So, in my previous post about my birthday dinner at VOLT, I mentioned how I wanted to go back, and even try Chef Voltaggio's Family Meal restaurant. Little did I know that I would try it sooner than I anticipated! The kids stayed a couple of days with their grandparents, and we decided to meet at Family Meal, which is halfway between our house and theirs, for brunch. I am so glad we did!
Much more laid-back than VOLT, Family Meal, is more of an upscale diner experience (it is housed in a former car dealership) and definitely family-friendly.
Just a small part of their breakfast menu...Next time, someone MUST get the cinnamon toast waffles. We saw them bring out plates of them and they looked amazing!
Clockwise from left: breakfast burrito, chicken pot pie fritters, hoe cakes with pimiento cheese and maple bacon jam, bourbon sticky bun with walnut pralines.
I loved the sticky bun! The walnut pralines were delicious and the caramel sauce was outstanding, but what really make it was the pastry itself -- fresh, flaky, and tender with just the right amount of chewy. The breakfast burrito was also outstanding, with a really fresh-tasting smooth salsa-y sauce that they call "ranchero." I also really enjoyed the hoecakes, but the balance was all off. In my opinion, there was way too much pimiento cheese (which is very rich), and it overpowered the taste of the hoecakes and the bacon jam. Unfortunately, because of this, it is hard to say much about the bacon jam, because I couldn't really taste it. I have made bacon jam before and love it (I use Martha Stewart's recipe, if you want to try it yourself), but in this dish it was completely lost, which was disappointing, because I think bacon with the pimiento cheese is a fantastic flavor combination. Oh! And the chicken pot pie fritters were also a hit! My husband and son liked them a lot.
I didn't take a picture of it, but my son got the Ranchero pork loin with fried eggs on top. It was amazing! The pork was flavorful with that ranchero sauce (the same that is used with the breakfast burrito), shredded into a sort of hash, and the yolks from the eggs made a yummy sauce that brought everything together. Also, order the home fries. You will not be sorry!
Even the kids were asking when we could come back, because there were so many things we wanted to try (next up: their biscuits and gravy! And cinnamon toast waffles!). Luckily for us, they are planning on opening another Family Meal closer to us at One Loudoun in Ashburn, VA. I doubt, however, we will be able to wait until October to eat there again!
No comments:
Post a Comment