The Cellar Door

The other weekend Jay and I took our first trip to The Cellar Door in downtown Frederick, MD to celebrate Frederick Restaurant Week with some friends. (OK, you caught us, this post is really late... didn't I mention last post that we are slackers. Don't Judge.) We hadn't been to The Cellar Door location since it had been The Brown Pelican...yeah...a REALLY long time ago! Even though the restaurant had been opened for a while, neither of us had heard anything about it—good or bad. So we honestly weren't sure what to expect.

First impression was that the vibe in the basement setting was kind of cool. It was small and quaint, with a cozy bar area. The staff was very courteous and we were quickly seated with drinks ordered (we tried the Fat Tire Beer, which I will definitely be ordering it again! And wish I was drinking right now. mmmmm....beer). It was a special night, so we both got appetizers (which we don't usually do). I went with Goat Cheese Fritters (Insert Jay: aka mozzarella sticks, let's call a spade a spade) and Jay got the Seared Ahi Tuna. The fritters were pretty good, very cheesey, but the sauce they came in was amazing! (Unfortunately I don't remember exactly was the sauce was and sadly, they don't have it listed on their menu—food blogger #fail.) Jay was happy with his tuna bites.

For my main course I went crazy and decided to try the Roasted Pork Chop. The dish came with a parsnip puree, sautéed spinach, and then caramelized apple, onion and bacon to top of the HUGE hunk of pork chop (seriously, it was HUGE!).  Jay went with the Chicken Cheasapeake, which came with lump crab meat, asapragus, and mashed potatoes. (Our friends also went with the Chicken as well as The Eastern Shore—rockfish, scallops, mussels, prawn, tomato, garlic and rice served in a broth base). I gotta say, if the dinner had been a competition, my pork chop meal was the winner. As in, it kicked all the other meals' asses! It was so good. Let me repeat—it was so good! Even the parsnip puree was a hit! All the flavors really complimented each other and the pork was soft and buttery. Jay's Chicken meal was also good, although he wished it came with more crabmeat. (Insert Jay: When I read "Chesapeake" on the menu, I figured Old Bay would be involved but that wasn't the case. Oh well, it was still good. There was a small amount of crab and it didn't have too much flavor. It got lost in the dish and didn't seem to fit). And our friend enjoyed her Eastern Shore meal, repeatedly exclaiming "This broth is really good" several times, even though some of the seafood didn't live up to her expectations.

While we had the best intentions to try dessert while dining, we were just too full. But, we did have one other savory goodness that deserves a mention—the bread before the dinner. Ok, so the bread wasn't anything special, but they served it with a raspberry butter. Say what!? Holy. Crap. It was so good, I made the waitress bring us more.

All in all, we enjoyed our meal at The Cellar Door and would most likely go back. But, since we were there during Frederick's Restaurant Week, we got a special fixed pricing on the meal. We did notice that the normal meal costs can run on the pricey side, so we'd probably only go back for a special occasion...or just to drink the Fat Tire beer and eat the raspberry butter. I'd give our meal a borderline "Hell, Yeah" and a solid "Good Enough to Take Your Parents To"…but hope that they pay for it.

Alexander's

First, we wanted to apologize for the delay in posts. What can we say, we've been total and complete slackers. It happens. We do what we want… 

OK, so we don't typically make it out for weekend brunch. Maybe it's because of a long-standing commitment I have on Sundays. Or maybe it's because we enjoy making weekend breakfast at home, listening to bluegrass music. Or, maybe it's because we're just too lazy on the weekends and usually lounge around for a bit in the mornings. Whatever the reason, it's just not something we usually do. So, when we were invited out last Sunday for an after-event brunch, we were happy to try it out. And, even better, we got to go Alexanders in Buckeystown, MD—somewhere neither of us had been.

Our brunch party met at Alexander's at Buckeystown, located (ironically) in Buckeystown, MD. (Insert Jay: That's not irony you dumb bitch. "Incidentally" or "Conveniently" is what you meant to use. Irony was when that douche thought he could live among grizzlies to learn how to protect them. End result, the douche was eaten by one and a park ranger killed the grizzly for eating him, exactly what he raising awareness against. What is it with broads using the word "irony" incorrectly? Take Alanis Morissette, she wrote an entire song called Ironic and there is not one lyric in it that is ironic. Rain on your wedding day is bad luck not ironic and the rest of the song is about waiting too long to make a good decision...., Bitches.) (Insert Kay: Rant much? …and back to the review…) Buckeystown, just a few miles outside of Frederick, is one of those small towns that if you blink, you'll literally pass it. Luckily, we had our handy iphone GPS's, so we found it without any problems. (OK, so really, you won't have trouble finding the restaurant, it's one of like two businesses in the area.) Alexander's is located in a quaint, federal-style home that was originally built in 1780. The restaurant vibe is very comforting and homey, with the dining areas separated by different rooms of the house. Honestly, it feels like going to your grandmothers house for a meal. Per their website, Alexander's self described themselves as having "antebellum surroundings" with a "fresh approach" to "southern comfort food". Word. (antebellum, they really used that in their description!)

Upon sitting down, we were quickly greeted by our waiter, and drinks as well as cinnamon buns arrived promptly. (I don't usually like cinnamon buns, but I was starving, and I'm so glad I ate them—they were really, really good!) Jay went with the Omelette (with an extra order of bacon—the guy can eat!). I went with…wait for it…chicken and waffles. Yes. I said it. They. Have. Chicken. AND. Waffles! (Insert Jay: the only thing better than chicken and waffles is this, tell it Luda!) Jay doesn't quite remember what exactly was in his omelette (in his exact words "i don't know, it was filled with omelette shit). Thanks Dear. But, he does remember it being really good, and he ate all of it. The bacon was really smoked. Which, was good at first bite, but then became overpowering. For me, the chicken and waffles were amazing! (Insert Jay: the syrup or sizzurp as I like to say, was really good. Some pecan pepper shit that was tasty.) So, so good!

All in all, we were really impressed with Alexander's and wondered why we didn't do brunch more often! (Insert Jay: I actually don't wonder why. Brunch is for a-holes that like to use words like brunch.) The service was a little slow, but we were with a very large party, so it's hard to tell if that was normal or not. I was impressed with how quickly and easily our checks were split up for a party of like 16ish people. We'd give it a "Good Enough to Take Your Parents To", (which you actually probably should do!) and will try going back for a taste of lunch or dinner!

PS: Alexanders is currently participating in Frederick's Restaurant Week. While we didn't try one of their special dishes, I'd encourage everyone to try to grab a meal there during this weekend, the tail end of Restaurant Week!