Bicycles.

Miss Natalie's birthday was a few weeks ago, which gave me an excuse to head up to Baltimore and check out the best food it had to offer. Not knowing much about the city or its food, we were kind of flying blind, but I read very good things about a restaurant called....Bicycle.

I knew I was in trouble when I walked in the door. We were greeted by spectacular smells wafting through an open kitchen into the dining room just a few feet away. The Executive Chef was on the premises that night, and cooks bustled about, busying away at creating dish after dish. A couple of plates sat waiting for just a moment or two under the heat lamps before the thoughtfully put together dishes were whisked away to awaiting diners. I had a feeling we were in for a treat.

Nat had been eyeing a sashimi of tuna and avocado dish since we saw on the menu on their website. I was enthralled by the diver scallops with apples, fennel, braised cabbage, and a truffle vinaigrette. But then....then the waiter came by with a first course special of mussels and prawns in a sweet white wine garlic sauce. Decisions....decisions.

Let's do all three.

And all three we did. My diver scallop was spectacularly prepared--literally a paragon of balanced flavors. Everything was just a symphony. Impeccable. Nat's tuna and avocado was a simple, clean dish. No explosively surprising flavors, but phenomenal texture, and the freshness of the tuna really spoke for itself. I'm always impressed with minimalist dishes like that--ones that manage to still speak loudly, even when they aren't layer after layer after layer of flavor. In that way, Nat's dish and my dish were total opposites. Mine the layering of truffle, apple, fennel, cabbage, scallop, baby arugula. Hers just tuna, avocado, a light peanut dressing, and a bit of masago.

But the third appetizer--deliciously fresh mussels and huge prawns in a sauce of delicious heaven--wins the 'lick the plate" award. In fact, it came with two large pieces of Texas toast that could, should, and I can only imagine were designed to, sop up as much of the sauce as possible. Sweet, spicy, rich...I literally wanted to put it in a baby's bottle and carry it around with me. Rest assured, I will find some way to recreate that sauce. Perhaps at this moment I was most impressed by the flexibility of the chef; we had now enjoyed a restrained dish, a delicately balanced dish, and a rich, filling, homey dish.

Unfortunately, neither main course lived up the abundance of the first courses. Natalie ordered a New Zealand rack of lamb that should have used the same restraint we found in the tuna. Lamb is like beef tenderloin--so naturally flavorful and tender, it should always be complimented by its additions...not covered up. Unfortunately, this lamb was marinated in some sort of citrus that ended up a distraction and, for me, ruined the dish. My steak was a little better, but not by much. I ordered a NY Strip that was, unfortunately, not particularly tender. It was garnished well--some finely diced bell pepper--but the steak just didn't speak too loudly for me. I definitely felt like I could have better at home with the steak and the lamb, and that wasn't true of any of the first courses.

Finally, dessert. Natalie got a chocolate waffle with flambeed bananas. I didn't find it particularly impressive. But then I got a chocolate peanut butter cup....literally a chocolate cup with a rich peanut butter ganache, torched whipped cream, and peanut brittle. After every bite, I had this overwhelming desire to say "that's what she said." It was literally so good it was sexual, and it was enough, once combined with the consistent exceptional quality of the first courses, to put Bicycle in my top 3 of all time. Just behind Perilla and Corduroy. Now I just need an excuse to go back to Corduroy...

Coming soon, my second dish in as many attempts that should be served in a restaurant somewhere, and musings on running my own Restaurant Week(end).

Probably sits at number 3, behind Perilla and

Showed flexibility