David's Natural Market Cafe - Columbia, MD

Located in Columbia's Wilde Lake Village Center, David's Natural Market is a health food store that sells fresh produce, vitamins, meats, dry goods, hair and body products and much more. It has been a family owned and operated business for over 37 years. 

Inside the store, there's David's Cafe where chefs Barbara Wright and Ben Austin cook homemade, all-natural and vegan lunch specialties from Monday through Saturday. 

When I was little, my mom started shopping at David's because I had a sensitivity to diary and soy products.  Chef Barbara and store nutritionist Courtney Carptenter helped my family to shop and cook for my special diet.  Over time, I gradually outgrew my diary and soy sensitivity but I never outgrew my love for David's.

The cafe is located near the produce department.  The daily specials are written on a dry erase board. There's also a standard menu that includes sandwiches, salads, soups and sushi. 

Our favorite Cafe sandwich of all time is the Powerhouse ($4.95). It's a an over stuffed sandwich with organic sliced tomato, lettuce, Monterey Jack cheese, Vegenaise mayonnaise, alfalfa sprouts and seasoned with garlic power and Italian seasoning on sprouted seven grain bread. 

Powerhouse Sandwich

We never get tired of this sandwich.  It's always so filling, healthy and delicious. It's great for lunch, dinner or a snack. The sandwich is especially excellent before athletic events to give us a big surge of energy.  When you order the Powerhouse at the cafe counter it comes with chips. 

But you can also get the sandwich already made in the Grab-n-Go refrigerated glass case directly across the cafe. 

  

When I'm not consuming a Powerhouse sandwich, I'm devouring David's tuna melt ($6.50; picture above) It's essentially the same as the Powerhouse sandwich but with tuna salad and melted Monterey Jack cheese.  The tuna salad is moist but not soggy, well seasoned and packed with tuna. This is another huge sandwich. 

Tip - you can buy all the ingredients to make both the Powerhouse and Tuna Melt sandwiches at home - and it's cheaper.  Here's where to find the ingredients - from the produce section (lettuce, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts), refrigerated case (Shiloh Farms organic seven grain bread), condiment aisle (Vegenaise mayo, Italian seasoning and garlic powder) and form the cafe counter (sliced Monetrey Jack cheese). 

The sushi bar is just as awesome. All the sushi is made fresh daily - sometimes it's made right in front of us as we're waiting for our cafe order.

 My Aunt Cindy loves the vegetarian roll and my Grandpa Charles loves the raw sushi like the tuna roll.  He said the fish is always fresh and tastes just as good as some high priced sushi restaurants but at a much better price. Charles and I don't eat raw fish sushi but we do like the California roll. 

Check out David's Natural Market's located at 5430 Lynx Lane in Columbia. The village center is under construction but they are open during the work despite the road detour. Take Cross Fox off of Twin  Rivers road, go up the hill (passed the tennis club) and turn left to the store parking lot. 

- Thomas
hocofood@@@

Boston Chowda Company- Boston, MA

I traveled to Boston recently for a school trip. During my time there, my friends and I found some great restaurants inside the Prudential Center food court. One of them was Boston Chowda Company, a small eatery known for their award-winning Clam Chowder which is a two-time winner of Boston's annual ChowderFest. However, I discovered they also make fantastic sandwiches. 

I'd had my fair share of Clam Chowder in Boston the day before, so I decided to try a sandwich because it looked so good. 

Boston Chowda Company serves up delicious sandwiches and melts such as the Maine Lobster Roll and the Applewood Smoked Bacon and Tomato Melt along with signature soups, New England Pot Pies, and wraps.

They're known for original family recipes prepared with quality ingredients and passion.

I ordered the Chicken Pesto Melt- roasted chicken breast, sliced plum tomatoes, cheesy mozzarella,  fresh basil and pesto sauce, on sliced rustic Italian bread, buttered and then grilled to perfection.

It was a substantial portion of breaded chicken, flavorful pesto, velvety mozzarella, and succulent plum tomatoes. Although there was a substantial amount of chicken, I would have preferred a thin chicken cutlet rather than a thick one. 

Even though I didn't get to try the Clam Chowder,                             Service was super fast and friendly
I strongly recommend trying it. The "Chowda"
looked terrific!

-Charles

hocofood@@@

Scittino's Italian Market- Catonsville, Maryland

It may be off the beaten track in downtown Catonsville but Scittino's Italian Market is a little slice of heaven for those searching for a classic New York style Italian eatery and market. "Authentic Italian food made from scratch" is the store's motto and it lives up to its name.

Since 1973, the store has been owned and operated by the Scittino family- Frank and Tina, and their children Leonardo, Salvatore, Josie and Frankie, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1958 from Sicily, Italy, with the first of their four children.

Seemingly this store has it all -  pizzeria, pastry, cake and cookie display case, deli, butcher counter, homemade pastas to-go freezer, Italian dried and canned goods, carry-out, small dine-in section, and catering menu. Click here for their deli menu. 

Single serve desserts

Pastry and cookie display case 

cannoli - regular and chocolate covered 

Shelves lined with imported Italian canned and dried goods. The deli and butcher counter (in the background) carries Boar's Head products, homemade sausages, meats, seafood, olives and imported cheeses. The freezers (on the right) house homemade ravioli and pastas, plus family style meals like lasagna and meatballs to-go. 

The butcher shop includes over 10 different homemade sausages including Italian sweet, Italian hot, Italian with fennel,
Italian lamb with rosemary, Portugese Linguica, Polish Kielbasa, German Bratwurst, Irish Bangers, Spanish Chorizo and French Andouille








There are freezers full of homemade pastas to-go. Some really interesting ones like ravioli filled with mushroom stuffing and squid ravioli.

Also in the freezer section are cakes such as the Lemoncello mascarpone cake.

After browsing around the store, we decided to order a few things and eat in.  It was really hard to chose because there were so many different items on the menu.

First, my family decided to taste the pizza. We ordered a 20 inch pizza pie with mushrooms. It was so massive it was presented to us at our table on a folding tray.  It was terrific.

 It had gooey thick cheese, large, plump mushrooms, the perfect amount of tomato sauce and an incredibly soft, tasty crust.

My grandfather ordered the sausage lentil soup made with the store's homemade fennel sausage. As you can see from his face, he liked it. He said it was one of the best he tasted... and he's Sicilian. 

Then we spilt a dish of chicken parmigiano with spaghetti. Wow! This was authentic. We all loved the sweet tomato sauce with the breaded chicken smothered in mozzarella cheese.  

Fried chicken 

Stuffed flounder 

We also tried two more items - the flounder stuffed with crabmeat and the fried chicken.  Yes, fried chicken.  We didn't expect to see it on an Italian menu.  But it looked so good displayed in the glass warming case, we had to try.

The chicken had a light, seasoned, crispy skin with moist juicy meat underneath. They sell it by the piece (like we ordered it) or as a platter with fries or in boxes for large quantities. We envision ourselves getting a box of fried chicken for a summer picnic with friends.

Although it took an extra long time to prepare (we were finished with our other items before the fish was served) the flounder was worth the wait. The fish was fresh and tender, the stuffed crab was well seasoned but not too spicy and the sauce tasty. My mom thought the sauce was a bit thick for her liking but she would order it again with less sauce.

Before we left we ordered some Italian cookies and cake slices to-go.  And it was hard to go. We really liked Scittino's.  They are opened 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I know we will be back soon and often.

- Charles
hocofood@@@

Cheeseboy - Boston, MA

I traveled to Boston recently to participate in the Harvard Model Congress conference with my school delegation. During the conference, my roommates and I explored the Prudential Center where we found Cheeseboy, a small eatery known for its grilled cheese sandwiches.

True to its name, Cheeseboy serves up fresh grilled cheese sandwiches such as the Chipolte Chicken and Roast Chief along with soups, mac and cheese and breakfast sandwiches. 

They're known for quick service, affordable prices and natural ingredients that includes breads made without the use of any artificial preservatives, flavorings or dough conditioners. 

I ordered the Turkey Clubhouse - all-natural turkey, thick-cut hickory bacon, muenster cheese, and dill pickles on all-natural artisan white bread. It was a healthy portion of turkey, savory bacon, velvety  cheese, and succulent dills. 

Service was super-quick and friendly and you basically watch the employees prepare your sandwich right in front of you!


Cheeseboy is so popular it has already expanded to locations in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

 Check out their story in the video below.

- Charles

hocofood@@@

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@@@