The Eat in Season Challenge
Faithful readers of this blog know that when it comes to locavores, I love the concept and hate the word. It's sounds vaguely unpleasant, like tourists who devour local people. But that's just me. Like I say, I love the concept, and I love the fact that Slow Food Baltimore has convinced a number of restaurants to prepare a whole menu based entirely on ingredients that are locally sourced, in season or traditionally preserved. ...
I'm sure the group would like to get more restaurants involved, but right now there are eight. Each one is given one week a month. The line up is Watertable, May 19-26; Brass Elephant, June 17-22, Joe Squared Pizza, July 18-24; Donna's, Aug. 9-16; Gertrude's at the BMA, Sept. 16-21 (with apologies to pete); Chameleon Cafe, Oct. 11-18; Tapas Teatro, Nov. 8-15; and One World Cafe Dec. 8-15.
What I'd like to do is post a reminder before each week, and then hope some of you try it out and post a mini-review. I'll try to find out what's on each menu closer to the actual week.
I heard from Federal Hill Jim recently that he'd had a good locally sourced meal at Watertable, so maybe he could give us a preview from his experience.
(Photo courtesy of Slow Food Baltimore Web site)
Comments
We had an excellent dinner at Watertable a couple of weeks ago. It was specifically for the local Slow Foods organization. Every dish was a winner. The menu:
Gunpowder Bison Carpaccio with Chapel Country Cheddar; Marvesta Shrimp Ravioli with South Mountain Creamery butter sauce; Grilled Springfield Farms Chicken over wilted spinach salad with M&M Butcher's bacon; Grilled Roseda Beef; and Phyllo-Baked Firefly Farm Goat Cheese with strawberry and rhubarb sauce. Wines were local too. Yes, the shrimp were local, farmed on the Eastern Shore. Price was $65 all inclusive and worth every penny.
We will surely be back in two weeks.
Posted by: Federal Hill Jim | May 3, 2008 1:00 PM
I just looked at the SlowFood Baltimore website, and I noticed that their meet-up is at the Golden West.
Ahhh, the Golden West. I don't know if the group will get slowfood there, but they will definately get slow service
Posted by: Robert of Cross Keys | May 4, 2008 8:15 PM
This post immediately brought to mind Joel Stein's hysterical editorial where he challenged the locavore concept by NOT eating anything grown within 3,000 miles of where he lives. Here's Extreme Eating for anyone up for a different point of view:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1702353,00.html
Posted by: SGI | May 5, 2008 7:47 AM
FH Jim, I'm so glad you mentioned Gunpowder bison. It's the ultimate healthy meat, and I love that we can get it locally.
Posted by: Dottie | May 5, 2008 9:38 AM
SGI, thank you for sharing the editorial.
Posted by: Robert (the Single One) | May 5, 2008 11:26 AM
SGI--thanks for the link to the Joel Stein piece. Hysterical! Had to send it off to some friends--though not to the ones who might be humor-challenged about it.
Posted by: chez G | May 5, 2008 11:48 AM
Hmmm..the only other place I've seen the word locavores is SeriousEats.com. Oh and Robert...DITTO about Golden West. My clothes went out of style waiting for an order there recently.
Posted by: Richard Crystal, Baltimore | May 5, 2008 12:50 PM
Richard Crystal said: the only other place I've seen the word locavores is SeriousEats.com
Well, then you're obviously not wasting enough of your time on food websites. The word seems to be becoming rather ubiquitous.
Posted by: Hal Laurent, VoR | May 5, 2008 2:55 PM
Yes, Golden West has their sloooow food reputation fully entrenched--some friends and I were in that area last night and wanted to get something to eat before indulging in a second viewing of Shine a Light, and we all quickly agreed that Golden West was out because we'd never get served in time. We opted instead to get carryout at No.1 Chinese; we then had a No.1 tailgater picnic in the parking lot of the Rotunda. It was a beautiful evening and we pretty much had the parking lot to ourselves. A sweet memory for when that hillside turns into megagarage, etc.
Posted by: chez G | May 5, 2008 4:05 PM
Wasn't locavore THE word of the year last year on somebody's list?
Posted by: Dahlink | May 5, 2008 5:13 PM
Baltimore Eats just did a story on the Eat In Season Challenge. Just picked it up in Whole Foods today. looking forward to hearing more about this and trying the local flavor! If you get a copy, read their article. Quite a great idea!
Posted by: likin it | May 7, 2008 10:33 PM