December 29
What could be a better occasion than the conclusion of the 100 things every foodie should do in Baltimore than dinner at the Charleston? Thank you to Mo, Donya and Gautam for joining us for this supper special dinner!
Our evening began with a wonderful greeting from the staff who knew exactly why we were there and seemed excited to see us! (at least they asked all the right questions and made us feel really good about completing the challenge here!) They even knew of our visit with Tony Foreman the week before (see last week's blog for more info on one of our funnier stops along the way- #42)
We sat at the table and were very well taken care of by Brian who we later discovered was the assistant sommelier. He was very familiar with the list and asked one of the more insightful questions - did we get to talk to Rob about wine before he left town (#54 on the list). We hadn't - substituted Tim instead. He graciously offered that he might be able to get him on the phone for us which Sara immediately said, we'd love that! (he never did, but it was still a fantastic offer)
I guess we really should talk about the food here. And, as expected, it was a phenomenal meal. We did kick it off with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, because we were celebrating (and it must be champagne, Tony only serves champagne, no cava or prosecco). It was so good that maybe he is right about cava, but we are really not ready to admit that yet. Sara chose to follow the list verbatim and let Cindy Wolf choose what she thought was best that night (don't think she was actually in the restaurant but you never know). And, that didn't disappoint. My first course was tuna tartare which was good but the real star of the meal was a lobster curry soup that came second. Too yummy. This was followed by turbot (which was fantastic because I really thought I didn't like turbot but would apprarently like anything that the Charleston cooks!). The fourth course was salmon - cooked perfectly. Heather ordered perfectly - started with an incredible artichoke reggiano soup with arugula oil drizzled on top, followed by the aforementioned tuna tartare then the stunning chanterelle mushroom atop a grit/polenta cake with goat cheese puree (this description is not doing it justice, it was the most amazing combination of flavors, textures - perfect) it out shone the salmon which was the last course. We all did the wine pairing which was an adventure in glassware!
The glass really does make a difference. Brian brought out a glass of pinot noir in two different glasses. They do all really talk to each other, this was because of a conversation we had last week at Cinghiale. Apparently there was much discussion on which type of glass to serve our barbera d'alba. Brian proved that the glass can make the wine taste differently - it even smells different in different glasses!
We ended the meal with after dinner cocktails that were phenomenal. You really can tell the difference with a top end, old port (thank you Mo for giving us a small sip of heaven! - and Gautam's was excellent too). Definitely worth the splurge.
All in all a perfect way to end the perfect challenge (eh - maybe not perfect i.e. the softshell crab on white bread & fried green pepper rings)! But definitely an amazing year with fabulous food, drinks and friends! Thanks for the journey and many, many lasting memories. Bon appetit and cheers!
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