From "Best of Silver Spring," September 2004
This is the sort of place you want to clone. Great food. Great prices. Great design. No wonder it has become a local gathering place. Morning brings house-made muffins--blueberry-corn muffins channel New England--and a coffee and juice bar. Afternoon is time for lunch, with chef Janis McLean's wood-roasted mussels, ancho-spiked black-bean-and-meat chili, sandwiches of pulled pork Piedmont-style or with Pommery mustard sauce, and salads like braised duck with roasted grapes and port vinaigrette. Main attractions are the creative pizzas, crisp from the wood-burning oven and topped with the likes of smoked Gouda and roasted peppers, or wild mushrooms, Gorgonzola, and caramelized onions. Even the classic pepperoni gets a shaving of red onion.
At night look also for a short roster of comfort plates: mac and cheese made with aged cheddar; crisp-skinned Tuscan chicken cooked under a brick; and salmon roasted on a cedar plank--get the herbed potato wedges as a side with this one. For dessert, try house-made sweets like rich bread pudding or crunchy apple crisp. Or go for an iced white-chocolate mocha, a riff on the usual cocoa.
Open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
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