First Bite of the Wine Kitchen in Frederick
A flight of three wines, each a nod to Oregon, is ferried from the bar to my table
on a slender, barely-there tray. The server with a tight smile seems to have minimal confidence in the delivery, but neither of us should have worried. The trio of thin-lipped glasses lands without incident and comes with a helpful backup: a notecard elaborating on the grape juice.
“If a scientist in Iceland created a green apple and lemon hybrid fruit,” begins the 98-word salute to the Pines 1852 pinot gris, “it would taste a lot like this wine. Rich and round like the Monopoly guy, this wine has the class of a top hat and tails, as well as the gumption to wear a handlebar mustache.”
The Wine Kitchen in Frederick, a spinoff of the original in Leesburg, wants its customers to have fun. Along with a wine program that finds room for humor and embraces local finds (reds from Black Ankle Vineyards, produced in Mount Airy), the youthful 50-seat restaurant overlooking Carroll Creek serves plenty of enlightened crowd-pleasers.
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So there is flatbread, decked out with lamb shoulder, pickled red onions, glossy arugula leaves and crumbled ricotta salata. The semi-open kitchen also sends out agnolotti stuffed with sheep’s-milk cheese and strewn with Marcona almonds and artichoke pieces. The restaurant’s twist on corned beef resembles shaved roast beef, but the offbeat sandwich it fills is nicely matched with house-made tater tots that get a lift from caraway in their seasoning.
Chef Adam Harvey was a sous-chef at the nearby trendsetter Volt, where he focused on desserts. That experience pays off with an elegant caramel apple cheesecake and fashionable coconut panna cotta at this welcome American bistro, which co-owners Jason Miller and Michael Mercer opened on Oct. 1.
Their light-filled dining room blends old with new. Barn wood warms up the walls, while what appears to be a faux fireplace lends another kind of heat to the scene. Take it from this curious diner and don’t touch the glass panel.
50 Carroll Creek Way, Frederick. 301-663-6968. thewinekitchen.com. Entrees, $14 to $22.
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