The Bakery at Fat Rice - Brunch

I like Fat Rice.  I have been several times, though I haven't been in a while and I have never been to brunch, so I decided to schedule a brunch there.  The party that I had was pretty large and Fat Rice is small, so we were seated in The Bakery at Fat Rice which is an actual bakery, which is attached to Fat Rice and is used as overflow seating.  While we were seated in The Bakery, the entire brunch menu was available to us, it was just that the aesthetic was different.  The back wall of The Bakery is occupied by the display case and bakery.  The front wall was occupied by a large window, which provided a lot of the light.  The tables were arranged in two rows, cafeteria-style and can probably seat about 30 people.  The menu has a lot of very different and interesting things on it, so it was a good thing that we were a large party, so we could try many things.  Because there were a lot of different and interesting things, though, we did need some time to plan our attack, so we ordered our drinks and then first started with the bakery menu.  My drink was very different and very different from something I might normally order.  Called a Kalimotxo, it started with Red Wine, and had Coke, Balsam Amaro, and Lemon.  As might be expected it tasted of red wine and coke, the balsam amaro added a bitterness, which made the combination similar to bitter vermouth.  The lemon was more garnish than anything.  While the drink was interesting and I did finish it, it was a little more bitter and a little less tart than I normally go for.

There were a lot of interesting things on The Bakery menu, so we decided to order several things and share.  We started with a Bolo de Arroz, similar to a muffin, it was made with Rice Flour, Lemon, Coconut, and Rosemary.  It was sweet, a little tart, slightly bitter from the rice flour, and had a nice herbaceousness from the rosemary.  We then had a Ceylon Snickerdoodle, which was similar to a regular snickerdoodle with a crispy crust and a chewy texture, but also had a Gooey Salted Egg Custard filling.  This was really good and may have been one of my favorites.  We then went to a Char Siu "Pineapple" Bun, which had a cross hatched crust that looked similar to a pineapple.  It was filled with Barbecue Pork and Scallion.  It was really good and reminded me of a barbecue pork bao, though the bun was a little more firm.  W finished things off on the bakery side with an Ube Milk Bar, which was actually packaged.  It consisted of Ube, a purple yam, a Shortbread Crust, Condensed Milk Jam, and Coconut Streusel.  It was sweet, very good, and I was happy someone ordered it, because it was one of the things that came home with me.  Also ordered before our main courses was the Linguica Sausage, a Portuguese Pork and Garlic Sausage similar to Spanish Chorizo.  It was served with Almonds, Cilantro, and Fresno Chilies.  The peppers were pretty spicy and helped cut through the fatty flavor.  The almonds were flavorful and added some texture.

After our snacks, we started receiving our appetizers.  While it was my intention to let everyone contribute to the whole order, it seems that I ordered a lot of the food.  I ordered both appetizers, Curry Vegetable Samosas with Tamarind Mustard Seed Chutney, and Bacalhau de Vovo Home Made Salt Cod Spread with Olives and Papo Seco Bread.  I like Samosas and while there shape was a little unusual, it wasn't important, because they tasted really good.  The crust was nice and crunchy and held a very nice and flavorful vegetable curry.  The dipping sauce was both tart and spicy sour and it went well with the curry.  Papa Seco Bread (literally "Dry Throat") are very popular Portuguese Rolls that are similar in similar in texture and flavor to Baguettes.  Bacalhau is also a very popular Portuguese dish and spread on the bread, it was a great match.  The olives were pitted and had a good flavor, and the chilies were pretty hot, and seemed to amp up the flavor of the fish.  It was all very good.

We ended up with three entrees, one of which I have wanted to try since the first time I came here.  We had Piri Piri Chicken, Wood Fired Thighs with Garlicky Greens, Cornichons, Potatoes, and Fresno Chilies, Yellow Vegetable Curry with Coconut Rice for our vegetarian cohort, and the dish for which the restaurant was named and the dish that I have wanted to try since I first came here, Arroz Gordo (Fat Rice).  Piri Piri Chicken is usually pretty spicy and this lived up to its reputation.  It was also very moist and flavorful on it's own without the Cornichons, or the Fresno Chilies, though they each did add something.  The chicken was spicy enough that the Fresno chilies didn't really add to the general heat of the chicken, but they did contribute a pretty good and fresh pepper flavor.  The Vegetable Curry was very similar to that that was in the Samosas, but it was very good and also went well with the Coconut Rice.  The Arroz Gordo they recommend for two or more people and there is a very good reason for that, because it's enormous.  It is similar to a paella, in that it's kind of a catch all dish and it had many of the things that we ordered on their own, Curried Chicken Thighs, Char Siu Pork, Linguica Sausage and Potatoes, plus Chili Prawns, Clams, Olives, Wood Roasted Beef, Hard Boiled Eggs, Golden Raisins, and Yellow Rice.  It was pretty amazing and with the other stuff we ordered even with 5 guys eating it, I ended up taking about half of it home.

I love Fat Rice. It is one of my favorites and it does a lot of really good stuff.  I really enjoyed brunch, dining in the bakery, and getting to try many of their baked goods that while familiar, also have a very individual spin.  I will definitely return for dinner and for brunch.                  

Income Tax - Tasting Collective Dinner

 

When you go to a place called Income Tax, one of the last things you might expect is good food.  If, however, you go to a place called Income Tax in Edgewater, that is exactly what you will get.  Located in a former currency exchange, Income Tax both chose there name for the former proprietor of the space and to blend in with the neighborhood.  Their sign is small and very low key and the space blends into the neighborhood.  While it still could be a currency exchange from the outside, inside it is very much a European Wine Bar with hanging lights, small tables, and a lot of dark wood.  While I had heard of it and had heard good things, it wasn't really on my radar as for places to go.  When I got an email from Tasting Collective telling me that this was a place that they had chosen, I looked at the menu and looked it up a little more and decided that I was interested and would go.  The space is divided into two dining rooms, both nearly identical in design with hanging lights and a lot of dark wood.  The big difference was that one room had the bar and a table for larger parties in the back.  I was seated at a table of 8 (two four tops) near the front of the smaller room.  As the restaurant is serving an extended tasting menu to a large number of people, drink lists are generally abbreviated with a few beers, wines, and cocktails.  In this case, there were a few wines and beers offered, though there were no cocktails.  I decided to start things a Whiner Miaou, a Barrel Aged Dry Hopped Belgian Wheat Ale.  I had had it before so I knew that I would like it.  It is lightly tart with tangerine and citrus flavors and a mild hoppiness.

For our first course starting out our dinner, we started with Octopus Escabeche with Fennel, Melrose Pepper, Cranberry Beans, and Dill.  Escabeche means pickled and the dish have a certain tartness which was enhanced with the dill.  The octopus was chewy and flavorful, the cranberry beans gave the dish some body, and the peppers provided some sweetness.  Melrose Peppers are sweet Italian peppers that look similar to Jalapenos, but have a Scoville rating of 0 (for reference, a jalapeno runs in the 2500-8000 range and scotch bonnet peppers are in the 80,000-400,000 range).  Thaey are good for cooking and provide a nice pepper flavor without the heat.  The dish had a lot of flavor anf it was a nice start.

For our next course, we had more peppers, though these had the potential for having a little spice.  Referred to on the menu as Tempura Fried Sweet Peppers with Tonnato and Horseradish, they are listed as Nardello Peppers, another Italian Sweet Pepper, on the regular menu.  The tempura provided a nice light crunch on the outside of the crisp and sweet peppers.  Tonnato is a tuna aioli, and then there was the horseradish.  While the peppers themselves didn't provide any heat, the horseradish did add some spice.  The sweetness of the peppers, the light crunch, the tuna aioli, and the horseradish made for a great dish with a lot of texture and flavor.

When you go to many restaurants and have a lot of different dishes, occasionally, you will run into a dish you might not like or is at least less than your favorite.  I knew that eggplant is not a favorite of mine and that it can frequently become slimy if not cooked right.  Surprisingly this dish which contained Eggplant, as well as Walnut, Mint, Charred Cucumbers, and Golden Raisins, and served with Pita Chips was not the wreck that I was expecting.  The eggplant was stewed almost to the point of becoming Baba Ghannoush and the mint, walnut, and cucumbers added a lot of flavor and contributed to the textural variety.

After 3 dishes, we were then served the salad.  I found this a little humorous because, while salads are not generally first in a multi-course meal, it generally comes early in the meal. Our Wedge Salad came pre-chopped and contained Gem Lettuce, Radishes, Parsley Vinaigrette, and Ricotta Salata.  As far as salads are concerned, it wasn't bad, but to me a salad is frequently a space filler.

The next course also could be termed a salad.  It was definitely a vegetable dish in any case, but it was very interesting.  It was Roasted String Beans with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Roasted Red Onions, and Summer Truffles.  Dishes served with truffle oil frequently have a funky flavor from the truffle that overwhelms everything else.  Fresh truffles, on the other hand, have a much more subtle flavor while still providing the acrid truffle flavor.  The beans were crisp and crunchy, the onions and mushrooms were tender and flavorful, and the truffles were plentiful.

Our first entree was a pasta dish.  It was a pasta that I had never heard of, Maltagliati, which is similar to an unevenly cut Pappardelle, which was served with Roasted Sungold Tomatoes and Edible Marigolds.  If this wasn't enough, it was spiced with Nutmeg.  I liked this a lot.  It was tender with a lot of flavor.  The marigold had a floral flavor without being flowery and tomatoes always go well with pasta.  The nutmeg added an interesting spicy twist at the end.

Our final savory dish was a favorite favorite of mine because I enjoy pork belly in any incarnation.  We were served Crispy Slow Cooked Pork Belly with N'Duja (a spreadable salami which was actually turned into a sauce) and Grilled Broccoli.  The pork belly had a crispy outer crust and an inner texture and sweet flavor similar to a well cooked ham.  The N'Duja added a spicy tang similar to barbecue sauce, and the bitterness of the broccoli, which was amplified by being grilled, mellowed the sweetness of the dish.  It was nice, flavorful, and very good.

We finished things off with a Dark Chocolate Tart with Lavender, Blueberries, Almonds, and Anise Hyssop.  There were a lot of things to like about this.  I really like dark chocolate and this was seasoned with sea salt.  Lavender and blueberries are a great combination and these were combined as a marmalade-like sauce, and the anise hyssop, a wildflower in the mint family with an anise flavor was added to the whipped cream.  The tart was good on its own or in any of the several combinations in which it could be eaten.  I really enjoyed it and thought it made for a great finish.  I really enjoyed this dinner and will definitely have to try things out on my own.