Woodberry Kitchen, Bar Side

I've raved about Woodberry Kitchen on Grubarazzi before. With its eclectic eco-urban charm and great locavore food, it's one of the best restaurants in Baltimore. But I always make reservations weeks in advance to ensure a seat at an okay table with an above average view. That is, until I grabbed a seat at the bar on a whim with friends early one Saturday evening.

Call it luck. Call it perfect timing. We found three empty seats in a totally packed restaurant with a perfect view of the lively kitchen. WK is an entirely different experience sitting bar side, with handsome bartenders dressed up as hip urban farmers slinging perfectly measured and chilled cocktails in front of your eyes. It was magical watching them create one $12 cocktail after another with precision, grace, and the occasional taste test to ensure accuracy.

We went for one cocktail but stayed for three while we nibbled on One Straw Farm popcorn, deviled eggs,fancy roasted sprouts on toast, and gorgeous roasted beet flatbread. After we finally peeled ourselves away from our perfect little spot, we made our way to the fire pit outside. It was a beautiful but chilly night. The savvy waiter in charge of the hangers-on outside gave us a blanket to share, and coaxed us in to one more hot toddy by the fire. This was not hard to do since we weren't quite ready to say goodbye. Sure, we spent a small fortune for a few hours of luxurious imbibing, but Woodberry Kitchen is often worth its weight in gold.

Deviled Eggs, Sprout Bruschetta, Gov't Mule, and Roasted Beet Flatbread at WK

Grilled Asparagus Salad with Fried Quail Eggs

The Baltimore Farmer’s Market was beaming with pride as the stalls opened for the season on Sunday morning, and it has good reason to be prideful. It was recently voted #1 Farmer’s Market in the nation by Country Living. Since it was 7:00 am after a long night out I was appropriately armed with coffee, sun glasses, and hippy-ass reusable tote bags. Asparagus has been in the forefront of my thoughts since eating a memorably crisp asparagus salad at Woodberry Kitchen . When I saw a pile of garden-fresh spears I couldn’t resist getting a few bundles for the week as well as my fair share of blue kale, foraged mushrooms, spinach, organic quail eggs, ramps, and a multitude of other goodies. It is going to be a wonderfully food-filled week. Grilled Asparagus Salad with Fried Quail Eggs utilizes many of the seasonal ingredients I scored at the market. It’s only lightly seasoned to give the ingredients the stage. Fresh tarragon is laced throughout and the yolk from the gently fried

Bacon Guacamole

So, here's the thing. Bacon is so played out in the food world right now. We have bacon chocolate bars, bacon oil, bacon salt, bacon print band-aids, and bacon sundaes at Burger King. There is even a small restaurant in Austin, Texas called Bacon that serves, well, everything bacon (try the the bacon doughnut...just do it). Some truly sad souls people have a difficult time understanding why bacon should play such a leading role off the breakfast table. I say everything should taste like bacon. Bring it! Here is my small contribution to our over-saturated bacon kingdom, Bacon Guacamole . I actually shed a tear when I tasted this. You can thank me later... Bacon Guacamole Time in kitchen: 10 minutes Servings: 8 (2 T serving) Nutrition information per serving: 100 calories, 9 grams fat, 3 grams fiber, 2 grams protein, 4 carbs Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados the juice of 1/2 lime (or more to taste) 1 small garlic clove, grated 1 T fresh c

The Gathering: Baltimore's Food Truck Rally

Baltimore, with its big city grit and artistic underbelly, was destined to become an integral part of the Food Truck Nation. Over the last few years, gourmet food trucks have been popping up everywhere from LA to Austin, but mobile catering has been around since the beginning of times. Coupled with the weakened economy and people’s undying need for great street food, we find ourselves at a fortunate cross road. We can eat gourmet food on the street. Lucky us. Talented chefs and savvy business people are all getting with the trend. The newest generation of food trucks are classing it up and getting experimental with menu items like crab fries and Korean tacos. Baltimore’s food truck scene has grown over the last two years, and The Gathering propels the movement forward by forming a food truck rally that competes on a national scale. Lamb vindaloo? Check. Fish tacos? Check. Creamy soft serve and pretty cupcakes? Check. This all happens within a small city

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