Repeat with a Twist - GrillMarx, Olney, MD

During Coach Friedgen's early years at Maryland, we hosted the Ralph Friedgen Invitational golf tournament in the summer.  The first 2 years were at Ford's Colony.  Rick Ford, a major Terps supporter, owned this amazing gated community.  Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, but I'm sure his family is running Ford's Colony with the same love that Rick did.  The golf course was amazing, we got to stay at the Marriott Vacation Club on site, and I spent the day shopping while the guys golfed.  The first year we also drank about 4 bottles of Cristal before they finally cut us off.  Have to admit, I don't know what all the fuss is about.  It's okay, but I would never pay the insane amount they charge for a bottle...not worth it.  But it was free!

After 2 years the tournament moved to a course closer to home, in Northern Virginia.  That year one of our donors brought Andy & Gabe as his guests.  They were 2/3 of the owners of Caddie's on Cordell, a great bar in Bethesda.  After that first meeting we spent many happy hours and nights at Caddie's.  They always took great care of me...within 2 minutes of walking in the bar there was a cocktail at the bar waiting for me.  I love that kind of service. 

About 2 years ago, Andy left Caddie's, and opened up GrillMarx.  It wasn't open yet when I was visiting last summer, so I was so glad I was able to make it there twice this time around.  Unfortunately Andy wasn't working Sunday night when I went for the first time...but Friday night he was there, behind the bar, in his element.  Emily was already there when I arrived, as was half of Olney.  But Andy spotted 2 barstools that were about to open up, and we were set.  One of the things I love about Andy is that he still remembers my favorite drink, even though I now see him at most once a year.  That's the sign of a great bartender.

A couple times at Caddie's Andy asked if we were hungry when we got there...duh... Instead of having us pick items, he just ordered us the best items from the menu for us.   I loved doing it that way because we never knew what we would get, and we were never disappointed.  Luckily nothing has changed since he opened GrillMarx.

As Emily and I chatted, a shrimp cocktail dish arrived in front of us.  I forgot to take a picture.  But lets' just say they were enormously jumbo shrimp, with really fresh cocktail sauce.  Not 5 minutes later, chips with spinach dip arrived.

Both the dip and the chips were warm.  I'm a huge fan of warm chips. 

Next came the entree...

Lobster, shrimp & steak...oh my!  Did we really need to dip the lobster in the melted butter?  Of course not!  But did we?  Of course we did!  The lobster was fantastic.  The shrimp were grilled, and the same huge size of the shrimp cocktail.  The filet was perfectly cooked.  The asparagus was chilled and crunchy.  The only thing we didn't eat was the corn on the cob.  It's kinda hard to eat that at the bar, and I don't really know how we would have shared it. 

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better...

Chocolate Gnache, Toasted Hazelnuts, Caramel with Bruleed Marshmallow 

and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Wow...that's about all I can say about the dessert.  The ganache was so amazing.  I never knew I loved bruleed marshmallow until that night, but now there's no doubt.

Maybe it's a good thing I'm not still living in Maryland, because I couldn't eat like that on a regular basis!  But it was so worth it, and I can't wait to go back next time I'm in town.

Repeat with a Twist - Pusser's, Annapolis, MD

Annapolis is one of my favorite places in Maryland.  The Naval Academy is right outside of downtown, there's lots to see and do, and the nightlife is pretty fun.  I will admit I had to stay away from the nightlife for a while after college, because all the Navy guys wanted to do was get married and have a million kids...not really my thing.  They filmed the movie Wedding Crashers on the Eastern shore, not too far from Annapolis, and one night we saw Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn at one of the bars.  They were very low-key, wearing casual clothes and baseball caps pulled as far down as possible.  It was cool until too many people recognized them and asked for autographs, and they left. 

One of my favorite restaurants in Annapolis is Pusser's Caribbean Grille.  They've got a great outdoor seating area, right on the water.  People dock their boats right there, and can literally climb out of the boat and onto the Pusser's dock.  

 
My friends Dean and Christy live in Annapolis, have a boat, and often pull that boat right up to the dock.  That's where I met them and their two friends on Thursday night.  I ran into an accident and lots of traffic on the way there, so by the time I reached they had already had a few cocktails so it was high time for me to get started.

After a couple drinks, we knew we had to get some food.  Who needs a table when you've got a boat??

Everything was amazing.  The crab dip (lump crab, peppers, onions & tomatoes in a creamy cheese dip) was creamy, fresh and delicious.  The jerk chicken & pineapple quesadillas (grilled jerk chicken with pineapples, onions, peppers & cheese.  Served with guacamole, mango corn relish and sour cream) had such awesome flavor.  I can't even explain how good Gary's Favorite Shrimp  was (jumbo shrimp sauteed in garlic-infused olive oil and finished with a rich cream sauce). The mussels were perfectly steamed and delicious.

I only had a little bit of each item.  There were 5 of us, so it would have been rude to wolf everything down myself.  Plus, I was waiting for Michele and Brian. 

A bad weather front approached at the same time Michele and Brian were getting to Pusser's.  Dean decided it was best to take the boat back home so they wouldn't get stuck in the storm.  So once they arrived I said my good-byes to Dean and Christy, and we went into the restaurant for dinner. 

By the time we sat down for dinner I had enough to drink, so I passed on another cocktail and instead stuck to water. 

Over the last few months I saw Swai in the grocery store.  I was hesitant to buy it though, because I wasn't sure how it would taste.  The package said "mild white fish", but I hated to get it, hate it, and waste it.  Lo and behold...as I'm perusing the menu, what do I see?  Cajun Blackened Swai...

Swai filet dusted with Cajun blackening spice and seared on the cast iron griddle.  Accompanied by steamed vegetables and rice with black bean sauce.  Garnished with mango corn relish

I've definitely been missing out by not buying Swai.  I'm sure how it's prepared goes a long way towards how good it's going to taste.  Well, Pusser's done good.  It was light and flaky.  The seasoning was a little spicy but not too bad.  I'm not a huge black bean fan but the sauce was really good.  The mango corn relish was absolutely delicious.  The beans were tender-crisp, my favorite way to eat them.

I don't get back to Annapolis often enough when I go back to visit, so I need to make sure to add it as a must-go every time I'm visiting.

Jerry's Seafood - A Repeat that Doesn't Need a Twist

I know that the blog is supposed to be about "new" and "twists", but sometimes there are dishes that are so good that I'm not willing to compromise and get anything different.  So here goes.

There is no comparison between the seafood found on the coasts and what's found in landlocked states...period...end of story.  

When I was flying back from my OSU interview, I happened to sit next to Sam Hollenbach, who had just finished his career as QB at Maryland.  He was coming from one of those post season senior bowls that was held at UTEP.  We talked about his game, and then I told him about the job and the interview.  He got really serious, looked me in the eyes and said "Karyl...you know you can't eat the seafood there, right??"  I laughed, because I completely agreed with him.  The first few months I was hard-core no seafood, but I finally gave in and now buy vacuum-sealed fish from Sam's.  However, one thing I refuse to compromise on is crabmeat.  I just can't bring myself to do it.  After you eat crabs from Maryland, nothing else comes close.  Even the sushi in Maryland uses real crab meat, and the taste difference is amazing. 

One night about 10 years ago, I was at Bentley's happy hour with Ernie & Chappy, and they took me to Jerry's Seafood, in Lanham, MD.  It's in this non-descirpt strip mall that really kinda looks like it belongs in the ghetto.  The inside atmosphere is 100% the opposite.  It's a small restaurant, and everything on the menu is seafood.  They introduced me to the Crab Bomb, and I immediately fell in love.  It's expensive, but completely worth it as an occasional treat and I must go once every time I get back to visit.  My parents and I now go to the other location in Bowie.  It's a little further, but it's in a nicer area. 

Chappy passed away a couple of years ago after a tragic accident on the golf course.  So every time I eat at Jerry's, I say a little prayer for him, knowing that he's smiling down on me.

Tuesday afternoon I ate a really light lunch in preparation for the feast to be had at Jerry's that night.  The first thing they bring out is warm rolls with butter.  They're really hard to resist, so I had one.  I wanted another, but knew I had to save space in my stomach for the meal.  And this time I also decided to get a cocktail.  I went with the 10 Cane Mojito, since it used rum from Trinidad, where my parents are from. Wow it's strong!!!  It was really good, but the strength got me so I only had one.
 
I used to always get the crab bisque to start.  It's amazingly heavenly, but also pretty heavy.  So instead my dad and I split the calamari. 

It was breaded, fresh and cooked perfectly.  When it first came out my dad claimed it was too much, but it didn't take us long to finish the tray. 

Next came the salads.  I know blue cheese dressing isn't really good for you, and normally it's dressing with a couple chunks of cheese, but this isn't any ordinary dressing.  It's more like huge chunks of blue cheese with some melted chunks to make it a little creamy.  I could absolutely just eat a bowl of it.  A couple years ago my mom's friend was with us, and he's a chef.  He asked for the recipe, and they even gave him some extra to take home.

My dad doesn't eat crab, so he always gets the salmon.  It's quite a big piece, and they recommend it blackened, so that's what he gets.

I always taste a bite.  Again, perfectly cooked.  The blackening spice gives flavor, but not a lot of heat.  Which is perfect for my dad, who doesn't do spicy.

We both got the chilled asparagus as a side.  I never ate asparagus until a couple years ago, but now I love it and eat it often. 

And then, the Crab Bomb, the crowning glory of my meal.

It's 10 ounces of pure lump crab meat, broiled to perfection.  And when I say lump, I mean jumbo lump.  It's not picked or over-mixed.  You can see every lump of the crab.  The only thing holding it together is butter and OId Bay.  They have a smaller version called the Baby Bomb (6 ounces), but since I only eat there once a year, the regular Bomb it is.

By the time I'm done with my meal I pretty much have to roll out of there.  And it is 100% worth it. I used to get the crab bisque instead of calamari, but at that point it became just gluttonous.  

I wish I could order a whole bunch of them and let my friends here in Oklahoma taste the difference.  But it's way too expensive, and I just don't quite love you all that much  :)  And I just don't think anyone could eat just one bite.  They do ship their crabcakes, and I think it's highly worth it, just for the experience. 

#20 - Mandalay Restaurant & Cafe - Silver Spring, MD

20 years ago my dad's cholesterol was really high, so the doctor put him on a 30-day, no-meat diet.  He decided he liked it, and hasn't eaten meat since.  I was still living at home at the time and had no desire or plan to give up meat (and still don't), so when they cooked, it was one meal for my dad and one for me & my mom.  He was still a novice at the vegetarian cooking, and nothing looked even the least bit appealing to me.  Once I moved out my mom gave up meat as well, rather than cooking 2 meals.  I guess that's what you call true love...

When it's just my dad and me, we rarely ever cook.  One year my mom had gone somewhere for Thanksgiving, and neither of us felt like cooking, so we went out for Chinese.  Before you laugh, the place was packed, and by the time we were leaving there was a wait. 

Eating out was a challenge for them at first, because  back then restaurants really only catered to the meat eaters.  They eat out more often now because every restaurant has a pretty wide variety of meatless options, but they have the same problem with being creatures of habit.  My dad can list on one hand the restaurants they go to.

Tuesday night I decided I was going to find something different.  In my post about Thai at Silver Spring I talked about the explosion of Downtown Silver Spring.  Well there's a lot of small, ethnic, locally owned restaurants just a short distance away that don't get the hype or publicity, and they were there long before all the glitz and glitter.  I went online and found Mandalay Restaurant & Cafe.  Neither of us had ever tried Burmese food, but it got really good reviews everywhere I checked, plus it had quite a few vegetarian options.

It's a pretty small place--I would say no more than 20 tables--and when we walked in every one of them was full. We also saw people of pretty much every ethnicity eating there, which was another good sign.  We had to wait a few minutes, but before long we were seated and checking out the menu.

At the recommendation of our server, I had the WetThar ChoChin Gyaw

Sliced pork, green pepper, onion, and tomato sautéed in light brown sauce

As you can see, I was about halfway through when I realized I had forgotten to take the picture.  Our food came out really fast, which I take as a not-so-good sign that it's been pre-made and just served into a bowl.  However, it was exactly the opposite.  The pork was tender and delicious, the sauce was spicy, and it tasted like it had just been made.  It also had Chinese sausage, which was unique and very tasty. 

My dad had a dish with mixed veggies & tofu.  It wasn't exciting enough to be photo-worthy...sorry dad.  But he did say it was really good. 

I ordered the Baya Gyaw as an appetizer.  However, when they brought our entrees out I realized that the server had forgotten to put in the order.  I stopped a gentleman who turned out to be the owner, and let him know.  He apologized profusely, and just a few minutes later, they arrived.

Yellow split peas, ginger, garlic, and cilantro blended and deep fried

Wow these were really delicious!  Again, when they came out so fast I was afraid they had been sitting there.  But I'm pretty sure they went directly from the fryer to our table.  It's hard to explain the flavor.  Ginger and garlic together can be a dangerous combination, but they were both extremely mild.  I do know I could have easily eaten all 3 by myself, and still wanted more.

They have the dessert menu listed on the placemats...very smart marketing move.  I saw the coconut ice cream, and just knew we had to have it.

Yes, it does come in a coconut shell!  The texture is more like shaved, compacted ice than traditional ice cream.  But it was really good and light.  The coconut flavor wasn't overpowering at all.  Apparently it's not always available, so I'm really glad we lucked out that night.  And they let my dad take home the shell, which he was really pumped about.

Will I go back?  Definitely!  I've found a new place for my parents to branch out to and the food is really good.  The only down side is they didn't have brown rice.  I don't know if that's normal or just that night. 

#19 - Bobby's Burger Palace, College Park, MD

Heather and I have been friends for 17 years, starting when she began working at Maryland...geez that makes me feel old.  We've been there for each other through thick and thin, good and bad.  I don't need to go into details...she knows what I mean.

My summer trip back to Maryland almost always coincides with her birthday.  I got to spend the day with her when her hubby Vinnie threw her a surpise 40th...and have done a few birthday dinners with Vin and the girls.  Two years ago at Red Robin her daughter Marissa announced to anyone within a very wide earshot that Heather had just turned 40.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone's face turn that red before, but we all had a great laugh about it, and Marissa was extremely proud of the fact that she had entertained everyone.

College Park's restaurant options have exploded since I left.  A few old favorites have closed, but other good places have taken their place.  One of our favorites was Jungle Grille  It was locally owned, and John (the owner) knew us all by name and usually also knew what we wanted...unless we threw a change curveball at  him.  I rarely did that to him, usually sticking with the burger & fries (sound familiar Brett??) It was our go-to restaurant for a long time, but unfortunately it closed down a few months ago.

Every year we also do a group lunch with Ronnie O and Nate.  This year I forgot to call them (sorry guys), so it was just me & Heather.  Thanks to Mark's suggestion, we decided to try Bobby's Burger Palace.  It's owned by Bobby Flay, and they have 10 locations between Maryland and Jersey.  I love Bobby, and had never eaten at one of his restaurants, so it was an easy decision. 

They've got sandwiches and salads, but why would I eat those at a place called the Burger Palace???  Apparently you can "crunchify" your burger, which means they crush a handful of chips between the meat and the bun.  Hmmm...doesn't really sound very appetizing to me. 

Bobby's is a mix between fast food and a sit-down restaurant...you get in line, order your food, then sit down and they bring everything out to you.  After my awesome lemonade experience Monday night at Mark's, I decided to try the regular lemonade at Bobby's.  The lemonade at Mark's is homemade and fresh squeezed...Bobby's was definitely a mix.  Oh well, lesson learned.

I went with the Bobby Blue Burger with the regular fries.

I'm a huge french fry fan.  I try not to eat them too often, but when I do, I like them to be fresh and hot, right out of the oil.  I was really looking forward to that, but then I saw at the counter that the fries are portioned out about 2 minutes before the burger.  Not a good tactical move, because then they're just sitting there.  They were still good, but not as good as they could have been.  They come with the BBP fry sauce.  Not sure exactly what that is, but it was really good.

My burger was also very good.  I was a little surprised because it's probably no more than 1/4 pound, unlike a lot of places these days with huge burgers.  But it was cooked perfectly and had great flavor.  And it was just enough with the fries, that I wasn't in need of an immediate nap afterwards.  The bun tasted really fresh, and wasn't twice the size of the burger, as can very easily happen.

Will I go back?  Definitely!  There's lots of other burgers to try, and they have milkshakes and malted.  If I still worked on campus it would definitely be a periodic treat for me.

#18 - Mark's Kitchen, Takoma Park, MD

Karen and I have been friends...well literally forever.  Her parents and my parents have been friends since they lived in Trinidad, long before we were even a glimmer in their eyes.  She is exactly 18 months older than I am, and her parents brought her over to see me when my parents first brought me home from the hospital.  Apparently her way of saying hello was to smack me across the face.  We attended each other's birthday parties, her parents threw a kick-ass New Year's Eve party every year that we were able to stay up for as long as we could, and either family would do anything for the other.

I hadn't seen Karen in a couple of years, so when the opportunity for us to meet for dinner arose, we both jumped at it.  She's living in Takoma Park, so we decided to go to Mark's Kitchen for dinner.  As Karen so eloquently put it, Takoma Park is very "crunchy".  There's a lot of vegetarians, people are very into everything organic, and a lot of the community grows their own fruits & vegetables. 

Karen's been a vegetarian since she was 11, when they lived in Ecuador.  Her theory is, if it moves, she doesn't eat it.  My dad's also a vegetarian, but more on that later. So this restaurant was perfect for them, because it had both vegetarian and vegan items on the menu.  And of course, items for the carnivore in me.  The owner was there, in the kitchen...that wins huge points with me. 

We started with the seaweed salad.  Karen said it would be really good, but I have to admit I was more than a little hesitant, so my dad and I also got the baby lettuce salads.  I tried a little of the seaweed and it was okay, but I decided to let her eat that and focus on my side salad.  The tomatoes and cucumber were organic, and you can definitely taste the difference.  I wouldn't normally buy organic veggies cause they're a lot more expensive, but when it's in my salad, I'm golden.

For dinner, my dad got the Tofu Bento Box.

grilled tofu, zucchini, eggplant, honey soybeans, roast seaweed, shiitake mushroom, steamed rice or brown rice & mung bean pancake

 Karen got the barbecued tofu

tofu sautéed in a spicy bbq sauce & served w/ brown rice, cherry tomatoes & green beans

They both looked good, and my dad completely cleaned his plate so I'm assuming it tasted just as good.  I don't do tofu so I didn't try any of it.

I decided not to be super adventurous, so I went with the Korean Short Ribs

beef ribs marinated in our special sauce w/ fried rice, steamed carrots & green beans

The ribs were really good.  They were cooked well, and had great flavor.  The veggies were cold, and that was disappointing.  I'm not sure if that was on purpose...as an appetizer cold veggies are normal; with dinner, they should be hot.  The rice was good. 

We also had lemonade...I think it was the strawberry lemonade.  Whichever it was, it was awesome.  Freshly mixed when you order, I could have drunk about a gallon of it.

For dessert we got the pecan pie--which I love, even though I don't eat raw pecans.  We asked for ginger ice cream...and got vanilla.  But the pie was good enough that it canceled out the wrong ice cream. It was a great way to finish off the meal.

Will I go back?  Probably, if for no other reason than to drink more of the lemonade!  I do also want to try other stuff on the menu.

Repeats with a Twist - Potbelly Sandwich Works, College Park, MD

My rule of thumb when I travel is to not eat at any place I can get at home.  Well, let's just say, it leaves me with tons of options.  Don't get me wrong...Stillwater is trying.  There's a lot more to choose from than when I first moved here.  In just the past 2 years I would say there are at least 10 new restaurants, and there have been 3 new openings in just the last 2 months.  The major problem is that there's only one real restaurant on the west side of town, where I live...El Vaquero.  It's alright, and I can see it from my house.  But for what I would consider the more affluent side of town, with several relatively new hotels nearby and a brand new apartment complex, that's really bad.  We were supposed to get a couple of new restaurants on the west side right before the economy crashed, but obviously that never happened. The city made a major push for residents to complete the most recent Census, because businesses want to see at least 50K people before they come into town.  Filling out the Census is probably the easiest thing in the world...10 questions, and the first 3 ask what's your name.  But Stilly only had about a 70% response rate.  That drives me nuts, because the same people that don't do the Census are likely the ones complaining loudest about the lack of variety.

I find myself saying "I wish we had this in Stillwater" a lot.  Potbelly Sandwich Works is one of those.  On my first full day back in Maryland after the NYC trip, my dad and I were out running errands and stopped at the one in College Park for lunch.  Of course I had to branch out from my standard turkey sub.  They had a sign on the door advertising their new mediterranean sandwich.  I felt the need to eat something relatively healthy, and it sounded really good. 

What I really like about Potbelly is that you can basically create your own sandwich, add lots of good veggies, and they toast all the sandwiches. 

Zippy Hummus, Feta, Artichoke Hearts, Crispy Cukes and
Roasted Red Peppers

My dad doesn't do spicy, so the "zippy" hummus probably wasn't the best idea for him, but he ate it anyway.  But I liked it.  It wasn't overpowering, just added some great flavor to the sandwich.  My dad said he didn't want any chips, so I just got one bag.  And of course he ate some of mine.  But that's okay. 

I had never heard of this brand of chips, but they were really good.  A little thicker than regular chips, with great crunch.  The vinegar was a little strong, but it went well with the sandwich.

You can't eat at Potbelly without getting a milkshake.  It's made with real milk, and they add a cute mini cookie on the straw.  I always get the Oreo shake, and I've never been disappointed. 

It's thick, creamy and delicious...everything a real milkshake should be.  Plus they add a couple of mini oreos on top!

Yes, I realize that there's a Which Which in Stillwater, and I've heard it's pretty good.  But I still miss Potbelly, and given the choice I would have to go with my old favorite.  Well, maybe if Which Which could do the yummy milkshakes I might change my mind.



How I Ended Up in Stillwater

"How did you end up in Stillwater"? I've been hearing this question since I set foot on campus in March of 2007. My standard short answer is this...Mike Gundy was an assistant coach at Maryland for 4 years ('97-'00), and I worked in the football office as well.  When I was looking for another job, this one came up, and here I am...

But there's a longer answer too...

My mom and I visited Stillwater in the summer of 2001, to see the Gundy's and the Mallory's.  As we pulled in the first night it was still 90 degrees at 9pm.  The next morning, as I walked out of the hotel to see Lisa and the girls at the pool, I could literally see the air in front of me.  I decided then and there that I could never live in Stillwater.  It was beyond miserable hot, and there wasn't much of anything in town in terms of restaurants or shopping.

Fast-forward 5 years...I started working for Marriott in August of '06, and about 2 weeks into the job I was miserable.  I had a great boss, I liked my colleagues, and Marriott is a great company to work for.  But I quickly realized I wasn't cut out for sales or the micro-managing work environment.  More important, I really missed working in athletics.  So every night after work I was on the computer, looking for another job.  I also recognized that I would have to go wherever the job took me. 

One night in late January I found the OSU job.  The description was super vague--kind of like most official job descriptions. But I figured why not.  I sent in my resume, left a message for Gundy the next morning and said I had put him down as a reference so if they called him, to make sure to say nice stuff about me. 

A week later I was on a plane  to Stillwater to interview for the job.  The trip itself was a major drama, and a lesson in extreme patience.  It's a really long story, but in a nutshell: flights were canceled from both BWI and DFW on my to Oklahoma; DFW airport was completely shut down because of an inch of snow & ice; I had to drive 4 hours from Dallas to Stillwater at 6AM; I never got my bags until I was on my way back home, so I had to do my interview in jeans and a tee shirt; I finally got to buy some clean clothes from Ross that night; and they didn't ask me any of the interview questions I practiced the answers for.

The town had grown a lot in 5 years, but one of the first things I noticed was the lack of variety in the restaurant market. As Kelly drove me around town that afternoon I asked where the Target was, and after a little hesitation, she dropped the bombshell...no Target in Stillwater.   But I felt like it would be a good job, and after the drama of the interview trip I decided if I got the offer I was taking it no matter what, just out of principal.

When I came back from my interview my boss called me in and told me he knew I was looking. But he also understood, because he knew I was very unhappy.  He had played football in college and told me that if he could go back to athletics he would, but his wife would kill him.  He also agreed to keep quiet, as long as I stayed very low-key about it.  At Marriott, they don't like it when you're looking, and the day you put in your notice...that's your last day. I'm guessing the hotel business is pretty cut-throat, and they're afraid you're going to take all of your leads and contacts to another hotel. 

Fast-forward another 5 1/2 years.  Moving to Stillwater was the best decision I could have made.  I love my job (99% of the time).  I have made so many wonderful friends, and many of them have become like family.  I have a great house that I couldn't even pretend to afford if I was living back in Maryland.  There's still no Target, but there's no Sam's Club or mall either, so it's a great excuse to go to Edmond every few weeks.  And the summer heat is still ridiculous, but you learn to live with it.  And there's really no such thing as fresh seafood here, which really sucks.  But I've adapted, and make sure to get as much of it as I can whenever I go back to Maryland. 

When I told my Maryland friends I was moving to Oklahoma they all looked at me like I was crazy.  But the ones who have visited, they get it.  A lot of friends in Maryland still ask when I'm moving back...there's really nothing making me want to move back.  Yes, I miss everyone a lot, but that's what airplanes are for.  And I've made a really good life here in Stillwater.  I still won't buy a cowboy hat, but I did find these great boots.

#17 - GrillMarx Steakhouse & Raw Bar - Olney, MD

The rest of the drive from Philly back to Maryland was brutal.  We stopped a couple times for caffeine, and at the rest stop in Delaware Kara bought me the largest Starbucks drink we could get.  We had been planning to stop at Wegman's so she could see the newest location, and also I wanted to drive her through campus to see all the changes since the last time she'd been in Maryland.  But between our exhaustion, traffic, and being on a time crunch we skipped all that and headed to my parents' house.

Why the time crunch?  To go eat another meal, of course!  We were meeting Michele and Mikki at GrillMarx Steakhouse on Sunday evening for dinner.  It's owned by our friend  Andy.  Unfortunately he wasn't there that night, but don't worry, there will be an Andy story in a couple more posts.

The place was packed, which is great for a random Sunday evening in the summer.  We started with cocktails, chatting and catching up.  Kara sees Michele quite a bit and I usually see Michele & Mikki when I come back to visit in the summer, but it had been years since we'd spent time together as a group.

I love steak, and I'd heard great things about the steaks from Mikki, but I felt like I needed some seafood to counteract all the other stuff I'd been eating all weekend.  We started with salads.  The salad itself was good, but I wasn't a huge fan of the croutons.  Not sure if they had been sitting in the lettuce mix or what, but they were soft and I much prefer crunchy croutons.  But I just took them out, and enjoyed the rest of my salad. 

Our waiter recommended the off-the-menu special, which was wild Alaskan salmon--can't remember how it was prepared.  I ordered it, until the waiter came back and told me it was $37.  I love salmon, but don't need to spend that much on it.  So I ordered the grilled salmon entree instead.

Yukon Potato, Bacon and Onion Hash with Chilled Fennel Salad and Chardonnay-Butter Sauce

The salmon was huge, and really good.  I'd never tried fennel before and it was okay, but I didn't notice very much flavor.  The sauce was delicious and blended perfectly with the salmon.  The potato, bacon & onion hash was awesome.  The potatoes still had good texture, and the green onion provided a really good, mild flavor.

Will I go back?  Of course!  It's owned by a friend, the food is delicious, and there's lots more items on the menu that I still need to try.

#16 - Sabrina's Cafe - Philadelphia, PA

Kara, Nadine and I had lots of fun times together in college with our other girlfriends.  Nothing crazy, nothing outrageous, but just tons of fun.  This of course includes a spring break in South Padre with 15 girls, a 2-room suite, and even more tons of fun.  Oh and this guy we met whose line to girls was that he was Ryan Minor, who used to play b-ball for OU.  Too bad OU was playing in the NCAA tourney that year, during our spring break, and I busted him on it. 

We hadn't seen each other in years.  I don't know if we ever really figured out exactly how many, but definitely at least 6.  So we decided to meet up for lunch in Philly.  It was a perfect mid-point to stop on our drive home.  And let me assure you, after a long weekend in NYC, we needed as many stops as we could get.

Nadine suggested Sabrina's Cafe, because she'd heard they had a great Sunday brunch.  They have 3 locations, and two of them actually let you BYOB!  But the one we went to didn't, and I'm guessing it's because it's right on the Drexel University campus, inside what looks like a campus building.  The place was packed, but Nadine had called ahead so we didn't have to wait too long.

Our waitress said the brunch specials change regularly.  I ended up going with the Onyx Slamburger because she said the popularity of the burgers are the reason the owner opened up a burger place across the hall.  Sold

Grilled angus burger on brioche with fresh spinach & tomato.  
Topped with grilled turkey bacon, roasted vidalia onion, Cheddar, 
Gruyere & horseradish-basil-roasted corn dijonnaise

Once I figured out how to get my mouth around the entire burger, I was in heaven!  The meat by itself had so much flavor, and all the toppings just added more flavor, if that's even possible.  The sweet potato fries were topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and were amazing.

Kara and Nadine split the Stuffed Challah French Toast and Alfred's Wing Man Mexi Special

Farmer's cream cheese topped with bananas and vanilla bean syrup

Scrambled eggs with tomatillos, black beans, green onion, tri bell peppers and pepper jack cheese.  Served with fried cilantro-mesa corn bread with roasted poblano pico de gallo and guacamole

One thing is certain...you will never leave hungry!  Kara & Nadine's food came out at least 5 minutes before mine, which we weren't too fired up about.  And the 3 of us probably could have split the 2 breakfast items.  I tried both of their items, and they were amazing.  I don't normally like mushy bananas, but they were still just firm enough that I didn't feel like I was eating baby food.  And the cream cheese lent the perfect creamy texture.  The eggs had a delicious kick, and the guacamole was homemade.

Will I go back?  The next time I'm in Philly, no question!!  The food was delicious, and I would love to try other things on the menu.  The only down side is that it didn't seem like the AC was working so we were melting, but the food made up for it.

I told Kara I wanted to run up the museum steps like Rocky, to work off some of the food we ate.  But the GPS took us out of Philly the other way.  And besides, I would have been crawling by the third set of steps, and it was a million degrees outside.  Maybe next time.

Three Snacks in NYC...

There were a few places we went during our trip where we just had a snack, not an entire meal.  So I figured rather than do each one separately, I'd just cover them all in one post.

Saturday morning, before we left for Ground Zero, we were short on time but still needed a quick breakfast.  Junior's is right across from the Marriott, and I had been there for lunch 2 years ago.  We got croissants with butter.  It was huge!  And very inexpensive, for NYC standards.  It was like $2.50.  Perfect quick breakfast to start our journey.

By the time we made it to the South Street Seaport on Saturday afternoon, we were really hungry.  We were supposed to be meeting a friend for lunch, but that wasn't for about another 90 minutes, and that just wasn't acceptable.  So across the street we went to the Fulton Stall Market for snacks.  My friends Amy & Teresa run The Poffertjes Man stall, and Amy is the manager of the entire market.  If you've never been, you need to go check it out.  They've got over a dozen vendors that sell food and drinks every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  Amy & Teresa's stall sells profiteroles, the little Dutch pancakes; however,  of course with our luck they weren't open on Saturday.  Some of the vendors were just setting up when we got there, but the Joe Mozz stall was up and running. I wish I could have bought some of the fresh mozzarella and fresh bread, but it wouldn't have lasted through the heat.  But pretty sure I'm going to go to their website and order some authentic Italian specialties.  So instead, we split an order of the prosciutto balls

All I can say is WOW.  It was a cheese ball with yummy bits of prosciutto throughout.  If that wasn't good enough, they fried them right there on the spot, in front of you.  We were in heaven.

Sunday morning after church, Kara said we had to go to Magnolia Bakery.  As we walked in the door, the amazing smells almost took my breath away.  The first thing I saw was the display filled with mini cheesecakes

How could I keep going after this display of delicious treats?  So I had to get the white chocolate macadamia cheesecake.

And Kara got the cupcakes

We both held out until we got into the car because we were on a time crunch to get to Philly.  Again, all I can say about the cheesecake is WOW.  The chunks of white chocolate were slightly soft, and biting in to it was lke eating a piece of heaven.  I also had a bite of the cupcake, and that was awesome too.  But I really think my cheesecake was better.

I highly recommend Joe Mozz and Magnolia Bakery.  I also highly recommend that you check out the Fulton Stall Market and try some of all of the treats.  We probably could have gotten a croissant anywhere, so I can't really give it rave reviews.  But it definitely did the trick to get us going.

#15 - Serendipity 3, NYC

About 3 weeks ago I was watching the View, as I do every morning, and they were talking about the best places for ice cream.  One of them was Serendipity 3, located in NYC, and their most famous item on the menu is the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.  They also have a Golden Opulence Sundae that's topped with real gold flakes.  It costs $1,000 and requires a reservation 48 hours in advance.  We didn't have 48 hours or $1,000, so that was out of the question. 

Of course, as soon as the show was over, I had to text Kara and told her it was a "must-do" on our list.

We got there at about 5:45, after our stop at the Chanel store and before FAO Schwartz.  We figured we'd go, have a hot chocolate, and continue on the day.  Oh how wrong we were.  As we walked up, there were several people waiting outside. 

Yes, I realize the picture only shows 2 people, but there were about 10 outside.  We got to the hostess stand, and when Kara tried to get a table, the guy said "2 hours".  Well that's not what we expected--or wanted--to hear.   We asked about a reservation, but he didn't seem to willing to want to help us.  We walked outside and assessed our options.  We thought about walking down to one of the fun bars on the street and having a cocktail while waiting the 2 hours.  We called Serendipity and asked for a reservation, but they only do limited reservations, and we missed our chance that night.  But then we finally realized it would make more sense to put our name on the list, go back to the hotel to shower & change, and head back.  So that's what we did.  And besides, we were determined to go and eat, since the host wasn't the most gracious person.

You have to understand, Kara walks really fast.  I walk fast because when I was a kid I had to, to keep up with my dad who's 6'5"...but not at Kara speed.  Back in college I got tired of telling Kara to slow down, so when she got on her speed-walk mission, I would just stop, and wait for her to realize that I had.  It was really quite entertaining.  But, in this instance her speed came in handy. We walked the 15 blocks back to the hotel in a world-record time of about 20 minutes. 

About 1 3/4 hours later we hopped in a cab back to Serendipity.  Good thing we had put our name on the list, because the wait was still 2 hours for people walking in.  We were seated upstairs.  The atmosphere is so fun here!  It's a great old building, with cool furniture and lots of awesome decorations. 

As we waited for our food we noticed that everyone working there, from the host to the servers to the bus boys--they were all men.  Not a single female working in sight. I asked the waiter, and he said that it used to be 50-50, but the women developed shoulder problems, carrying the large trays with all the food on it.  Some people might think it's sexist, but after seeing them walk up the stairs carrying those trays, I can understand.

We decided to start with the sweet & tangy wings.  Thankfully the waiter included extra napkins because, as he said "you'll thank me later".

First of all, the blue cheese.  It was homemade, and phenomenal.  We were both happy they didn't give us more, because we would have continued to eat it.  The wings were really good too.  The sweet & tangy was just that, and the char added a lot of great flavor.  And we needed both the extra napkins and Kara's wet-naps. 

For my entree I had the "Ultimate BLT" on challah bread. 

Wow, there was a lot of bacon!  It was cooked a little more than I would normally like, but it was still really good.  I should have taken a picture of the sandwich once I put it together because it was possibly the hugest thing I've ever seen.  I could barely get my mouth around it...but I took on the challenge, and won.  After a few bites I gave up, and took apart the sandwich and ate it separately.

Kara had the foot long hot dog with chili, cheese & onions. 

I didn't taste it, but she said it was really good. It was huge, and I really think it was bigger than a foot!

Then came the crowning jewel, the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.  Yes, there's 3 R's in the name, and it's trademarked. 

I'm glad we decided to share one, because there's no way either one of us could have finished one ourselves.  Well, "no way" may be a little excessive, but we decided not to test it.  Wow, it was really good.  I was kind of expecting more of a creamy texture, so I was surprised with the first bite that it was more like liquid frozen ice.  Of course, about halfway through, I got a serious brain freeze.  But it was well worth it. 

Will I go back?  Yes!  The girls next to us got the chicken pot pie and it looked amazing.  But next time we will make a reservation well in advance.

#14 - Summer Garden & Bar At Rock Center Cafe, NYC

By about 2PM on Saturday we had already hit a lot of the NYC hot spots...Ground Zero, Wall Street, South Street Seaport, Fulton Stall Market, the charging bull, and the Century 21 shopping craziness.  We were waiting to meet a friend for lunch, but by that point we were starving and couldn't wait for him anymore.  So we hit Rockefeller Center and started looking for a place to eat.  Kara mentioned that she had always wanted to eat at Rock Center Cafe...I knew it would be perfect for the food blog, so it was an easy decision.  As everyone knows, during the holiday season the area is transformed into that super popular ice rink.  In the summer, it is transformed again into the Summer Garden & Bar.

We got really lucky, with a table right next to the fountain.

Even though the sun wasn't out on Saturday it was really humid. We tried to stay hydrated, but it's hard when you're walking all over the city.  So after we chugged down some water, it was time for a cocktail.  The skinny margaritas immediately caught our eyes.  The waiter suggested that if we were going to have 2 each, we might as well get a pitcher.  Well duh...

The margarita was fantastic!  It was very light and refreshing, and I love that he brought us extra lime slices in the glass.  Not sure how big the regular glasses were, but we figure we probably had close to 3 margaritas each.  No complaints from the table could be heard.  And of course we couldn't leave a drop of the margarita in the pitcher

All we had eaten for the day was a croissant before we went to Ground Zero, so we figured this would be our main meal of the day.  But we also didn't want to gorge ourselves, at least not yet.  So we decided to split a salad and sandwich.  We also got parmesan rosemary fries as an appetizer.  I was a little disappointed in the fries, because they were just plain fries with parmesan sprinkled on top.  The good thing though is that they served it with fresh rosemary, and that did add great flavor.

We split the avocado and goat cheese salad, and the crystal valley farm chicken sandwich.

Tomato, Butternut Lettuce, Red Onions, Pepitas, Cilantro-Chile Lime Vinaigrette

Sliced Chicken, Aged Provolone, Avocado, Jersey Beefsteak Tomato, Pecanwood Smoked Bacon, Dijonnaise, Greens

Our lunch was awesome!  The salad was really delicious.  It took a little thinking, but we figured out that pepitas are pumpkin seeds.  I've recently become a huge fan of goat cheese, and it went so well with all the other items in the salad.  The sandwich was awesome as well. Not quite sure what type of bread it was, but it was really yummy too. 

Will I go back?  Definitely!  As we were leaving we noticed they have a prie fix dinner menu for $38.  Not bad at all, considering just an entree item in a NYC restaurant can easily run at least that.  Plus it's a great place to sit and relax and enjoy the afternoon.