Wedding Stuff, Date Night and Restaurant Review: Taste

Wedding Stuff - S.O. and I took the day off from work on Friday 10/22 and did wedding stuff. We had a 10 am appointment at the florist. We quickly learned that we were not prepared for this meeting and that we have a lot of work to do before we meet with another one. We need to figure out our "theme". I was under the impression that our wedding was the theme for the day, but apparently we need another one.... so i think we are going with "purple". So our meeting with the florist was a big waste of time for all involved. After the meeting we had lunch at Cross Street Market - Big Jim's Deli - one of the best club sandwiches in town (this will be the subject of a future post....)

After lunch we headed up to Towson mall to create our gift registries. We went to Macy's first. We were there for 4 hours! Painful! We picked all kinds of random stuff we don't need. Then we went to Crate and Barrel and did the same thing. Fun times.

We had dinner reservations for 7:30 but i pushed them back to 8:30 b/c it took so long to register.

Of course it was pouring down rain so D and I had to run through the rain from our car to the restaurant. I could have asked him to drop me off and park but i still would have gotten soaked. No umbrella. smart.

As soon as we entered the restaurant the hostess greeted us and started taking us to our table - soaking wet with dripping coats. I asked if we could stop at the coat check before we were seated. She seemed irritated but we walked the extra 4 feet to the coat check and got rid of our drippy coats.

We were seated upstairs along the main wall. A nice-ish seat (could have been better but it was obvious that they were not utilizing all of their "sections" b/c the place was half dead). In general our service was pretty good but our waitress seemed distracted - it looked liked she was being pestered by a new hire who was wondering where all of the customers were. Well... it was pouring down rain and one of the first chilly evenings in a while... More people showed up around 9 ish though...

Appetizers were GREAT! I had a scallop ceviche - scallops were the perfect texture and seasoned simply but there was no need for a lot. SO had the bacom wrapped shrimp and grits. In full disclosure I have never had grits before - these were AWESOME! great texture - not too mushy and the shrimp was wonderful.

We ordered a bottle of wine - recommended by the chef as one of her favorites - it was nice. Not too heavy with a nice fruity flavor.

I initially wanted to go to Taste b/c of the duckfat fries. I've read about these for a few months and really wanted to try them. They weren't on the menu so we didn't order them - BUT! I must have them! so when our waitress stopped by to check on us I asked her about them. She said they were on the bar menu. I promptly ordered us some. They came in about 10 minutes and they were very tasty! You could taste the grease but i don't know that it could be identified as "duck fat". Still... i want them again.

Our entrees were also delicious. SO had crab raviolli and i had the lobster tortillini. Both were served with a cream sauce but with different seasonings.

We got dessert but for the life of me i can't remember what we had. I'm sure it was good.

After we paid the bill we hung out in the bar area, had a few more drinks and listened to the live 3 piece jazz band that was playing. Pretty cool.

It was a good day.

Restaurant Review: El Patron

S.O. and I went to El Patron on Saturday night. We read a short blurb about it in Baltimore Mag and thought we'd check it out. And as a side note - maybe I just don't know where to look but we have had a hard time finding a good Mexican restaurant in Baltimore.
The review in the mag and one on line that we found said that they don't take credit cards so I called to double check. Someone answered the phone but didn't understand my question so passed the phone to someone else who before I could say anything said that they were really busy and asked if I could call back in 5 minutes. I said I just wanted to know if they took credit cards - she said yes and hung up. OK First of all - if you are really busy I would rather be put on hold rather than told to call back - this is bad business strategy - most people will just call another restaurant and eat somewhere else.
Second - when we got there 20 minutes later the place was dead! We were 1 of 3 tables when we got there. Really busy? I don't think so. I am really curious what a slow day would be if 2 tables means you are busy.
To the food - as we sat we ordered two margaritas and water. The water came warm and we weren't even provided the option of ice. The margaritas arrived small and weak. We placed our order. S.O. ordered the tortilla soup to start and the ground beef enchilada. I ordered the tamale and the chipotle shrimp skewers. The tortilla soup was spicy but good. My tamale was also good - but not great. The chicken filling was tasty - spicy and flavorful - but there wasn't much of it. There was too much "packaging" and not enough filler. After our plates were cleared we were ready for another weak margarita. We put in our order and waited. (By this time the two other tables that were in the restaurant had left and another table had arrived - there are only 2 tables now.) Our entrees arrived. S.O.'s enchilada was good - good enough for him to eat without complaining - which he is prone to do if he isn't happy with the food. My chipotle shrimp was great. Perfectly seasoned and cooked on skewers on the grill. Overall I would give the food a B. Then.... The waiter/bartender/host walked by our table and said - "oh! Your drinks will be right up - I had to make another batch." Then he realized we were done eating our entrees and apologized.
We just asked for the check and left. It was unfortunate that the service really sucked (on many levels, from the initial phone call, to the drinks being weak AND not even getting our second drink) because we liked the food enough to go back but who knows now. I think it is likely that we will try someplace new before we go back there. But I am always willing to give a place a second chance so maybe we'll go back in a few months.