2019 was not a good year for me. Even food-wise, I think it was a bit lackluster. Not for trying though...Mr Minx and I ate most Saturday dinners in one or another of our favorite restaurants. Though we had lots of good food, little of it was truly impressive.

Rather than go through posts by month, I'm grouping these by area. The first few items were eaten in New York, and the rest in the Baltimore area.

I love Korean galbi (thinly sliced bone-in short rib, marinated and grilled) and was surprised by the version served at Samwon Garden in NY. Rather than the somewhat chewy Korean-style cut, these ribs were western style and had been braised to fork-tenderness. So delicious.

Pretty much everything we ate at Don Angie was great, but my favorite dish was the tonnato vitello, a cold dish of spicy veal tartare flavored with bits of celery, topped with a veil-like slice of tuna crudo. The flavors and textures were marvelous. Somehow it didn't even seem like we were eating a dish of chilled raw meat covered with more chilled raw meat.

At White Bear, a little hole in the wall on Prince Street, we had the crowd favorite #6 dumplings, chili oil wontons. (Literally every customer that came in after us, along with the three already waiting for their food, ordered this dish.) With just the right amount of heat, these tender and juicy dumplings were a good introduction to our dumpling tour of Flushing.

Even better were the lamb and carrot dumplings in the New World Mall. I can't even describe how tasty these plump morsels were. They were seasoned so well, they didn't need any sauce at all.

My new favorite breakfast spot in Manhattan is Pondicheri Cafe. The saag and egg toast can beat the pants off avocado toast any day, even if the accompanying kale salad tends to get stuck in my teeth. The sourdough bread, well-toasted and buttered before being topped with spicy spinach sauce and a perfect sunny-side-up egg, is alone worth the price of admission.

Back in Baltimore....

We dined at Cosima twice this year. I cashed in my OpenTable dining points for a gift card to Cosima, and we used it in March. I am never disappointed in their pizza cape sante e pancetta. In fact, it might be my favorite pizza in town.

One of the many reasons 2019 sucked so badly was the demise of Grace Garden. I've eaten there dozens of times over the years and blogged about the place ad nauseum. It was my favorite restaurant. And the crispy eggplant, which was crunchy, soft, sweet, and spicy all at the same time, was one of my favorite dishes.

Another favorite (though maybe I shouldn't use that word--it's bad luck) place is Hersh's, where the pizza is always close to perfection, with a thin blistered crust and flavorful (and often unusual) toppings. We only got there once this year, but we were not disappointed.

We also found ourselves at R&R Taqueria in Perry Hall an awful lot. It was one place that we knew my Dad would enjoy. In fact, his last meal outside of the hospital before he passed in November was at R&R. He loved the spicy tacos, like the chicken tinga, and he always added extra hot sauce, always remarking on the heat factor but never breaking a sweat. Me, I enjoy the tacos, but when I tried their fluffy tamales bathed in a not-too-spicy mole sauce, I fell in love.

We had quite a feast at Sullivan's steak house in 2019. Though the steak was well-cooked and tasty, I really enjoyed the decadent white cheddar and bacon au gratin potatoes. I'm not a potato person, but I thought about this dish a lot this year.

La Cuchara has the best happy hour in Baltimore. Hands down. Argue with me if you will, but it's a fight you cannot win. Who else serves generous pours of very good wine for $5 and offers half price appetizers? And I don't mean chicken fingers and onion rings. I mean these scallops. Three fat beauties, perfectly seared and still a tad raw on the inside are already a bargain at $15 if you order them while sitting anywhere other than the bar at a time other than 5-7pm or 9pm-closing (or all evening on Sunday). During Happy Hour, they are $7.50. Three scallops anywhere else will cost nearly $30. Let's go over that again. If you eat at the bar anytime between opening and closing, except between 7pm and 9pm, you can get all primeros and pinxtos for half price. Recently, Mr Minx and I had 4 glasses of wine, generous plates of lamb meatballs, shrimp with preserved lemons, and roasted carrots with chanterelle mushroom puree, plus two orders of cheese and potato croquettes, for $52. On a Monday night. Beat that.

I can eat the lemony calamari alla plancha from Birroteca all day and not get sick of it. Always a favorite. I need to give a shout-out to restaurant owner Robbin Haas, who also passed away this year. He was a good guy.

Then there was Fogo de Chao. We got to eat there twice this year, on their dime, and we were amazed at how good everything was. We used to frequent a churrascaria in Rockville called Greenfields. They were good, but Fogo blows them out of the water. (They're closed anyway.) Every cut of meat that we tried at Fogo was juicy and perfectly seasoned. The pork ribs were a favorite, but all the varieties of beef were impressive too. Can't wait to go back. I'd even pay for my own food.

Fogo also served my favorite dessert of the year, a warm creme de coconut served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a flurry of lime zest.

Last, but not least, was the pork belly tostada from La Food Marketa. Big-ass slabs of juicy and super porky pork belly on top of a thin and crispy round of fried masa. What else does one need? I'm also a fan of their octopus, which I ate at least twice last year, and pretty much everything else on the menu. That goes for Chad Gauss' other restaurant, The Food Market, as well.

I'm sure there were other tasty things eaten last year that I've forgotten to mention. But also a lot of mediocre stuff. Here's hoping that 2020 is at least as good as 2019 and hopefully a lot better, cuisine-wise and with everything else.

Check out next week's post, which will feature some of the best things I cooked at home.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Every year we compile a list of what we felt were the best dishes of the year, both at home and in restaurants. These are completely subjective, of course - it's what tasted most delicious to our palates. First up: the best of restaurant dishes. They are in order of posting, starting, of course, with January.

January


This rockfish dish at Waterfront Kitchen came with a plethora of carrots, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

February

A dinner at the Food Market's Private Kitchen included these succulent lamb chops, which we were happy to eat with our fingers in order to get every morsel of meat from the bones.

March

I indulged in a rather extravagant multi-course Korean meal at Gaonnuri in NY early last year. My favorite course was the kalbi, or short ribs, easily the best I've ever eaten. The bibimbap was pretty delicious, too.

Mr Minx and I had a great meal at Seasons 52. We enjoyed every course, but I think the sea bass with black rice was my favorite. Honestly, it was hard to choose.

April


Another tasty sea bass dish was had at the Rusty Scupper during an introduction to their Spring menu. Mr Minx also had blue crab ravioli that hit the spot.

May

Lamb shoulder isn't the first thing one thinks about when one considers chiles rellenos, but Chef Mike Ransom's lamb-stuffed chile in an ancho bbq sauce was among the best dishes at a B & O American Brasserie dinner where everything was pretty wonderful.

June

We went to a media preview of Gnocco in the spring, and honestly, there wasn't a bad dish in the house. The agnolotti with goat cheese, chanterelles, and hazelnuts was probably my favorite, though.

July
I'd never think I'd include a kale dish in a "best of" post, but here it is. The kale chaat from Sneha Indian Cuisine is an odd hodgepodge of crispy fried kale and a sweet tamarind yogurt sauce, and it was both unusual (not a classic "chaat" dish at all) and delicious.

September

In September, Mr Minx wrote about the best pizza we had all year - the cape sante di pancetta at Cosima. Topped with smoked baby scallops, smoked mozzarella, basil, caramelized bacon, and tiny whole onions, the pizza was fabulously unusual and unusually fabulous. The whole meal was excellent, but we gotta go back for this pizza.

October

It's hard to pick our favorite dish at Points South Latin Kitchen. Everything was marvelous, including this slab of meltingly tender short rib braised in a sauce containing bittersweet chocolate. The pork belly chicharrones and the evening's duck special were also amazing. One of the top meals of 2016.

November

Is it weird to have a salad on the best of list? This one,.the Fall Harvest Salad at the newly remodeled Milton Inn had mixed greens, maple vinaigrette, roasted butternut squash, feta cheese, and pistachio nuts and totally hit all the right spots.

B&O American Brasserie has yet another new chef, this time it's Scott Hines, who had been their executive sous chef for a while prior to his promotion. We love Scott - he's a great chef and a good guy, and always willing to help us out with recipes. He contributed several to our latest book, Maryland's Chesapeake. He's come up with some delicious dishes for the B&O's dinner menu, among them is this house-made pappardelle with veal sugo and an unexpected orange and marjoram gremolata. Another dish we need to have more of before the season ends and it comes off the menu. His oxtail marmalade and lamb dishes are notable as well.

December

We were invited to Charles Levine's new restaurant at Quarry Lake, Citron, where we had a lovely meal. There were many high points, the highest of which may have been this lobster bisque. Redolent of shellfish broth and containing two butter-poached claws, it is last-meal-worthy.

That's it for 2016. Not a good year in many respects, but not bad at all when it comes to restaurant food. Still, we can hope that 2017 is even better!



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When we went to Points South Latin Kitchen last winter for a media tasting, we didn't get any decent pictures to post. We've been looking for an opportunity to go back, order a large meal, and get plenty of nice photos, so we figured the Dining Out for Life event might be the best time to do it. Points South was donating 25% of that evening's receipts to Moveable Feast, a charity that delivers meals to people living with AIDS/HIV, cancer, or other life-threatening illnesses. We brought along Minxbro and Minxdad to help us drive up the bill as high as possible for a good cause.

Since the weather was mild, we took an outside table and enjoyed the hustle bustle on Thames Street while we shared a pitcher of red sangria. Since so many of the small plate items sounded intriguing, we decided to try five, the first being the shrimp ceviche. Bright and refreshing, the shrimp were dressed with salad spread across a bed of avocado.

We had eaten the carimanolas, or yucca croquettes, at the media tasting and wanted to have them again. Lightly crisp on the outside and creamy smooth on the inside, the croquettes have the added bonus of a beef filling. It's almost like a mini shepherd's pie with the yucca standing in for potatoes, but yucca has its own flavor and texture. An avocado crema is provided for dipping, adding a nice touch of tang and richness.

Since we tend to order calamari everywhere we go, we thought we'd shake things up a bit and get the grilled octopus. The octopus was amazingly tender and the accompaniment of romesco, olives, and chili-dusted jicama made for a pleasant salad dressed in smoky achiote oil.

The pork belly had a crackling crust on the fat layer and unctuously tender meat, exactly the way pork belly should be served. In this case, I don't recall having any pork belly that was quite this good.

Minxdad has long insisted that he does not like lamb, but since the rest of us do, we decided to order the Denver lamb ribs while he was distracted with people watching. Smothered in a honey chipotle barbeque sauce and complimented with garlic chips, scallions, and creamy mojo, Minxdad gobbled down every bite of his rib and declared that he would've eaten the bone if he could. Only then did we reveal to him the true nature of the protein. He offered a sheepish shrug.

Duck confit was the special that day and, given how much we all love duck, we ordered it. The confit leg was meltingly soft, with a crisp skin, exactly as it should be. It was accompanied by a bit of medium rare duck breast, which was also tender and flavorful.The creamy potatoes and roasted root vegetables and squash made for a filling entree that hinted of the coming fall season.

We finished with the beef short ribs braised in bittersweet chocolate sauce. Fork tender and infused with the spicy chocolate flavor, the ribs were my favorite dish of the evening. I could've devoured the whole dish on my own, but I'm sure I would've had a fight on my hands had I tried.

As the late summer sun disappeared behind the buildings, we felt quite full and satisfied. Not only did we have a great meal, but we were supporting a great cause. We have to make sure we don't wait another nine months to return.

Points South Latin Kitchen
1640 Thames St.
Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: (443) 563-2018



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When Baltimoreans of a certain age hear the words "Cinnamon Tree," they think of brunch. At least we do. The Cinnamon Tree restaurant at the Hunt Valley Inn, once famous for its lavish brunch, has been around forever, and...it still is. Marriott no longer owns the facility; new owners, the Laurus Company, have turned the hotel into a Wyndham Grand and sunk some serious money into renovating the entire place.

Northern Baltimore County is horse country, so of course there's a horse theme at play in the decor. It's pretty subtle though - no hunter greens or plaids to be seen anywhere. Instead, the hotel is decorated in soothing neutrals, lots of browns, grays, black, and white, with a horse sculpture here and there. The Cinnamon Tree, too, is done up in neutral shades, with interesting lamps and chandeliers to catch the eye. We appreciate the carpet and padded seats, which will absorb the noise that 100+ people eating brunch can make.

While that signature brunch is held on both Saturday and Sunday, we came in for dinner one evening. We started the meal with two of their race-themed cocktails, the whisky-based Belmont and the vodka-based Black-Eyed Susan (official drink of the Preakness!). Mr Minx had originally ordered a Mint Julep, but the bar had run out of mint. Partway through our meal, mint had been obtained and two juleps were brought to our table. All three drinks were generously sized and quite tasty.

We started off our meal with a creamy she-crab soup with a pronounced sherry flavor and a decent amount of crab lumps. Think cream of crab, but without that soup's normal overly-thick quality.

We also tried the crab and corn fondue, which while thicker than a fondue and meant to be a spread rather than a dip, it had the customary Swiss cheese flavors, but with crab and corn added. Both the soup and fondue came with crusty garlic crostini, which were also delicious on their own.

We shared a classic wedge salad, which was light and refreshing with just the right amounts of bleu cheese dressing and bacon bits.

For our entrees, Mr Minx enjoyed the beef short ribs in a rich cabernet sauce...

...while I had the crab cakes with bearnaise sauce. Both dishes came with a slab of what the menu calls au gratin potatoes, but is actually a very rich potato pavé loaded with cream and butter, and sauteed asparagus and grape tomatoes.

We were quite full, but couldn't turn down the desserts that chef Patrick D'Costa himself brought to the table: a creamy almond cheesecake with a sturdy butterscotch-flavored crust, and a rich key lime pie. Both made in house, both delicious, both taken home in doggie bags to be enjoyed when we had some room to appreciate them.

It's nice to see an old classic being reborn like the Cinnamon Tree. Even the famed cinnamon tree sculpture itself, once a fixture of the dining room, will be given new life in the form of a waterproofing treatment and a new home in the courtyard of the hotel, visible through the restaurant's large windows.

Other dining establishments at the Hunt Valley Inn include the Polo Bar, on the other side of the lobby from the Cinnamon Tree. This cozy bar serves tapas like flatbreads and empanadas. Cafe 245 offers Starbucks coffee and light bites like pastries, sandwiches, and salads. And later in the year the Black Horse Pub will open, serving casual fare.





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The Hampden storefront that now houses Le Garage has a curious history. Located in approximately the center of "The Avenue," it has a great location, free parking around back, and has been occupied by some pretty good restaurants. Years ago, it was Mamie's with it's kitschy diner/neighborhood restaurant vibe and the cheap lobsters on Wednesdays. More recently, it was The Dogwood, a more upscale but casual establishment with great food and a substantial bar. For different reasons, neither restaurant survived and the prime real estate stayed unused for a while. Now it's Le Garage and the buzz about the place is largely positive. After putting off a visit for some time, the Minx and I decided to use Restaurant Week as a perfect excuse to check the place out.

The decor is a bit more rustic and utilitarian than The Dogwood was, but the giant bar is still in place. Shelving units cleverly divide the bar area from the dining room. Our enthusiastic waitress got down to business right away by asking if we wanted cocktails. I went for the Union Double Duckpin on draft and, since it was crazy cold that night, the Minx ordered the hot buttered rye. Double Duckpin is a pleasantly floral double IPA, light on the bitterness. I'm not a fan of hot alcoholic drinks, but the Minx loved her drink's combination of rye and spiced compound butter.

Since Le Garage is known for their Belgian-style frites, we had to order some. The thick-cut potatoes are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, as good frites should be. A selection of sauces are available to go with them, so we chose the chili ginger aioli. Happily, the sauce was garlicky, as aioli should be, and the spicy kick from the chili and ginger lightened the flavor of the thick fries.

For my appetizer, I ordered the octopus escabeche. The small octopi were tender, but had more texture than flavor. The tangy lime dressing was a bit overwhelming, and while the dish was visually appealing, celery shavings and watermelon radish didn't really add much, flavor-wise to the dish. The Minx thought the mini fruit salad under everything (blackberries and raspberries) was just plain weird. Larger, meatier, octopus would probably work much better in this dish.

The Minx fared somewhat better with her crispy pork belly, but not entirely. The pork belly was a little too crisp on the outside, as if it had been deep fried, and the dish needed a sweet element to balance all the rest of the tart and salty elements on the plate. The dark crumbly substance was "olive candy," which seemed to be dehydrated olives; it was briny and didn't have any sort of candied element, at least not to our tastebuds. The dish was lacking balance.

For her entree, The  Minx's chose the mussels in a ginger miso broth. We were surprised to find that they also came with frites, as it was not mentioned on the restaurant week menu, but we were happy to take leftovers home. The mussels were the biggest we had ever seen (some bordering on obscene) and the broth was rich and flavorful. The dish well exceeded our expectations and we'd happily order it again.

I went for the short ribs with fingerling potatoes cooked in beef fat, malted onions, and a cauliflower puree. The meat was appropriately tender and splayed nicely as my fork cut through it. While the meat perhaps was a bit less fatty than expected, the richness of the potatoes and the onions provided plenty of unctuousness.

I was going to order the croissant bread pudding for dessert, but The Minx beat me to it. Soaked in salted caramel and topped with a scoop of Taharka Brothers honey graham ice cream, this decadently rich dessert was surprisingly not too sweet. So comforting and flavorful, you just want to keep eating even as you feel your arteries clogging. It's definitely big enough to share, so share we did.

Since I had to go to dessert plan B, I opted for the goat cheese cake. There was no denying the tangy goat cheese flavor and the marmalade drizzle provided a subtle compliment of sweetness. The poached pear was also appealingly sweet. While the menu promised an almond crust, the reality was phyllo that seemed to have been in the fridge for a bit too long, making it nearly impossible to cut with the provided spoon. Still, the overall flavors were good.



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