Stone's Cove Kit Bar

What is a kit bar, you may ask?  Its basically a restaurant where almost all the seating is at the bar and in the entire kitchen is contained in the middle of the bar.  Stone's Cove in Herndon, VA is such a place experimenting with this newer dining concept.  It provides a casual and social atmosphere where you can interact with your waitstaff while they cook your dinner.

Because the entire kitchen is contained in the middle of the bar, it does provide some challenges with cooking equipment.  The limited space makes it difficult to have most of the traditional ovens and refrigerators that a regular restaurant kitchen may have. But they seemed to have figured out some creative space saving appliances, including a brick oven in the middle of the kitchen that has openings on both sides, to ensure that the food they offer is also served up with creative quality yumminess.

 We began our meal with a couple "appetapas"...appetizers/tapas/small plates.  The first was Lobster Cones. These were not only adorable to look at, they tasted very yummy and fresh as well.  They are miniature savory poppy seed waffle cones stuffed with a chilled chipotle lobster salad with basil, guacamole, and tomatoes.  I could've easily eaten these all night.

Our second appetapa was Ahi Tuna Sashimi.  Fresh, lightly seared, sliced tuna served with an Asian slaw of cabbage and carrots with a creamy chili sauce drizzled on top. Delish!

We also tried Blue Crab Lettuce Wraps. Also very fresh and light but full of flavor.  Large pieces of crisp lettuce and fresh crab meat tossed with avocado, mango, red onion, almonds, and agave lime dressing.  The dish includes small compartments with other toppings like sliced limes, raw sugar, chopped cilantro, and more agave lime dressing.  The sugar was a little odd at first but combined with all the other flavors it was a nice sweet touch next to the sour of the lime and the savory crab and herby cilantro.

Then they have a couple offerings on the menu called "edibations" and they are foods but they are listed under the cocktails.  This looks interesting.  We ordered the Caramelized Beef Edibations.  We were served a plate with four large tasting spoons.  Each spoon was filled with a bite of beef that has been marinated in bourbon, gorgonzola, smoked bacon, and green onion.  And its all swimming in Maker's Mark...a Kentucky bourbon whiskey...not exactly what we expected. But that's what a food adventure is all about, right?

 If you're like me and not used to drinking whiskey, it may be a little strong at first.  But you really just have to go for the gusto and take the whole spoon like a shot to experience all the flavors together in their fullness.  At first the whiskey is a bit overwhelming but if you let all the flavors sit in your mouth for a second, the whiskey flavor quickly melds with the beef and the gorgonzola and the bacon and the onion to make the most incredible bite you'll ever taste.  The whiskey actually intensifies the other flavors and brings a sweetness to each one, including the tang of the gorgonzola. 

We were pretty stuffed after all that but couldn't resist taking home a dessert...Smores Flatbread! A crispy flaky flatbread covered with cinnamon and sugar, melted chocolate and roasted marshmallows! Super yumm! A great dessert to take home for later!

Lunch at a grocery store??

I can't believe its been a whole week since I've posted! Its been a pretty busy week though...hubby (I mean, Superking) and I had to juggle one vehicle for a couple days, I went to a baby shower for a friend in which I was working feverishly at the last minute to finish a sewing project for her, and I've been getting ready to host a church get-together at my house for my sister-in-law.  ANYWAY...back to food.

the baby's nursery theme is Construction, so this is the fabric I used to make a diaper bag and some wall hangings

I'm a little back-blogged right now, as in, I have a bunch of food stories I've been wanting to share but got so many at once that I had to spread them out. So this little story I'm sharing today actually took place in late December. We have a trendy-steadily-growing grocery store around here called Wegman's.  The one closest to us in Sterling is nice and really big but the one in Leesburg (about 15 minutes away) is even bigger and nicer.

There's a section of the store which I call the Market Area. This area houses the deli, the bakery, the seafood counter, etc. (My favorite spot is the cheese shop...its like cheese heaven!) But they also have a food bar set up and a section where you can get made-to-order food like sandwiches or tacos or pizza, kind of like a little fast-food restaurant. The Leesburg store actually has its own little cafe/bar in the middle of their market area. You might think..cafe in a grocery store? How good could it be?

produce section...ooh fancy wooden crates!

Market Area...most also have an upstairs eating area

the Market Cafe and Grill...open "kitchen" in the middle with a bar that wraps around, complete with TV's to watch the latest sports game

But actually its fairly gourmet and really yummy food! Superking ordered a salad with arugula and spinach, goat cheese, walnuts, olives, red peppers, red onions, and tomato, with a vinagrette dressing.  Very light and crisp, a little tart, a little savory.

last bits of the salad

I had the corn and crab chowder. Very creamy and chunky and warm, full of crab meat and veggies, with a touch of Old Bay. Perfect for a cold winter day.

crab chowder

Then we split a steak and cheese sandwich that was served with grilled asparagus and red onions.  The sandwich was great...nice melted provolone cheese with thick juicy steak pieces on a soft toasted roll. The asparagus (which I really like) was perfectly crisp-tender, lightly grilled and sauteed in a little butter with the onions. Yummy, crispy, buttery perfection. And a great compliment to the sandwich.

steak and cheese

asparagus and onions

Who would've thought you could get such great gourmet food cooked for you at a grocery store?? You should try it! It's totally Yumma Yumma!

Hot Crab Dip

Here's another winning recipe from Pampered Chef.  And as usual I modified it slightly though the original one is nice too. Its very yummy, easy to make, and is a very warm comforting addition to any holiday feast.  Or even just for yourself :)

The original recipe is actually Hot Artichoke Crabmeat Dip but I didn't want to use the artichokes this particular time. The ingredient list is as follows:

*1 package (8 oz) cream cheese softened
*1 cup mayonnaise
*1 garlic clove, pressed (or chopped)
*1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped ( if you don't want to use these you can just add more crabmeat or another similar veggie of your choice)
*1 package (8 oz) imitation crabmeat, chopped  (I usually used canned crabmeat; its real crab already chopped and slightly shredded=less work but better texture and quality than imitation...I used 3 small cans to cover the lack of artichokes)
*3/4 cup (3oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (though you can use any cheese, I used shredded mozzarella)
*1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
*1 lemon (optional)
*1/8 tsp black pepper
*1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper (which I also didn't use)
*additional green onion slices for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cream cheese and mayo; mix well.  Press garlic into cream cheese mixture and stir.  Drain artichokes and chop crabmeat if necessary.  Grate Parmesan cheese, slice onions, zest lemon.  Add artichokes, crabmeat, cheese, green onions, lemon zest, and black pepper to cream cheese mixture.  Mix well.

Spoon mixture into baking dish such as a large deep dish pie plate.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Sprinkle with remaining green onions and red bell pepper if desired.  Serve with pita chips, crackers, or hearty chips or even veggies.  Makes about 4 cups/16 servings.

This dip is quick and easy to make up to a day in advance except for the baking part.  Wait to do the baking until you're ready to serve.

Capital Grille-a-licious!!

So last night was my husband's company Christmas dinner we have every year come December.  Some people really dread their holiday company parties but feel obligated to go so they don't look like the office party pooper.  We, on the other hand, actually really enjoy ours every year.  It might have something to do with the fact that the company is made up of only 4 people, and they all happen to be close friends and family of ours...my husband's boss Tony (and close friend), along with his wife, Lisa (who is also the business VP), my brother-in-law Matt (who just recently joined the company) and his wife, Gwen, plus my hubby and I.  All 6 of us are close and get along great.  And the restaurant we went to was very yummy and we all rolled out of there very full!

The restaurant is called Capital Grille, located in McLean, VA.  Its basically an upscale steak and seafood house.  "Be wined, dined, and dazzled" is their motto and they did not disappoint.  The decor was rich and warm as was the service and the food despite the bitter snow-flurrying cold outside.

(Be aware...most of these photos are a little dark as they were taken with my cell phone camera that has no flash and I was trying to take them on the sly so as not to look like some crazy woman taking pictures of her food...can anyone else relate?)

The first course was appetizers.  We ordered several different ones to share around the table.  Hubby ordered Wagyu Beef Carpaccio which was served seared and chilled then sliced razor-thin accompanied by a small arugula salad. Very unique and tasty.  My appetizer was prosciutto-wrapped mozarella served with a lovely tomato salad.  The mozarella was very yummy, like cheese sticks for the foodie snob.  And the tomato salad was sweet and juicy, drizzled with a balsamic glaze.  I'm not one to just sit and eat tomatoes but these, I could've eaten a whole plate of them!

The next course was soup.  Actually before the appetizers they brought each of us a sample of their butternut squash bisque...very creamy and squashy (in a good way).  So for our soup orders, hubby got french onion and I got lobster bisque.  Both delectable!

The French onion soup was covered with a warm blanket of gooey cheese and underneath a broth of sweet and savory onions.

The Lobster bisque was rich and creamy with huge chunks of sweet lobster. The waitress even topped it off at the table with a few drops of dry sherry. I could just go swimming in that stuff!

Next the entrees...hubby ordered king crab legs.  And let me tell ya, they were the King of king crab legs!  When he pulled the meat out, they were like thick crab hot dogs!  That may sound weird and gross but trust me, it was wonderful!

For me, I ordered lobster and crab stuffed shrimp.  It's like, okay, how many different types of seafood can we cram into one dish?  But again it was lovely, lightly breaded and roasted with a touch of wine, served on top of a light tomato sauce.

The sides were ordered a la carte.  The side we got was parmesan truffle fries.  Fries, maybe a little unrefined, but served like this, they were delish!  Although at this point we were starting to get full and wanted to save room for dessert so we ended up boxing most of my shrimp and all the fries to take home.

And last, but certainly not least...dessert.  My favorite part of every meal.  Heck, dessert should be a meal all on its own.  But thats a whole other blog post.  Hubby's not a big dessert person (I know, weird huh) so he didn't get any.  But our friend let me take a picture of his dessert to share with you.  It was a light and fluffy vanilla cheesecake topped with raspberries and blackberries, drizzled with strawberry sauce and sort of flambeed with a sugary crust on the top.

My dessert was the restaurant specialty, Fresh Strawberries Capital Grille.  Fresh sliced juicy strawberries, (one of my favorite fruits ever), topped with handmade vanilla ice cream and wonderful sauce made of ruby port and Grand Marnier. Oh to die for! I tried my best to refrain from licking the bowl after scraping every bit of that sauce I could get on my spoon.

Needless to say, the dinner was a hit.  I must also add that I appreciated the more petite portion sizes of the appetizers and soups, and even the desserts...just enough so you could have a taste, maybe share with friends and have room for the next course without feeling like you were going to be sick. All in all great food, great friends, and...great food. (Yeah I know, I couldn't think of anything else to say!)  We will definitely be adding this place to our list of restaurants to visit again in the near future.