The Food Market Photos

Salt & Pepper Tuna

SOS Aka. Shrimp & Grits

Semiffredo

Stingray Oysters

Steak Tacos

Lil' Lamb Porterhouses

The Food Market

The Food Market Overall Review

The Food Market on The Avenue in Hampden bills itself as a restaurant that “focuses on approachable, serious comfort food, in a smartly designed industrial-modern space,” per their website. The atmosphere is bright and humming with excitement.  The place seems to stay packed with neighborhood locals.  Some of the food items are much better than others. So choose carefully when you visit the restaurant.  This is a great spot for a girls night out, a date night or a night out with a co-ed group of friends.  This please really seems to inspire conversation.  They do have valet parking but you have to get their before 9 to partake of this service.  Overall we give The Food Market ♪♪ and a half note.  

Stingray Oysters

The oysters were sweet, salty and savory all at the same time.  They had a wonderful briny intensity.  The chef served these little guys with Limon Cello ice, aka "lemon snowball" and a "chipotle cocktail" sauce.  They were delicious!

 Salt & Pepper Tuna

This dish was a miss.  It appears that the salt and pepper seemed to have cured the tuna.  Additionally it was not a good cut of tuna and it did not appear to be fresh.  We did however like the house made marinaded cucumbers and the avocado tzatziki was cool and refreshing.  
 
Steak Tacos

The chef cooked the meat perfectly but failed to season the meat well.  Melissa does not like corn tortillas, however these were great.  They were light and had a fabulous flavor.   The black pepper hot sauce was a treat and the micro cilantro was yummy.  The uncooked white corn added a nice sweetness and crunchiness.  The whipped avocado did not add anything to the dish.  Its a shame the chef ruined the dish by not getting his seasoning right.

Lil' Lamb Porterhouses

These delectable lamb chops were seared to perfection.  They did need a little salt but they had a delicious gamey and rich, full flavor.  The chef served ground pecans on top with espresso essence.  The apricots added a nice bite and sweetness to the dish.      
 
SOS

Aka...shrimp and grits.  This dish was delicious but super heavy and rich.  The shrimp were huge ,plump and fresh.  The andouille sausage was spicy and wonderful.  The dish was very flavorful and the grits were yummy and fluffy.  
 
Macadamia Nut Semiffredo

This is a semi-frozen Italian dessert, kinda like an ice cream cake.  It was light, refreshing and tasty.  The addition of candied nuts to the dish added a nice richness and crunchiness.  We did wish that the espresso foam had more of an espresso flavor.  
 
Angela's Review

I was having dinner with a friend of Melissa and I, Candace, while she was in town a couple weeks ago, when she mentioned that she had one of the best meals she has ever had here in Baltimore at a restaurant called The Food Market, and asked had Melissa and I been there yet. Before this, I had not heard of it, so needless to say, it went on the TO TRY list.
The atmosphere is very nice and the place was packed even at 9pm. It does have an industrial feel with its glass front, 1 white brick wall and another resembling a sort of Metallic laminate with hues of Blue, green, gray and brown. There is a bar along one wall, booths along the other, and wonderful paintings adorn the walls with abstract forms and bold colors. The steady roar of voices is not so loud that you cannot have a conversation, which is nice, but is just loud enough to speak of the popularity of this spot so far.
Our experience of the food at The Food Market was actually sort of hit or miss, though there were some very good elements. We LOVED the chef’s selection of oysters for the night (Stingray) and the accompaniments which included “lemon snowball,” Limón cello flavored ice, and “chipotle cocktail,” sauce; both of which were FABULOUS.  And the Macadamia nut “semifredo,” a partially frozen Italian dessert along the lines of ice cream, was RIDICULOUS. Other than these “out of the park” hitters, everything else we had had good elements and could have been better” ones. All in all, I give The Food Market ♪♪.
 
Melissa's Review

The Food Market in Hamden, MD is a fascinating place.  The atmosphere was lively and electric.  The place hummed with a vibrant crowd of people and a steady flow of customers.  The décor was warm and inviting.  Exposed brick walls, and intriguing lighting added to the ambiance.  I really like the feel of this restaurant.  The food on the other hand was very much hit or miss.  There were some dishes like the fresh oysters and the lamb that were fantastic, while some of the other dishes were just so so.  The tuna was not fresh and it lacked flavor and creativity.  It breaks my heart when restaurants look and feel fabulous but fall short in the kitchen.  It’s hard to find eateries that excel in both atmosphere and taste.  It’s as though the chef pours all of their creativity into a few dishes, then terribly neglects the rest of their menu.  Despite the inconsistency with the food, I feel that the Food Market is a good restaurant to try.  Overall I give The Food Market ♪♪♪. 

Pitango Gelato Photos

Black Tea and Sicilian Almond

Spicy Chocolate and Caffe Espresso

Pitango Gelato

Overall Review

Pitago is a gelato shop with multiple locations in the Maryland, DC and Virginia area.  All locations are listed below.  Pitango offers gelatos and sorbets in many flavors.  When you walk into the shop just check the wall to see what flavors are available each day.  It could be anything from White Grapefruit to Hazelnut.  The gelato is a bit pricy, but it is well worth the treat.  The staff tends to be very kind and helpful.  Make sure you take advantage of the free flavor sampling.  Parking at many of the stores can be a bit challenging as they are located in the heart of major cities.  Overall we give Pitango ♪♪♪ and 1 half note. 

Washington, DC | Capitol Hill
660 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003

Washington, DC | Penn Quarter
413 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Washington, DC | Logan
1451 P Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

Baltimore's Fells Point
802 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231

Reston Town Center
11942 Democracy Drive, Reston, VA 20190

Spicy Chocolate

This is a super rich and super spicy gelato.  This has a dark chocolate base (their chocolate noir) with a hefty helping of cayenne pepper.  It is both cool and hot ...kida like icy hot.  If you have a low tolerance for heat you definitely need to mix it with another flavor or chose to skip it all together.  We love this gelato!

Caffe Espresso

If you like coffee you will love this flavor.  It is bold, rich and intense.  The coffee flavor is strong and delicious.  We decided to pair this with the spicy chocolate because the bold flavors matched very well together. 

Sicilian Almond

This was a very light and delicate gelato.  You could tell that the almonds were pureed and mixed in which gave the gelato a great texture.  I do wish the almond flavor had been a tad more robust.  

Black Tea

The black tea was another subtle and delicately flavored gelato.  It had a nice earl gray tea flavor.  We paired this with the Sicilian almond and the two were an appropriate paring for each other. 

Melissa's Review

Do you like ice cream?  If so, you will love gelato.  Gelato is the Italian version of ice cream.  The texture is softer.   The flavors are a bit more sophisticated and a lot more intense and concentrated.  In Maryland, DC and Virginia the happening gelato spot is Pitango.  This place is WONDERFUL!  They have an ever changing selection of gelatos and sorbets.  They are open year round and tend to stay open very late.  One of the things I love about this place is that their menu transitions from one season to the next offering flavors that mirror the season.  In the summer you will find light and refreshing flavors like cantaloupe or mojito, while in the winter they offer warm, rich flavors like spicy chocolate or caffe espresso.  If the flavor is popular they tend to carry it year round.  Another great thing about the shop is that they allow you to sample as many flavors as you want.  This allows you to be sure you get just what you like.  If you have a hard time deciding exactly what you want, they allow you to choose two different flavors.  I highly recommend that you mix and match.  It makes the experience even more exciting.  Go on, give them a try!  Overall I give Pitango ♪♪♪. 

Angela's Review

Pitango is a wonderful chain of gelato shops located throughout, Baltimore, Washington DC and Virginia. The one we frequent, of course, is located in Fells Point, here in Baltimore, MD. They sell Gelatos and Sorbets which they make in house using organic milk, cream, eggs, sugar, fruits and nuts. They boast such flavors as Caffe espresso, spicy chocolate, chocolate noir, black tea, and Sicilian almond, to name some of our favorites. Now I must tell you that I am not a big ice cream fan, but I do love gelato and sorbet and this is my favorite place to get them. This is a quaint little shop with bright lighting and elegant fixtures; like the counter behind which the gelato and sorbet is served and the brick walls upon which flavors are displayed on place cards, separated one from the other with explanations as to what notes each flavor entail.  They will let you mix and match flavors (my favorite being spicy chocolate and café espresso) or you could let your favorite flavor stand on its own.  And if you have no idea what kind to try, fret not, they will let you sample flavors until you settle on “The One.” I give Pitango ♪♪♪♪.