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

Petit Louis Bistro (Le Comptoir) - Columbia, Maryland

We've followed all the hype about Petit Louis Bistro, celebrity chef Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman's new restaurant in Columbia. Authentic French cuisine and a lake front location makes it the right combination for the title of new Howard County sensation.  Since our travels to Quebec, Montreal and Paris, we have developed an appreciation for french foods. Therefore, we were eager to try this new restaurant.

On a recent Saturday morning, my family arrived at the restaurant close to 10 a.m. where we learned the restaurant doesn't open until 10:30 a.m.. So we wandered around the lakefront for 30 minutes. It was really cold outside and we did consider eating at Clyde's since it was open and didn't look busy, but we held out and returned to Petit Louis at 10:30 am - where we waited another 5 minutes in the cold for them to open the doors.

We ate in the little cafe called Le Comptoir that is attached to the main restaurant. It has huge glass windows that makes it easy for people to see in and employees to see out of.  We weren't happy that the employees could see us freezing outside and didn't bother to let us in until 10:35 am. It would have been nice if they let us in, even if they weren't exactly ready for us.



We didn't get a warm welcome once we were inside either. It was like attending a funeral. The place was dead silent. If you made one sound it resonated throughout the whole place which is tiny to begin with. It would have been nice to have french music playing.


Equally as awkward, Charles and I weren't sure how to order our food. Should we sit down and wait to be served or order at the counter?  We had to ask the people behind the counter who were busy preparing things. We learned we order at the counter, find a seat and then come back to the counter to get our food and drinks when it's ready.

Croissants 

Brioche a la Cannelle and Pain Au Chocolate 

So, what to order? We were hoping to see a huge display of French pastries like the ones we remembered from our trip to France or Quebec or even at french pastry shops in Washington, DC like Paul's. Although there was a small
  selection, they were nicely displayed.

Quiche Lorraine and Quiche Aux Legumes 

Macarons

Charles and I each ordered one chocolate croissant ($3.25 each) and shared a brioche ($3.75). No drinks, just water. Both pastries were small portions, yet good but not outstanding.

My mom ordered a Cafe Au Lait ($5.50) and a Quiche Lorraine ($9.50) to share with my dad. He ordered a regular American coffee. She loved the Cafe Au Lait but said it was a small portion. Alternatively, the quiche was on the larger side. When ordering it, the counter person told my mom that she could not make the quiche hot "or it would ruin the consistency of the object."

But she would warm the quiche slightly in a microwave, but only upon request, which she requested. Unfortunately, it was a very thick quiche so the middle was cold while the outside was a little warm.  Although it was tasty, she probably wouldn't order it again. My dad's American coffee wasn't very strong, but the counter person did warn him about this.

We were still hungry after our pastries so we each ordered a Jambon ($8.75 each) - a buttered baguette with ham and cornichons (pickles). Again, the portion was small. Then, if that wasn't enough the baguette was very chewy. We had to tug with our teeth several times to take bites out of this sandwich.

So, here's our summary. We wanted to LOVE this place, really LOVE it, but we couldn't. Everything was small in this cafe - the tables, the selection, the portions, the service. The only thing that was large was the quiche and the prices. After spending about $47 for breakfast, we went home still hungry. Our parents were not happy about that.

To be fair, we will need to try the main restaurant for a better assessment. However, our initial outing to the cafe doesn't make us want to run back. For now, sadly, au revoir Petit Louis.

- 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