HOLIDAY BREAKFAST MEET AT BOMBAY BISTRO, ROCKVILLE, MD

This morning bloggers, news media, and techies all got together for a breakfast meet up at the Bombay Bistro in Rockville. When Social Media Swami  Shashi Bellamkonda told me that he wanted to bring in a group of techies and bloggers, I was thinking of lunch or dinner. I had no clue that he was thinking of Breakfast.

Breakfast ? I thought for a moment and said why not? At the back of my mind, I was thinking that this may be a good opportunity to expose the newly renovated restaurant, may be also to test whether Rockville is ready for a breakfast place - that too Indian Breakfast ?

Here is the Menu we served :

Mini Idli with Sambar and Coconut Chutney

Mini Tadka Idli ( with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves)

Mini Dosas

Aloo Bhaji and Puris

Aloo Paratha

Upma ( made with cream of wheat)

Semiya and Sooji Halwa

Fresh Fruits

Masala Chai / Coffee

Here are some pictures :

"Tadka Idli"  Steamed lentil and rice cake with a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and spices).

While making the Semiya-Sooji Halwa, I thought would take some pictures of the procedure and here they are:

Ingredients for this Halwa are - Semolina,  Sooji,( cream of wheat), Cashew nuts, raisins, butter, sugar and water.  Detail recipe and procedure for a future post....

 

Here are some pictures from the event:

 

Thank you Shashi for organizing this and it was indeed a pleasure to have met this lovely group.

Happy Holidays! Let me know if you think Breakfast in Rockville is a good idea?

Attendees included: Cindy Cotte Griffiths, Bob London , Robin Ferrier, David Robinson, Mike Musgrove, Kim Oser, Joe Abusamr, Lindsay Maines, Brian Taff, Larry Cynki, Jean Whiddon, Alex Georg, Marinel Mones, Barg Upender, , Mitch Arnovitz, Sarah krouse, Lindsey Mastis WUSA, Jim Long Verge, IJ Hudson.

My Wedding Anniversary at Bryan Voltaggio's Volt

My wedding anniversary was on the 22^nd November. Time flies; I just can’t believe that we are celebrating our 22^nd anniversary. Our son, Rahul, is in his third year at the University of Maryland; and our daughter Rathi, is a junior in high school preparing for her SAT’s. My wife, Nisha, keeps reminding me that one kid is already in college and the other is getting ready; soon our home is going to be very quiet. I’m not too worried, however, as I know we both have good friends, good hobbies. I am sure we will keep ourselves busy and occupied.. Our hobbies being – eating, eating and eating! Just kidding, eating, cooking and photography!

With our busy lifestyle and day-to-day schedules it is often very difficult for us to plan anything in advance. For that matter, even making a reservation at a restaurant is tough. As usual, we left our anniversary reservations to the last minute. I decided that instead of going to downtown DC we should give Volt restaurant in Frederick, MD a try. I try to make an effort to surprise my wife and take her to places where she has never been. Being a Sunday night, I was not very worried, and thought that I would be able to manage a place for two at any decent restaurant. I went to “open table” and tried to make a reservation at Volt but nothing was available; Then, I decided to call the restaurant and give it a shot. The restaurant confirmed that there were no reservations available.. To my pleasant surprise, I got a call back in an hour and was given a choice. Either a regular table for two in the main dining room at 7 pm or a tasting menu in the kitchen at 8:30 pm. I opted for the latter.
While we were waiting for the table, Chef Bryan Voltaggio greeted us, congratulated us on our anniversary, and asked if we had any allergies. There were two rows of deuces in the kitchen and we were seated right in the front row along the wall. I was carrying a camera with me and did not want to be right in the center of the dining room and so this corner table worked out very well for us. Although photography can be a sensitive subject in many restaurants these days, Volt welcomed me to take as many pictures as I’d like – how perfect!

Nisha was pleased to go with the Vegetarian option as the Market Vegetable Menu . I tried the Kitchen Menu.  Here is the copy of the Menu and some pictures :  

 

Nisha at a nice corner table.

 

 
Elegant crockery and cutlery. 

Amuse Bouche` - An assortment of very light and fluffy meingues with assorted flavors - literally melts in your mouth.

 

Clam chowder -  rich, smooth, creamy and very flavorful.

 

 
goat cheese ravioli -  a delightful combination of chanterelle mushrooms,butternut squash and sage brown butter.

 

 

 Egg plant three ways - with beluga lentils. Nisha enjoyed this dish very much. 

 

Pineland farm beef strip with ratte potatoes,broccoli, dragon carrots and garlic transparency. By this course we were already full. The mistake we did was that we  had a late lunch. In addition to our regular six courses Bryan sent us a few additional courses in between.

 

Textures of chocolate, white chocolate ganache with chocolate ice cream and chocolate caramel. After this grand finale we were ready to ask for our check and we got a surprise......

 

 
The Manager came to our table and told us that the check was taken care of by  our children. We were totally stunned!  Nisha and I just looked at each other and a realization came to sink in that our children are grown up....

Thanks to Rahul and Rathi for that pleasant surprise, Bryan and his team for a memorable evening!

Cheers!