Family Meal

Yesterday afternoon found us walking the streets of a cold and damp Frederick, perusing the local shops for me and a fancy trim and shave at a newly opened barbershop. Citizen Frederick is one of Justin's favorite clothing stores and they're taking a foray into the art of a classic shave with a straight razor and a relaxing, styled haircut. He raved about his experience (which includes hot towels and hot coffee) so if you're a guy and looking for somewhere good to go check them out!

 

We wouldn't be us if we didn't stop somewhere for dinner and my finger landed on one of our all-time favorites, Volt Family Meal. Now before you think Volt, how the heck could you two afford that a second time? let me clarify. Volt is just one of several restaurants owned by chef Bryan Voltaggio, and Family Meal is his answer to comfort cuisine at family-friendly prices.

 

This would be our third visit to the joint and I couldn't wait. Each and every experience here so far has been stellar.

 

We got to the restaurant at about 4:30, early by dinner standards but the place was already filling up. We aren't old fogies and ate dinner this early because we were tired, I woke up around noon from night shift and Justin had only had protein shakes all day so we needed sustenance.

 

The meal kicked off with a round of cocktails and Family Meal has some seriously good ones. I ordered the Gingered Blossom with tangerine vodka, cranberry, and ginger. Justin chose the Manhattan-ish with smoke maple bourbon, port, and bitters.

 

Appetizers here tend to be condensed versions of comfort food classics with a bit of a twist. I picked the Chicken Pot Pie Fritters. Oh my Lord, these were fantastic. You bite into a crunchy shell and are immediately greeted by the creaminess of a pot pie mixed with the savory chicken and vegetables. Justin chose the Cream of Pumpkin soup with maitake mushroom. We also both really loved this. It was the right amount of thickness and the mushrooms were the perfect complement.

 Family Meal has an option to do breakfast for dinner, something that I have never done at this place so I decided to do it on this visit. I picked the Omelet with goat cheese, caramelized onions, and home fries. The omelet was a good size and didn't skimp on the goat cheese, unlike the mac and cheese I had on Saturday. The sweetness of the onions went well with the tartness from the cheese and can we talk about those home fries? Delicious. Crunchy and seasoned with salt and pepper and fresh garlic, they were amazing.

 Justin picked the Meatloaf with fork crushed potatoes and mushroom gravy. A few bites of this were delectable. The meatloaf was sitting in just enough gravy that you got some with each bite, along with the mashed potatoes that adorned the top. It also wasn't too salty, as meatloaf tends to be.

 We usually don't order dessert when we go out, oddly enough, even with my penchant for sweets. However, Gingerbread Donuts with a lemon glaze, white chocolate, and poached seckel pear were calling my name, especially in light of the cold weather and now sleet outside.

 Like everything else at this restaurant, I don't have anything negative to say about dessert. At first we thought the ice cream on the side was a stick of butter but a taste test confirmed otherwise; we think it was pear. Lemon with the donuts works well and these were warm and crunchy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside. The pears were also warm and sitting in what I believe was graham cracker crust.

 

If you're in Frederick you must try this place! Voltaggio also owns Lunchbox, Aggio, and Range in the Baltimore and DC area, and we can't wait to visit those in the future.