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Teddywedgers

Saturday, November 8th, 2014

I love pasties. There’s something so comforting in eating pastry dough stuffed with meat, which is why I also like calzones and empanadas.

Eating at–or actually, taking out from–Myles Teddywedgers reminds me of my childhood, when I would often get a pasty after a trip around Farmers’ Market. That’s why I was happy and relieved when the brother-sister duo of Anthony Rineer and Karima Berkani stepped up when Raymond Johnson put the business up for sale (if you recall, Ray took over when Miles Allen died).

Now called Teddywedgers, the restaurant has entered into modern times, jumping on Facebook and Twitter, and creating a new logo. The menu includes all the original pasties, including my favorites, steak and the Big Cheesy. Half-pies are $5.50, and whole pies are $9.75.

Let’s talk about that steak pie, which includes tender steak, bits of onion at the right texture (soft, but not too soft) and not an overwhelming amount of potatoes. Meanwhile, the Big Cheesy contains huge pieces of sausage, lots of cheese (of course!) and a perfect amount of sauce (enough so you can taste it uniformly but so it doesn’t spill out).

For breakfast, I ordered both the egg and bacon and egg and broccoli pies. Both were hearty and worthy of the first meal of the day, though I would have preferred more egg in both pies.

Teddywedgers is open for breakfast and lunch Monday to Saturday. A staff member told me the restaurant will eventually expand its hours. Make sure to call before you go–on one visit, I arrived at 2:15 p.m., and it was already closed, despite the 3 p.m. closing time listed on Facebook.

Tags: downtown
Posted in Restaurant and Bar Reviews | 1 Comment »

Rare Steakhouse

Sunday, September 21st, 2014

The area where State Street and Mifflin Street converge is home to a growing restaurant empire that consists of the Ivory Room, Capital Tap Haus, Buck and Badger and now Rare Steakhouse. The owners did a beautiful job of renovating the space, as seen by its mahogany interior and atmosphere of elegance without pretentiousness.

All steaks are dry-aged for up to a month in the state’s only in-house dry-aging cooler. I know this because our head waiter during a dinner talked our ear off and went into excruciating detail about everything. Fortunately, that was the only negative aspect of the restaurant.

I was impressed with the selection of appetizers, but the one I want to feature is the PB&J ($20), a plate of foie gras and port black currant jelly in mini jars with a (small) side of French bread. This was a highly decadent dish, with all the ingredients complementing each other’s flavors (salty, sweet and tart)–an excellent way to wake your taste buds.

That brings me to the steaks. I tried both the 6-oz. filet ($23) and the 16-oz bone-in ribeye ($46). As expected, the dry-aging unlocks a different type of meat–much beefier in flavor and of course more tender. While enjoyable, the steaks were a bit under-seasoned.

Other entrees include chicken, lamb and seafood.

All entrees are served a la carte. Sides include duck frites ($8) and twice-baked sweet potato ($10). I recommend the BLT Mac ($12) because of its delicious blend of cheeses and added bacon (no lettuce, luckily).

If you still have room, get the bananas foster ($10) for dessert. It’s prepared table side. The bananas are cut into coins instead of length-wise, which seems to allow them to soak up more flavor.

Rare also serves lunch. The Prime burger ($15), topped with bleu cheese, carmelized onions and horseradish, was super flavorful and juicy. I also was a fan of the lobster roll ($16), with its generous chunks of lobster meat. Meanwhile, the French onion soup ($9) was unexpectedly filling and sweet.

Rare serves dinner Monday-Saturday and lunch Monday-Friday. It also has outdoor seating, which seems a bit out of place.

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See more photos in our Rare Steakhouse Flickr album.

Tags: downtown, steakhouse
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Star Bar and Red Rock Saloon

Friday, May 23rd, 2014

Star Bar opened at the beginning of the year inside the Constellation apartments on East Wash, and Red Rock Saloon opened a month later in the space once occupied by Logan’s. While they are two vastly different bars, they both provide unique ambiances to the near east side and downtown, respectively.

I thought Star Bar would be bigger, but the inside capacity is about 80, according to co-owner Peter Gentry, who also runs One Barrel Brewing Co. Speaking of which, it seems like most of the same crowd from One Barrel is the one coming to Star Bar. Indeed, it’s a relaxed environment, not a place where you would find a bachelorette party.

I do like the cocktail menu here, with my favorite concoction being the O.G. ($10), a nice, stiff Manhattan made with Templeton rye. Contrasting that is the Honey Haze ($7), a lighter drink made from Rumchata and honey liqueur. A welcome surprise was the Devil’s Daug ($7), which is Bulleit bourbon, sweet and dry vermouth and orange juice.

Over at the high-energy and gigantic Red Rock Saloon, it’s amazing how many people can fit inside, yet there are always long lines to get in on the weekend. With the mechanical bull near the entryway and the music stage in the back, the country-themed bar fills a void that was created when the Bean closed.

There are definitely some hits and misses on the cocktail menu (the drinks are $5 during happy hour). I enjoyed the “caramel notes” in the Single Barrel Manhattan ($9), the sweetness of the Apple Pie Ole’Fashioned ($8) and the overall quality of the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Ole’Fashioned ($9).

Meanwhile, the Sarsaparilla ($9) was overwhelmed by the vanilla flavor, the Lynchburg Lemonade ($7) didn’t seem like it had any alcohol in it and the Into the Sunset ($8) was just too damn fruity. Note: since these drinks take a while to make, you would only order these drinks during a meal, not during at night when it’s two-deep at the bar.

I have to mention some of the gems on the food menu. Without hesitation I would re-order the immensely tender brisket ($14 as part of the two-meat BBQ dinner). I also loved the diversity of flavors in the Red Rock Burger ($11), which is topped with pulled pork, coleslaw, onion strings and cheddar & chipotle cheese. Finally, you can’t go wrong with the mega-decadent deep fried Oreos, drizzled with chocolate sauce and covered in whipped cream.

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See more photos in our Star Bar Flickr album and our Red Rock Saloon Flickr album.