Seasons 52 - Columbia, Maryland

Seasons 52 prides itself on using farm-fresh food items that change each season. I was invited to Seasons 52 to sample some dishes from their new core spring menu, which debuted this week. Since I was able to bring a guest, I brought my mom.  I loved that the menu displayed the calories next to each dish. 

Seasons 52 has a unique ambience with dim lighting, wood paneled high ceilings, a piano placed inside a circular bar area, and a colossal water fountain at the entrance.  There are also giant trees with uplighting that created a natural and back-to-nature aesthetic that yet again emphasizes the theme.

Here's the menu of all the foods we sampled (most are new menu items for the spring but some are always on the menu)

Fresh fruit and vegetable display highlighting the seasonal menu choices (in the Napa room)

 The Napa room, one of the two private rooms (the other being the Sonoma room), can seat approximately 30 people - both rooms have a built in television screen.  There are no room rental fees for these rooms.   

Lobster and fresh mozzarella flatbread (left) and crispy prosciutto asparagus flatbread (right)

We were introduced to the new spring crispy prosciutto asparagus flatbread and the classic standard lobster and fresh mozzarella flatbread.  My favorite was the latter. While I liked camembert cheese, I wasn't crazy about the crispy prosciutto on the asparagus flatbread. However, my mother loved it. For her, the combination of these flavors was the clear winner. 

The chef's spring amuse bouche was presented to us in a garnish-filled spoon.   The taste was earthy and fresh for this cold vegetable soup (think leafy greens like asparagus and spinach) with chantly cream. We prefer hot soup, so it's not our kind of soup. That being said, if you like cold soup, you will really enjoy it.

Spinach salad 

The spinach salad, consisting of spring strawberries, pea tendrils, toasted pine nuts, gorgonzola cheese, and 15-year aged balsamic drizzles - was a home run for both my mom and me.  This is a massive salad with the freshest of ingredients. The incredibly sweet balsamic drizzle really made the entree stand out.  The balsamic sauce enhanced the saccharine strawberries and gorgonzola cheese in a perfectly complementary way.

Caramelized grilled sea scallops with lemon risotto

Meyer lemon ricotta ravioli 

For our third course, we were served the caramelized grilled sea scallops with lemon risotto. The scallops were nicely seared and fork tender. The pairing with the slightly sweet lemon risotto with fresh spring vegetables was phenomenal. This dish personified the flavors of spring.

We tried the Meyer lemon ricotta ravioli with brown butter, roasted peppers, and English peas as our fourth dish. I learned that this particular lemon is a cross between a mandarin orange and a lemon.  I didn't necessarily like the greens on top, as they brought out a sharp taste.   My mother would have preferred a little less dough on the ravioli (then again, we are Italian ravioli connosseiurs - check out our homemade ravioli blog post ).

Asian-glazed Chilean sea bass

The Asian-glazed Chilean sea bass was my favorite meal. Organic black rice, snow peas, and shiitake mushrooms (my favorite mushrooms) are displayed beneath the sea bass in the picture. What makes this dish is the glaze, which tastes like teriyaki and plum sauce. The glaze adds a new depth of flavor to such a unique entree. Not to mention that the dish was just so aesthetically pleasing even before I tasted its untapped glory.

Wood-grilled rack of lambs complete with spring vegetables, yukon gold mash, and shallot jus

What I love about this dish is that the lamb had a secret rub and was cooked in a wood oven. I had a great lamb dish in Greece a few years ago. This dish reminded me of it. The char and seasoning was heaven. Coupled with the tender, spring vegetables and shallot jus... a winner for sure. 

For dessert we had the opportunity to sample six of their "mini indulgences". The presentation of each of the small deserts was eye candy and I couldn't wait to dig into it!

The amaretto soaked vanilla cake "mini indulgence" was my mother's favorite dessert. It even came with a small pipette of amaretto. We both thought it was so clever and innovative.

The cannoli creme, chocolate, and raspberry sauce "mini indulgence" was my favorites dessert. It was filled to the brim with thick cannoli creme and evened out with the raspberry sauce. I especially liked how there was a mini cannoli on top.  I dunked it into the glass to fill it with creme.

Seasons 52 has a beautiful outside that is great for the spring

My mother loved that she was offered a different type of wine to accompany every dish. Seasons 52 has over 100 bottles of wine to choose from. So, if there are any wine connoisseurs out there, they got you covered. 

For Easter,  Seasons 52 will debut a special Easter brunch. Stay tuned, they may even continue the weekend brunch after the holiday.

Our experience at Seasons 52 - the farm fresh food, attentive staff, the unique atmosphere - was really terrific. I was so impressed that I plan to go back for my birthday in May. 

-Thomas Regnante

Guest Writer - Superintendent's Corner Blog

This week, I had a great honor I wanted to share with you. 

Superintendent Dr. Renee Foose of the Howard County Public School System, invited me to be a guest writer on her blog, the Superintendent's Corner. She read my recent 2 Dudes blog post about  Petit Louis (the restaurant hosted 200 students from my high school's French classes for a culinary adventure -read it here) and asked me to write about it on her blog. 

Here's a sneak peak below but you can check out the entire blog post here. 

Big shout out and thank you to my French teacher Madame Doff for taking us students on the Petit Louis field trip and Superintendent Foose for inviting me to be a guest writer. 

- Thomas 

Whole Foods Thanksgiving Meals, Nationwide

The Whole Foods Columbia, Maryland store invited local food bloggers to a taste testing party to sample their Thanksgiving meals. 

Our invitation included one guest each, so we asked our Grandma Alberta and Grandpa Charles to join us. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a warm welcome by Whole Foods Chef Patrick, Katie Malloy and Mia Hinckle. The cafe was transformed into a private dining area for us with a gigantic table with printed name plates, menus and Fall decorations.

(left to right) Charles, Chef Patrick and Thomas 

Tasting menu  

The Holiday Taste tasting took place in the cafe area overlooking the lake

Before the event started, it was exciting to hang out with some very cool food bloggers including @theunmanlychef, @3beansonastring, @HoCoBlogs co-founder Jesse Newburg and @thebaremidriff and @hudsonandemily.

Then, Chef Patrick introduced the appetizers and the parade of holiday food began.....

Chef Patrick introducing the appetizers 

Coconut shrimp (left) and shrimp dumplings with dipping sauce  

We started with appetizers - a coconut shrimp and a shrimp dumpling with sweet and sour sauce. While the dumpling's thin skin was fork tender filled with a tasty, well seasoned mixture of shrimp filing, the star, for all of us, was the coconut shrimp,  It was a huge, pump shrimp lavishly covered in sweet, coconut flaked coating. The right amount of sweet and salty. We washed down the shrimp appetizers with a sweet apple cider that was another stand out. 

For the first course,  the Organic Triple Squash Soup was "smooth and tasty" with "a very faint hint of cinnamon", the "perfect Fall soup"  The  Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup  had a "strong earthly mushroom flavor." We spilt on which one we liked best - Grandpa and I  liked the Squash Soup and Grandma and Thomas the Mushroom Soup. 

Roasted Free Range Turkey with Gravy, Organic Biscuit & Mushroom Stuffing,
Butternut Sweet Potato Casserole,  Mashed Potatoes,
Cranberry Orange Relish, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and
Glazed Carrots with Pecans

Then the second course came out - a gigantic plate of mouth-watering Thanksgiving classics.  We all agreed the Organic Biscuit & Mushroom Stuffing was star of the plate. "Much better than regular stuffing"(Grandma) and "biscuit added a depth of flavor and texture" (Grandpa). Both potatoes -  Butternut Sweet Potato Casserole and Mashed Potatoes, were well seasoned with a smooth and silky texture but "had a thinner consistency than we make at home"(Grandpa).

Cranberry Orange Relish was "very good and sweet" (Charles), "not a jelly more of a jam (Grandpa) and "very flavorful with a hint of orange" (Grandma). 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts - "tender, easy to cut" (Thomas), but "needed a bit more seasoning or salt" (Grandpa). 

Roasted Free Range Turkey with Gravy was sliced thicker than we are accustomed to at home but the turkey was "very flavorful" (all of us) and with it lathered in the chunky mushroom gravy it was a real hit. 

Glazed Carrots with Pecans -  although "tasty" (Grandma) and "tender" (Thomas) we would prefer the carrots be a bit more sweet.

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie 

Grandpa and I are not pumpkin fans, so only we let Thomas and Grandma give the 411 on this Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie - "clever play on the classic pie with the two different layers of pumpkin pie (the top layer a mouse and bottom layer was the classic pumpkin pie custard)" (Thomas) but "the crust was thicker than we preferred" (Grandma).



As the dinner ended, we were stuffed. It felt like Thanksgiving. You know that feeling when, even though you want to eat more because it tastes so good, but you just can't eat another bite. That was us.

When we left we were given "Yum" goodie bags stuffed with 365 (Whole Foods house brand) Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake cookies, daelias Biscuits for Cheese (almond with raisin flavor) and Hammond's Mitchell Sweets (vanilla caramel & marshmallow).

In summary, this was a VERY cool event. It's our first taste testing and hope its not our last.

We decided to incorporate some of the items we tasted into our Thanksgiving meal. We're definitely ordering the coconut shrimp appetizer, organic biscuit and mushroom stuffing, mushroom gravy and pumpkin pie cheesecake cookies.

Check out all of WF Thanksgiving meals here (Columbia store here). There are so many items to choose from including kosher, organic, vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian. WF offers its Thanksgiving items as package dinners (serves 2 people or up to 16 ) or as single servings. From sides, breads, game birds, soups, gravy, relish, cheese platters, pie crusts and even holiday flower arrangements, there is a big selection to choose from.

Thank you Whole Foods. We had a great time.

- Charles