Shake Shack - Columbia, Maryland

Today, I was invited to a complimentary preview meal at Shake Shack, the newest restaurant at the Mall in Columbia. Located in the corner space formerly occupied by Champs, Shake Shack officially opens on Wednesday, December 20 at 11 a.m.  

The American eatery, known for its burgers and shakes, held this private event to introduce their menu to the community and as a fundraiser for Howard County's Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center: a nonprofit organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention programs and shelter and assistance for the homeless.

I met Grassroots board members
Wanda King (middle) and Carol Ann Smith (right)

 festive holiday lights above the ordering station

Shake Shack started in New York City as a Madison Square Park hot dog cart. As news spread about the cart, its popularity grew. In 2004, the company opened a permanent kiosk in the park and continued to expand its presence and menu. Today, there are over 150 restaurants worldwide - including the Columbia location.

The first thing that caught my eye when I walked into the Columbia store was the clean, industrial feel. With its high ceilings, stainless steel signage and floor to ceiling windows, the restaurant has a hip and modern vibe.

Visitors can view the menu on oversized menu boards located perpendicular to the order counter. Expect to find traditional burger joint items - five burger choices including a vegetarian option (portobello mushroom), a chicken sandwich, three hot dog choices and an array of shakes and frozen custards treats.

High ceiling and open space 

I ordered the ShackStack burger (cheeseburger and a ’shroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato, and shacksauce), crinkle cut french fries, and the salted caramel milkshake.

My mom ordered a ShackBurger (cheeseburger topped with tomato, lettuce, and shacksauce) and the Pie Oh My (vanilla custard atop a seasonal pie).

Shack Stack 

The Shack Stackburger is a combo of the 'shroom burger (a crisp-fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses) and a cheeseburger.

This burger has a lot going on. You can see from the picture how the cheese oozes on the patty and, when in tandem with the melted cheese from the portobello mushroom, provides a distinct gooey ecstasy of flavor that we all crave in our cheeseburgers. Even though the burger was a little messy due to the cheeses (the wrapping helped assuage this), rest assured that this burger is not greasy.

ShackBurger

My mother ordered the restaurant's staple item - the ShackBurger (but without cheese). It is similar to the Shack Stack except less ingredients. This is a classic. The simple taste of 100% all natural angus beef patty with salt, pepper and shack sauce (a mix of pickle brine, tomato, and mayo that is similar to a chipotle mayo) is perfection. The shack sauce makes this burger for me.

Fries

The fries were a hit with me and mom. Moderately salted, incredibly soft on the inside with a slight (cannot stress how minute this is) crisp on the exterior, and cooked to golden brown. Best part, I can taste the natural potato flavor and not grease. These are the true epitome of fantastic fries; I might even come back just for fries.

Apple Pie Oh My with custard

The Pie Oh My dessert, a seasonal pie topped with vanilla custard, was suggested by the cashier. My mom loves apple pie but was not crazy about this one. It was way more dough than apple by a 3:1 ratio. To make matters worse, the dough was hard to break with a spoon. The custard, likewise, was thick but not heavy on the vanilla flavor.

Salted caramel shake

The salted caramel shake was a knockout with me and my mom. The flavor was intense, equal parts salty and caramel with hints of other spices that we couldn't figure out, but just made it fantastic.

Me with Shack Shack area director Jon Parsonnet

Shake Shack is a great addition to the Howard County restaurant scene. Anyone hankering for American comfort food, this is your place. In addition, the store location next to the AMC movie theatre makes it a great pre or post movie meal.

Bravo Shake Shack for partnering with Grassroots to help our community.


- Thomas

Cafe Bonaparte - Georgetown, Washington D.C.

Cafe Bonaparte is a quaint cafe located on Wisconsion Avenue in Georgetown. It is known for its fabulous french items such as crepes, french toast and croque monsieurs. Click here to check out their menus for brunch (on weekends), breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Georgetown D.C.

This place offers high-quality food at reasonable prices. For brunch, I ordered the Belvedere, 2 eggs (any style) and french toast. This was a phenomenal dish all-around. The eggs were fluffy and delectable with a little bit of herbs added on top. Meanwhile, the french toast amazed me with its moist, soft, sugary goodness. It was a match made in heaven which only costed $12 (which is pretty reasonable for food in D.C.)

Cafe Bonaparte was so incredible for brunch that I had to go back for dinner. This time, I ordered the Marseille Crepe. Usually when I hear the word, crepe, I think of something sweet and jam-packed with nutella or strawberries. However, this dish reminded me that crepes can be savory too and equally delicious. Tender chicken, crispy red peppers, luscious sour cream and extra thick red peppers sauce on top created a lethal combination of flavor. Had I not been a financially struggling college student, I would've definelty ordered a second round of this dish.

(Above left) At night, they have a lighted eiffel tower sculpture in front of the window. For all you young people out there, this just shows you that Cafe Bonaparte is always lit. French food + friends + dining out = fun = Cafe Bonaparte.

Make sure you wake your way out to Cafe Bonaparte for fantastic crepes, french toast, sandwiches, and much more!

- Charles

Famous Dave's new menu item - Columbia, MD

Famous Dave's restaurant is known for its barbecue, but can a new menu item gain just as much popularity? Famous Dave’s just added fried chicken to the menu courtesy of a homemade recipe from none other than the restaurant's owner Dave Anderson.




The entrée will be sold at select Famous Dave’s locations in Maryland every Sunday from November 15th through January 31st. I was invited to the Columbia, Maryland Famous Dave's for a taste.

Chicken wing and breast meat with corn bread muffin and 
garlic red-skin mashed potatoes

The new entree deal includes two choices: a fried half chicken dinner (four pieces of chicken served with one side and a corn bread muffin) for $9.99 or a fried chicken-n-meat combo (fried chicken paired with your choice of one meat, corn-on-the-cob, choice of two sides and a corn bread muffin) for $16.29.

I took my mom with me to the tasting. We both received a piece of fried chicken, a corn bread muffin, and two sides. The fried chicken was crispy, but not as crispy or oily like the fried chicken made at KFC or Popeyes.

It reminded me more of a homemade recipe. The seasoning was interesting- slightly peppery that packed a mild kick after a couple of bites. At first, it caught me off guard but with my big glass of cold water it worked out perfectly.






While Famous Dave's has an eclectic variety of sauces to douse on any entree ranging in spiciness from rich & sassy to devil's spit and everything in between, if the fried chicken's peppery undertone isn't enough to spice up your meal, the restaurant has you covered with three new sauces: white BBQ, buffalo with honey (mild), and Wilbur’s revenge with honey (hot).

Chicken thigh with a corn bread muffin and sweet corn

The corn bread muffin was just amazing - warm, sweet, buttery melt-in-your-mouth goodness. My mother and I are so enamored with this sweet muffin that we will be purchasing some via carry out for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Wilbur beans and potato salad

For our sides, we decided to try four different items - the Wilbur beans, potato salad, sweet corn, and garlic red-skin mashed potatoes. If I had to pick just one (like in the "fried half chicken dinner"), I would go with the sweet corn or the mashed potatoes. While I enjoyed the beans, mash and corn, we weren't crazy about the potato salad as the dressing was a little bland.

Thomas and the Columbia, Maryland Famous Dave's manager. He's a really cool guy who made us feel like family

Although we were invited to taste the new fried chicken, the manager offered us a taste of the famous ribs. I couldn't resist. 

Yes, the ribs tasted just as good as they look above. Finger licking, packed full of tender meat, good. Fried chicken and ribs -what a classic combo. I was a happy man. 

I'd definitely give the new fried chicken a try. Let us know how you liked it. 

Thanks for the invite Famous Dave's!!!!

-Thomas Regnante

Syracuse, Italy - Farmer's Market

Welcome back to our mini series on Sicily! For those of you who are unaware, my family and I visited our ancestral home of Sicily this summer. We decided to chronicle our trip and turn it into a series of blog posts. Check out our first Sicilian blog post here. This time, we are focusing on the town of Syracuse ( aka Siracusa in southwestern Sicily). 

Look at the beautiful view of the ocean!

Syracuse is an ancient city rich with culture and beauty. Even after time has eroded the antiquated town, the townspeople still hold rituals and traditions practiced long ago. An example of an ancient traditions still expressed today can be illustrated by Syracuse's fresh daily market. Every day, locals come in the morning to purchase items to indulge upon later that day. Let's take a look at some of the produce:

Our tour guide showing all the different spices to my grandfather.

Our tour guide showing all the different spices to my grandfather.

Considering that Syracuse is geographically situated on the water, it should be no surprise that there's a huge seafood industry. Vendors sell all types of fish ranging from tuna and swordfish (ample amounts of swordfish can be seen above) .

Charles observing workers sorting out sea urchins.

Sicilians know that herbs and spices are just as important as the entree itself, so Sicilians use a wide variety of herbs and spices in their cooking.

There can't be an Italian market without tomatoes. Essentially, Italians use tomatoes for everything ranging from pasta to pizza.

There can't be an Italian market without tomatoes. Essentially, Italians use tomatoes for everything ranging from pasta to pizza.

Zucca is a unique Italian fruit, also known as Italian squash. For cooking, it is usually combined with zest, cardamom seeds and other curative herbs. These savory, sweet, and fresh fruits are a must try on any Sicilian vacation. Who knows, you might like these better than regular squash.

Sicily has a very mild Mediterranean climate that allows an eclectic group of fruits and vegetation to thrive (as pictured above). Plus, the farmers here don't use pesticides or preservatives on their crops, just as nature intended it to be.

Sicily has a very mild Mediterranean climate that allows an eclectic group of fruits and vegetation to thrive (as pictured above). Plus, the farmers here don't use pesticides or preservatives on their crops, just as nature intended it to be. 

Do you love watermelon? Well look no further because Sicily has just about the juiciest and most succulent watermelon there can be. By saying that Sicily has great watermelon, I would be selling myself short.

 I could go on and on about how I was amazed by all the wonders that the city has to offer, but words cannot completely describe my time in Syracuse. My recommendation, go to Syracuse and experience the same sense of elation that I once felt. In case any of you are considering my recommendation, my family and I stayed at the Grand Hotel Ortiga (which gorgeously overlooks the ocean). I would love to hear your stories and anecdotes from the ancient city in the comments section. In the meantime, arrivederci Syracuse, it was a pleasure.

-Thomas Regnante