Dining out: Eastport's Wild Orchid well worth noticing
HometownAnnapolis.com, Capital-Gazette Newspapers, Restaurant Reviews [09.2004]
By Tom and Julie Mallonee For The Capital
In a way, you could call the Wild Orchid a cottage industry. It's located in one of Eastport's old neighborhoods, a pleasant residential pocket lined with modest homes of modest size. The Wild Orchid has turned one of them into a charming restaurant.
From the outside, the building still looks like one of its neighboring cottages. Inside, the living room, dining room and what may have been a small bedroom have been unified into a cheerful, L-shaped dining area complete with lots of windows and the original fireplace. The kitchen is still the kitchen, although modernized and with prep areas extended into the former garage. There's convenient parking on the premises.
A freshly baked loaf of sun-dried tomato bread arrived at the table about the same time as complimentary salmon mousse in flaky pastry cups. Dipped in fragrant extra virgin olive oil, the bread was heavenly, an irresistible temptation. The mousse was an equally promising start ... smooth and buttery with good, but not overdone, salmon flavor.
The restaurant has only a beer and wine license, so if you want a pre-prandial cocktail, you'll have to do it at home. On the other hand, the wine list is fairly comprehensive, giving at least a nod to just about every wine producing region of significance. Over a dozen are available by the glass ($4.50-$7) or split ($10-$19), making it easy to more closely match up you wine with your food.
There are about three dozen whites priced from $22 for a Bordeau Sauvignon Blanc to $58 for Neyers Carneros Chardonnay. Reds number over four dozen, ranging from $22 for an Argentine Malbec to a heady $72 for a vineyard specific California Pinot Noir. Either we spotted a typo, or there's been some sharp purchasing. According to the list, a Napa Valley Pinot Noir is tagged at $58, while a Grand Cru St. Emilion hits the table for just $33. We suspect prices got transposed, so if your wine bargain sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
We found Selak's New Zealand Chardonnay ($6/$24) unpleasantly acidic. It was not only courteously exchanged for a Mark West Sonoma Valley ($6.50/$26), but a sample of the alternate was brought to the table for prior approval.
However, a glass of Australia's Whoop Whoop (where do they get these names?) Shiraz ($6/$24) was right on ... to our mind, a great bargain.
If your appetite is on its game, the Wild Orchid has a very good deal with their prix fixe dinner. Thirty-seven bucks gets you an assortment of gourmet breads with a pot of spinach, mushroom and leek spread, your choice of soups, the house salad, plus any entree and dessert on the menu.
The chef's take on cream of crab soup, a cream of butternut squash soup ($4 cup/$5 bowl) is not to be missed. Served warm, the silken puree has rich, harvest time flavors and is loaded with lumps of sweet crab meat.
The shrimp and corn cakes appetizer ($8) is a perennial favorite with diners. Our best descriptive analogy would be a thick buttermilk pancake loaded with chunks of shrimp and sweet little kernels of silver queen corn and deep fried golden brown. Sort of an uptown funnel cake. Two cakes are perched atop a mound of red cabbage slaw and drizzled with a perky lime sour cream.
The house salad comes with all entrees and is also memorable. Impeccably fresh baby greens are tossed with ripe strawberries and a homemade raspberry vinaigrette, then topped with plenty of crumbled Gorgonzola and toasted almond slices. Interesting a la carte options include one of roasted red and yellow beets ($8) or an arugula salad with shaved fennel ($7).
It seems like everybody is serving sushi-grade tuna these days and the Wild Orchid is no exception ($28). Theirs, served with a mango and toasted coconut chutney, sounded lovely, but we opted for the scallop napoleon ($27) and were well rewarded.
The chef's vertical presentation starts with a bed of sauteed leeks and mushrooms, which is then topped with a pecan/lemon sweet potato pancake. Atop this, three large day boat scallops, lightly pan seared to keep them tender and moist. Then, another pancake, three more scallops and a final pancake topping. A trace of Persian lime sauce adds complimentary citric zing and completes the striking picture.
We broke tradition and chose red meat for our other entree. A full rack of tender, free-range lamb ($30) had been cooked to perfect pink/rare order and carved into four double chops. These were gracefully arranged around a mound of sour cream and chive mashed potatoes. We're not big potato fans, particularly mashed, but these were exceptional. They were moist and creamy, with little crunches of chive to spark them up. The plate was completed by a circle of grilled fresh vegetables and garlic sauce.
Except for the house speciality, creme brulee, desserts (all $6) come from outside. Coconut on the coconut cake was fresh and moist, the lemon pound cake sported a smooth butter cream icing. But frankly, with the other generous portions, we were hard put to finish everything.
The Wild Orchid Cafe doesn't seem to get a lot of notice. But the food borders on brilliance.
Tom Mallonee has his own advertising business, was a founding director of the Annapolis Food & Wine Society and Annapolis Chapter of Les Amis du Vin and teaches wine appreciation at A.A. Community College. Julie Mallonee is a portrait artist, accomplished gourmet cook and flower arranger. They've been writing for their supper since 1995.
Published 09/17/04, Copyright © 2004 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.