Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Photography by Stephen Buchanan
As you travel to untamed surroundings, the bright white of the Blackwall Barn & Lodge building stands out from the nearby woods. The Lodge dining room quietly greets as you enter the front door. Soaring ceilings and a dark, muted color scheme with pops of bright, natural wood tabletops with white chairs land a clean, crisp ambience. The space has the enticing atmosphere of a country pub. An inviting bar edges along one wall as well as high-top pub-style tables and chairs. The main focal point of the large room is a fireplace and the prized table with four upholstered chairs in front of it. Take a tour and next you’ll find the porch, a bright and airy dining space highlighted by a few special round tables with cowhide upholstered swivel chairs. Explore further and enter the expansive barn function room, which true to its name, sports large chandeliers hanging from the 20-foot ceiling and lines of rustic farm-style, reclaimed wood tables for grand events.
Contrary to sister-restaurant Blackwall Hitch’s coastal vibe (located in Annapolis’ Eastport community), Blackwall Barn & Lodge sports a more countrified, rustic ambiance and menu. The two restaurants do have the same proprietor—James King, CEO of Titan Hospitality Group, which also operates the two Smashing Grapes restaurants in the county.
As we were seated in the lodge area, our server AJ promptly poured water into mason glasses, set warm herb biscuits with butter on the table, and handed us an iPad for browsing the menu, drinks, and events digitally. Hard copy menus are also delivered and with them you can take time to read the creative descriptions of drinks and dishes. The moonshine menu and creative cocktails caught our eye. The restaurant’s Ole Smoky Moonshine is a new favorite and a unique libation made from corn grown close to the Tennessee distillery. Ole Smoky is the first federally licensed distillery in East Tennessee. Interesting moonshine options spin out from there such as Blackberry, Apple Pie, or Ole Smoky Moonshine flights. And creative drinks also command attention. There’s the Dead Frenchman, Man O’ War, Empress Greyhound, Raspberry Meringue, Smoked Maple Manhattan, and a Pear Elderflower Absolute Vodka cocktail with pear puree, elderberry liqueur, lemon juice, and honey syrup.
Actually, the entire menu is written with mouth-watering descriptions. Consider butter-whipped potatoes over plain, old, mashed potatoes or the descriptive Lodge Burger featuring Hooks’ three-year yellow cheddar, Million Dollar bacon, Comeback sauce, brioche bun, and Barn fries. No wonder the restaurant was mobbed for that Monday evening half-price special.
While the food menu is huge, wine by the glass is succinct: a single choice for each varietal—white and red with detailed descriptions. Full bottles take a much larger portion of the menu, including bottles over $100. This is even a Reserve List. My friend chose a glass of chardonnay from Rutherford, California, called “Rustic Reserve.” The wine was light with hints of apple and vanilla, which paired nicely to the seafood entree she planned on ordering.
Forgoing the immensely popular Crab Dip Chesapeake flamed with cognac as a starter, we decided to have some seafood by way of the Chesapeake Flatbread, which turned out to be round not oblong, as is often the case with flatbread. The heavy cheese layer qualified it as a white pizza with a few pops of red cherry tomato halves. Lumps of crab and Old Bay-spiced shrimp were strewn about the top. Basil oil was the flavorful base on the crust.
Photography by Stephen Buchanan
Pork Osso Bucco, an all-time favorite, is beautifully photographed as a tease to lure you in on the Barn & Lodge website. Who could resist, as it’s not a dish you are prone to make at home with an extremely long, slow-cooking time and many steps to make it just right. And when it’s right, it’s falling off the bone. This was my choice and arrived as a grand masterpiece on a large ceramic, black, flat bowl. The shank sat upright on an immense bed of golden polenta surrounded by lightly-sauteed fresh spinach and onion slivers. The excellent dish was finished with citrus pork jus.
Scallops and Shrimp Risotto, one of the restaurant’s top selling entrees, was the choice of my friend and dramatically presented on a long, narrow, white platter. Three jumbo sea scallops were cooked perfectly tender and moist. The jumbo shrimp were also cooked well with the tasty dusting of Old Bay seasoning. Lemon butter sauce on the seasonal risotto—light, fluffy, and mildly seasoned—was a perfect accompaniment for the seafood.
Brussel sprouts remain a hit on many restaurant menus and the Barn & Lodge offers a special version as an appetizer, which we decided to share as an additional vegetable with our entrees. Halves of Brussel sprouts were blended with loads of bacon chunks and onion. We learned that the crispy outer leaves are the result of the frying process in the final cooking stage.
A sweet finish, being dessert, is always something that completes the meal along with a cup of rich coffee. Seven desserts are offered along with two after-dinner libations. Smith Island Cake tops the list and Berry Cobbler was a temptation in step with the country theme. But we were in a chocolate mood and Decadent Chocolate Cake fit the bill. One slice was certainly enough to share. Rich and dense, these dark cake layers wrapped themselves around a fluffy chocolate mousse. Fudge ganache coated the outside of the cake, while a dollop of whip cream garnished the side. Just as we had imagined…richly fulfilling with just a few forkfuls!
Blackwall Barn & Lodge 329 Gambrills Road, Gambrills | 410-317-2276 | barnandlodge.com
Rita Calvert has close to three decades in the food, media production, marketing, and public relations fields. She has created myriad programs, events, cooking sessions on national television for corporations, the stage for cookbooks, and founded the original Annapolis School of Cooking.
