We Know Jack('s) - In Canton 'Hon (Plus Other Random Saturday Appetizers)

Watch this!!!!

No, really. Do it. It's ROLLER DERBY. And you get THREE food adventures to go along with it. Plus $3 PBR and Natty-Bohs. But only one beer per person in line (which defeated the purpose of one person going to get a round, and was THE only glitch in the Charm City Roller Girls extravaganza).



Saturday in Bal'mer with The Quiet One and the J&L Gang? Yeah, I can do that.

Wine tasting and raw oysters at Chesapeake Wine Market first? Yeah, I can do that too. Slurp, slurp peeps.

And eight whites. Sips, people, just sips. And The Quiet One, J from the J&L Gang, and I each popped 18 little sweet Chesapeake bay tasties.

I'll share with you that the second wine we had, the Cedric Buchard Pinot Noir Brut NV Infloresence (a champagne y'all), was the winner by far. Bubbles and oysters. My cup runneth over (or at least I wish it did).

Doors open at 6 for the derby and we have time to kill, so up to Canton Square we go. Mama's on the Half Shell was packed so we headed over to Helen's Garden for apps and cocktails.

If you have the chance you should do the same. Especially in the summer when the doors on the bar are open and the breeze is rolling by as you sip a Sancerre waiting for your Burger Au Poivre to arrive. Yeah, gotcha, didn't I?

And last Saturday, we got THIS:

Indeed dear readers, that is goat cheese "hugged" by prosciutto on a tasty little nub of french bread with slivered...almonds? No, that's garlic folks. Damn tasty, spicy, slivered, and sauted garlic with the rosemary and the honey/olive oil/balsamic. GO GET SOME (if you can, since it was the appetizer special, but they should just keep making more of them). The bread was chewy, the goat cheese just warmed enough to melt and held together by the barely crispy prosciutto. And then you dip that in the honey, rosemary, garlicky goodness and get to eat it? Oh my...

I don't have any pictures of dinner because a) it was a bit dark at the bistro and b) we were too interested in the delicious Claret and fantabulous food that kept coming out of the kitchen and dropping down on our table.

Turns out our server's wife just made the Roller Derby squad this year. She's still practicing and hasn't been in a bout yet, but it'll happen.

Jack's is classic bistro tucked in around the corner from the square. Guiness braised filet with cheddar/jalapeno grits. Sous vide strip and frites (and they won't let you order it any other way by medium rare, good on them). Mac n' Cheese n' Chocolate for an app. Creamy shells in a perfect cheesy/creamy sauce with a dusting of cocoa powder on top. 147-degree poached eggs with pork belly. Mmmmm.

Turned out the two tables on either side of us were post-derby folks too. We're trying to convince Jack's to have a post-game special since it's only a block from the arena. We'll keep you posted.