A gem in central Maryland...

 

I'm currently working in central Maryland, and staying in Frederick, MD.  It's a lovely little town and boasts some great eats!  Tonight I had the chef's tasting menu at Bryan Voltaggio's restaurant, Volt.  It was so good that I had to blog about it and post some pics.  For those who watch the show Top Chef, Voltaggio was the runner up in season six, placing second to his brother Michael.  The food was absolutely delicious!  Every plate was a fabulously complex blend of complimentary flavors.  If you're ever in central Maryland, it's a MUST!

 

Here are some pics of the town and my entire meal...



 

There is a small waterway that runs through the middle of town with several cool walking bridges.

A duck in the waterway.

Pretty church on a side street.

This place offers ghost tours and witchy souvenirs.

 

 

This is the exterior of Bryan Voltaggio's restaurant, Volt, on Market St. (the main thoroughfare in Frederick)

 

They have a formal dining area, a patio, and these tables in the kitchen where you can watch the chefs in action.

This plate is a "welcome" from the chef.  From left to right - a beet macaroon filled with fois gras mousse, beef tartare on a broccoli gratin with a truffle cream, and a fried pickled ramp with tomato coulis.  All delicious, but the macaroon was, literally, melt-in-your-mouth fabulous.

This is a beet salad with mulberries, a homemade cocoa "soil," and Greek yogurt frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Morel mushrooms with steel cut oats in kombu and brown butter, sea lettuces, pickled ramps, and an emulsion of beer and fresh yeast.

Arctic char over wilted green cabbage and wild mustard leaf, turnips, and a Spanish sherry and chorizo vinaigrette with pickled mustard seeds and green apple juice.

Corn dumplings with fish pepper, charred leeks, fava beans, gulf blue crab, and purslane.  This was one of the BEST things I've ever put in my mouth! 

Katahdin lamb braised with barley roasted in the drippings, lamb loin slowly cooked and basted with rosemary and garlic, fresh chickpeas, flash-fried kale, and a sauce finished with juniper and laurel.

Ruby beet sorbet with roasted sunflower seed granola, cocoa, goat’s milk powder, and scattered petals of wild violets

 

A finishing plate of petit fours.

And finally, a coffee cake gift to take home.