I went out to SALT last night with some new friends who are also foodies.
This is a small bistro-style restaurant near Patterson Park in central Baltimore. It has a sterling reputation and friends of mine are doing their Web site and so it has been on my short list to visit for a while.
First, let me say that I don't think it's the place for a romantic evening with your lover. Just way too noisy - though I suspect that this may depend a bit on the clientele for the evening. The bar doesn't stock Absolut - that seems a bit of a miss to me but not enough to really lower my estimation of the place.
I had a Ketel one martini to start the evening (it's been a very tough last week or two) and the bartender made it a healthy pour. When my friends arrived we took a table in the center of the main dining area and ordered a selection of three of the appetizers: a Kobe beef empenada, an order of French fries cooked in a duck confit, and a "Napoleon" of lime-encrusted shrimp over guacamole.
I would be quibbling if I said that these dishes might have been improved. Perhaps if it was a Michelin 1-star, I would have said there was room for improvement but given that this is a tiny restaurant in an American city it was a sterling selection of appetizers. They were tastefully presented and I found the orange marmalade drizzle with the empanada a very thoughtful and tasty approach. The "duck fries" were light, hot, and tasty and accompanied by three interesting dips (white truffle, chipotle and orange mango aioli). All were good, but we polished off the chipotle first.
Main course for me was seared tuna with spicy tuna pot stickers on the side. Here might be my only substantive criticism of the evening.. It was a very big piece of tuna. To most people raised in this country, this would be a very foreign concept "Your meal was too big? Are you crazy?". It was certainly value for money - I would estimate the seared tuna (it was encrusted with salt and pepper) steak to be about 10-11 ounces. Really, really big. It took me a while to finish it. But it was perfectly done - we had said "chef's recommendation" which generally means quite rare for this dish. No complaints at all about the quality of the fish or the presentation.
I would have wished for a Gewurtz or maybe a dry Semillion Blanc on the menu but we settled for a decent Riesling. Dessert was a molten chocolate cake topped with a bit of whipped cream and dressed with a little strawberry sauce. Quite nice, quite rich, quite large.
All in all, the best meal I've had since I moved to Baltimore. I had not, to this point, really explored the culinary scene here because I was expecting to do so with friends (it's not much fun dining alone). Well, I finally have a couple of friends who want to do this sort of thing and I'm hoping that the next few months will be a journey through Baltimore's best restaurants.
If there are a few more like this, I could definitely be encouraged to stay here and make a life.
Posted by artandscience at July 19, 2006 07:06 AM