# Dinner at Marc4pt0's Place



## WildBoar (Nov 14, 2013)

I've been really spoiled the last couple months. It started with a memorable chef's table dinner for 4 at Art & Soul (tkern) I won at a silent auction. Then when BoardSmith and family were in town abut 2 weeks ago we had another fantastic dinner at the Green Pig Bistro (ChucktheButcher). And the latest was an incredible dinner at Bistro Blanc in Columbia, Maryland -- a restaurant owned and run by marc4pt0. The stars aligned to make this last one happen; I volunteered to instruct at a teen survival driving school a little west of Baltimore, and then realized I would be driving right past Marc's place. Marc said "sure, come on by", so I happily lined up a couple other dinner companions ahead of time. Of course at the very last minute we picked up three extra people who needed a place to go for dinner as well, and Marc graciously accommodated us by housing our group in the Wine Cellar/ Chef's Table room that abuts the kitchen. In fact, it is separated from the expo area by a sliding glass door, so we were even able to watch a bit of the action. 

(If you looks closely in the background on the left, you can catch a glimpse of two KKF members hard at work) Marc started us off by sending out a batch of apps, including Brussels sprouts made edible by cooking them with a few pounds of bacon, foie gras, BBQ ribs and braised pork belly. It was very reminiscent of the dinner at Green Pig Bistro; these guys definitely think alike. Sadly we wolfed down the apps before thinking about snapping any pictures  The food was accompanied by a really nice pinot noir from Washington State -- they have a large selection of wines, and their markups are much less that at most restaurants. We next had a couple baskets of homemade rolls, with several toppings including oil heavily infused with garlic and a spicy baba ganouch. For entrees two of us picked the 72 hour sous vide short ribs 
three picked swordfish 
and one picked gnocchi Bolognese 
I cannot vouch for the swordfish, but the short ribs were delicious (included very good local roasted vegetables) and the gnocchi tasted almost as good as mine  For dessert most of us went with a molten chocolate cake with cabernet sauce and housemade salted caramel ice cream, and one or two went with an apple tart. The desserts were an excellent end to a first-rate dining experience. Marc's kitchen and wait staff were top-notch, which made the experience even better. And don't discount the show visible through the glass door; while Marc and the other main cooks were largely hidden from view, both of the guys working in front cut themselves and we got to watch one of them apply a duct tape repair twice :cool2: And to punctuate how well everyone enjoyed themselves, three of my dinner companions are already organizing another dinner in December at the Chef's Table. And that's saying something, as Marc's place is about an hour away. Thanks again for a fantastic meal, Marc!


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## marc4pt0 (Nov 14, 2013)

Thank you, David! The 2 cold side guys in front got a good work out that night, as well as some new scars, but they rocked it for being pretty new!


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## WildBoar (Nov 14, 2013)

We are used to racers tape and zip ties for trackside car repairs, so everyone got a good laugh out of the duct tape. Those guys were really busy, but always kept calm and collected. Still learning my kitchen terms; so that was garde mange? (I probably misspelled)


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## Von blewitt (Nov 14, 2013)

Food looks delicious, great write up too. Thanks


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## hambone.johnson (Nov 15, 2013)

good to see the chefs room is up and running. .. miss your place Mark. next time I come home, maybe a stage.


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## Lefty (Nov 15, 2013)

Looks great! If I ever decide to go that way, you're on my list.


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## quantumcloud509 (Nov 15, 2013)

Awesome write up!


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## Keith Sinclair (Nov 16, 2013)

WildBoar said:


> We are used to racers tape and zip ties for trackside car repairs, so everyone got a good laugh out of the duct tape. Those guys were really busy, but always kept calm and collected. Still learning my kitchen terms; so that was garde mange? (I probably misspelled)



Do you mean Gardemanger?Loosely in modern terms the Chef Gardemanger manages the cold kitchen or pantry.It comes out of the French language as someone who guards the food often cold storage.Making salads from leftover meats etc.

I worked line cook,banquet cook,butcher ended my career quite a few yrs. as Chef Guardmanger at Kahala Hilton.All ordering,managing outlets & banquets cold side.Dressings,salads,canapes,sushi,sashimi,diff. types of jobs endless depending on Banquet & outlet menu's.Also did all the Ice Carvings & alot of the decorative food work.


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## CoqaVin (Nov 17, 2013)

I learned quite a lot while doing Garde Manger


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