Alchemy Modern American Eatery

During my Bahama Breeze dinner a couple of weeks ago we were discussing restaurants to visit and Alchemy got a strong recommendation. When I saw that they were participating in Restaurant Week I knew that it was an opportunity I shouldn't pass up. Since the beginning of this blog a few different Restaurant Weeks have come and gone with me missing out on all the fun for one reason or another. This year, I finally made it happen and was rewarded with one of the best meals I've had.

For those of you that haven't experienced a restaurant week, the basic premise is that you choose an appetizer, main course, and dessert usually for $30 (sometimes $20). The appetizers we choose on our trip to Alchemy were Crab Mac and Cheese and Mojito Mussels.

The Mac and Cheese was pretty damn big for an appetizer. One could easily get away with eating only that  for dinner if they weren't overly hungry. The mac and cheese was super creamy with plenty of crab throughout and a few pieces of grape tomato. The mac itself was delicious, but the tomatoes just seemed a bit out of place. I'm sure they were thrown in there as a way to cut through the rich cheese, but both Deana and myself found them to be unnecessary additions to an otherwise outstanding appetizer.

The Mojito Mussels were also a great way to start out dinner. Plump mussels flavored with a blood orange, basil, cilantro and garlic butter broth.....I was a happy man dipping my crusty bread into this uniquely flavored broth. I think the basil they used was Thai basil as there was a licorice flavor throughout the broth. If you love mussels there is a good chance this is a variation on the classic you haven't tasted before. It's well worth your consideration.

For dinner, we were both debating the same two dishes. Smart cookies that we are, we decided to order them both and share. Deana ended up with the Shortribs and I decided on a Chili spiced Pork Loin.

The Shortrib was awesome. The two most tender pieces of meat I've ever tasted in my life were served at Alchemy. The Shortrib took the grand prize. The meat was soft beyond words and served on top of a bed of diced sweet potatoes, black beans, pomegranate seeds and I think apple (possibly pear). The little bursts of tart pomegranate were a great counterbalance to the savory Shortrib. It reminded me of a great fall dish, but it worked perfectly on the cold snowy night of our visit.

My chili spiced pork loin was equally fantastic. The meat was tender and flavored with a delicious ancho chili rub. The rub came off a bit spicy at first, but as you spent some time with it the heat dissipated. The spice was offset with a delicious pecan butter and I'm pretty sure there was coffee somewhere in the spice rub. All of those flavors made for maybe the best bite of pork I've had in a Baltimore area restaurant. I also got to experience my first tamale. These being pumpkin tamales and me being a huge pumpkin fan we hit it off quite well. It reminded me of pumpkin cornbread and I only stopped at 2 tamales because that's all that came on the plate. I'm pretty sure I could have put a half dozen of those down.

For dessert we split a Death by Chocolate cake and Salted Caramel Ice Cream. Both were great, but Deana and I both agreed that the ice cream stole the show.

The ice cream was (surprise) very creamy with just a touch of caramel flavor coming through. But what made it so great (and addictive) was the addition of the salt. These aren't flavors you run into on a daily basis and we quite enjoyed them. It was a simple dessert, but it was satisfying all the same.

The Death by Chocolate cake was also good, but didn't quite live up to our expectations. Both of us were expecting a cake more on the sweeter side of things, but instead were hit with flavors of cayenne and a bit more of a muted chocolate flavor. The cake was tasty, don't get me wrong, it was just missing the extra bit of sweetness we were both expecting when we heard the phrase "Death by Chocolate".

Overall, our dinner at Alchemy was an A. There were flavors that everyone is familiar with combined with flavors you may not have thought of before. Together they made for a dinner that was fun, delicious, and extremely comforting. We can't wait to go back. And for those of you who'd like to try some of these dishes out for yourself, I believe Alchemy is extending their Baltimore Restaurant Week deals so be sure to check them out ASAP.

Price: On the pricey side, but if you get a Restaurant Week deal it's a great value.
Recommendation: Alchemy should be on your "to eat at" list.
What to Order: Chili Rubbed Pork Loin

Heavy Seas Alehouse

A few weeks ago I wrote about the trip we made to Ellicott Mills Brewing Company when my brother and his girlfriend came down to visit. You might remember me mentioning that one of the things we share in common is a love of beer. So, keeping to the beer theme, I decided to take them to the Heavy Seas Alehouse. Once upon a previous visit we did a Heavy Seas Brew tour and over the years we've all developed into big Heavy Seas fans. Our trip to the Alehouse only served to make us bigger fans as we ate like kings.

 We came to the restaurant straight from an O's game on what was probably the first true scorcher of the summer. We were hot and famished so we went a little nuts when it came to appetizers. I decided to order shrimp cocktail and my brother decided to try their cornbread. After taking one peek at the cornbread, I immediately ordered another one so that Deana and I could share as well.

The shrimp cocktail was some of the best I've had. The shrimp were big and meaty and the homemade cocktail sauce made me very happy. But the real star of the appetizer party was the cornbread. It was beyond good. The cornbread itself was warm, sweet, and moist. Left alone, I would have been totally happy. By the time you throw in the crispy bacon, fresh jalapenos, and what they call a pale ale rarebit (essentially cheese sauce) you are in cornbread heaven. I can't say enough good things about this stuff. This was the best cornbread I've ever had.

For dinner, everyone got something a little different. My brother's girlfriend, Amy, ordered the Cavatelli. She had nothing but good things to say about her meal calling it delicious and the pesto extremely fresh. The ricotta cavatelli come with a roasted egglpant, piquillo pepper, and a basil pesto sauce.

Deana decided on the Cuban sandwich. I had a little bite of this as well and it was a great sandwich to have on a hot day. The bread was nice and crunchy, meat juicy and tender, and the cheese was super melty. Most importantly for any good cuban sandwich, the pickle tasted great and brought the whole thing together.

My brother and I both went with mussels. This was the first time I had ever ordered mussels. I know it's almost sacrilege on a Baltimore based blog, but I've never been the biggest fan of seafood. I'm doing my best to expand my horizons and I was pleasantly surprised with this dish. The mussels were plump and tender. The sauce they were served in was nice and briny and I really liked the burst of acidity you'd get from the cherry tomatoes that were sprinkled throughout the dish. My only complaint was that they were served without bread to sop up the broth. However, they are served with french fries and I was extremely into those bad boys. I felt like the fries and I were communicating on some kind of romantic level because I couldn't keep my hands off of them.

Beerwise I think we covered the basics with a Loose Cannon, Gold Ale, and Sea Nymph. But what I want to focus on is one of their beer cocktails. It seems like beer cocktails are the new thing in the craft beer world and so I wanted to try my first. I decided on the Sea Shandy which at that time was an ale mixed with basil and strawberry lemonade. Despite the fact that I got made fun of for drinking such a foofy drink, I found it really refreshing. By no means would I order this over a regular Heavy Seas beer, but if you're looking for something different this is definitely something worth giving a shot....especially on a hot day.

Overall, we had a great experience at the Heavy Seas Alehouse. The food was beyond what we were expecting and the beers we already knew were top notch. I couldn't have been happier. But with that said, the prices are bit expensive and could leave a lot of would be Heavy Seas fans on the outside looking in and I think that's a bit of a shame. I'm not saying they should dumb the restaurant down so that it turns into Buffalo Wild Wings, but I'd like to see a menu with a better mix in prices so that more people are willing to walk through the doors and eventually become fans of Heavy Seas.

Price: A little expensive, but not outrageous
Recommendation: Visit ASAP
What to order: Cornbread