
While we waited in line, I actually spotted the friends (Hi, Paul and Bob!) that Leeann and I made at the previous supper at The Wine Market Bistro.
I was able to introduce my husband, and we caught up but sadly, we weren't able to be seated with them. But throughout the evening, we were able to chat and that was nice.
They even gave me an awesome gift for the kitchen that makes stripping herbs from the stem super easy. (Thanks, Paul & Bob!)
We were seated in the back room at the bar, which was a unique spot for us, different from any of the other suppers where we were seated family-style with other folks excited for the meal ahead. At previous suppers, we were able to meet new friends, and connect with other food adventurers.
This time, Michael and I were pretty much left to ourselves seated, as I said, at the bar, and to be honest, I liked it. It was more like a true date this way, and I really needed one of those. There were tons of people at the supper, and everyone looked to be excited, full of anticipation for what was to come.
Like the previous suppers, we were introduced to the feel of the joint by way of a hand-crafted cocktail. The cocktail of choice, developed by a bartender and crafted by bar manager, Nick, was the Autumn in Jalisco, sage infused Herradura Reposado Tequila, caper, for amaro, toasted cinnamon, lime juice and honey syrup, garnished with a slice of lime. Nick explained to us that he had tweaked the drink a bit to make it a bit easier to craft for the large-batch situation they were facing with the supper. The result? This drink was SPECIAL. It was like a beautiful autumn breeze. It was a fall take on a traditional margarita, and it was anything but standard. I was completely obsessed. Sensational. It was a great start to our final secret supper.
Half way through our cocktail, we noticed that the beers were being poured for the first course. This meal wasn't the normal supper. The past three were 4 course wine pairings, and this one would be a beer pairing. however, wine was availible upon request. I know Michael was excited about this, being the craft beer enthusiast he is. I was intrigued to see how it would go, and was excited for my first beer pairing.
Soon after getting settled, our first course was laid in front of us. I was irrationally excited looking at a beautifully plate of onion rings. Now, these weren't just onion rings. C'mon. The Baltimore Sun wouldn't have selected a place that served diner rings.
These were 2 giant Birro onion rings, delicately battered and fried golden brown, placed on top of a bright red, house-made tomato-basil ketchup and some sweet pickled cubes of what I believe was okra were sprinkled around the plate. The onions were plated adjacent to to a tower of duck liver mousse and duck prosciutto. It was beautiful.
I loved how the onions didn't slip out of the batter when bit into, and I loved how everything went absolutely just RIGHT together. The bright, crisp and acidic flavors from the ketchup really punched through the rich, decadence of the liver mousse and prosciutto.
The beer was Pilsner Urquell, a Czech lager. It's medium bodied, and very malty, echoing the creaminess of the mousse, but played well with the crisp onion and the bright sauce. I was a huge fan, of this first course and couldn't wait for what was to come.
Once our plates were cleared, the second beer selection was being poured. I liked having our vantage of being at the bar. We got to see the process and it was pretty fun. The Leinenkugel's Bavarian Dunkel was chosen to be the partner to the eggplant involtini midnight moon whipped ricotta with chili roasted rapini.
Once again, Chef Campbell knocked the plating out of the park. This dish was creative and innovative. The eggplant itself acted as a pasta would in a traditional involtini, rolled around some flavorful, sweet yet salty and velvety whipped ricotta. The rapini, also known as broccoli rabe, was extra good. I'm also extra into broccoli rabe.
I love its nutty, bitter, garlicky and spicy taste and it was a great partner to the involtini. The tomato sauce on the plate was bright and sliced through the deep flavors of the rapini and eggplant. Another perfectly balanced dish, if I do say so myself.
The Leinenkugel's Bavarian Dunkel is packed with lots of coffee and chocolate flavors, with a splash of fruitiness, and was a really dark chocolaty color. I didn't care for this beer too much, since coffee isn't something I'm into, but my husband really loved it. Though I didn't love the beer, I did, however, see where they were going in pairing the beer with this dish, but I just wasn't as into it as I'd hoped to have been.
Next up was the seared rockfish with kale fredo, pine nut farrotto, pancetta, and the 3rd beer pairing was an Italian beer, Peroni. When I first laid eyes on the fish dish, I was very happy. Now THIS was a meal. The portion size was perfect.
In the past suppers, the portions were really small, more like a small tasting rather than a meal. I think the small tasting portion size would have been appropriate had there been more than 4 courses, but since there are only 4 courses, I always thought the portions of protein should be a bit more hearty. So when I saw a full sized piece of fish with a healthy amount of farrotto, I was overwhelmed with excitement.
What overwhelmed me with excitement even more was the taste. I was floored by the kale fredo. It was a beautifully balanced, yet flavor-packed creamy sauce that I wanted to take home and then bathe in. I wanted a thermos of it, so that I could have it whenever I wanted, which is all the time. Right now.
I know the fish is supposed to be the star of the dish, but I also fell head over heels in love with the pine nut farrotto. If you know risotto, you know farrotto. It's basically the same but instead of rice, it's farro, and where risotto is silky and light, farrotto is strong and rugged, with a big punch of wheat. It was sensational! So with my thermos of kale fredo, I'd also like a to-go container full to the top of that farrotto. Please, and thank you.
Yes, the fish was great.It was tasty, well seasoned and partnered with one of the greatest sides and one of the greatest sauces I've ever had. Yum, yum.
The Italian Peroni was a bit light for this dish, but I think it was probably smart to put a lighter beer with such a rich dish. I personally would have liked to have seen the Peroni with the onion ring starter, and the Pilsner Urquell with this fish, because it was still light, but the Pilsner Urquell is bit more robust. I loved this course. Loved it.
The fourth and final course was the dessert course, and I knew this would be one that Michael would go bananas over. And I was right. It was a hazelnut smore's lava cake paired with an Italian meringue, and a graham cracker granola crust. The dessert beer was a Blue Moon Cappuccino Stout.
The cake was beautiful, and that Italian meringue was AWESOME! It was similar to a toasty marshmallow, and it was my favorite part of the dish. I'm not a chocolate cake fan, or a cake fan in general, but I have to say, it was executed wonderfully.
I think the crust was a little over-done, as it was super hard and hard to cut through, but it tasted awesome. The cake was moist, and the middle was oozy-gooey, just the way you want in a molten cake. The stout beer was a solid sweet, chocolatey coffee-esque beer, perfect as a dessert beer, and went great with the cake.
All in all, this was the BEST way to close out The Baltimore Sun's Secret Supper series: with a bang. It was a solid meal from start to finish. I loved each dish, thought each preparation that we were faced with was smart, innovated, well balanced, full of flavor and perfectly simple and yet still complex all at once.
I guess if I had ONE critique, it would be on the beer pairings. While the beer that was selected was appropriate for each dish, I was hoping to have more obscure or smaller craft breweries on the menu, rather than a Leinenkugel or a Blue Moon. To see an Evolution, Key Brewing or even a Heavy Seas beer on the menu would have made it a bit more local, and a bit more special. But that's it. That's my only critique. And that's pretty awesome.
THIS was what we came into the Secret Supper series expecting: a great atmosphere, with excellent food, sizeable portions, thoughtful presentation and wine (beer) pairings that made sense, great service and timelines of dishes coming out from the kitchen.
I have added Birroteca to my favorite places to eat out here in the city. The restaurant is casual, yet still conveys a sense of being something special and memorable. The atmosphere, the staff, the food and presentation were all where they needed to be. Thank you to The Baltimore Sun for introducing us to this and other great places here in Baltimore through this awesome series. I can't wait to see what 2017 brings!
To get more information and see more photos from all of the Secret Suppers, click HERE!
