Birthday Part Deux at the Blue Hill Tavern

Saturday night I got together with some girlfriends for a belated birthday dinner. I took a cue from the magazine I have of the best restaurants in Baltimore and a tip from my mother-in-law and made reservations at Blue Hill Tavern in the Brewer's Hill area of the city. Blue Hill is a medley of different types of food with an upscale twist without breaking the bank.

As we circled the restaurant two minutes before our reservation I was greeted with a wonderful sight: complimentary valet parking. A must if you're trying to eat in downtown Baltimore at 1900 on a Saturday night.

The restaurant is two levels and has a bar on each. We were taken to the second floor and seated at a four top along the wall of the restaurant, getting to look out over everyone. I also loved the upholstery on the chairs as weird as that sounds, which was blue faux python! The whole place is very modern with clean lines and little pops of personality like the chairs.

We started with a round of drinks and I chose the Pepperoncini Prosciuttini (the spelling might be slightly off on the second word). This was a vodka mixed drink infused with pepperoncini and served with one wrapped in prosciutto. I wanted to like this drink. I was feeling adventurous. But after about three sips and gagging on the last one I just couldn't justify spending $8+ on a drink I couldn't stand. It was way too sour. Fortunately the waiter was very accommodating and brought me a Pomegranate Punch, mixed with sparkling wine and topped with an orange slice and maraschino cherry, which was much more my speed.

No dinner is complete without appetizers to me, so we each ordered one to share with the table. Lee picked the rabbit empanadas, Caroline the calamari, Lauren a Caesar salad, and I chose the fried pickles. I have never had rabbit but was willing to try and so was Caroline. When they arrived they looked so pretty! If they had arrived looking kind of funky I don't know that I could have tried them. The rabbit is braised in red wine, stuffed in the empanada, and topped with a mango and jicama slaw, served over a pequillo pepper dipping sauce. I loved the taste of the rabbit, not too gamey and almost with a smoky flavor. Definitely something I would eat again.

The calamari was lightly breaded and not too chewy and served with a chili-lime vinaigrette, cilantro, peanuts, lime, and mixed greens. I wish all salads tasted like this. The fried pickles were also served with fried banana peppers and a chipotle mayo and were great. The sauce does have quite a kick to it though so I had to stop eating them before the entree arrived so that I could taste it. Lauren said her Caesar salad was very good; I liked the fact that they served it with shredded lettuce and a baguette slice rather than croutons to make it different. We also were served bread for the table, one your traditional plain roll and the other a wheat bread with walnuts and raisins. Both were delish!

A fellow coworker had eaten here before and recommended the Mushroom Wellington. I was intrigued so I ordered it and I was not disappointed. The dish is shittake and portabella mushrooms, feta cheese, spinach en croute, and is served with a five-onion sauce and seasoned julienned carrots. This. Was. Awesome. I've never ordered a vegetarian dish out and I'm so glad I did. The mushrooms almost taste like meat and the sauce was to die for. I also don't usually order carrots and I really liked these. I couldn't get over the presentation. I had to Google spinach en croute before ordering and it just means spinach stuffed in a puff pastry shell. I liked the lattice work design that they opted to go with instead of one large sheet of pastry.

Lee ordered the Nero D'Avalo pizza, just one of four pizza options. The pizza is topped with Italian sausage, garlic pesto, ricotta and mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce. Lee couldn't stop raving about it and said that the garlic pesto really made the pizza. I had a small bite and I can attest to that!

Both Caroline and Lauren ordered the Wagyu Beef Tavern Burger, served on a brioche roll and topped with Tillamook cheddar, crispy fried onion, spiced ketchup, and North country smoked bacon. Both of them loved their burgers and they came out cooked to the correct specifications of each. They're served with french fries that were some of the best fries we've all had.

We waffled on whether or not to get dessert but decided that we could all share something. Blue Hill has a couple of "bar" options that are the perfect size for two to four people to share. We picked the Key Lime Bar, a key lime cheesecake topped with guava caramel. The guava caramel was the perfect addition to the lime flavor. This was gone in five minutes!

The girls liked this restaurant so much that we're going to try to make it a monthly tradition. The only complaint I have was at the very end when we were all trying to make sure we paid the right amount. Our waiter got a little snippy with us and at one point even made a face, even though we were being extremely polite. That ruined it a little for me, but not enough for me not to come back!