Obviously one of my favorite parts of birthday week is getting to go out to eat. Usually we go out with our parents and we also pick a place to go to as a couple. This year's choice for us as a couple was Volt in Frederick, MD.
Volt is a place that we have both been longing to go to for quite some time, but we have pushed it multiple times because of the cost. Volt is not cheap. Owned by chef Bryan Voltaggio, Volt is at the top range of a group of restaurants that includes Lunchbox, Family Meal, Range, and Aggio. We have eaten at Family Meal before and it was fantastic, so we had high hopes for our dinner at Volt.
Before heading out to dinner, I made sure to call to check on a dress code for the evening. Volt does not have a set dress code (I was told by the young lady that answered the phone business casual is recommended but they want you to wear whatever's comfortable) but this is a place you're going to want to get fairly dressed up for. Justin wore nice jeans with a button down and leather shoes, I had on a dress and fancy flats. Anything less and we both would have been uncomfortable in the setting.
Volt is located in a historic mansion on Frederick's Market Street. Big open windows highlight the front of the house. When you enter there is a bar/lounge area on the right and the dining room is on the left. Volt has several options for seating which include the main dining room, Table 21, and the Chef's Kitchen. The Chef's Kitchen affords you a view of the open kitchen while Table 21 allows you to sit directly in front of the chef and watch them cook. In the interest of keeping costs as low as possible we were more than happy with the main dining room.
The restaurant's decor is very minimalist, modern, and white, lots of white. Our reservation was for 6:30 but we were able to be seated early at 6. As we were shown to our table I asked the hostess where the restroom was. She responded by saying she would take me there. As we passed people in the hallway a path cleared and everyone welcomed me to the restaurant. When I got back to the table it had been set and Justin said that the server had spilled a minute drop of water on his knife and immediately switched it out, even though he had never touched it (They change your silverware between every course even if you didn't touch it!). This kind of service was something we were not remotely used to and it was a little bit awkward to tell the truth. I felt like I had to whisper and sit extremely straight.
It is for this reason that there are no pictures of the food for this meal. It was not the kind of setting that is appropriate for taking pictures. I can tell you that there is as much attention paid to the plating of the food as to the taste and everything looked incredible.
There are two options for dining. You can choose to do the set tasting menu which is six courses and there are two to choose from as well as a wine pairing, or you can order a la carte. We ordered a la carte to keep costs down. Our server recommended that we both order from the same side of the menu so that all dishes came out at the same time.
The first course is Fruits and Vegetables. I chose the huckleberries and Justin had the mustard green soup. The second course is Pasta and Grains. I had the lobster raviolo and Justin the calamari bolognese. The third course is Fish and Shellfish. I had the scallops and Justin the lobster. The final course is Meat and Game. I had the chicken and Justin the lamb. There is a fifth course that includes dessert but we opted to skip that. It's very difficult to describe the dishes as they are very complex with quite a few ingredients I had never had before like paw paw and rose wine vinegar. What I can say is that everything is exquisitely prepared and this was some of the best food I have ever eaten. I can also say that portion sizes are at a minimum so it is necessary to order as many courses as we did unless you want to leave feeling hungry.
Aside from the main dishes, there were quite a few other treats to enjoy that were on the house. When we first sat down we were served crunchy thin breadsticks dusted with fennel pollen. Yes, fennel pollen. I had no clue this even existed but it's good. They also offer a bread selection of rosemary bacon, sourdough, and cheddar chive rolls, served with homemade butter from Vermont. Let me just say, everyone needs a little rosemary bacon bread in their life. OMG it was fantastic! I also loved the cheddar chive rolls, they're like a fancier version of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuits. Between the bread and our first course we were also served a foie gras macaron that dissolved on your tongue. This was not my favorite. The texture was weird and I just really don't like the taste of foie gras. Fortunately I had a delicious cocktail to get the taste out of my mouth!
Even though we skipped over dessert rest assured Volt made sure we still had something sweet with which to end the meal. We were served a candy tray which included lemon curd macarons, duck fat truffles, grapefruit gumdrops, and brittle with pumpkin seeds. Our favorite was probably the brittle but they were all great, even the duck fat truffle! If you've ever had duck fat fries you know that it just makes everything crispier and more flavorful, or in this case richer.
Just when you thought you had gotten everything out of the meal, our waiter served us fresh made and packaged coffee cake to take home! We ate them with breakfast the next morning and they were really good. But really did we expect anything less?
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