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"Best Seafood"

Black's Bar & Kitchen

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Voted "Maryland's Favorite New Restaurant 2007"

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100 Best Restaurants, 2006

Washingtonian Magazine

When BlackSalt opened in 2004, it seemed as if owners Jeff and Barbara Black were forsaking cozy comfort for contemporary swank. With the makeover of their Bethesda outpost, Black's Bar & Kitchen, the couple took yet another trend-conscious leap forward.

The new place is an Architectural Digest-ready showpiece, with its Asian-influenced patio of stone and metal, a wood-paneled bar evoking the wine rooms of the West Coast, and a glowing, orange-suffused triptych of trees stretching the length of dining room. Even with its trendy roster of raw-bar selections, small plates, and wood-grilled meats and fishes, the plates most worth seeking out call to mind the old Black's heartiness: sesame fried oysters, twice-cooked chicken (just a marvelous fried bird), a mussel chowder, and pan-roasted cod with clams and chorizo. (The leaden corn dog and duck quesadilla could use retooling.)

It's the desserts - especially a fig tart with honey ice cream, a fabulous chocolate trio with panna cotta, a fallen-souffle tart, and a fudgy ice-cream sandwich - that bring together the old and new: They're as glamorous and good as the visuals.

Black's Bar and Kitchen

Washingtonian Magazine

By Cynthia Hacinli

The sleek, lowlit interior isn't the only thing that's been revamped.

From October 2006

A Portuguese-style roast cod with chorizo and kale is among the big ups in an up-and-down roster of main courses at Black's...Photograph by Allison Dinner

Possibly the best thing to eat at the newly reminted Black’s Bar & Kitchen is the fried chicken. But finding it takes the tenacity of a truffle-hunting pig let loose in the oak forests of Perigord.

At the bar it’s called Black’s Herb Chicken and Savory Waffle. In the dining room it goes by Black’s Twice-Cooked Chicken. But there’s nothing on either menu to suggest how down-to-the-bone delicious this chicken is—or that it’s deep-fried. Too down-home? Too pedestrian for the high-style restaurant this Bethesda address has morphed into? Too much like the old Black’s?

Whatever the reason, this bird is worth going after. It’s among the best in the area, poached first for tender juiciness, then dunked in boiling oil, making batter and skin fuse into islands of crunch.

It’s the ultimate retro-comfort food in a restaurant that has all the comforts of a modern American eatery: an Architectural Digest –ready patio of wood and metal with a Zenlike stone-filled pond. A glass-enclosed wine room with 260 labels, 24 of them available by-the-glass. A sizzling bar scene with boutique oysters on ice. And a sleek dining room with chefy food for the adventurous and simple grilled items with sauces and sides à la New York’s Craft for traditionalists.

The new place is bigger and more dazzling in every way than the old Black’s. It has to be. Bethesda is a city of many restaurants. It takes more to make it there than it does in, say, restaurant-shy Garrett Park, Palisades, and Rockville, home to Jeff and Barbara Black’s other eateries.

For years, the Blacks were the king and queen of nostalgia—their restaurants were odes to vintage tin stoves and the like. Two years ago they went contemporary with Black Salt on DC’s MacArthur Boulevard. It’s been a big success. At first glance the Bethesda Black’s, with its seafood-heavy menu, would seem to be Black Salt North. But get beyond the composed plates and you’ll find hits from all the restaurants in the stable—Addie’s plump garlicky mussels and Black Market’s luscious wood-grilled hamburger among them.

The kitchen has its highs. Sesame oysters are perfectly fried little balls of crunch spurting oyster liquor when you bite into them. Heirloom-tomato gazpacho with lump crab and a blob of celery sorbet delivers a marvelous layering of flavors. Tuna “salad” is a clever deconstruction of the classic done carpaccio style with crumbled egg, celery leaves, and drizzles of lemon aïoli.

I love the crisp-skinned yet still-dewy-on-the-inside roasted cod with its Portuguese accents of chorizo and kale, and the flavorful, fatty Pineland Farms rib eye with frizzled onions and chimichurri. A side of roast fingerlings pungent with black olives is an unexpected pleasure.

But there are also-rans. Black’s take on the corn dog sports a flavorless sausage. A duck quesadilla is overwhelmed by barbecue sauce; a soft-shell crab disappears in its tempura batter. The mix-and-match sauces for the most part don’t live up to their billing—and it seems rude to charge extra for them. And crispy-fried whole fish is not for the faint of heart. Coiled, eyes staring straight at you, it just about leaps off the plate. It’s also cooked way past done.

Given all the ups and downs, it’s a surprise that desserts, by pastry chef Janelle Birdsall, are so uniformly wonderful—and more elaborate than at the Blacks’ other restaurants. The chocolate trio is a true chocolate-lover’s plate with an elegant yet gooey fallen-soufflé tartlet, silky chocolate panna cotta, and mini ice-cream sandwiches on stupendous little chocolate-chunk cookies. A cherry-centric plate brings vivid cherry sorbet, a tiny cherry tart, and creamy frozen crème fraîche soufflé.

As large as the menu is, there are only six desserts—six wonderful desserts. A bit of editing and Black’s might score the same success with savories as well. Because there’s fine food to be found. You just have to forage through the oak forest.

...while the chocolate trio is typical of the desserts, which are as elegant as they are accomplished. Photograph by Allison Dinner

Best Dishes

Sesame oysters; heirloom tomato gazpacho; tuna "salad"; herb chicken and savory waffle; twice-cooked chicken; hamburger; roasted cod with chorizo and kale; Pineland Farms ribeye with chimichurri; roast fingerling potatoes with black olives; chocolate trio.

 

Delectable Makeover
An infusion of cash and talent transforms a Bethesda restaurant

By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Magazine
Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006
** 1/2 (out of four)

Gone is the creaky wooden porch out front and the dark, scrappy bar inside. Missing, too, is a menu that relied more on surf than turf. As it heads into its eighth year -- practically middle age for a restaurant -- Black's Bar & Kitchen isn't what it used to be. And that's just fine by me, because it has morphed into something better.

"Black's" refers to owner Jeff Black, a chef and restaurateur who over the years has created a small empire of interesting places to eat in and around the capital, including Addie's in Rockville, Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park and BlackSalt in Washington. Black's Bar & Kitchen has been a respectable performer, but the infusion of a couple million dollars into the interior and a new face in the kitchen (Mallory Buford, plucked from Addie's) has transformed a nice neighborhood spot into a prime dining destination.

Restaurants aren't hard to find in Bethesda, but good ones are almost as rare as telephone booths.

Locals have picked up on the change, big time. The lovely, pebble-textured patio, with a gurgling fountain, has been packed every time I've been by, and the bar is routinely filled with so many good-looking young men and women, it could pass for a Craigslist mixer. The renovation, which shuttered the restaurant for nearly four months, eliminated 40 seats from the neighboring dining room, which means tables go quickly, and you want to eat early or late to avoid a full house. One wall features a mural of a vineyard at sunset; across from the 70-foot-long image is a glass-enclosed wine room that keeps its contents at a quality-enhancing 57 degrees. A few tables peek into the rear kitchen, a blur of white and black as cooks and servers prepare and deliver your meal. The look is as soothing as the sound levels are annoying. (I'm here for a meal, not a jam session.)

The new menu puts the desires of the diner first, starting with a collection of small tastes, for those who want just a nibble, before moving on to first courses, composed plates and a la carte items. Whatever you're longing for, the kitchen can appease it. Those small tastes run about $4, and include such seductions as grilled asparagus with a biting ravigote sauce, cod brandade fritters with a lemony aioli, and amazingly light corn pancakes topped with a teasing green tomato jam. Sesame-fried oysters are soggy, though, and a goat cheese-filled phyllo cup looks like a beginning cook's attempt at something fancy. It's clumsy, filled with too much goat cheese. Thai-style beef drizzled with chili oil is so itty-bitty a portion that it's hard to get a sense of the nibble. I'd gladly pay a buck for a bit more.

I have yet to meet a fish dish I don't like here. Oysters from the bar put me on the water, if only in my mind, and an appetizer of fried soft-shell crab is inspired, its hot crunch countered by a base of cool melon and a drizzle of punchy mustard oil. Seafood stew is packed with shrimp, mussels, clams and tender squid, everything more flavorful for a broth colored with olives, lemon peel and tomato. A couple of pieces of toasted bread, slathered with a smoky, paprika-fueled aioli, grace the assembly and heighten the thrill of the catch. Pan-roasted cod is served as if my companions and I were eating in Portugal, with clams, garlic, kale and chorizo putting in appearances. No matter the preparation, the kitchen gets it right. Lightly battered red snapper reveals lots of snowy fish beneath its fried crust, and its base of couscous provides a fluffy bed. Tuna comes to the table as handsome chunks of rare, deep-red fish, its surface scattered with black pepper and fennel seeds. For all the entree's heft and heartiness, I could be eating beefsteak. The tuna sits atop creamy, sage-scented grits; the rest of the plate is filled by a jumble of roasted cauliflower, tomatoes, artichokes and olives. True, there's a lot going on, but every element adds to the show.

Staying with fish, though, is like stopping after the first few chapters of an exciting novel; you'll miss some delicious developments if you don't delve deeper into the chef's repertoire, specifically the a la carte list with its meatier options. Big as a baseball, Buford's brined, inches-thick Berkshire pork bursts with piggy flavor, and it relies solely on its marinade and pan juices for enhancement. Duck is spiced with coriander, mustard seeds, pepper and such, then grilled and served as a fan on the plate. The bird is simple -- and sensational. Meanwhile, the kitchen's 12-ounce rib-eye is worthy of a good steakhouse, beefy, tender and striped from a hot grill. It doesn't need anything more, though the menu lists the option of half a dozen sauces, running from bearnaise to chimichurri, for a few dollars extra.

Come to think of it, some area steakhouses could do themselves a favor by checking out the sides at Black's, where the onion rings are sweet and crisp, hard to stop eating, and the creamed spinach allows the vegetable to shine. And Black's wine list, with its varied styles and flavors, is a treat; the choices from California's Central Coast and Washington state are particularly impressive.

I've had both middling and excellent service at Black's. It just depends. Some meals, little goes right; even managers patrolling the space overlook empty wineglasses, crumb-paved tables and lags in service that result in your pinot noir appearing just as you're finishing the pork chop it was meant to accompany. Other times, everything hums along, and you find yourself wanting to clone your waiter. The good news is, with each passing visit, the service improves.

There are a hundred details to attend to in a restaurant; some establishments overlook a lot of them, because they're busy, or lazy, or they don't know any better. Two details are significant, though, and Black's gives them their due. The bread basket includes tender biscuits that are so good, you'll be tempted to fill up on them. And the dessert list includes a couple of knockout performances that help offset the lesser choices. The charmers include a cherry sorbet that smacks of an orchard of fruit in each icy bite, and a warm, blueberry-filled pastry framed with a roasted peach and sweet corn ice cream. (The light crunch? The pastry is phyllo wrapped around crepe dough.)

These bookends to dinner make for memorable first and last impressions. Frankly, though, I'd be just as happy to be stuck eating in the middle.

 

The Washington City Paper

Back in Black’s

By Tim Carman

July 14, 2006

Going With the Grain: Jeff and Barbara Black’s renovated space goes au naturel.

(Photo by Charles Steck)

Restaurateurs finally squeeze their lemon in Bethesda.

The only way to avoid a lemon is not to buy it. Jeff Black would have told you the same thing seven years ago. But back in 1999, as Black was looking to purchase Gulf Coast Kitchen in Bethesda, he agreed to owner Wes Utterback’s pre-sale stipulation: that all inspections take place early in the morning. Utterback had his reasons. Suffering from liver disease and barely able to walk, Utterback knew that if his employees found out he was trying to sell, they would split, leaving him with the nearly impossible task of managing a restaurant.

“Our inspections were brief,” says Black. “We would come in during extreme off hours.” Still, Black did unearth a broken ice machine and another piece of malfunctioning equipment; he negotiated a $10,000 credit, and happily paid the rest of Utterback’s asking price: $290,000. Black figured it was the “right thing to do” for Utterback, who said he wanted the money for his daughter.

It didn’t take long for Black and his wife, Barbara, to learn they had bought a restaurant that, like its former owner, was not in good condition.

The problems went beyond faulty equipment. Almost every aspect of the Gulf Coast Kitchen, from prep area to personnel, troubled the Blacks. The new owners first tried to work with the existing crew, but they soon discovered the hopelessness of such a “bohemian benevolent idea,” Black says. “We finally gave up and said, ‘We’re going to close. We’re going to remodel. We’re going to put a new name out front, and any staff that’s here is going to have to re-interview for a position.’ ”

The place reopened as Black’s Bar & Kitchen later that year, with minor cosmetic alterations but major staff changes. Though the Blacks had solved their personnel issues, they’d merely put off dealing with the larger structural problems of a building designed more for a bar than for a restaurant. For years, they limped along with a cramped kitchen, antiquated plumbing, a dish room too small for all its china, and, worst of all, a climate-control system that left the dining room hot in the summer and cold in the winter. “My hostesses always had to have a space heater next to them. They were always freezing cold,” says Black, whose mini-empire also includes Addie’s, BlackSalt, and Black Market Bistro.

Last year, Black decided to do something about the dish room. “I was gonna borrow $50,000, and we were going to fix the dish room,” Black says. “Literally the next day, the bar manager calls me up, and says, ‘Hey, chef, one of the big coolers went down.’ I’m like, ‘Fine, I’m about to borrow money from the bank. I’ll put another $5,000 on there, and we’ll get a new cooler.’…Then it was something else, and it got up to [$100,000].” Black finally realized that he had to shut down Black’s again and “go ahead and do it right” this time.

Doing it right would cost the Blacks $2.6 million. When Black presented the massive renovation plan to his landlord, “I think I almost gave him a heart attack.” The landlord figured it’d be better to sell the structure to the Blacks, which actually helped them secure a better long-term financing deal. Still, for a man who prides himself on never using credit cards, Jeff Black found himself $5.6 million in the hole, including $3 million for a property that has been recently assessed at $1.72 million.

Black admits that the borrowed money causes him “many, many sleepless nights,” but he says that two brokers have already told him they could now sell the property for $5 million. “Let’s say they were off by a million dollars,” Black says, “I’d still be in an OK position.”

The new Black’s Bar & Kitchen was unveiled on June 28. The bar area is covered, floor to ceiling, in recycled wormy maple, and the dining room boasts a massive image of a vineyard, which took considerable digital manipulation to stretch along the entire back wall. The front of the restaurant looks onto a black-pebble patio where a large wooden monolith dwarfs diners. GrizForm Design Architects strove for a naturalistic space, if not a green one.

With former Black’s chef David Craig running his own restaurant around the corner, the kitchen is now headed by former Addie’s executive chef, Mallory Buford, who has installed a modern American menu with a few guidelines from the boss. Though the kitchen crew is still learning the nuances of Buford’s menu and the restaurant’s new wood-burning grill—an organic salmon that I ordered recently was nearly sushi-raw in the middle—there are indications that Black’s fresh direction will justify all the debt. The small plates menu promises to be a particularly fertile ground, where Buford can experiment with such treats as a “corn dog,” a boudin blanc of foie gras and white chicken served with a purple mustard made with grape must.

With the top-to-bottom overhaul, Black has swept away the last remnant of Utterback’s old Gulf Coast Kitchen. Even though the restaurant that bears his name finally has his personal stamp on it, Black doesn’t want the mark to be permanent. “I’m a big proponent of a store, a menu, a concept, everything, evolving as you grow with it,” he says.

Black’s Bar & Kitchen, 7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, (301) 652-6278. —CP

 

THE WEEKLY DISH

Wednesday, July 12, 2006; Page F05

TOM SIETSEMA

OPEN FOR BUSINESS (AGAIN): The rough-hewn wooden deck? Gone. The predictable seafood menu? Expanded and made more fun. And a diner's chances of getting a warm bottle of red wine at the remodeled Black's Bar & Kitchen (7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda; 301-652-5525) are now virtually nil, thanks to a wine display that keeps its contents at a flattering 57 degrees.

Executive chef Mallory Buford , who relocated from Addie's in Rockville, says he couldn't be happier with his new workspace, which is four times the size of his old kitchen and employs six more workers. The extra space and the extra cooks mean the 35-year-old chef can "do more creative stuff," which includes making boudin blanc for his glammed-up corn dogs -- one of many new small plates -- and serving a whole fried fish that appears to have been caught mid-swim and dipped in oil. Staged with red snapper on a recent visit, the crisp golden entree curls around fluffy couscous mixed with orange and cucumber.

The new menu at Black's brims with great ideas. One is a simple appetizer of red and yellow tomatoes, splashed with a refreshing cucumber vinaigrette. Another is a main dish of cod treated to chorizo, clams, soft garlic and lemon zest -- a journey to Portugal in every bite. And blackberry strudel with roasted peaches and sweet corn ice cream reminds us what a glorious season this is for produce.

The made-over space is easy on the eyes, and a woodsy mural in the softly lighted dining room helps bring the outdoors inside. Which reminds us: You'd better make a reservation. The reconfigured interior counts 82 seats, 40 fewer than before -- and every one taken when we dropped by.

Entrees, lunch $9-$18, dinner $22-$27.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/11/AR2006071100210.html

 

From Nycci Nellis, Editor/Publisher, The List (www.thelistareyouonit.com)

July 10, 2006:

“There may not be enough superlatives to describe the look, ambiance and exceptional food featured at the totally renovated and updated Black's in Bethesda. There for the home run opening party a few weeks ago, TheListAreYouOnIt.com returned over the weekend for a casual dinner with friends. "Perfection" is the only way to describe everything from the appetizers (Black's corn dog is definitely not like any corn dog you've ever had!), down to the perfectly poached halibut, the crispy whole fried fish and even the garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach -- yum -- could we be hungry again? And then there were...the desserts. All we can say is, if you miss the strawberry chocolate parfait, you're gonna miss something special!”

The Gazette

July 5, 2006

When it comes to restaurants, Jeff Black likes to look at the big picture. That was more than a metaphor in mid-June, when Black's Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle was still a construction site. The owner-chef was looking enthusiastically at a large mural of a French vineyard that had just been hung, panel by glass panel, along the length of a dining room wall. Originally opened in 1999, Black's reopened June 26 following a renovation that cost $2.7 million and kept the restaurant closed for nearly four months.

To coincide with the restaurant's redesign, executive chef Mallory Buford created a new menu of seafood, steak and game. The chef, who studied at the Culinary Institute of America, Says he likes to give classical dishes a new spin. Inspiration for new menu items often comes "from eating." he says...

The menu, which includes a la carte dishes prepared on the kitchen's new hardwood grill, as well as a raw bar, small-plate items and elaborate desserts, changes from season to season.

Read the full review: http://www.gazette.net/stories/070506/entedin150259_31962.shtml

Washingtonian Magazine
100 Very Best Restaurants, 2005
Black's Bar & Kitchen


The second, and largest, of Jeff and Barbara Black's Maryland restaurants has a loungey bar, a sprawling front porch, and a handsome dining room with belt-run ceiling fans and old photos on the walls. Chef David Craig's food is more complicated than the fare at the Blacks' other two restaurants. Dishes to look for: Angus rib eye with red-pepper chimichurri; garlic-and-herb roasted chicken with Applewood bacon; Vermilion Bay seafood stew; horseradish-and-potato-crusted flounder; and crabcakes with Creole mustard cream sauce.

Sometimes there's too much going on, and flavors clash. Fans don't mind. The place is packed nearly every night, though in fine weather, when the porch becomes an outdoor dining room, things ease up a bit. In addition to a solid showing of beers and wines by the bottle, half bottle, and glass, Black's serves exotic martinis and other cocktails--the bar, with its well-priced menu and lengthy oyster roster, is a hangout for Bethesda's young and restless. Sweets include Key-lime meringue pie, seasonal fruit cobbler, and a fantasy of a chocolate cake with milk-chocolate frosting, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and white-chocolate shavings.



AOLCityGuide.com

Black's Bar and Kitchen specializes in Gulf Coast-inspired cuisine with a flair for original takes on tried-and-true dishes. The adventurous menu includes duck enchiladas, New Orleans chopped salad (with crawfish tails, roasted corn kernels and grilled sweet potatoes), tortilla-crusted Gulf snapper and scallops with thyme beurre blanc. Black's signature dishes, like breaded soft-shell crabs with a Creole tartar sauce and oysters with Parmesan, bring diners back time and time again. Arriving with a large appetite is mandatory if you want to enjoy all the menu has to offer. The in-house pastry chef concocts delicious rolls for before dinner and desserts for after.

Outdoor seating -- a sort of front porch with dinette-like vinyl chairs -- becomes available with warmer weather. But even with the extra tables, space is at a premium. Reservations are recommended for weekends and weeknights. As the name implies, this is a bar as much as it is a restaurant. Happy hours include oyster and beer specials. But don't despair of noise: There's a Plexiglas divider between bar and dining room that keeps the chatter from disturbing your dining experience.



Washington Post Magazine
Annual Dining Guide, Fall 2002
By Tom Sietsema

You walk across a wooden porch to get to the screen door that separates a lively bar from the dining room, but that's where the sense of rustic charm yields to urban refinement at one of Bethesda's most appealing places to eat. Soup here is wonderful, be it pea soup decorated with crab in spring or spicy corn soup garnished with crisp-fried oysters in late summer. Depending on the time of year, you can also reel in soft-shell crabs poised on a mound of jicama, red onion and citrus; seafood stew made from just about anything that ever swam (including duck sausage), in a tomatoey broth; a pair of shrimp tacos, the smoky shrimp sharing room with avocado, poblano chilies and a rousing lime-cilantro vinaigrette. This is all interesting, if sometimes busy, food, prepared by chef David Craig. Meat and dessert courses are not the reason to visit; gracious service and Gulf shrimp -- brassy with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and garlic over linguine -- definitely are.



Cuisineofdc.com

Chef and Owner Jeff Black, "Whose work at Addie's in Rockville, represents some of the bests contemporary American cooking in the Maryland suburbs bolsters the cuisine with vivid accompaniments that enhance natural flavors rather than subduing them." Black's Bar and Kitchen offers the Bethesda diner outdoor seating, an oyster bar, a lively crowd and an intimate dining room. Whether you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary or having an evening out, come experience a meal that you won't soon forget.



Gayot.com

If you're looking for a Bethesda restaurant with a certain edginess and style, don't look any farther. Its aquatic decor suggests a wharf-side eatery and its bar is a happening place. A sister restaurant to the funky Addie's in Rockville, its menu goes in a slightly different direction, with some outstanding Gulf Coast dishes. Try the stellar Texan duck enchilada appetizer. For a lighter beginning, consider the New Orleans chopped salad, which is just what it sounds like: a salad of chopped lettuce tossed with fried crawfish tails, roasted corn kernels and grilled sweet potatoes. Entree choices include unusual pasta inventions, a few meat-based dishes and some high-class seafood main courses. You might fall for the tortilla-crusted Gulf snapper, but if you're a softie for crabs, you won't find better soft-shells. Dessert choices change often, but if the chocolate-caramel-toffee cheesecake is on the menu, grab it and run---it's sensational.