I’ve been moaning and groaning that the food in Hampden is good – but not always – great – for a while now. Don’t get me wrong… Cafe Hon works a treat when you’re tired, don’t want to cook and you’ve got the kid in tow. The bars nice but you have to be inclined to want your drink with a chaser of smoke (something I’m not). Suzie Soba does great Asian, Golden West is yummy (sadly the service is slow and not always on top of things), Holy Frijoles can’t be beat when you want a good dose of ye ol Mexican flare and Soups On is fresh and fun…but – my new fave – is Dogwood Deli.
I’ve eaten there literally three times in less than two weeks and each meal has been memorable. Recently with no babysitter on Vday – we headed over there with the yung’un and had a stellar meal (bonus it was BYOB so we brougt a great Champagne we had in the cellar – but don’t get attached to the concept – sadly, the owners are going the standard route and getting a license).
Meal started with a great Seared Scallop in Winter Squash – Cider Bisque – the texture was more a puree than a bisque, as bisque to me – needs to be creamy but it was vegan so hard to make something lacking cream creamy. None the less – the scallops were heavenly, fresh and perfectly seared. The taste of the puree – thin puree – was very flavorful. With all kinds of flavors coming around to smack the tastebuds and say “Hello – How ‘ya doin’”!
Second appy was Wood griled jumbo Chesapeake Oysters – these were topped with sauteed spinach, chevre, and toasted fennel. One thing to say – four was not enough. We actually, even though we had three more courses coming – ordered another four – need I say more?
Salad Orange Roasted Tuscadora Chiogga Beets. Although the amount of dressing on the greens was overkill for me personally – and I’d have paired with a non creamy dressing and perhaps something lighter – the beets were fabulous. Absolutely yummy. Good winter salad course and definitely showing owner/Chef Galen’s attention to detail – even in something as small as a salad course.
Main courses were hard to choose from. Which is a good problem to have. Though all looked so lovely and tempting – we settled on the Pan Seared Pacific Dover Sole with whole grilled shrimp and whole grain mustard chardonnay sauce. Believe me the fish was fresh, shrimps got me excited about shrimps again and the sauce was anything but Chardonnary. Delicious. I liked the fish – you know – I don’t love fish – so for me to say I liked the fish – that’s an accomplishment.
2nd option – Grilled Flat- iron Hereford Steak with blue cheese, caramelized red onions, grilled mushrooms and cabernet jus. The measure of a restaurant can often be gaged by if it can do fish and if it can do steak. This steak was amazing. It had a distinctive flavor of properly aged, organic beef (yes – it does taste better – actually – it tastes like beef – what a concept?) Our only critique was that the blue cheese was kind of thrown on the dish all over – which meant you had blue cheese in every bite – something I personally – didn’t need. A drizzle of a blue cheese sauce in a pool to dip in might have been more my speed – but I think Galen was going for visual interest and/or texture – so it’s not a biggie and I get the thought process. The kitchen was slammed too – so understandable the thought process might have been efficiency driven.
I’ll be honest though the choices for dessert were tempting – we headed home to my signature Express Death by Espresso Chocolate cake.
If you’ve not been to Dogwood Deli – check it out www.dogwooddeli.com
you won’t be sorry. Tell ‘em I sent ya.
but to be honest, I was craving being in my own HOME space. Since the redesign happened, I’ve loved being in my house. I work better, happier and even my toddler -has commented on how nice the house looks.
