The Gist: http://www.witandwisdombaltimore.com
The Why: With dinner already accounted for at Woodberry Kitchen and a great game at Camden Yard wrapping up it seemed apropos to head out for dessert and with my admiration for Michael Mina restaurants no secret it seemed only logical to visit Wit & Wisdom, home-kitchen of Food & Wine’s best new pastry chef of 2012, Chris Ford.
The Reservation: One was made via Opentable for 10:00pm and apparently on some sort of frequent-flyers list at Mina’s restaurants I received a very pleasant confirmation call the day prior telling me that the team was ‘looking forward to seeing me again’
The Setting: A great space inside the swanky Four Seasons along the Baltimore Waterfront the layout of Wit & Wisdom is quite interesting, the bar area swank and modern while the dining room is more ‘tavern-esque’ with painted white brick and a hearth next to an open kitchen with fires burning brighter than the fireplace, sturdy wooden tables, and plus leather chairs with metal rivets plus soft lighting both overhead and from lamps on dividers throughout the room. Seated with a full view of both the kitchen and a great vantage of the waterfront through the floor-to-ceiling windows the location is quite dramatic, a great place for food or cocktails and well stocked with patrons enjoying both even late on a Monday in May.
The Service: Having mentioned in my reservation that I was coming for coffee and dessert I was greeted first by my primary server, a young man named Joseph, and then by Chef Ford briefly as he was on his way home for the evening and promising me that I was “in good hands” with his team I was told I’d not be ordering dessert but instead being served a tasting of his favorites and that he hoped I’d brought an appetite, something I assured him wouldn’t be a problem…at least until I took a look at the evening’s savory menu and decided to also add a couple of appetizers.
The food and beverage: Two Appetizers, Coffee (complimentary,) and six desserts (complimentary.)
LA Mill Coffee: One of my favorite roasters and omnipresent on Mina’s menus from Baltimore to Detroit to Scottsdale to Vegas to San Jose this is a strong brew with both nutty tones and a bit of caramel linger that works perfectly with desserts, particularly any featuring chocolate.
Carolina gold rice ‘porridge’ with spring garlic pesto, hen egg, duck tongues & cracklins’: Essentially oversold and underwhelmed by the ‘congee’ at Woodberry Kitchen ($1
the team at Wit & Wisdom came through in a big way with this dish, a $9 cast iron pot of bubbling toothsome rice with an egg yolk mixed in adding a bit of creaminess to the otherwise intensely savory blend of flavors. Rich and smooth but punctuated now and again by crispy onion rings and pork cracklins’ this was a dish tailored to my tastes and although not quite as impressive as that at Red Medicine a close runner up for best savory porridge I’ve encountered.
Hudson Valley foie gras tourchon with wild rice granola, red and green strawberries, rhubarb, pecans: Having mixed success with Michael Mina’s seared foie gras preps this $20 torchon would prove to be an inspired choice as the creamy torchon was paired with some nontraditional flavors in the form of the bitter green strawberries and clover greens plus a bit of crunchy puffed rice in addition to the standard sweets present in strawberries, strawberry jam, and candied nuts. Good on its own but far better spread on griddled brioche I spent quite a bit of time enjoying this dish leading to a Keller-esque replenishing of my bread with warm slices from the kitchen – a lovely gesture but probably the last thing I needed given the substantial amount of carbs consumed only a few hours earlier and those to follow (not to say I did not appreciate the gesture or that I didn’t indulge in it.)
Pineapple Lime and Green Tea Lemonade Sorbet: Ostensibly served to cleanse the palate before moving on to proper desserts these two quenelles sat atop shortbread crumble, both options refreshing and smooth but the former almost too sour without the crumble to add some balance.
Rhubarb – Strawberry Shortcake, Fromage Blanc Custard, Rhubarb Sorbet: The only dessert I probably would not have ordered based on its description I was admittedly quite fortunate to have this one ‘forced upon me’ with the rest of the tasting as the “shortcake” was literally made with little more than strawberries and a bit of four while the liquid nitrogen frozen custard and rhubarb threads provided a textural crunchy juxtaposition to the soft, dense cake and intense sorbet.
Red Velvet – Spiced Pecans, Chocolate, Cocoa Nib Ice Cream: Try as I might I remain a slave to my Midwestern palate and a cake > fruit/pie mentality, particularly red velvet and as such this dish really caught my attention in a big way – the deconstructed cake rife with cocoa while the slightly sweet yet spicy pecans lent a lot of kick. Finished with cocoa rocks, a dollop of milk chocolate cream, and bitter-sweet ice cream I was surprised to see something so rich this early in the tasting – at least until I saw what followed.
Banana Cream Puff – Chocolate, Coconut Tapioca, Hazelnut Sherbet: I was told I’d be served ‘demi-portions’ of the desserts as part of my tasting but this was clearly not the case with my first two items, or this one – the best of show in a very strong lineup. Featuring a baseball sized choux pastry with a caramelized sugar shell and an interior stuffed with banana pudding while whole hazelnuts, hazelnut sherbet, and dots of chocolate lined the plate what truly wowed here was the ‘tapioca’ – part actual tapioca cooked in coconut milk and part balls of actual coconut made with a mini-melon baller. If this is on the menu, get it.
Coffee and Cake – LAMILL Devil’s Food, Espresso Curd, Brown Butter Coffee Sherbet: A rather timid visual composition compared to the others this was essentially a molten chocolate cake with hefty notes of LAMILL triple-origin “Espress” filling the interior while milk foam and mild sherbet acted as a sort of cappuccino-froth topper to the intense cake. Delicious but definitely the least exciting of the quintet I actually liked the espresso-curd curly-queue the best of the bunch, a semi-solid cream that tasted precisely like the coffee I was drinking.
Baltimore Bar – Peanut, Pretzel, Chocolate: The only dessert dish that seems to cross boundaries from one Mina spot to the next, the “Baltimore Bar” (since experienced as the Bourbon Bar at Bourbon Steak Scottsdale) is every bit as decadent as it looks and given the total of day’s eating it was actually too rich to finish as the dark chocolate exterior, studded with peanuts and pretzels, housed a core of rich peanut butter mousse nearly as thick as actual peanut butter but substantially more creamy and sweet. Not one to be defeated by dessert I’ll note that the bar also held up quite well ‘to-go,’ a great post-run snack en route to Philadelphia the following morning.
The Verdict: …with a total bill of $29 before tax and tip for such a spectacle it is essentially impossible for me to be objective in my assessment of Wit&Wisdom and with that noted I will simply say that nearly every aspect of my visit was superlative and while I have never had the opportunity to meet Michael Mina himself I continue to have the utmost faith in his restaurants no matter where I travel – as much as the man’s food and desserts shine it is the overall ‘experience’ that keeps me coming back – an experience equally attributable to the staff as it is to the cuisine.