Cacique

     I promised my friend, Sasha, that as soon as I got a bit of extra cash I would take her out to a nice dinner to celebrate her choosing the best college major ever (a.k.a. English) and I wanted to take her to a really nice place that neither of us have previously experienced.  I must have walked by Cacique on Market St. a thousand times and thought, "I should try that some day," so I used our special occasion as a great excuse to give it a go.
     This little adventure actually turned out to be full of fun firsts.  For one, I had never been to a restaurant that you might call "fancy" that primarily serves Mexican and Spanish food.  We felt a little guilty dripping their delicious and bountiful salsa on their nice white tablecloths, but assumed they must have had at least some expectation of this possibility so we carried on.  We really enjoyed this part of the meal because not only were the salsa and chips good, it gave us a chance to chat and soak in the well-decorated atmosphere.
     The menu was particularly interesting not only because it was full of super-spiced up renditions of traditional Spanish and Mexican cuisine, but because it also took many items that you might think of as "American" food and added a foreign flare to them.  For instance, I ordered a rack of pork ribs that they called "Yucatan Ribs," that came bathed not only in delicious BBQ sauce, but also several spices that I couldn't identify that added a unique twist that I've never encountered at another restaurant.
     The presentation was spectacular.  I could literally hear my food coming out of the kitchen as it was still sizzling in a cast-iron plate that I had to let cool for a moment before I could begin eating.  When I did, the first thing I noticed was that the meat was so tender that it was falling off the bone at the slightest touch.  All items on this portion of the menu come with a little platter for making your own soft tacos on the side.  Ever have spicy BBQ ribs at the same time as a soft taco filled with fresh salsa and sour cream?  I highly recommend it.  If that is how they do ribs, I cannot wait to come back and try the steak.
     But as with any truly great restaurant, Cacique is certainly good at introducing us to dishes that we may not normally even think about.  Sasha ordered the roast duck.  She didn't give me too many details other than to say it was cooked just right, which I'm told is hard to do with duck because it can become kind of chewy if you don't know what you are doing.
     I normally try to avoid talking too much about price when I do restaurant reviews (Sasha says it's tacky) but I think it worthy to note that this is the place to go if you want a "classy" dining experience without breaking the bank.  In addition to the nice table cloths, the waiting staff is well-dressed, there is an extensive wine list, and pleasant music playing quietly in the background.  I've had special dinners in very similar settings for about three times what this delightful evening cost.  In fact, it might be my new go-to restaurant for such occasions when I'm the one footing the bill.  Only next time I will try the lovely outdoor seating on the bustling sidewalk of Market Street!

Cacique Restaurant
26 N. Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701
301.695.2756
 www.caciquefrederick.com
eat@caciquefrederick.com    

Lots of L.O.V.E. in downtown Frederick

    I have reviewed a lot of really interesting and unique shops both on this blog and in newspapers and magazines, but never in my ten years of journalism had I come across an entire type of of shop that I never even knew existed.  That is, never until I discovered Lebherz Oil & Vinegar Emporium (aka L.O.V.E.).  Olive oil and vinegar are great flavor-boosters for things like salad and hummus, but never did I imagine an entire store dedicated to bringing us 48 different varieties on tap!
     According to owner Maggie Lebherz, she also didn't know about such places before her study abroad program in Spain a few years ago.

     “I really got into the cuisine and had fresh olive oil which I had never had before and so when I got back here I looked everywhere and couldn’t find anything like what I had so I did lots of research, found what I had in Spain and went from there," she said. 

     I felt really ignorant at this point because I didn't know that freshness made such a difference when it came to olive oil. I assumed that anything in a non-refrigerated sealed bottle was good for decades, but apparently age has a major negative impact on both the flavor and health benefits of olive oil.

     "“You want to get this fresh olive oil that’s high in polyphenols because that’s where the anti-oxidants are.  You’re going to get health benefits from actually using it," she said.  "If you get any olive oil that’s been sitting in heat and sunlight for a year, the free fatty acids are high, so much higher sometimes that it’s not much better than using butter.”

     She keeps her oil and vinegar in these large steel vats with spigots on the end until the customer decides to buy a bottle.  Keeping it in larger quantities in non-glass containers preserves its' freshness for longer.  Her store is extremely unique in the US doing this with oil imported from Europe - so unique in fact that a restaurant in D.C. buys their oil and vinegar directly from her rather than a provided closer to them.  

     

     What surprised me even more were the flavor fusions and infusions into the oil and vinegar.  I am familiar with how different flavorings are added to honey, tea and wine, but I had no idea that similar things were done to oil and vinegar.  What I find particularly amazing is that the oils are infused with flavors that you would never normally think of adding to just about anything else.

     My attention was first turned to L.O.V.E. a few days before I went there when friends of mine introduced me to an oil that was fused with mushrooms at the moment the olives were pressed.  It was smooth, rich, flavorful and made an excellent dip for whole wheat bread.  This is certainly not a flavor I could get or would want in honey, tea or wine!

     But what I found even more interesting and enlightening were Maggie's balsamic vinegars.  She said that technically speaking, most of the brands that are marketed as balsamic in grocery stores are just imitation because in order to be true, they must be from Modena, Italy and be aged for at least 12 years, whereas the imitations are usually aged about four years.  

     When it comes to vinegar, she says that proper aging can totally change our usual perception of its character and use.  Would you ever pour vinegar on ice cream or cheese cake?  That sounds totally gross, right?  But as vinegar ages for over a decade, the sugars become more dense and the body becomes much more like a sweet syrup.  I was highly skeptical myself, but I bought a bottle of her strawberry balsamic vinegar and smothered chocolate ice cream in it.  I got the same great flavorful sweetness as I would have from strawberry syrup, but also this really interesting tangy kick that opened up more of the chocolate flavor.  

     But if that still sounds really weird, the truly amazing thing about L.O.V.E. is that you can sample all of the oil and vinegar from the same vats from which the bottles are filled.  And because L.O.V.E. loves their customers, they encourage you to come in and try a small sample of all of their products.  Seriously, just let a tiny dab of the vinegars touch your tongue and you won't wonder why I put it on ice cream.

     I was also thrilled by how well Maggie knows her products.  Each one of them has intricate aspects, but she can describe them perfectly and provide a seemingly endless supply of serving suggestions.

     Even the store space is really well-done and has a comfortable feel.  I thought it was interesting that the color scheme and architecture of the building are highly suggestive of the Mediterranean world from which her products come, while at the same time proclaiming itself a proudly local business by displaying beautiful glass-etchings of Frederick scenes donated by local artist, Yemi.  Add that to the rows of gleaming steel vats full of rich but affordable goodness, and this is most definitely a store that I recommend to my readers.

Lebherz Oil & Vinegar Emporium 

214 N. Market Street 

Frederick, MD 21701

301-228-3996

www.loveoliveoilvinegar.com    

Zoe's Chocolate: Sweet Treats in Frederick

     Ever since my return from Europe nearly a year ago I've had trouble adjusting back to a certain popular corporate American chocolate, the name of which I won't mention but assume you know.  By European standards, this famous chocolate feels and tastes rather like wax in my mouth.  So when I recently discovered Zoe's Chocolate Co. on Market St., I had to check it out in hopes of escaping the more standard options.
     I knew I was in the right place as soon as I walked into the bright pink store front.  They have rows and rows of different types of chocolate bars on all sides and a glass counter full of little chocolates for gift boxes.  I was hit with a wave of chocolate flavor on the very air.  I bought a bar of their hazelnut dark chocolate and could tell that it was good just by looking.  It was divided into eight thick, dark squares and it smelled amazing as soon as I removed the wrapper.  At first taste I immediately knew there was a quality here that couldn't be matched by you-know-who's chocolate.  It was rich, strong and smooth.  I could tell that it was made with much more actual cocoa and few unnatural preservatives than that which shall not be named.  I no longer feel the need to get on an airplane to enjoy delicious chocolate.
     Zoe Tsoukatos, who has run the shop with her family since 2007, said their chocolate is so good because they are third-generation Greek chocolatiers.  Their family started the business in Baltimore in 1902 and has carefully passed down the family secrets ever since.
     But according to Zoe, the goal of this new shop is to marry tradition to modernity.
     "We took a lot of the old-world recipes and we tweaked it to today's pallets," she said.  "'Time honored tradition meets modern sophistication' is like our slogan."

     Their flavors include unique things like a Mediterranean line that mixes chocolate with things like baklava, tahini, pistachip, citrus, and orange blossom.  She said that the caramel chocolates with sea salt are among her hottest selling items.
      "We try to step outside the box, play with the consistencies, so it's a little bit different than what everybody else does, but yet we still play to the classic American pallet where you have like apple pie, pear and peanut-butter and jelly," she said.  "We try to mix both worlds from our heritage and the American culture as well."
     I also like the freshness of their chocolate.  It's actually brought into the store on a daily basis from Waynesboro, PA on the same day it's made.  Zoe said they strive to use local flavoring ingredients whenever possible.  But even when they don't, the ingredients that they do use are really cool, like genuine Italian butter.
     I'm sold.  I'm definitely coming back to Zoe next Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, birthdays, Christmas, and whenever I just need to remember what real chocolate tastes like.

Zoe's Chocolate Co.
121 North Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701-5421
(301) 694-5882
http://www.zoeschocolate.com/