This past Wednesday Sept 14th was the 3rd installment of I wrote after attending the inaugural Secret Supper event at , and the second at The Baltimore Sun's second Secret Supper event . As I mentioned in the two previous articl es Cunningham's, Baltimore has recently become 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?
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! There will be one more Secret Supper this year
Like I said before, Michael and I had such a blast at the first AND second Secret Supper events at AGGIO and Cunninghams, respectively, and there was no way you would be able to keep us away for part three! Sadly, my hardworking and amazing husband was away on business the night of the 3rd Secret Supper event, and couldn't make it. Luckily, I have an awesome friend, Leeann, who made a great stand-in.
So as usual, the day of the event, I waited eagerly, at the edge of my seat, with bated breath for the email with all of the details for the night to come. So at 9:46 a.m., after refreshing my email 8,040,334,573,864 times, the email came. We wouldn't be needing an Uber after all!
The 3rd installment of Baltimore Sun's Secret Supper would be at The Wine Market Bistro, located at 921 East Fort Ave here in Federal Hill, headed by Executive Chef Brian Mahon. That's just down the street from me, and yet, I'd never actually been. Well, to be honest, I HAD been inside the place, if only just to buy some wine, but I had NO IDEA this place had a restaurant in the back.
I was excited, and skeptical at the same time, and skeptical only because I had a hard time believing a place that was good enough to be featured as part of the Secret Supper series would be just a short walk from my house. I don't know why I felt this way, but I did. I let Leeann know where it was, and she was excited too, having dined there before. That was a good sign.
We arrived at 7 p.m., and once we checked in, we headed for the bar to receive our specialty cocktail du jour thanks to Tito's Handmade Vodka, OR this time, we could opt for Peroni, Miller Lite or a Miller Mule.
We both decided to go with the cocktail, which was called, "Stregherian Whispers," expertly created with Apple and Bosc Pear-Infused Tito's Vodka, Pommeau (apple brandy), and Strega (saffron herbal liquor) served with grilled, sliced paprika apples, and sphere of ice. Fancy.
It tasted pretty intense and half of me hated it, because I'm not really a brandy drinker, and the brandy game was STRONG, but the other half of me loved it, because it was innovative, interesting, and exciting. I enjoyed it while I loathed it, but more, I enjoyed it. I actually really enjoyed it. It tasted like fall. I love fall. I digress.
Leeann and I went out to the back patio with our cocktails, took in the gorgeous evening, and shortly after, we were called inside.
It seemed to be that things were getting started.We found a couple seats across from each other between a couple of couples, and got comfortable.
We introduced ourselves to everyone, and quickly made friends with the couple to my left, Paul and Bob. The rest of the evening consisted of comparing notes with them on the food, wine and of course, a tons of laughs. They were awesome company, and to reiterate from previous articles based on the Baltimore Sun Secret Supper events I've attended in the past, getting to meet new people and make new friends are up there with the best parts of the whole experience.
We waited a pretty... well, a seriously long time before the first course rolled out. But before I get overly critical, I have to recall the past two events. With a ton of people swarming a restaurant for one mass seating, as opposed staggered and controlled seating, during an event like this, the staff experiences WAY more people all at once than they're accustomed to.
Of course it'll be a little chaotic at first as the kitchen and front of the house get used to being slammed with 100+ seatings all at once. I've come to expect this, but for some diners, this wait wasn't something they were totally into.
But when the wine was poured, the gears were put into motion, and the food wasn't far behind. And speaking of the wine, it was a beautiful Rustenberg Petit Verdot Rose 2016 from South Africa.
The wine was super clean, with flavors of cherries, strawberries and happiness. And it paired perfectly with the first dish. And why shouldn't it? We WERE in a wine market after all!
The first course was a cured rockfish with tomato dash, peach purée and chilies. It was presented beautifully, but because of the dim "mood" lighting in the restaurant, I couldn't capture it's full beauty in a photo, but I tried. And believe you, me. It was a stunner.
The dish was refined, clean, immaculate and visually exquisite. And the taste followed form. refined, clean, immaculate and exquisite.
There were spicy, sweet and salty notes, and each bite finished crisp and left your palate wanting more The fish was tender and firm.
I still want more. More? Please? More? More... Not everyone loved this dish like I did, but I'm a big fan of seafood in all of its forms. I could have had 4 or 5 or 10 more bowls of this.
There was a sizable gap in time between the first and second courses, and thanks to our table-mates, it was made more than bearable. Everyone was so nice, and so fun to be with.
But soon enough, the second course was a chilled corn gazpacho with queso fresco, lime oil, and golden cherry tomatoes, served with an E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone Blanc 2014, from France. The wine was very reminiscent of my favorite Viognier from Becker Vineyards. It was fresh and fruity but was rich and had tons of body. I loved it. And it, once again, paired beautifully with the dish.
The gazpacho was luxurious, velvety smooth and quite striking. The sweet corn flavor carried throughout, and each bite would lure you to the next. If a soup could be seductive, this was it. It was simply put, sensational. This dish was a huge hit with everyone at our table, that's for sure.
After another lengthy wait between courses, we were presented with the third dish of the evening, a 72 hour short rib with shiitake mushroom-mascarpone ravioli, and whole grain mustard demi-glace, paired with a Planet Oregon Pinot Noir 2014 from Oregon. The wine was a big, bold red, and silky with notes of cherry.
Does it surprise you at this point that this wine paired with the 72 hour short rib and ravioli? It shouldn't. So good.
The short rib on the other hand wasn't as WOW-worthy as the rockfish or the gazpacho, but it still was quite good. It fell apart with the gentle touch of a fork, and I enjoyed it, and finished it. It was a touch on the bland side, and a little salt would have been the cure, but seriously, I ate the whole thing, so really, it wasn't bad. It just didn't stun me like the first two dishes.
The ravioli was original and inventive, and for that, I loved it. The mustard demi-glace on the ravioli mixed with the short rib ended up being killer and I ended up combining all of the elements on the dish instead of eating the ravioli and the meat solo. Yum.
And another non-surprisingly huge time-gap between courses passed, and dessert was served, a Fig Tart with cambozola (a gorgonzola style cheese), pistachio crust and aged balsamic vinegar and a glass of Grasparossa di Castelvetro Lambrusco, Italy.
The wine was semi-sweet, super fruity and bubbly. The rose color made me happy, as did the smoothness and the bubbles. Dazzling.
The tart on the other hand wasn't so dazzling. In fact, it was borderline repulsive. I'm not sure if it was the cheese or the balsamic, but the flavors did NOT work. But, as I was taught, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. And guess what? I wasn't alone in my not-so-kind thoughts on this tart. The whole table chimed in agreement. What I'll say is this: I wish it wasn't the end to our otherwise delicious and inspired meal. I wish I'd been able to walk away raving about each course, but instead I was left with the bitter, burned taste of disappointment.
Luckily, I can look back to the rockfish and gazpacho and drool all over again. Those two dishes were seriously fantastic. Utterly delicious. No Seriously, can I have more?
Overall, I was really happy that I was able to get a glimpse into the delicious world of T Wine Market Bistro on Fort Ave, nestled unexpectedly between Locust Point and Federal Hill. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this establishment without the Baltimore Sun Secret Supper event, and for that I'm grateful. I also never would have had the opportunity to get to know my friend more on this unique girls' night out, and make some new friends along the way.
There's something to be said about great food in a exciting atmosphere during an event like this. With this being the 3rd of 4 events this year, I know I can't wait for the last one of 2016 on November 1st. I know I'll never be able to guess where the next location will be. I mean, I could NEVER have guessed The Wine Market Bistro, BUT what I do know is this, it'll be amazing, and we'll have a sensational time. That's for sure.
Check out my reviews of the first Secret Supper at , and second at Cunninghams! Will you be joining me at the next Secret Supper? You totally should! It's an awesome date night or girls' night opportunity waiting for you right here in Baltimore! Here's all the information that you'll need to secure your spot for the next Secret Supper.