The Inn in Little Washington, VA, a little voyage back in time and exquisite experience

Posted on January 26, 2016 by kk50shades

The Hungry Women are back!!!!

Well, no need to remind everyone that we just got hit by snowmaggedon. Trying to watch that amount of snow melt equals to watching paint dry at this point.

However, look at the bright side, only 56 days to Spring! In the meantime, and since everyone must have cabin fever by now, we figured we might as well give you some good reading material J.

Two weeks ago, Sherry and I took a trip to Little Washington, VA. Her childhood friend Melissa had invited us to stay at The Inn (http://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/) and have dinner with her and her husband Dick. Sherry had done a ton of research prior the trip, and may I say that she must had teased me every single day about the menu and the extensive wine list, for 2 weeks straight. I swear she probably knew the entire menu by heart by the time we hit the road.

Since the trip was about 2 hours and 30 minutes, we decided to let the camera roll as we are pretty good at entertaining ourselves with no help from the outside world:

We arrived at the Inn around 4:30PM. Melissa and Dick were already there in the lounge area, having cocktails while waiting on us. Upon our arrival, the dream began. We got greeted by a few door men, with the cutest outfits, which almost made you feel that you just took a trip in the past instead of VA.

After taking my car keys and asking our names, they told us “we got it from here, please go inside where you will be greeted and redirected to the monkey bar”. Everyone that knows me has to know by now that I am a control freak, I am usually the one who says “I got this”, but not this time. I happily relinquished control and decided that it was time to let them pamper Sherry and I.

You are probably thinking by now; did she say Monkey bar?? no real monkeys there, wall paper filled with Monkeys, and a little stuffed one, greeting everyone on their way in.

The nice Maitre D took charge as soon as we entered The Inn and proceed to take us on a tour by taking us to the Monkey Bar first and offered us a glass of Champagne:

Walking through the Monkey Bar to the lounge area, we found Melissa and Dick surrounded by little treats, drinks and people waiting on them making sure that they had everything they need. Sherry and I sat down and I got to meet these wonderful people for the first time. We chatted a while (while we were waited on like Queen Elizabeth (who was personally served by Chef Patrick O’Connell while visiting Virginia may I add (http://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/patrick-oconnell.shtml ))).

Since our dinner reservation was at 7:30pm, we decided to go up to our room and change while checking out the opulence of that enchanted place:

No words could describe how well The Inn was decorated and made you feel at home, which is why a video would show best our reaction to our room:

Overwhelming happiness took over all of our senses, I usually suck at selfies, but that picture describes our mood the best!

We came back down and met our friends in the dining area, our hearts pounding with palpitations, knowing that Julia Child had her 90th birthday party at The Inn. Personally, I would have LOVED to have been part of THAT celebration (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/entertaining-tips-from-the-renowned-owner-of-the-inn-at-little-washington/2015/04/20/4c5f191a-e2cb-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html).

After sitting down, I was tasked with choosing a bottle of wine, the pressure was on! Going through the 87 pages of outrageously expensive and most fabulous wines I have seen in a long time, I settled for a bottle of Chateaux the Fieuzal 2004 Premiere Cru Classe 2004 for the itty bitty price of $105 a bottle (trust me, for that place, that is a very decent bottle of wine, average being in the $300’s, highest being $10,000!!!!).

While waiting on the wine, they brought over popcorn with shaved black truffle on top!!!!!

I will let Sherry take over the description of our meal:

After the black truffle popcorn, we were treated to several small appetizers including a pimento cheese small bite, a very southern treat which reminded me of my second mom, Helen Dudley’s recipe, highly revered by all who knew her.

A velvety hot pepper soup with a sambucca cheese ball arrived next. It was delightful!

The “tin of sin” : American Osetra Caviar with Peekytoe crab and cucumber rillette.

I have to take a moment to wax eloquent describing the “mousse of foie gras in a golden egg shell” served with sauternes gelee and a blood orange preserve. How can a chef create such a delicate, whimsical dish? How do you cut the egg so perfectly and then fill it with the light and airy mousse? This is food artistry at its most refined. A triumph!

The carpaccio of herb crusted Elysian Fields baby lamb loin with “ceasar salad ice cream” shows you how creative and improvisational this chef can be. If this dish were music it would be avant garde jazz.

Melissa bravely chose the chilled veal tongue with pickled root vegetables with horseradish ice cream. I am not sure what we expected, but it was very flavorful.

I chose the grilled endive and bosc pear salad with pomegranate viniagrette. It was the only thing that didn’t wow me.

Another selection off of the vegetarian menu was chosen by Melissa. It was a raviolo of spinach with a bantam egg yolk and white alba truffles. Decadent!

My favorite offering was the sweet and sour Nantucket bay scallops with Shishito peppers! The perfect melding of flavors was exquisite! Definitely my favorite thing!

Next, came the filet of Antarctic sea bass with lemon vodka sauce served with Lilliputian shrimp and pork dumplings…….so fresh and prepared perfectly.

Now we should mention that the portions were so mathematically prepared that you’d be surprised to know that we were not stuffed!

Dessert was in order!

Before we even ordered, they brought us this to cleanse our palette, a delicate sorbet in a bed of short bread cookie crumbs (Chef O’Connell, you can cleanse my palette anytime 🙂 ):

We then ordered a trio of custards, Lemon Posset, Butterscotch Panna Cotta and Chocolate Pot de Creme, they were all great, however, Sherry and I agreed, the Panna Cotta was our favorite:

Then arrived the Chocolate, Caramel and Hazelnut Tartlet with Olive Oil Ice Cream (sounds weird doesn’t it, don’t be fooled, it is delicious, how the heck does one come up with that stuff!)

Followed by the Southern Butter Pecan Ice Cream Sandwich with Bittersweet Chocolate and Hot Caramel Sauce (I bet you anything that you probably already read that twice, I know I did and I am writing it!):

We must say that it is extremely rare in any restaurant to have the entirety of your meal served at the most perfect temperature, including the wine. Chef O’Connell and your staff: we bow down to you and yours.

Stuffed and happy, and while the staff knew that the Hungry Women were in the house (a good word from Melissa helped too), we were taken on a tour to the kitchen were all the magic happens:

Let me pause for a moment and explain the picture below. These are the kitchen seats, 2 separate tables in front of the fireplace overlooking the cooks, which is called the Inner Sanctum. You can reserve these seats for the very affordable price of $395 for 4 people (yes I am being sarcastic, and yes that is just to reserve your spot there, has nothing to do with your dinner). If it wasn’t for the price, I would personally love to be served there, especially looking over the shoulder of whoever is making that egg that was served as an appetizer.

At that point, we are officially STUFFED and decided that it was time to call it a night, already anticipating what they would have in store for us for breakfast.

Sherry fell in love with her sheets (she actually pulled her iPad, looked at the tag and found out that the name of the manufacturer was Garnier Thiebaut, France), and we came back to life around 7am.

After showering, we decided to take a tour of the town since our friends were still checking out the back of their eyelids. Very tiny place, we also heard that Chef O’Connell owns actually most of it. Here is the scenery of what we found around (they have their own garden, Lamas and Sheep!).

During our stroll, we were greeted by a very friendly (fat) cat that followed us around for a while (I was very tempted to take him home!):

We came back to the Inn and sat down for breakfast while waiting for Melissa and Dick to join us.

We started with tea (passion fruit and Chef O’Connell’s own blend of green and black tea):

The place settings, the silverware and any other details on the table are just breathtakingly beautiful, no wonder I kept snapping pictures.

A few words on the following picture: these are homemade jams and honey (each of them is described in the menu above), I can’t tell you which one was my favorite, I loved them all, so did Sherry.

The juices! Oh the Juices! Cantaloupe and Vanilla, Ginger and Carrot (I was surprised how much I loved that one!), Pineapple and Orange, Blood Orange and Grape Fruit. I was so glad that we each had our own set because there was no way I was sharing this with anyone, not even Sherry!

Now this…..nothing unusual about the berries, but that white thing in the middle, is supposed to be a homemade Greek Yogurt. I want that cow, and I want that recipe because I swear, I never tasted a Greek Yogurt like this one, that was more like Creme Fraiche to me !

Of course, I have to mention the Croissants, we are very picky about our croissants because of our friend Chef Jessica Knudsen. Jessica, they would make you proud!

These are Sherry’s final words: In my 57 years, I must say that I have never had an experience more perfect than the Inn at Little Washington. It is as if every star aligns, every morsel of food trumps the last and the attention to detail is flawless. The wait staff is attentive but never intrusive. Your every wish is met with courtesy and a real desire to please. It is like you were invited to the finest European country estate for dinner but it is balanced with American comforts.

If you ever have the chance to spend the night or the weekend at this fabulous retreat, do not hesitate. A visit to the Inn should be on everyone’s bucket list. It is what dreams are made of.

If I had to put my two cents, I would first ditto what Sherry just said. I felt like they kept giving us presents (I think the only thing they didn’t do is massage my behind, other than that, PERFECTION). But, unfortunately, Perfection is pricey! but worth this experience of a life time. Special shout out to Melissa and Dick who made it extra special!

We promise we won’t stay away too long!

See y’all soon!

Sherry and Aida, The Hungry Women.

Pears in the Eastern Shore, who knew?

Posted on February 26, 2015 by kk50shades

I don’t know about you, but we all want to shoot that Groundhog in the head. I know we didn’t get it as bad as the folks in Boston, but here in Balmore hon, we light weight, and we hate winter.

So we decided to give you some comic relief.

Back in late October 2014, I received a magazine at home that I am not subscribed to; called something like Coastal Style Magazine or something like that. While flipping through the pages, an ad caught my attention: there was an article about a Bed & Breakfast Restaurant in Easton called Bartlett Pear Inn, which was apparently Zagat Rated and in the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top 25 restaurants.

Well damn, I don’t pretend to know every restaurants out there, but how come I have never heard of this place?? I immediately called my partner in crime and shared with Sherry my discovery. She never heard of it either! It screamed road trip right there! We have been passing through Easton many times over while going downy Ocean Hon, it really never occurred to us to swing by Historic Easton.

God Bless Open Table, we made a reservation for Friday November the 14^th.

Needless to say that from October till that date, we were counting the days. We have been on their website on numerous occasions, and drooled many times over the menu items. That is what we call foreplay.

The day arrived, it was cold and rainy, we were so anxious to get there that we got there a little too early. Our reservations were at 8pm, we go there around 7pm. The obvious thing to do was to have a cocktail somewhere else and we chose the Tide Water Inn.

First of all, let us begin by saying that we are actually not sure if it was a November Easton thing, or just an Easton thing, but apparently pears are everywhere, in the drinks, in the food, we are still not quite sure what that is all about. But since pears were the theme, it was obvious that we should choose a pear drink, I got the Pear of the Dog (Pear vodka, St Germain, white cranberry juice), Sherry had the Barry French Martini (Gin, raspberry puree, fresh lemon and sparkling wine). Okay, you guys are probably asking yourselves, why is the French one not getting the French drink? Well duh, I am French, I don’t need to get a French drink, however, my drink did contain St. Germain which is a French liquor, so there. We both agreed that my drink was better anyway.

Satiated, we decided it was time to venture out and reach our final destination.

Don’t they say that first impressions count? Well, let me tell you, as soon as you enter the Bartlett Pear Inn, beautiful old house, there is a cozy bar with a fire-place on the left hand side, very inviting, and the dining room on the right hand side. Once we announced ourselves (we were still early) and were given the choice to wait a bit at the bar, they didn’t have to ask twice.

We sat right at the bar, near the fireplace, Eric was the bartender.

He was making some kind of concoction with warm pear compote looking texture and was adding that to a drink. I honestly don’t remember what the drink was, but it smelled so good that the entire room was filled with that scent. We were presented with the wine list right away, and the first thing that caught my eye was a 2006 Saint Emilion Grand Cru. Well hell. We are way beyond the foreplay now. That was sex in a bottle (Sherry’s words) 69 shades of ruby.

We get escorted to our table by the lovely Lauren:

I honestly think that we got the best table of the entire room. It looked like a Victorian turret, very intimate.

We noticed that the ceiling had this sound proof tiles (it is a bed and breakfast after all, people might try to get some sleep upstairs), there was lovely jazzy music playing.

We, of course, introduced ourselves to Lauren as the Hungry Women, she gave us a little history of the place, and then she brought us butter.

She brought us BUTTER with Hawaiian sea salt on top.

Let me repeat one more time: she brought us THE BUTTER.

After tasting that butter (in the meantime we did get introduced to our waitress named Kelsey, but they brought us THE BUTTER), we kind of threw away the bread (which was a really good baguette), and proceeded to eat THE BUTTER by itself with that damn Hawaiian salt.

Please meet Kelsey by the way (sorry Kelsey, you brought us BUTTER):

When Kelsey came back and asked us how we were doing, we told her that we wanted to meet the cow that produced THE BUTTER and kiss her on the lips (or on the udders) and wanted to know where we could buy THE BUTTER. She went back to the kitchen and asked the question, came back and told us that it was shipped directly from NYC. Well hell, it looks like we needed to make a trip to NYC just for THE BUTTER, but we couldn’t possibly wait that long, so we asked if they had extra of THE BUTTER in their kitchen and we could buy some from them. She came back from the kitchen with a pound of THE BUTTER. We proudly put the BUTTER in our purse. And we didn’t even start dinner yet!

We decided on the Chef Tasting Menu, which was a really good deal: $65 a piece for 5 courses.

Kelsey brought us the first dish: Octopus Garden: Grilled baby Sepia with curry-kaffir lime ice cream, Rigleigh Gardens mixed greens, squid ink tuile.

If you are like me, you probably already read this description at least 3 times, and it still doesn’t make sense. I know that Tuile in French means Tile, and that is all I could make out of the description besides the curry and the mixed greens. Well don’t sweat it and take our word for it, it is divine, unusual, very creative and absolutely delicious.

Next course was the provident Farms Butternut Squash Soup: spice Pecans, Cinnamon Chantilly Cream, Maple Glazed Carrots.

Okay: for all those who knows me, the C word is in there, well I didn’t even taste it. I am not going to elaborate on the dish and only show you what this dish did to Sherry, which is the highest culinary praise in her world:

The Third Course was The Burgundy Truffle Mushroom Pappardelle: Truffle Shavings, Chapel Country Creamery “Talbot Reserve” Mushroom Fricasse.

Since we talking about 69 shades of ruby, let’s get a step further and say that we both orgasmed as the same time. I think that there was not enough shades out there to be able to count them all. Do you know that 1 truffle cost $100 a piece? They shaved the fresh truffle right on top of the parpadelle. Now, that is the best food porn ever.

Kelsey comes back and announce that she is going to bring us a palate cleanser which is not on the menu. She brings an Apple Sauce Gelato with Meringue and Crushed Almonds.

Girl, you can come and clean my palate anytime you’d like.

The 4^th course was The Pan Seared Rhode Island Sea Scallops: Fried Panisse (don’t let your mind go in the gutter, because if I actually say that word, that would be how it would sound coming from me); which is a chickpea flour cake from the South of France (no freaking idea what that is), Chesapeake Organics Parsnip Puree, Provident Farms Pan Seared Brussel Sprouts, Cranberry Reduction.

It is so pretty, so good, and we are officially out of shades.

And they had to finish us off with the Jurgielewicz (can’t pronounce it sorry) Duck Breast Cassoulet: Duck Confit, Stonehouse Farm Braised Pork Belly, Inn Cured Guanciale Great Northern Bean Ragout, Mirepoix Vegetables.

I don’t know what to say. We are known as being afflicted with CanardVinitis (see previous blog) needing a support group. If there is duck, there is life or hope or something but you can be sure that the hungry women will have the duck. And we had it in all of its splendor.

By the time all was said and done (and eaten), with butter still packed in our purses, we did get introduced to all the staff members including the Chefs because we realized that we actually closed the joint!

The coolest story ever was the staff gets fed every day around 5pm to experience the menu that will be served! Now I want to work there!

Overall. This was a phenomenal experience, we bragged about it ever since to everyone we know but never got to actually write this blog until now.

We decided to go back towards the end of January and take our friend Brenda there for her anniversary weekend. To our disappointment, the second experience wasn’t nearly as good as the first one. We always look for consistency when we blog about our culinary experiences, Granted we shared our experience with the staff, they apologized and did try to make up for it but it really didn’t come close to the November visit. If they are Zagat rated and listed in the Washingtonian Magazine, we have to believe that they deserve another chance. We would be willing to try it again.

So the question is, which one of you readers would like to come with the Hungry Women for our next Easton visit?
As always, Stay Hungry and until next time!

Aida and Sherry

West Virginia, Moonshine, stinkbugs and fried chicken….

Posted on September 29, 2014 by kk50shades

Hello Y’all!

We are back!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the long delay in writing but it has been one busy summer!

Sherry and I went to Hagerstown, MD on Friday night to spend the weekend with our dear friend Brenda. Going to Brenda’s is like going to a Bed and Breakfast or Grandma’s house, her house is the cutest, the view of the mountains is breathtaking. This weekend weather was fabulous, crisp mornings and warm days.

A friend of mine has told me about a distillery in WVA, called the Bloomery Plantation in Charles Town that apparently makes the best Limoncello. Like Sherry would say, “we’ve been fixing to go there for a while”, being in Hagerstown for the weekend, made sense to make the trip. And while we were at it, why not hitting the little towns in between?

Saturday morning, after going to Brenda’s friend little farm up the street and petting the cutest donkeys ever and some gorgeous horses, we went down on Route 66 and stopped at Shepherdstown, WV.

For a tiny little town, I was surprised how crowded it was! White Betty (my Ford Explorer) has a fat ass and had a hard time finding a spot but eventually redeemed herself and parked with no help from me (yes, it parked itself, Brenda has never seen that before, almost thought that the car was possessed, I love that feature, love the look of people’s face more).

I forgot to mention that we started the morning off with bagels, smoked salmon, sliced red onions, cream cheese and capers around 10am before going anywhere, accompanied of course, with Bloody Mary’s (Karen: this combination always reminds me of you! We missed you Girl!).

By the time we got to Shepherdstown (around 12:30pm), I have to admit: I was famished.

Brenda wanted to take us to the Bavarian Inn Restaurant for lunch, as it was one of her favorite spot to go to with her late husband; but we decided to take a little walk in town first.

On the main street, there was a sign in front of a wine shop saying wine tasting, we rushed inside like we have never seen wine before. It did say on the sign that it would start at 1pm, it was 12:40pm. Who reads signs fully anyway? They got us at wine tasting.

Disappointed, we got out of that store as fast as we got in, and Brenda saw the Mecklenburg Inn (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mecklenburg-Inn/160669058133?sk=info&ref=page_internal ).

She said: “Girls! We need to get in there, and while I have a moment to myself first in the ladies room, you have got to go all the way in and see the back of it!”.

Sherry and I went in, and it felt like we traveled from WV to Key West in a second, because that’s what that backyard reminded me off. Never in a million year would I have expected to see such a cool spot in this little pub out back.

Here are some pictures:

(Don’t we look cute!)

Like Brenda would say: “Isn’t that dear??????”

Brenda went in to see if we could get a drink menu of some sort, She stormed out of the place, and say: “ Giiiiiiiiiiiiirls! Guess what they have on tap?????????????????????? Southern Tier Pumking!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Since they don’t serve you out back, we went back in to order our beer. The guy behind the bar (not sure if he was the owner), once we told him what we wanted, looked at all three of us and says: “I gotta tell ya, it’s pretty strong beer, it’s like 2 beers in one, just gotta warn ya”, I could have sworn that Brenda told him something like “can we have 2 beers each please?”. We took our beverages and went back outside. I am not a beer drinker, never been, I would have a cold one once in a while if I have no good wine choice, but I got to tell you, that stuff is GOOD.

I had to remind the girls that we are going to have to put food in our stomach very soon, especially after that beer. We sat there for almost an hour, made conversation with a regular that was sitting there, he told us about the famous cat that used to hang out there all the time, (poor kitty passed away about 8 months ago, his name was BK (stands for Best Kitty) and used to drink water out of a glass (Karen, doesn’t this remind you of another kitty?? Gotta be a yellow cat thing)). While we were sitting, I noticed that there was an iron piece of art that was supporting the big branch of the tree we were under. The piece of art represented little dudes climbing up to get to the top of the tree, one of them was peeing, of course, that’s the one Brenda is holding:

It’s time for food, we were even considering getting a burger from where we were but decided to go to this place that Brenda kept telling us about, the Bavarian Inn (http://www.bavarianinnwv.com/index.php) which was only about 6 to 7 minutes from where we were. I offered walking, they wanted White Betty to take us there, they won.

That place is truly amazing, architecture of all the buildings are postcards worthy, infinity pool that drops right in the Potomac, I am kicking myself for not taking any pictures! That’s what happens when I am hungry, my stomach takes over all of my other senses and all I kept thinking about was FOOD and a nice glass of wine (mind you, we already had a bloody Mary and “2 in 1” beer but who’s counting).

At least I found a nice picture on their website:

We get seated in a very formal dining room, menu arrived, so did the wine list, bread basket came shortly after with whipped butter (was gone very quickly, I guess I wasn’t the only one starving). We had to get food first, I saw Country Style Pate in the menu, of course we had to get it, we also ordered the Bavarian Sausage Appetizer, Brenda ordered what she apparently always order there: the Avocado filled with Shrimp and Crabmeat salad. Once we got the ordering out of the way, it was time to concentrate on the vino. There was an interesting half bottle of Red Blend Chateau Musar 2004 from Lebanon that sounded interesting. I never had Lebanon wine before, but since we couldn’t get a tasting, we ordered a bottle of 2012 Cote du Rhone, Syrah instead. Then we realized they had outside sitting (we didn’t know!) and asked to be moved. They were kind enough to even let us pick our table! (well there was only one available but we picked it 🙂 ).

The food arrived, the pate was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. so were the sausages. Brenda’s salad was pretty good too but I was on a meat mission until I saw that Vegetarian Portabello burger in the menu with Boursin cheese, sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. But then, the girls saw The Kaese Spaetzle which is sautéed german noodles with gruyere cheese, black forest ham and asparagus. We started to fight (nicely) on which one to get. We all won because we got both (hey, we not pigs, we took some home).

And just like that, the wine bottle was gone, our bellies were full, and it is now just about 3:30pm.

My friend Becky who volunteers at that Distillery I was talking about earlier was only going to be there from 2pm to 4:30pm, I texted her to let her know we were on the way. The trip was only supposed to be about 30 min and White Betty would take us there.

Thirty minute later, we were at the Bloomery Plantation Distillery in Charles Town, WVA (http://bloomerysweetshine.com/). What an interesting place I must say. It looks like a cabin in the woods (well it is) and I couldn’t help noticing that the first thing I got greeted by was the stink bugs. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE! Now you all already know that I don’t do well with flying bugs, and when a couple of them landed on Brenda’s hair, it was time to get inside (no one wants to witness my reaction if one of those suckers land on my head, besides, they’d never find their way out, that’s probably what scares me the most).

It’s a tiny place inside, with one bathroom. As soon as we entered, we got greeted by the staff (the bar was already filled with about 20 folks waiting to get their shine on) and Brenda had to use the ladies room. They were trying to get everyone’s attention as they were going to make a quick presentation for everyone. Brenda (inside the bathroom) yelled from within “WAIT FOR ME!”, everyone busted out laughing (she didn’t realize that –everyone- would hear her). The presentation consists of presenting the different “sweetshines” that would get presented to us as tasting so that you can make an educated decision on which one to buy. The tasting is FREE, you just tip towards the end.

Because the room was already full, we decided to go outside in the back as they had outdoor sitting and you could get the tasting brought to you by one of the staff member. Wait, let me rephrase, the girls wanted to go outside, I just followed along knowing what was waiting for me outside (nasty bugs). The outside wall was covered with them and the reason why I don’t have any pictures is because I was too busy watching all of them, making sure that I had enough time to dodge if any of them came my way.

In any case, we got to taste all of the 9 different sweetshines (one of them was a special and wasn’t on the list). Our favorite was the Cremma Lemma, we also liked the Black Walnut and the Chocolate Raspberry. We got of course a bottle of each.

The only picture I got of this place was this one, taken by Sherry, because Brenda really liked that chair:

That was such a neat place. We were all surprised on how popular it was, being in the middle of nowhere. Becky sat with us for a little while and was telling us the history of the establishment, on how much fun she is having in helping them out, and she comes from Pikesville to get there!

A two men band started to play around 6pm, that is when we decided it was time to go :), we gave them a chance until about 6:30pm and went back to White Betty.

I punched Brenda’s home address in my GPS so that White Betty would tell us exactly how to get out of there to get back to Hagerstown. If we wanted to stop again along the way, we could.

Once back on the main road, my GPS told me that I had to take a right, while Brenda kept telling me that I should really take a left. I wasn’t about to trust Brenda at this point (I don’t have to list all of the alcoholic beverages that were consumed throughout the day) and I made the decision that it was best to let White Betty decide where we should go. Brenda wouldn’t let go about the Left thing, so I finally yelled and said “Brenda! I got this!”.

I took my right like I was told, and ended up in a corn field. We all were in tears for a good 15 minutes. I couldn’t breathe because I was laughing that hard and had to get out of the car. Brenda took a picture of that precious moment. I got it alright.

Note to self: next time I am going on a road trip with these girls, I must take some Depends with me.

Once we were able to finally gather ourselves (White Betty, you failed me!), we turned around and took that Left that Brenda kept telling us about and back on the highway we were.

Brenda mentioned stopping by Harpers Ferry WVA on the way back; while Sherry and I got only one thing on our mind: FRIED CHICKEN.

Where could we find good ole country fried chicken in the area? Sherry got on her phone and started to talk to Siri. Well, Siri doesn’t know squat because all she kept saying “Here is what I found for fat chicken”. Must be Sherry’s accent.

We decided to stop there: http://www.bonniesattheredbyrd.com/ (they also have a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonnies-at-the-Red-Byrd/133241270050150 )

Brenda mentioned this place in Keedysville MD and that since it is a family restaurant, they must have fried chicken. Sherry called (we had to be sure), and they claim on the phone that they had the best fried chicken around. The other good thing is that we are going to pass right by it on the way home.

About 7:30pm, we get in their parking lot.

This is what the place looks like:

The inside was very cozy, mason jars decorating the walls, felt like an old fashion diner but definitely not a chain. You just stepped in someone’s kitchen in WVA 🙂 The waitresses were very friendly, and this cute one Nicole asked us if we were the ones that called about the fried chicken (Hmm, I wonder what gave that away, we must be looking like out of Towner’s. We thought we were blending pretty good so far..):

She proceed to tell us that she is the one that answered the phone, and proud to tell us again that they had the best fried chicken in town. So we all had Fried chicken, mash potatoes, green beans with pork, and macaroni and cheese because if you are going to be bad, you need to be bad all the way.

BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER!

I am not sure what was the best highlight of this place, the fact that Brenda and Sherry got the senior citizen discount (2 pieces of chicken dinner for $6.99 with sides), or that it was indeed THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN I EVER HAD. Get this: Every Wednesday, they have all you can eat Fried Chicken. I know where to get my craving next time, don’t care how many miles I drive to get it (yeah, it is that good, and I wish I could have a piece right now as I type this because it is that good). Nicole even brought us a crab cake towards the end as a surprise for us to try (SO GOOD!). I guess she liked us! We are pretty funny 🙂

It’s almost 8:15pm, we are all exhausted, Sherry and I have a migraine because we laughed too hard all day long (I googled it, laughing too hard can absolutely give you a headache, I guess everything needs to be in moderation, screw it, it was worth it).

What a fun day this was. I never ceased to be amazed with how many wonderful places you can find right in your backyard. America is such a melting pot. I feel blessed to be able to have these experience as much as I can, and to be even more blessed to have wonderful friends that I can share these experiences with.

Stay Hungry Y’all! I promise we’ll check back in soon!

Aida

The Capital Grille – Baltimore –

Posted on January 8, 2014 by kk50shades

Happy 2014!!

Man am I glad the Holidays are finally over. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Holidays season because to me, it is about being around people you love and usually in tandem with great food and wine (and usually followed with unwelcome extra pounds).

January usually follows for most folks with New Year resolutions that are in most cases about eating healthier, exercising more, losing weight, counting your calories, being nicer etc…

I have to admit, when I used to live overseas, being Vegetarian or Vegan was something I never heard of (no offense to all of my Vegan and Vegetarian friends). Whether it is for health reasons, or by choice, I do admire people that fit in that category. Speaking for myself, I know for a fact that I could never be in the V category. As a matter of fact, if my doctor called me up today after my yearly physical, and told me: Aida: as of today, you can no longer eat any kind of meat or you will die. My response would be: Off me NOW. This will just never happen as I love meat too much. It might sound offensive to some, knowing that I am truly an animal lover, but yeah, I love me some good steaks (and duck fat).

Which brings me to today’s topic. I usually do not blog about chain restaurants because there is usually nothing unique about it (it’s kind of an Oxymoron I know).

Many many years ago (and we are talking about maybe 9 to 10 years), my husband took me to Capital Grille downtown Baltimore (https://www.thecapitalgrille.com/pages/locations/?id=8023). I was introduced for the first time to a 22 ounces dry aged Delmonico Steak.

Let me start of by giving you a little background: I was born and raised in Lyon, France. Lyon is a city in East Central France, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon was historically known as an important area for the production of silk, but in modern times has developed a reputation as the capital of gastronomy in France. As a matter of fact, Paul Bocuse is a highly recognized French Chef based in Lyon who is famous for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine (I have one of his recipe book that I shamelessly stole (with her knowledge) from my friend Linda). The reason why I am telling you all this is because you would think that, after being raised in that kind of environment, it is doubtful that a chain steak place could wow me: WRONG! A medium rare dry aged Delmonico Steak coming out of the Capital Grille kitchen is THE BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Now maybe, it was a one time thing. Maybe there is no way this steak can be that good all the time. Well wrong again. My husband and I have been going back there consistently over all these years (went there again last Saturday), and it is still by far, THE BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Here is something even more fascinating: How many of you know what is involved in the dry aging process of meat??Please read this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_aging. I always wondered, wouldn’t the meat go bad after that many days???? well wrong, it is apparently all about the temperature, and I have had the great pleasure to see the process first hand this past Saturday at The Capital Grille.

During our dinner, we had the pleasure to have a nice talk with Jamie Heffron, who is the Manager of this fine establishment.

I told Jamie how amazed I was to have such an excellent meal every time I went there, and that I was fascinated by the whole dry aging process. About 2 weeks ago, Sherry showed me a video that she had recorded about Barefoot Contessa while she was on vacation to Napa Valley, and visited Tyler Florence, who shared with her his Porterhouse Steak recipe (dry aged of course) cooked in a 1200 degrees broiler and bathed in a bath of clarified butter, sage, thyme and garlic mixture. I shared what I saw that day with Jamie, and he proceeds to tell me, oh! we have a 1800 degrees broiler here, and a whole room with dry aged meat, would you like to see how we do it??? Helloooooooooooo? Have we met?? Are blueberries blue??? Do you tell Noah about a flood (I just learned that expression from my husband! been wanting to use it for a while 🙂 ).

On my feet I was! Let’s go! Jamie introduced me to Matthew Jaffe, Executive Chef Partner there and was going to take Sean and I for a tour!!!!!!

Matthew explained to me how the dry aging process works, and took me to their 39 degrees meat room :). Now I must say, it kind of looks disgusting when you look at it that way, there is nothing appetizing about the way that meat looks, but let me say it again just in case you didn’t pick up on that: BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Please allow me to share with you the pictures I took from that room:

They have their personal butcher that comes in 5 days a week! Can you imagine owning a 1800 degrees broiler?????????????????? Man I would love to be able to cook just one time in their kitchen, which brings me to the next story: Sean sold my cooking abilities to them with such conviction that I might just be allowed to cook my famous prosciutto lamb for Jamie and Matthew to taste. Now wouldn’t that be freaking awesome, to be able to cook for the Manager and the Executive Chef of The Capital Grille??? Stay tuned on that…..I will let you all know if that ever happens.

Now, I had to introduce my partner in crime to this place, since it is after all, THE BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

I have been telling Sherry about it for a while now as she has never been there. I just simply told her that it was THE BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE and she knows that I am a food snob.

One night, I just kidnapped her and I took her there (she didn’t complain trust me). We had a fantastic 2005 Margaux (Chateau D’Anglude), Lawrence was our server (he was great), and Sherry was introduced for the first time to the famous 22 ounces Dry Aged Delmonico:

Well there. She asked me if I would think that it would be inappropriate for her to have her way with the bone in such a fine establishment, I simply responded that I would personally be offended if she didn’t. The picture speaks for itself. Sherry my friend, I am proud of you!

So to summarize, I just wanted to make sure that you all got my point: BEST STEAK I EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

BE HEALTHY, AND STAY HUNGRY!! (and go have a Delmonico!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Aida.

Locolat to Become Hans Pedr’ Kaffe – Oops she did it again!

Posted on December 18, 2013 by kk50shades

Hello everyone!

Remember her???? We already blogged about this amazing lady, Jessica Knudsen, owner of Hawthorne Fine Pastries in Severna Park. And yes, she has done it again!Jessica recently acquired Locolat which will soon be named Hans Pedr’ Kaffe.

Before I say anything, check this link out: http://www.zagat.com/b/washington-dc/locolat-to-become-hans-pedr-kaffe. Zagat already has their eyes on her!

At the beginning of this month, Sherry, Marty and myself decided to take a trip down DC to support our friend. We are all already a big fan of her bakery, I knew in advance that it was worth the trip down, besides, she already told us that every Thursday, she offers half price Mussels, it was a Thursday :).

Her shop is located right at the corner of Florida Avenue NW.

This is what the front of her Kaffe looks like: IT LOOKS AMAZINGLY FRENCH!

We went inside to give our favorite Chef a big hug, she was busy decorating a cake (which looked amazing by the way). When she was done, she gave us all a big hug and gave us a tour of the place. See for yourself:

Drooling yet?

I have to admit, my imagination started to run wild. I have recently become a huge fan of the TV show Breaking bad. For those who seen the show, you will understand my references here (for those who didn’t, Netflix it! best show ever). So here it is: you saw that chocolate machine thingy that runs all day? Well, I brought home that night chocolate truffles (every kind she had) for my husband, because he is a chocolate addict. That stuff was like crack for him and he couldn’t get enough. I promised him that I would make a trip down DC regularly to get him his fix . Then I started to wonder, if I bought a winnebago motorhome, and got that chocolate machine thingy in it, and convinced Jessica somehow to start “cooking” for me , and make little baggies of chocolate crack, I bet we’d make a fortune! I can guarantee you that there are a lot of “addicts” out there just like my husband. But then I thought, she probably won’t go for it, she already run 2 businesses as it is, working maybe 100 hours a week, so the conclusion is irrefutable: I need to clone this woman. (all of these wild thoughts happen in less that 2 minutes, amazing isn’t it??).

Back down to Planet Earth, we were starving. Jessica has been part of our Hungry Women adventures many times, so she knew exactly what Sherry and I would like, and voila! that’s what appeared on our table:

Everything was amazing, the display the quality, the charcuterie, the cheeses, and the bread.

Marty got the 2lbs Mussels: Equally as amazing! We were so full, but Jessica decided that we needed to try one of her savory waffle. Sorry, I don’t have a picture of that one because it was gone that quick. Just picture a waffle, with some kind of beef stew on top of it. Honestly, to me, it tasted like Boeuf Bourguignon on top of waffle. Who would have thought that such a combination would be blog worthy????????

Jessica told us that her busiest day is Sunday brunch. We have to go there for Brunch SOON and I cannot wait! (Victoria: I made you a promise and I will keep it, we shall go together 🙂 ).

On another note, I don’t know what you guys do when you are bored, but personally, when I am bored and having nothing productive to do, I like puzzles, mindless games, reading…nothing really fancy.

When Jessica is bored, this is what she does:

(the last picture is home made marshmallows, if you have never tried homemade marshmallows, please do! you will never ever buy the crap in a bag again).

So I say it again, I need to find a way to clone this woman.

Take a trip down DC, perfect for the Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Aida

Rose’s Luxury – Another unique place in DC

Posted on October 21, 2013 by kk50shades

Last week, the hungry women were shopping for Halloween decoration preparing for a big party. And of course, in between errands, what do we talk about in the car?? FOOD and WINE!

We started fantasizing about duck fat and what kind of trouble could we get into …One idea was to make fried chicken with duck fat! Can you imagine? HOME. MADE. FRIED. CHICKEN. FRIED. IN. DUCK. FAT. We absolutely have to try it (Dear Lord: I promise I will go to the gym every day if I we eat this).

Then we started to wonder where in MD could we buy duck fat as the new mission was set.

We all agreed: JESSICA WOULD KNOW! (the same Jessica that owns this fabulous bakery in Severna Park we blogged about previously). So we texted her asking if she had any idea where we could get duck fat locally, She proceeds to tell us that she would have a 5lbs duck fat container dropped at her Bakery by Tuesday.

Well I’d be damned, that woman knows people… it almost sounded like we were doing something illegal.

I tell ya, all over the world, not just in the US, it is not about what you know; it is about who you know. Knowing someone who can deliver a bucket of duck fat within days is Numero UNO on my list at the present time! Now I have someone in my rolodex that can indulge me with duck fat for life (I even told her that I wouldn’t know what I would do without her, her answer was “you’d eat regular fat”, nah I pass, you are stuck with me Missy).

Side note: Did you ever notice that, in the English language, most disease finish with “itis”? appendicitis, arthritis, conjunctivitis, meningitis, etc..

I had to come up with something that describes our disease, been thinking about it for days, came up with some ideas, no of them clicked…Then I mentioned my issue to Jessica. It took her only a couple of hours to come up with this: CANARDVINITIS! (Why didn’t I think of that???).

Since we are addicted to canard and vino, Canardvinitis is simply perfect. All the hungry women suffers from it. There is no cure (except for a bucket of duck fat that supposedly can last you for a while, I will let you know…).

So while we were talking to Jessica, she mentioned that she was going to open a bottle of 1994 Saint Emilion and because we have ZERO shame in our game, we simply invited ourselves (Are you kidding me? Under no circumstances you can put the words Saint and Emilion in the same sentence and expect me not to show up). On top of it, it was Sherry’s anniversary that day and we almost gave no choice to her poor husband. He was going to hang out with the Hungry Women in DC, on his anniversary (told you, zero shame).

We got to Jessica’s place, got molested by the wonderful doggies, drank the liquid velvet and went to Dinner. Jessica told us we needed to try this new place called “Rose’s Luxury” on Capitol Hill (http://rosesluxury.com/).

It was 6 of us, no reservations and we were the luckiest people in this entire restaurant: we got to sit front row of heaven’s kitchen, as if you were in front of the stage of your favorite rock band concert. See for yourself:

Our setup was actually comical, since we were spread apart in one row; we kept getting up from our chair to try other people dishes. Just picture women going back and forth with a spoon in their hand…We are definitely a funny bunch.

We had Vietnamese Pate, herbs and garlic bread (LOVED IT) ; pork sausage, habanero and lychee salad (LOVED IT TOO!), porcorn soup with grilled lobster, spaghetti with strawberry and ricotta (that was different, I didn’t care of that too much but our friend Sarah loved it!) and the pickled brined fried chicken and trimmings.

2 highlights:

Number one: The popcorn soup with grilled lobster. To all the ladies that were with me that night: please add your comments at the end of this blog because I am speechless on this one. BEST SOUP I EVER HAD. It was almost like eating my crème brulee but in a popcorn soup version of it.

Notice the group picture? What am I doing? Eating this divine concoction and paying zero attention to the camera…

Number two: the Fried Chicken: I have been on a quest lately to find a place that have an excellent fried chicken (yeah, I am French and I love fried chicken, sue me!). My quest has ended, best fried chicken I have had so far (I almost asked the chef if he ever tried it with duck fat but I didn’t want him to know about it before we tried it ourselves).

I must admit, we were a little disappointed with the desserts as it was the least favorite part of the meal. We tried 3 different ones and we did not care for any of them. I really hope that Rose’s Luxury reads our blog. I know a fabulous pastry Chef that might be willing to consult (hint hint, wink wink).

Overall, we all agreed, we will most definitely be back!

Leave it up to Jessica to find these unique places. Keep it up Woman!

Stay hungry!

Aida.

Grapes Wine Bar of Annapolis – Our new favorite spot..

Posted on September 23, 2013 by kk50shades

Greetings fellow hungry women!

Grapes, an intimate wine bar, next to Wine Cellars of Annapolis, is without a doubt, my new favorite place to enjoy a glass of vino and excellent small plates. Recently, my partner in the pursuit of fine food, Aida (the French/Tunisian) and I, stopped by to have a bite to eat.

We ordered the Garde Manger Board which included pâté, assorted charcuterie and several cheeses. The Bufala Italian blue was fabulous! Along with that came a French goat cheese-Chabichou and an Italian pecorino noche. All excellent!

As you all know, I am a recent foie gras convert, so I tend to order it whenever I see it on a menu.

This particular foie gras came with truffle oil and a berry and honey reduction. It was lovely! 2 orders please!

However, the crown jewel of this entire food fest was the order of classic bistro frites in duck fat and truffle oil!!!!!! These crispy morsels have been the object of my desire and my dreams since that moment.

How can anything be so satisfying? The answer is simple…..duck fat. I am convinced that you could fry an old shoe in this liquid gold and it would be a gourmet offering. I was so blown away by these frites that I can’t even remember what wine we had to drink. In fact, I am speechless. So, I will just stop while I am ahead. Go to Grapes. Eat, enjoy.

Sherry

4 Seasons Grille – Crofton location

Posted on July 16, 2013 by kk50shades

On the 28th of June, Sherry and I decided to go see the movie “The Heat” with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy (even though we are talking about food here, I highly recommend that movie if you don’t mind peeing your pants).

Since the show was at 7:40pm and the theater location we chose was in Crofton next to the Wegmans, we were wandering around trying to decide where our next eating adventure would be. Sherry had the brightest idea to go the 4 Season Grille (in the shopping center where the Home Goods is). I seem to recall that she has been there once but it was for lunch, not for dinner (Sherry, correct me if I’m wrong!).

I have been in that shopping center multiple times, but never realized that this restaurant was even there! It was pouring down rain that day and we were soaked just running from the car to the restaurant.I wasn’t too sure about the 4 Seasons and as the name seemed very similar to a restaurant downtown Baltimore that I was very disappointed with. The name will come back to me at some point.

Anyway, the waitress took care of us immediately and we had a nice little booth. The restaurant wasn’t too crowded.

I think we ordered a Trivento Malbec and started to look at the menu. I was hungry, everything in the menu looked divine.(http://www.4seasonsgrille.com).

Going down to the list of appetizers, we saw this at the same time and pointed it out to each other:

Goat Cheese Brulee
Goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic & pine nut blend, caramelized Parmesan crust, pita chips, balsamic glaze

Being a big fan of creme brulee myself (and so is Sherry!), Goat cheese brulee sounded so interesting. Looking at the ingredients, I drooled (yes, I do that a lot). Sold! we looked no further, ordered it without even looking at the entrees yet. About 10 minutes later (while we were still trying to decide our entrees), the dish came and it was beautiful (I still can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it!).

We both took a piece of the pita chips and dipped into the dish: oh my! I think I forgot my name. Sherry was making all these noises that were becoming quite obscene, we just couldn’t stop until it was all gone. Once our food orgasms were over (I think at that point, we were both making inappropriate noise), it was down to the entrees.

I personally chose this:

Truffle Mignon
8 oz. filet mignon, truffle butter, roasted garlic spinach, roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

I already said before that I have an addiction to truffle and will soon be going to the Truffle Anonymous, so everything that has the word truffle in it, I am all over it!.

I think Sherry had a pasta dish but I can’t remember which one. Even though her dish was good, I gave her a bite of mine, and here she was again, singing, speaking tongues that even I couldn’t understand. She didn’t finish hers, we both shared mine. (She actually took her dish to go and forgot it in my car! shame shame…).

I also recall that we were not the only ones speaking tongues. A couple of tables over, there was a nice little group that were screaming and making THE noises. I had to know! (I felt like when Harry met Sally movie with the famous line “I want what she had!” after Meg Ryan did her thing). I walked over and asked the group what was the fuss about, and they told me that they had this:

Seafood Crepes
Filled with shrimp scallops, asparagus tips, lemon zest, Parmesan, mascarpone cheese, baked, seafood bisque

That one will be next on my list when I go back there because I will most definitely go back!!!!

Overall, another highly recommended restaurant. The prices are reasonable for food that good. Worth every penny. (The menu on their website actually have all the pricing for every item so check it out before you go).

As usual, stay hungry my friends!

Aida.

Independance day, Bastille day, Birthdays, so many things to celebrate in July!

Posted on July 15, 2013 by kk50shades

Good morning! This month has been a very busy one with so many birthdays to celebrate, therefore multiple occasions to eat out and so many things to blog about. The first one that we absolutely need to discuss is Vin 909 in Annapolis (http://www.vin909.com/).
Sherry and I tried the Dayboat Local See Scallops and the French sliders. The scallops were good but not as orgasmic as the ones we tried at The Point Crab House and Grill (http://www.thepointcrabhouse.com/) which is a restaurant on the water in Arnold (we will definitely come back to this one!). Now, let me point out the description of the French Sliders: All-natural dry aged local beef, triple crème brie and gruyere fondue, truffle mayo and caramelized onion. I triple dare anyone not to just drool by reading this description. I just LOVE truffle and let me tell ya,: These sliders makes you wanna sing or hurt yourself (or both!)! We had to take a moment to ourselves and pray (I have a picture that proves it!).
The meat was cooked to perfection, the combination of flavors was amazing, I went to heaven and back through every single bites! On a scale from 1 to 5, that one is a 6!. Our experience at Vin 909 was far from over and the food orgasms didn’t stop there. Since we were celebrating Sherry’s birthday, dessert was in order.
We both ordered a French press coffee and a Chocolate pot de crème. Oh. My. Gawd! Being French myself and a food snob, in this tiny little restaurant, how good can it be. I stand corrected. BEST POT DE CRÈME I have had since I came into this country 13 years ago. Rating: that’s a 10 even if the rating system doesn’t go as high!
You add to the entire experience a wonderful Aqua de Piedra Malbec which made this lunch simply perfect.
Overall, pricing is reasonable, portions are perfect which means that you don’t leave the restaurant feeling like you are 9 month pregnant, service is excellent and the staff is very friendly, great atmosphere: HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
We made a promise to ourselves to go back there and sample out the rest of the menu so stay tuned! And as always, stay hungry my friends!”

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Where the Hungry Women at???

For all the foodies out there!

Category Archives: American Restaurant

The Inn in Little Washington, VA, a little voyage back in time and exquisite experience

Pears in the Eastern Shore, who knew?

West Virginia, Moonshine, stinkbugs and fried chicken….

The Capital Grille – Baltimore –

Locolat to Become Hans Pedr’ Kaffe – Oops she did it again!

Rose’s Luxury – Another unique place in DC

Grapes Wine Bar of Annapolis – Our new favorite spot..

4 Seasons Grille – Crofton location

Independance day, Bastille day, Birthdays, so many things to celebrate in July!