|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
| |
Interested in advertising in Hagerstown Magazine? We offer many opportunities for you to increase the buzz about your business. more... |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Create excitement about your next event by sending it to us! We’ll consider it for placement in the magazine or on our Web site. more... |
|
|
| |
|
| |
In Short is the place to announce kudos and accomplishments about your business, team or organization. more... |
|
|
|
 | |
Artful Abundance: Palettie
A Full Spectrum of Flavors Lights Up Each Dish at Palettie Gourmet Bistro.
by Christina Obitts-Elgin + photos by Jason Turner
• • •
Just
as an artist masterfully mixes colors on his palette, Chef Lettie
Gordon combines flavors to indulge her customer’s palate, and you’ll
find she does it with gusto –– as is evident with each dish that leaves
her kitchen. And the restaurant where she creates her art takes its
name from another combination. Meld palette, palate and Chef Gordon’s
first name and you have Palettie Gourmet Bistro & Catering
Restaurant in downtown Boonsboro.
Soft lighting and the glow of
candles in Morrocan-style lanterns beckon visitors to the cozy dining
room. A whimsical chalkboard-like panel adorns one wall near the bar,
and signs bearing messages like, “Enter as guests, leave as friends”
and “Believe” mingle on the walls with colorful collages and
abstract-figurative paintings by local artist Laura Renee Davis. “I
think food is an art, and I like to incorporate the work of local
artists as well,” Chef Gordon says.
Food & Family
The
intimate bistro is quite a contrast to the last restaurant Chef Gordon
worked in — her father’s 250-seat Steamboat Landing in Gatesville, Md.
She hung up her apron there to raise her children and volunteer in
their schools, and Chef Gordon and her family moved to Keedysville five
years ago. But the kitchen called her. “The only thing I like to do is
cook,” she says, smiling. “I knew I wanted a small restaurant where I
was the only chef.” In opening Palettie last year, she realized her
dream of a restaurant where “every plate is my signature” and that
still allows her to be home to tuck the kids in bed.
The
importance of food and family in Chef Gordon’s life and her approach to
her work stem from her Italian heritage — which includes 14 chefs in
the family. Meals in Italy are a time for family and friends to come
together, relax and enjoy one another’s company — and Palettie’s
atmosphere reflects that philosophy. Chef Gordon also adheres to the
Old World Italian belief that you use your village to make your
business. “If you stay in your community, and you take and give back to
it, you’re bound to succeed,” she says. She purchases her meats from
DaKaRoh Farm in Boonsboro and picks up summer fruits and vegetables at
the local farmers market. “Sometimes people will drop off herbs at my
back door.” The fresh, local ingredients she finds also inspire daily
specials. “I look for what’s fresh first, and do a majority of the
shopping myself.”
A further bit of philosophy comes from her
father, who told her, “There’s only one way to advertise a restaurant —
one plate at a time.” Just as Italian artists DaVinci and Michaelangelo
skillfully created their masterpieces, Chef Gordan personally prepares
each meal with only prep help from assistant Brian Massey. This kind of
craftsmanship helps fill the dining room by word of mouth — and it is
obvious Palettie is filling a need in the town of Boonsboro. “There’s
no other fine dining style in town,” Chef Gordon says. “I think
Boonsboro was ready for a gourmet bistro.”
Full Palette of Flavors
As
a small bistro, Palettie’s menu consists of a selection of regular
entrées, with soups and appetizers that change daily. I begin with one
of the evening’s special appetizers, grilled eggplant with tomato and
Fresh Corn Salsa — which is a feast for the eyes and the stomach! Three
generous cuts of grilled eggplant, served at room temperature, support
a mound of cold salsa made with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh
pepper, fresh corn off the cob, cilantro, feta cheese and a balsamic
fig vinaigrette. The unusual dish is delicious, with a fresh, light
flavor.
The next appetizer, the fire roasted red pepper
crostini, boasts a delectable combination of ingredients: fresh ricotta
cheese layered on crostini and topped with fire roasted red peppers,
fresh herbs, olive oil, champagne vinegar, fresh basil and parsley. A
sprinkling of feta and a drizzled with balsamic “tar” dressing add zing
to both presentation and flavor. Brie is served next, topped with
blackberries, apples, blueberries, strawberries, papaya, pineapple,
nuts and dried cranberries, all seared in butter, brown sugar and
honey. The resulting sweet, syrupy mixture flavors the crostini bread
and tastes heavenly.
The soup du jour is bianca fagoli, a
homemade Italian favorite featuring kale, collards, potatoes,
cannellini beans, tomatoes, green and yellow squash and smoked turkey.
The rich flavors transport me to the Old Country. Though today’s choice
is made with fresh chicken stock and turkey, the soups typically are
vegetarian. Chef Gordon tries to ensure a vegetarian appetizer option
and offers vegetarian entrées on the regular menu. “I have so many
vegetarian friends,” she says. “And I think it is the next thing, as
far as gourmet goes.”
Moving on to the main course, the Gold
Fin Tilapia Salad intrigues me. The flaky fish is pan-seared in butter
and olive oil and specially seasoned. And it is perched atop a salad
unlike any I’ve had before. The molto salad — molto meaning “everything
fresh and in abundance” — can be a combination of any vegetable, fruit,
nut, seed or crouton that Chef Gordon decides is most flattering to the
dish. Tonight’s molto salad is a mescaline mix with pineapple,
blueberries, strawberries, mango, apple, orange, sunflower seeds, dried
papaya and dried cranberries, tossed in balsamic fig dressing. It is an
amazing combination of sweet, tangy and nutty flavors — and I fear any
salad I have in the future will pale in comparison.
The grilled
chicken entrée is a creative and sumptuous dish. An orange marmalade,
apricot and cherry compote tops the Tuscan-herb seasoned chicken
breast, served etutto — or all on one plate — with the house starch and
a salad. The innocuous-sounding “house starch” this evening is pommes
puree, a rustic mash of potatoes with skins, cauliflower, cabbage and
fresh corn. The rich, buttery concoction far surpasses regular mashed
potatoes, with the kernels of corn creating a unique texture.
Finally,
I sample Palettie’s signature spaghetti and meatballs — a generous
portion featuring Chef Gordon’s family recipe, passed down through the
generations. The homemade meatballs include ricotta cheese, milk-soaked
breadcrumbs and organic beef, and a made-from-scratch sauce is a
delectable combination of fresh basil, parsley, tomatoes and garlic. It
is her “family’s heritage in a bowl,” and Chef Gordon offers
all-you-can-eat on Palettie Spaghetti Wednesday nights.
Finishing
my meal, I understand the positive word of mouth that has helped fill
Palettie’s dining room over the past year — and I begin to realize why
Chef Gordon says her customers’ only complaint is that the portions are
too large. “In [Italy] if people leave remotely unsatiated, you haven’t
done your job.” Chef Gordon certainly has done her job, and done it
well, in offering abundance on many levels to Boonsboro and beyond.
Palettie Gourmet Bistro & Catering Restaurant
1 S. Main St., Boonsboro
www.palettie.com
301-432-0500
Reservations recommended.
Open 4–8 p.m. Sunday, 5–8 or 9 p.m. Wednesday–Saturday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Palettie is always open for lunch during Nora Roberts’ book signings.
|
<< Back to Articles |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|  | Great Bicycle Tour, The
This popular tour of the Historic C&O Canal is an annual event conducted as a fundraiser for the SanMar Children's Home.
more... | | |
|  | Albright Crumbacker Moul & Itell
Personalized, professional initiatives for individuals and businesses, including investment, tax, accounting, financial planning, and analysis services.
more... | | |  | United Way of Washington County
United Way of Washington County is the local expression of a national and international United Way movement.
more... | | |  | Hagerstown Magazine- The Best of Life in Washington County & Beyond
Washington County's premier lifestyle magazine, celebrating the best life in our area has to offer.
more... [Watch Video] | | |
|
|
|
|
|
