Rye Street Tavern

#RyeDayThe13th Celebration at Rye Street Tavern and Sagamore Spirit Distillery

Rye Street Tavern has been open for about a month now and has received nothing but great reviews.  The restaurant is next to Sagamore Spirit Distillery and recently they joined forces to host a Rye celebration held on Friday, October 13th – they cleverly titled it “Rye Day the 13th”.   That Friday happened to be a wet one, but despite the weather hundreds of people came out to see what the new restaurant and distillery had to offer.  The event was both inside the restaurant and outside on the restaurant grounds with some of the outdoor portion covered by large white event tents. Outside, guests enjoyed music from a live band, they were also welcome to commemorate the night at the photo/video booth station.  Inside the tents guests were entertained by numerous games including giant versions of Pac-Man, Tetris, Light Bright,  Cornhole and the longest foosball table I’ve ever seen.  There was also an option to take a distillery tour during the event.

There were two food areas set up at the event, one was a taco station that served Pork Tacos and the other served Yellow Fin Tuna Poke and assorted desserts.  The event also featured restaurant wait staff passing hors d’oeuvres such as Roast with Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Carrots and Grilled Oysters.

There were two bar areas serving wine, beer and of course specialty Rye cocktails.  The two featured cocktails were the “Sagamore Rye Goldrush” and the Sagamore Brooklyn”.  I particularly liked how the bar staff pre-batched the cocktails because it cut down on wait time in the drink line.  If mixed drinks aren’t your thing, they also had a table serving free shots of Rye.

If this is any indication of how Rye Street Tavern and Sagamore Distillery celebrate, count me it, I’ll be there every time! #RyeDaythe13th

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

  

 

 

Rye Street Tavern

 

Baltimore’s newest neighborhood has recently welcomed Baltimore’s newest restaurant – Rye Street Tavern in Port Covington opened on September 12, 2017.  The New American restaurant is next to Sagamore Spirit distillery and boasts views of the Port Covington waterfront.  My first experience with Rye Street Tavern was during my visit to Sagamore Spirit’s “Whiskey On The Water” event.  The restaurant wasn’t open to the public yet, but they prepared and served a few entrees from their menu.  My recent visit was to dine and explore what the newly opened restaurant had to offer.

I visited on a Saturday evening around 6:00 pm. Some visitors were already enjoying their meal with a view in the outdoor seating area.  My friend and I decided to eat inside and we were escorted to seating near the kitchen area.  It’s always a plus when I get seated outside of the kitchen because I like to see and smell all the deliciousness coming out. The restaurant features an open-kitchen concept, though there is glass separating visitors from the kitchen, if you’re seated close by you can still see what’s going on.

These were our seats. Pretty cool, huh?!

 

We were greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable waitress who brought us some complimentary jalapeno cornbread and answered questions we had about the dinner and cocktail menus.  I was torn between two drinks and she convinced me to try the “Sagamore Swizzle”… great choice! My drink was a cross between a Mint Julep and a Dark and Stormy but with Chocolate Bitters and they were not skimpy on the Rye.  Once we finished our cornbread the waitress come to our table and cleared the plates and excess crumbs from the cornbread and gave us fresh plates and silverware.

My friend and I were curious about the Fried Popcorn Softshell Clams because we’d never had fried clams before, so of course that’s what we ordered for our appetizer. Soft texture and flavorful, they were amazing.  As soon as the plate hit our table we could smell the jalapeno and peppers on the plate, that’s how you know they have the freshest ingredients.   For the main courses I ordered the Wood-Grilled Maryland Rockfish, Shrimp and Grits with smoked tomato and my friend ordered Cornmeal-Crusted Wild Blue Catfish and Gumbo with Carolina Gold Rice.  The shrimp succulent, the grits were creamy and the rockfish was cooked to tender perfection with a crispy skin. I also liked the contrasting flavor of the smoked tomatoes.  The gumbo was seasoned well and the entrée included two healthy pieces of catfish. Everything about our meal was perfect, I have no complaints.

We decided to split a dessert. The waitress told us about the dessert special made with a rare fruit named “PawPaw” she explained that it’s a cross between a banana, mango, citrus fruit and it’s only in season for about 6-8 weeks. We decided to order it.  They prepared it as an ice cream and drizzled caramel sauce and pecans…delicious!

After our meal, we walked upstairs to see the rest of the restaurant… actually the restrooms were upstairs and that gave us the opportunity to explore.

Stairs to the upstairs dining area
One of the empty dining rooms upstairs
That’s me blending in with the décor…same colors, not planned.

Have you visited Rye Street Tavern? Or Sagamore Spirit Distillery?  Tell me about your experience.

And always follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on social media …  

  

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