Setting the Stage

What we have here is an effort to communicate. With you. About food. Good food that requires silver and crystal; good food that requires pits and spits; and good food that requires cocktails and wine. If it’s a trend, we’ll try it. If it’s a trend that sucks, we’ll mock it.

We are in fact food snobs; we know that you better let the Som know your date doesn’t like oaked-Chardonnay, not just that she doesn't like Chardonnay. Because, sir, that IS an important distinction.

We also have obsessions about Eastern European meat products (and charcuterie in general because it’s a fun word and hams, salamis, pates, and rilletes are just damn tasty). Hell one of us even has a degree in Eastern European history, and a serious taco fetish to boot!

There are lots of blogs about food. We know that. You know it. But we’re funny, just ask us. And given the amount of time and energy we spend not just on eating out, but on THINKING about eating out, and cooking ourselves, and tasting, and learning about food…we’re pretty sure we can talk with a fair bit of substance with opinions based on something other than having read three reviews of Chick-fil-As in the greater Bal’mer area and choosing our favorite.

And it is about Bal’mer, ‘Hon. And ‘Naptown (which sadly doesn’t have much of a food 'scene' on its own). And DC (which also means we are not scared to cross the Potomac for NoVA spots). And the places in between and nearby. And we get to define nearby (because Philly seems really close some days and the Bolt Bus can have us swimming in Dim Sum in New York's Chinatown or Little India in Jersey really quickly).

Just the other night, in fact, we talked about trying to find really good Indian food closer to Baltimore than to DC and ‘this guy’ blurted out ‘I bet there’s really good Indian in Columbia’ without really knowing why. The Quiet One immediately shouted (heh, we’re ironical already) that there was! So you see…we’ll trek off I-97 a bit. We have to; Baltimore requires some combination of I-695, MD 295, MD 2, I-95, or U.S. 1 to actually get from I-97 to the city. And stopping at the southern end of 97 leaves me about 5 miles east and a bit south. And I want to play!

Tonight that will include a ‘road trip’ to the Shore. It was going to be Frederick. No, not for THAT PLACE. Silly…we already did that. Ms. Vertical must be on the shore for the puppies, so we will eat on the shore. My parameters were “Two meals today, much driving, one meal tomorrow.” There was no dissent. The ladies discussed oysters. I am down with that. Seafood on the shore. This is how we roll.

Since this is my stream-of-consciousness first post; I will tell you here that the posts about restaurants are not intended to be classic restaurant reviews. They are meant to be stories about the experiences the four of us (together or individually) have had. While we don’t like to admit it often, we know we’re not the be-all-end-all. We also recognize that if we don’t like something, we’ll tell the proprietor too.

We’ve had a number of conversations and moments in our lives that got us here that started this adventure. I already write about food. The Quiet One and I have talked about restaurants for almost a decade now and keep adding new places to a mythical ‘list’ that we must complete. The Quiet One, Pocahantski, and Ms. Vertical have Food-ed themselves in the Bal’mer scene for years. Pocahantski and I have actually cooked together…sort of. There will likely be a CSA sharing this summer and The Quiet One and Ms. Vertical will support us, by eating what we cook. We read lists like Dining @ Large’s and contemplate completion. We also let each other know where we’re traveling for business, in case one or more of the rest of us want to tag along for the food. Pocahantski has a trip to Berkley coming up, and I might just be in New Orleans at the end of February.

I don’t know that we have a set format in mind for ‘reviews,’ stories, posts, and thoughts about food; so that will evolve over time. Sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to have photos. Sometimes we’ll just use our words (And sometimes that’s hard to do given the fact that we all believe in wine, bourbon, grapa, and blue-cheese stuffed olives too).

So off we go. I’m finishing my espresso and making sure my overnight bag is packed…