Rewards! for Firestones Market Baguettes Fans

When the smell of bread baking wafts out onto North Market Street, familiar faces cross the doorstep at  Firestones Market on Market.

“When the fresh baguettes are out, it brings all the regulars in,” says Gill Berluti, Market manager.

Gill Berluti, Market Manager, has just pulled baguettes out of the oven!

Over the past few years, the list of regulars who stop in to find out when the baguettes are ready has grown and grown—now to dozens of people stopping a couplete times a week who count on the Market’s 22-inch long baguettes—officially defined as a long, thin loaf of French bread– for their evening meal.

If you’re a frequent baguette buyer, now you can use one of the Market’s newest services: a Bread Club card. You get your tenth baguette bestowed free once you fill up the card.

Some peopledon’t take long to fill it. Daily, weekly and bi-weekly stops are common for her regular customers, who call throughout the day to see if fresh baguettes are available.

The visitors are not only downtown residents; they include office workers who grab a loaf for their evening meal, foodies who need that special, “home-baked” taste to complement a painstakingly planned dish or those just looking for the comforts of fresh-baked bread.

“I love to stop by Firestone’s for fresh baguettes,” says Kate Charuhas, community relations coordinator for Hospice of Frederick County and also a downtown resident. “Crisp, but tender, just the way I remember them from a semester in Paris. My father even insists I buy one for him whenever I go in too.”

The Market is next door to Firestone’s Culinary Tavern, and is open Monday 10-6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday 10-8 p.m. and Sunday 11-8 p.m. Call 301-696-8586 to check if the baguettes are fresh!

Monday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Sunday: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Eh? Canadian Trout (Favorite Jack-catch) is Restaurant Challenge Dish

When Executive Chef Jack Walker sat down to ponder a menu for this year’s Frederick Restaurant Challenge , his mind started ranging toward one of his favorite things: fishing in the Great Lakes.

Was it a bit cold out there in March Jack?

Each year in November or March, he and his stepfather Phil make a fishing trip to the Niagara River, which stretches between Lakes Erie and Ontario. One of their favorite catches is Niagara steelhead trout,  which is an overgrown rainbow trout.  The pink fish is also reminiscent of salmon.

The fish will be pan-seared  with a touch of olive oil, sea salt, and thyme. The 5-oz main dish is accompanied by quinoa (1/2 cup), swiss chard (3 oz), one ounce of eggplant and one ounce of yogurt.

The Restaurant Challenge lasts till November 30.

If you try the trout dish, rate it…the Frederick County restaurant with the most favorable reviews wins the Frederick Restaurant Challenge award for 2011 (and diners can win a prize drawing for submitting their rating!)

To qualify, Jack had to submit a menu item that was under 550 calories; 45-60 grams of carbohydrates; less than 750mg of sodium and less than 18 grams of fat (with no more than 5 grams of that being saturated fat) and NO trans fat.

Steelhead actually compares very favorably in a nutritional comparison with salmon, at 159 vs. 345 calories, and 74 vs. 103 calories from fat.                                                                                          

For more information about the Restaurant Challenge, check out:

The Gazette:

Or the Frederick News Post

The Menu Item:

Firestone’s Culinary Tavern Steelhead Trout

Trout 5 ounces

Swiss Chard    3 ounces

Quinoa    ½ cup cooked

Olive Oil    1 teaspoon

Eggplant    1 ounce

Plain Yogurt   1 ounce

Open Table: We’re at The Top for DC Area American Restaurant!

We’ve been named Top American restaurant in the Washington, DC area by users of Open Table, the national reservation and rating system for fine dining restaurants! The notoriety came from reviews and ratings posted recently by the 918,200 diners in the regional Open Table user group.

Owner Kim Firestone says the recognition is something he appreciates. “I’m proud that we were named as a top restaurant in a major metropolitan area where there are a lot of great ones,” he said.

Chef Jack says “The Culinary Tavern is our original concept and it is an honor just to make the list with these other fine establishments.”

Jack and Chris, General Manager, work diligently to find inspiration in local foods and spirits. Both are Frederick natives.

OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants.

Locavores Unite….

Executive Chef Jack Walker has always made local food a priority in the 11 years he has been at Firestones.

Because his reputation has preceded him,  he was one of three local food professionals (also Volt Chef Bryan Voltaggio and local farmer Will Morrow) interviewed by Gorilla magazine last month about local food sources and their importance to the local economy and palate!!!

For example, Jack says:

“Taste is the biggest benefit, no question. But it also keeps money in the community. Buying locally grown and raised food allows you to support your community, and that promotes a sustainable economy. It lets you keep the money [in your area] instead of sending it elsewhere.”

You can also check out and try his rabbit recipe!!

Read the article here…

Oyster Time-From the Bay, For the Bay is Almost Here….

Chef Jack and the rest of the kitchen crew are waiting to finalize their oyster dishes for next week’s From the Bay, for the Bay (see our July 29^th post feast to benefit Chesapeake Bay oysters.

Firestone's Famous Oyster Po' Boy

“The weather—and whether or not there’s a hurricane—can make all the difference in the world for what kinds of oysters are available,” he says. But if predictions hold steady, he’ll probably being using Choptank oysters (either sweet or salts), and possibly using some from the Sewansecott River and Rappahanock River (both from the Virginia side of the Chesapeake).

During the promotion, run by the Maryland Department of Natural Fisheries, Commercial Fisheries, Firestone’s will feature special menu items featuring fresh Maryland seafood, and will donate a dollar from every Maryland seafood dinner sold during the week to the Oyster Recovery Partnership, a non-profit organization working to rebuild the Chesapeake Bay’s native oyster population.

The promotion begins Sunday and runs through October 9, 2011.

In The Street @ Firestone’s Culinary Tavern

Summer’s not over yet! Sno-Cones are on the menu this Saturday Sept 10 at 105 N. Market St. along with some sizzling dishes.

At In the Street, Chef Jack Walker and his kitchen team will have Sno-Cones flavored with house-made syrup from fresh local blackberries, as well as:
*Beef Satay on a Stick: flank steak flavored with spices from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia;
*Jalapeno pork sausage (house made);
and
*Pastrami Sandwiches (house made pastrami).

The Market on Market will be offering “walk-around picnic baskets” featuring grapes, cheese, bread and apple slices and other treats in convenient carrying containers for $5. This year the featured cheese is Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar (from Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, WA).

This will be Firestones’ 11th year participating in In the Street, presented by Celebrate Frederick, and WE LOVE IT! Come out this year to take advantage of the first dry day all week!!!

Summer in the City….. New Treats for the Market!

We all made a trip to the “Big City”—Washington DC—this summer to visit the Summer Fancy Foods Show. We were lucky this time to have the show right in our back yard—Washington DC, when in the past we’ve travelled to San Francisco and New York City.

The show’s theme was “Discovery in DC” and we discovered what we had been hearing: the popularity of GLUTEN FREE products this year. They were everywhere.

As a result, for our customers with celiac issues and other gluten intolerances, we’ve chosen to add a new product to our lineup: RP’s GLUTEN FREE PASTA! We’re carrying fuslli and linguine for those luscious pasta dinners and salads that are so popular around Frederick. We got to test the pastas out at the show, and their taste is great—there’s no way to tell they’re gluten free!

We also taste-tested some sausages that we really liked, and they’re now on our shelves. We now carry Les Trois Petits Cochons, and Niman’s Ranch, which gives our customers a selection of all natural, fully cooked, Italian, chicken and turkey sausages for some healthy choices.  Our customers like to be able to make up quick but wonderful tasting meals, and these sausages can be added to pasta or risotto for an easy, classy dinner.

So from Gillian and our team at the Market, come and make your Discovery in Frederick! There are new dinners to be cooked and tastes to be had!

Who loves Fresca?

“I do” says Chris Tereyla!

Fresca:   A surprisingly grapefruit-centric citrus drink that’s favored by a small but loyal niche of fans.

Who isn’t looking for a low-calorie night of cocktails?  Using raspberry vodka, Fresca and a splash of fresh grapefruit juice, this is a refreshingly light hot-day sensation.

Our customers are always asking for ways to “lighten” their drinks.  As an avid Fresca-drinker, I knew that it could add a complexity as a mixer that other diet drinks don’t offer.  Thus, the Raspberry Fresca Cooler.

Not to be outdone, assistant manager Bobbi Wilson has created his own summer-inspired cocktail – the Cue… featuring Effen Cucumber Vodka, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, soda water and a dash of cranberry juice for color.

We’ve special-ordered the Fresca.  You can’t find it anywhere else.  So, for a truly unique drink experience, stop by the Tavern for Happy Hour and order a Raspberry Fresca Cooler or

If you’re a big fan of cucumbers, Bobby’s favorite – the Cue.

Oyster Love….Coming This October

Maryland oysters will get some special attention this fall, even from those of us who aren’t right on the Chesapeake Bay.

We’ll be joining many other restaurants in the region for a new statewide seafood celebration that promises to benefit oyster beds that are being restored from decades of depletion.

The From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out program is October 2-9, 2011, and Chef Jack Walker and his team will be creating special dishes featuring Maryland seafood. Like other restaurants in the promotion, $1 for every Maryland seafood meal sold will go to the Oyster Recovery Partnership, a non-profit organization working to rebuild the Chesapeake Bay’s native oyster population.

“This project makes an important connection between celebrating Maryland seafood we use in our menu, and helping to preserve the oysters that make it possible,” Jack says.

Over the last decade, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has replanted hundreds of millions of oysters in the bay. Oysters are a critical species to the bay’s long term recovery. A healthy oyster reef not only filters the bay’s waters, but also provides habitat for other marine life such as blue crabs and striped bass.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Chef Jack Walker selects the days flavorings from "above".

Heard of green roofs in the recent green building craze? We knew about green roofs
before they were even cool.

One of our produce suppliers is up on the roof—our roof, as a matter of fact, in the herb garden we’ve been keeping up there for years. We even have an alternate basil supplier — our owner Kim Firestone, who grows three varieties of basil , among other things, at his farm garden in Middletown, MD.

Both gardens are in full production now, and are flavoring dishes like lamb (rosemary from the herb garden and barbecue rosemary from Kim’s garden) fennel for the deviled-egg appetizer people love so much, and basil for the special honey mustard used for dishes like Grilled Chicken. And don’t forget the “batches and batches of pesto” that Chef Jack’s team makes every summer, which can be frozen to return local flavor to our dishes later in the year.

Kim in his Middletown veggie patch!

Later in the season, the rooftop garden will produce jalapenos; and Kim’s garden will be bringing forth loads of tomatoes. We’re never short for last-minute, fresh garnishes, and there’s nothing like knowing exactly where your produce is coming from!