Nope, I’m not talking about the A&F chain, but about a fantastic restaurant that my in-laws took us to this past weekend. Located across from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Meyerhoff Hall, Abercrombie is actually a bed and breakfast with a fine dining restaurant partially below the ground floor. They’d been there once before, prior to seeing a BSO show with another couple. We went on June 22nd in order to celebrate two birthdays, an anniversary and Father’s Day! June is a busy month. :-)

We ate in the rounded back room, with ceiling-level windows looking out to the sidewalk. Tea candles filled small niches along the walls. I’m sure they’d be stunning on a cold winter’s night. On this visit, the air conditioning and fan were broken, so it got a bit warm, but never too uncomfortable. Service was superb.

We started with a appetite-whetting chilled soup of melon, mint and orange juice. It was served in a small container, sort of like a screw-top, single serving of jam or jelly you’d find on a room service plate. It was so refreshing, especially on a hot day in June. Diane & I had a house Mac & Cheese for our first course. This wasn’t Kraft Cheese and Macacroni. It was parmagianno reggiano and gruyere cheese served over Cavatappi pasta in a small cast-iron pot. Diane’s parents each had a Caesar salad.

For the second course, the three of them had wild salmon that was succulent and juicy. I had steak frites, where the steak appeared to be tenderloin medallions and the frites were potato wedges in a delightful crunchy batter with pepper. We drank a wonderful bottle of French red from the Languedoc region, one of my favorite areas between Bordeaux and the Rhone. Up until the last few years, it was a hidden treasure. Sadly, for me, it’s become better known and the prices have skyrocketed and the availability has plummeted. Regardless, this was a wonderful bottle and reasonably priced. If you go there, I’d highly recommend it.

For dessert, we ordered a Milk Chocolate Panna Cota, which was made with Mascarpone cream, brownie stuffed phyllo purse, and espresso prailine. We also had an order of their version of Milk and Cookies. Our server brought out four complimentary glasses of 20 year-old tawny port that was stupendous. It had character and wasn’t simply sweet. It was a great gesture and the port was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

We topped off the evening with a great performance of Beethoven’s 9th by the BSO’s Music Director Marin Alsop. The show opened with Joan Tower’s Concerto for Orchestra. Ms. Tower herself introduced the piece on stage, with some give and take between her, Maestro Alsop and the orchestra. That was so cool, since so much of the classical music I’ve seen is by composers long dead. It’s nice to see it as a living art and to have a connection between the person and the performance.