woodbury kitchen: a review.

Up until last week, it had been two years since I had last visited Baltimore.  The last time I was there, I ate a lot of pretty (ok really) good bar food (the kind of stuff you should be eating on Football Sunday).  It was satisfying food - the classics done right, but it wasn't something you would necessarily go out of your way for.   

It appears, a lot can change in two years because Baltimore has turned into a bit of a destination.  The food scene is changing.  Restaurants focused on local, seasonal, regional cooking are beginning to pop-up and the restaurant that seems to be spearheading these changes is Woodbury Kitchen.  I first read about them in a post that popped up in my Instagram feed about a year ago.  They were making the kind of food I love (seasonally focused small plates) and for that reason it was added to my ever-growing list of places to visit.  

I took myself to dinner there last Monday, and for a Monday evening, in the middle of August, during a torrential summer rain, this restaurant was packed.  They hype and fervor around the restaurant is worth it.  They are doing some pretty incredible things - looking at the history of food native to the area (Crab! Rice!) and making it modern.  

But, there was one dish that below me away - their eggplant caponata.  A whole baby eggplant was roasted until tender and topped with tomatoes and roasted garlic.  It didn't mess with the classic too much - instead it elevated it and made it something new and incredibly memorable.  It made me wonder what else the kitchen is capable of.  

I will be back because I need to eat more of the menu (which is why Tyler will be coming) and really dive into what they are doing, but what I saw, I liked a lot.   Baltimore, I have a feeling we will be seeing more of each other.