al Sospiro Trattoria Romana - Olney, Maryland

al Sospiro Trattoria is a cozy little Italian restaurant in Olney that offers only dinner service.

Since it's located on a busy road (Georgia Ave) we thought it would be easy to find. But we almost passed the entrance because of the small awning sign.


Once inside, there is a small upstairs dining room where we were directed by a sign to go downstairs to the main dinning room.

Upstairs dinning room 

Downstairs main dining room 

The main dining room was minimally but tastefully decorated with Italian stones, tiles and ceramics.

Shortly after we arrived, we were served a basket of warm bread and oil.  Both were disappointing.  The oil was tasteless - had no hint of a spice or garlic. The bread spongy.



Next we ordered four appetizers to share.

 Mussels in White Wine and Garlic Sauce
The mussels were soft and cooked to
perfection and the garlicky sauce, thin 
but very flavorful. 

Eggplant Parmesan appetizer - Although this had an awesome presentation and extremely fresh mozzarella, it was too cheesy for my taste. I would have preferred more eggplant and less cheese. Plus, I missed the tomato sauce of a traditional eggplant parmesan. 

                                                                                 

Organic field greens with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I still prefer a tossed salad to a lettuce wedge salad but the delicious dressing was worth ordering the dish again.  

Beef tenderloin meatballs in tomato sauce appetizer.  Being Italian we've tasted our share of meatballs.  I have to say this is one of the best. Although they were small in size, the soft and smooth texture of the meat was delicate with tiny hints of spices and garlic.  

The main dishes were impressive.  My father ordered large shrimps, calamari, mussels and clams over linguini in a light spicy marinara sauce. He liked that the sauce had a bit of a kick that didn't overpower the tomato taste.  The dish was chuck full of seafood and pasta - both were cooked just right.  

I ordered the grilled beef tenderloin with sautéed onions and roasted potatoes.  It was amazing! The sweet onions coupled with the tender, flavorful meat made this dish. 

Thomas ordered the chicken breasts in white wine and red bell peppers with a side of 
roasted potatoes. The meat was carefully seared on the outside but juicy and 
tender on the inside. Complimented by the sweet peppers and 
the savory potatoes, this is a winner. 

My mom ordered the peppercorn pan seared tuna with zucchini. She normally doesn't order tuna because she said it is easy to overcook and can be dry. This dish didn't disappoint.  The meat was moist and lightly seasoned so that the flavor of the fish shined.

grilled zucchini 

Definitely try al Sospiro for authentic Italian food. We were seated right away because we got there just when dinner started but it's a small place so you may have to wait for a table if it's crowded.

al Sospiro Trattoria Romana
18035 Georgia Avenue
Olney, MD 20832
301-570-3185

- Charles
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Classic Cheesecake for Thanksgiving - Foodnetwork.com recipe

It's Thanksgiving and we have many things to be grateful for. 

Last week, we were voted the 4th top food blog in the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies competition. Thank you to everyone who voted for us! 

This week we're celebrating the holiday with family and friends. Our family Thanksgiving tradition is to create a large homemade dessert table filled with a crazy amount of different types of sweets. 

So we decided to contribute a homemade dessert. We found a recipe for Classic Cheesecake
(our favorite dessert!) on FoodNetwork.com -  http://bit.ly/FNCheeseCake

Classic Cheesecake - Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com 

Cutting butter in small pieces to melt in a pan or microwave 

Make the grahams crackers crumbs  

Beating the mixture of eggs, vanilla, sugar, cream cheese,

lemon zest, orange zest, and sour cream. 

 Mix the remaining butter with graham cracker crumbs, sugar and a pinch of salt until it's well mixed and crumbly. Then press the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of the springform pan.  Bake and cool. 

Crack and beat six eggs

Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan. Then wrap the bottom and sides in tin foil

Pour hot water around the cheesecake. Careful when you put the roasting pan in or out of the oven - the water surrounding the cheesecake pan makes it very heavy















Charles putting the sour cream topping on the cheesecake to bake another 5 minutes

The final product!  The house smelled fantastic - hints of sweet vanilla and  cream cheese filled the air. 

Viola! Here is the outcome of all that work, a perfect classic cheesecake with sour cream and fresh berry toppings.

Check out this Classic Cheesecake from FoodNetwork.com here or find other Thanksgiving FoodNetwork.com recipes here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

- Thomas

hocofood@@@

Gadsby's Bar American - Columbia, Maryland

Gadsby's Chef Robert Gadsby featured in southernliving.com (at Bedford, his former Huston, Texas restaurant) 

Open kitchen 

This weekend, HowChow wrote about his visit to the new Gadsby's Bar American (located in the former Greystone Grill), so my family thought we'd give it a try too. 

We were literally the only people in the restaurant for a late Sunday lunch.  Since it was their first weekend lunch service and the word is still getting out about the new restaurant, we know this will be the last time we don't need a reservation. The restaurant is soon going to be stuffed with hungry customers.

The decor is still all Greystone Grill (including the sign outside), but it was always a cool, modern restaurant. Check out the open kitchen and large stone water fountain. 

What's changed?  The lunch menu is all Gadsby's  - soon to be followed by the dinner menu after the holidays. 

Although there were plenty of places to sit - 2 large dinning rooms - we choose the bar area to watch the Raven's game on a big flat screen TV. 

We each decided to try a different sandwich on the menu, which all came with a side of Idaho fries.

Thomas ordered the Herbed Chicken - grilled chicken, roasted peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper Jack mayo on a sesame seed bun. At Thomas's request the server put the avocado on the side. He didn't think he would like the roasted peppers but they added a sweet touch to the grilled chicken. The lettuce was cold romaine - just the way he likes it crisp and plentiful.

Herbed Chicken

 













I ordered the Smoked Turkey - grilled smoked turkey breast, honey mustard, lettuce and tomatoes. The honey mustard sauce was the bomb - the sweet and savory sauce complimented the smokey flavors in turkey. I only wish the honey mustard sauce was a little thicker.

Smoked Turkey

My dad ordered the Pit Beef - roast beef, horse radish, onions, toasted bun and Idaho fries. He doesn't normally order this type of sandwich, but he was glad he did. He said "the tender and well seasoned meat combined with the horse radish dressing was interesting and delicious."

Pit Beef

Texas Road Side Burger 

My mom couldn't decide between the "V" Burger  (eggplant, mushrooms, dirty rice, kale, tomatoes, and BBQ sauce)  or the Texas Road Side Burger (black angus beef, onion marmalade, honey glazed bacon, lettuce and tomatoes). She choose the latter and wasn't disappointed. She said it is now one of her top 10 favorite burgers. The honey glazed bacon was the deal breaker.

After we finished our meal, we met Chef Robert Gadsby, the former kick-boxer turned world-class & celebrity chef and Food Network's American Iron Chef competitor, who is a very cool dude in his own right. This British-born chef, has traveled the globe and studied cooking under some of the world's top chefs.

We had a really nice conversation about food with him. He told us about an experience he had with singer Stevie Wonder when the celebrity interviewed him to cook for a big party he was hosting after an awards show. During the interview taste tasting,  Stevie was able to correctly identify all the  ingredients in the food the chef prepared - and express how the tastes complimented each other.

He told us the encounter changed the way he cooked. The chef focused his cooking "as if people were eating food with their sense of taste first." This meant adding "depth of flavor" but only subtle hints that would not overpower the main ingredient's natural flavors.

Right after he told us the Stevie Wonder story, Chef Gadsby invited us to come back for a taste testing of some of his new creations.  What a lunch!!! We can't wait to go back. Stay tuned for another Gadsby's Bar American post soon.

Gadsby's Bar American - 8850 Columbia 100 Pkwy, Columbia, MD 21045, 410-715-4739.

 - Charles

 

This is BIG, really BIG!

By far, this has been the most exciting week since we started our blog over two years ago.

On October 31, Howard Magazine printed a four-page story about our 2 Dudes blog. Click here for the story. It includes pictures of us from a photo shoot at Lee Lynn's Restaurant (one of our favorites) and from our time as judges at the Howard County Iron Chef Competition.  Plus, the Howard Magazine reporter Cheryl Clemens was extremely nice and patient with us when she conducted our first big interview at our house.  

To top things off, our story appears in the magazine's Best of Dining 2013 publication which is one of their most popular and well read editions.

When it seemed like the week could not get any better, it did.

2 Dudes blog was nominated for a Mobbie (Maryland's Outstanding Blogs Award) in the Best Food Blog category.

  Guess who nominated us? None other than the veteran HoCo food blogger HowChow.  That's right, HowChow nominated us for a Mobbie award.  Mr. HowChow has been our long time supporter and "Blog"father.  He nominated us even though his own food blog is in the same category as ours.

 This just blew us away.  He definitely gets our vote for  the "Coolest Dude" award  - and we think he'll get (and deserves) a Mobbie award too.

Then our teacher Mrs. Doff, who follows our blog, wrote on our Facebook page that she voted for us.  And my school newspaper teacher Mr. VW, who has his own Rus VanWestervelt blog nominated for a Mobbie, voted for us. 

This has been a really crazy good week.  

We are very grateful for all the support we have gotten from our community, teachers, mentors,  family and readers. 

Voting for the Mobbies started this week and will continue until November 14.  Please consider voting for us, HowChow and our blogger friends such as Village Green/Town Squared, and  The Baltimore Diner. 

Click here to vote.

Check out a list of HoCo blogs here 

- Charles 

Halloween BOOrito - Chipotle restaurants nationwide

Here's an awesome Halloween deal. 

Run don't walk to your nearest Chipotle restaurant on Halloween, from 4 pm to close, for $3 meals - burrito, bowl, salad or tacos.  Yes, only $3.  But there's a catch. You have to be dressed in a costume. 

Here's even better news - ALL the proceeds for the Halloween promotion (up to a $1 million) will benefit the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. 

The Foundation funds initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming and culinary education. Chipotle has parented with some cool foundation for these intiatives such as Jamie Oliver, VeggieU, and Farm Aid.  

Here's Thomas and I on our 1st Halloween together. We are definitely stopping by our local Chipotle restaurant but don't worry we're not wearing these costumes. 

- Charles

hocofood@@@

Grilled Cheese and Co. - Catonsville, Maryland.

Who doesn't like a grilled Cheese sandwich, right? That's why we decided to try Grilled Cheese & Co. in Catonsville with our family.











The cool thing about the restaurant is that when you walk in, the menu is prominently painted on the wall.

The restaurant's interior consists of about nine small tables and a counter to place your orders. Although the inside of the restaurant is small, don't let it fool you.  Great things come out of the kitchen.

The ordering counter

Cream of tomato basil soup  

While there were soup and salad options, the majority of our family ordered the Grill Cheese and Co.  namesake that comes in more than 10 varieties including the Crabby Melt (the most popular), Smashed Meatballs, Blue Ox and Sweetest Thing.

However, my grandfather ordered a cup of the home-made cream of tomato basil soup as an appetizer. The soup was presented with a mountain of parmesan cheese and crouton toppings which made an excellent presentation. My grandfather liked the soup, especially the heavy hint of basil.

We ordered a variety of sandwiches, each one was a large portion and grilled to a light brown crisp.  

Veggie Delight 

The Fresco

My grandmother enjoyed the Fresco -  fresh mozzarella, provolone cheese, fire roasted red peppers, basil pesto & finished with balsamic glaze.

Kick'n BBQ Chicken 

White and sweet potato shoestring fries were 
terrific 

I'm a big fan of BBQ, so I tried the Kick'n BBQ
 chicken grilled cheese.  I didn't disappoint. All the
gooey goodness of the pepper jack cheese,
diced onions and sweet BBQ sauce. It was
Kick'n ...good.

Cordon Blue Swiss 

The veggie delight sandwich has havarti cheese with a medley of roasted veggies, olive tapenade finished with a rosemary black pepper aioli grilled up on harvest whole grain bread.

My mom said it was packed with flavor. She loved the way the  roasted veggies infused with the black pepper aioli.

Charles and my grandfather ordered the Cordon Bleu Swiss, smoked ham, swiss cheese & grilled chicken finished with dijon mustard sauce. This too was a clever combination that sent their taste buds on a one-way train to pleasure town. 

Grilled Cheese and Co. has three other locations - Federal Hill, Eldersburg, and Waugh Chapel. The parking lot in the Catonsville location mirrors the size of the restaurant, and it was hard for Charles, a new driver, to maneuver into a parking spot.

We'd definitely go back and try a few more grilled cheese sandwiches, especially their popular Crabby Melt.

- Thomas
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