So I went to Jack’s Bistro this weekend. Nice spot, interesting menu, sub-par service and then it all went horribly wrong. I ordered the tuna, pan seared, smashed potatoes, snap berry sauce. SO I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know what a snapping berry is, but I assumed it was, indeed, a berry.

Nope. The meal arrives and it is crackling. I taste it and the sauce is made with pop rocks. Long story short, it was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever put in my mouth and I have put some very disgusting things in my mouth.

Imagine the bold flavor of pop rocks and the creamy texture of fine tuna.

I ate one bite and sent it back. When the bill arrived, it was still on there. Keep in mind, our parties bill was over $500.

When I asked if it could be removed, the waitress said, “I don’t want to get into the middle of this, I’m going to get the manager.” Huh?

So the manager tells us that the policy is not to take anything off the check. She goes on to say, “I’m sorry you don’t like pop rocks, but I’m allergic to nuts and I always make sure to ask, if there are nuts in something before I order it.”

Sooo, you’re saying I should have asked, “Are there any pop rocks in the tuna? I was thinking about a burger, are there milk duds in that? How about live leprechauns? I don’t eat live leprechauns. Are there any in the cheese soup?”

I was condescended to and will never return. I urge you to do the same. The service had been sub-par to that point and this was the icing on the cake (and if the cake was made at Jack’s the icing would probably include walrus lard).

I was super excited to go to the Baltimore Foodies Holiday Party. Not only was it on my birthday, but I would be seeing some of my favorite people including Lars Rusin from The Great Cheese who also heads up the Baltimore Foodies. We were also going to see Beej and Darcy. To our surprise our friends Trey and Angela Lewis from Gunpowder Bison attended the dinner as well. Nathan and I grabbed a drink and began wondering around the quaint dining room.

I had never been to Jack’s Bistro before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I found out that Jack is not really Jack, but Jack is Ted. And Ted is who most people would think is Jack. Maybe there was a Jack at some point, but I’m not sure. As Ted explained it, its a throwback to Three’s Company.

Anyway, Ted is a owner and the head chef at Jack’s Bistro. He’s a delightful man, and an amazing chef. By the looks of the regular menu, he also looks like he loves to have fun while creating dishes like macaroni and chocolate or foie gras poutine.

We arrived at Jack’s a little bit early so I could take some pictures. It was a good thing that we did, because once everyone arrived I would have never gotten the pictures that I did. They had everything set up buffet style, and I think that would have been better than 50 hungry people berating the waitstaff all at once. There was all kind of foods at different stations and Nathan and I were not shy to be the first to sample.

I first tried all the cheeses that were brought by Lars from The Great Cheese.

My favorite was the cheese curd. I could have eaten a whole bowl of those. I thought mozzarella was my favorite but after that…I’m a curd lover now.

There also was a designated “Veggie” area that consisted of two types of salads, and grilled asparagus. The asparagus was wonderful. I don’t know why it is, but grilled veggies always taste so much better. There also was a bowl of macerated fruit, which we discovered was quite strong. Nathan of course went back for seconds and thirds and now I know how to get him to eat healthy. Tomorrow I will be soaking his green beans in vodka.

At the end of the table of salad and cheese, they had a two chaffing dishes with Truffle mashed potatoes and Spanish Chorizo. Sadly I wasn’t able to get a picture before people dove in. But I will say this, after having Truffle Potatoes I don’t think we can go back to normal ones. They were so rich, and buttery and savory.

At the next station they were slicing fresh suckling pig and paired it with several sauces. I personally liked the cilantro sauce, which I would have never thought to put with pork. Of course, the photo of Beej and Nathan contains the only part of the pig that was left… the head!

On the same table was the Oyster Station. Ted was behind the bar the entire time shucking raw oysters to order. He was talking to all the guests and was an excellent host. Shamefully I am not a lover of raw oysters like most, so I waved and walked past quickly. Along with the oysters there were several vodkas to partake in.

You can also see on the right side of the picture above, the Sous Vide station was also set up. There was duck breast, pork loin and beef loin. There was also some sauces to go with your meat, I couldn’t remember all the names, but my favorite was a semi sweet apple bacon sauce. It went really well with the duck and beef.

All the food was amazing. The nice thing about the buffet is that you can keep going back, and back, and back….

On top of all that food, the event also featured an open bar. I tried to take some pictures but none of mine did it any justice. So the one I have posted is from Jack’s Bistro’s website. It was nice to see that they had some Brewer’s Art beers like Ozzy on tap, and also Delirium Tremens in small bottles. This is a favorite of Nathan’s and although Nathan loves Max’s on Broadway… he says it was nice to see Delirium somewhere else. So if you like Belgian Ale’s and you see a grey bottle with pink elephants on it, taste it. Nathan and Beej also discovered Barenjager. Barenjager is a German honey flavored liquor. The rest of the night all that I heard from Nathan was “Hey lets do some shots.”, followed by the clinging of glasses and him saying “I just raided Pooh Bears house and stole some honey.”

Once again I encourage all of you to attend a Baltimore Foodies event. Make sure to visit the website and sign up for their newsletter so you can get notified on upcoming events. And stop by Jacks and say Hi to Ted. You won’t be disappointed. We are going back soon and checking out the regular menu. Maybe I will see you there…