World on a Plate

by Katie Gallagher
photos by Joseph Sherrock

For 48 years they have won over the hearts and stomachs of many Silver Spring residents. Boasting a menu that could make anyone's mouth water, the Woodmoor Pastry Shop continues to deliver delicious recipes at a price that won't break the bank.

Owner JoAnna Gray has been turning out homemade donuts, pies, cookies and dinner rolls in the Woodmoor shopping center at University Blvd. and Colesville Road since her family took over the bakery. The Gray family had previously owned a bakery in Cumberland, Md., but they have called the Woodmoor Pastry Shop home ever since moving to the Silver Spring area.

The Gray family kept the standard of low prices, individually made items and family-targeted merchandise from the previous bakery but have changed many things throughout the years.

Woodmoor Pastry Shop has been owned and operated by the Gray family for 48 years.

by Will Marshall



Tucked away amid a bevy of corporate restaurants such as the Macaroni Grill and Red Lobster on the Ellsworth shopping strip in downtown Silver Spring is the Vietnamese restaurant Pho Hiep Hoa.

The placement of the restaurant is ironic. Pho Hiep Hoa offers an excess of culture among a sea of corporate sameness. 

"Vietnam is a melting pot of cultures," says Food Manager Amy Nguyen, adding "Our food is influenced by so many different countries."

Indeed, Vietnam is surrounded by such culinary heavyweights as Thailand and China. Mix in a strong French colonial influence and you have a witch's cauldron of inspiration.

If you enjoy the right ingredients cooked precisely, try the Daily Dish

by Eric Bond

Jerry Hollinger, Zena Polin, and Michael Chretien

photo by Eric Bond

Red Dog Café on Grubb Road has served as an essential community space over the past decade. It's been the perfect neighborhood spot for a Sunday brunch date.  Or a place to share a bottle of good, dry wine with friends after a hard day of pushing the mouse around. With any luck, local vibraphonist Chuck Redd would be installed in the corner, softly adding to the bistro ambience.

In the past few years, the Red Dog changed hands twice. First Kirsten Poole, of Kirsten's Café, took it over. Then, last year, boutique caterer Jerry Hollinger and food writer Zena Polin decided to take a chance during a recession and became the new owners, rechristening the popular spot, The Daily Dish.  (Note signage has not changed, as Hollinger and Polin await county red tape.)

Hollinger and Polin had been running a catering company, focusing on whole, carefully-prepared dishes--and they decided to put that philosophy to the test in a restaurant. Thus far, Hollinger and Polin have succeeded in paying tribute to the community spirit of Red Dog, while making their own mark as culinary enthusiasts (I'm not a fan of the term "foodie").

Capital City Cheesecake coming to Takoma Park
by Anthony Raad

Caitlin and Meaghan Murphy are refurbishing the former Savory Café to reflect their own style. Residents eagerly await the opening.

photo by Julie Wiatt

"Just give it a chance," says Meaghan Murphy, co-founder of the new Capital City Cheesecake located in Takoma Park in place of the Savory Café.
Meaghan, and her sister, Caitlin, never thought they would be in the cheesecake business. Caitlin, who has had vision problems since she was a baby, spent many days and nights inside due to light bothering her. One day, her friend asked her to bake her a cheesecake. Caitlin found a recipe, baked the cake and to her surprise her friends loved it.

"We really thought we were on to something, I thought with my business background we could make this work," says Meaghan. Both sisters spent countless hours in the kitchen refining their cheesecakes with flavors from Red Velvet to Key Lime. After trying one bite of their Red Velvet miniature cheesecakes, it becomes clear why they will be among the leaders of the industry.

Planet Bollywood: A natural transformation

by Will Marshall

Chef Gabriel Gomes prepares Tandoori Chicken in the traditional Indian manner

PHOTOS BY JOY ASICO

Silver Spring has seen it share of ups and downs since the economy virtually imploded last year. In order to survive, restaurants, like anyone who wore fanny packs in the nineties, have had to adjust or face certain failure. Located on Colesville Road across from the AFI Theater, Planet Bollywood Indian restaurant has chosen to adjust.

"When we first opened we were called Across the Street Café. We served international food. But then AFI started playing 'Slumdog Millionaire' and people came over after the movie and they started asking why we didn't serve Indian food. I'm from India, so I put a few items on the menu and it was big hit. Now we just serve Indian food--except for the mussels, people still love the mussels," said Stanley Gomes, the owner and operator.

Gomes was raised in Northern India so the move to Indian cuisine was a natural one. "I went back to my roots, and people responded well," said Gomes. Gomes' particular region specializes in meats cooked in a Tandoor clay oven. The clay oven seals moister while cooking the spice rubbed meat quickly and thoroughly, lending an earthy, slightly smoky flavor to the finished product.

Cedar Crossing Tavern & Wine Bar

by Will Marshall
photos by Eric Bond (unless otherwise noted)

Cedar Crossing Tavern & Wine Bar is the kind of place you would expect to run across on some breezy road in southern France. The kind of place where the owner welcomes you in as if you were family, then serves you wine and food that is so good that you spend the rest of your trip trying to replicate the experience. Cedar Crossing Wine Bar is that kind a place, only it isn't located on a breezy road in southern France; it's just footsteps west of the Takoma Park Metro station.

My party and I arrived rather early--4:30 p.m., so I was surprised to see a small crowd gathered around the cherry wood bar.  The interior aesthetic matches the restaurant's Mediterranean culinary aspirations--warm earth toned walls offset by rich cherry wood floors and bar. Our waiter, Miguel, engaged us immediately with a warm, natural smile and suggested we start with wine, beer or one of their handmade specialty cocktails.  I went with his suggestion, a glass of 2007 Bodegas Carchelo wine. A powerhouse, the wine was deep garnet in color, almost inky, with flavors of rich cherry and lavish chocolate on the palette. With wine this good, I really don't need food.

by Will Marshall
photos by Eric Bond
 

It is a rainy and cold Tuesday night in Silver Spring. A string of newly lit Christmas wreaths glows through the haze down Fenton Street. My wife and I are on our way to Addis Ababa Ethiopian restaurant. I have to be honest, neither of is in the mood for dinner out tonight. The malaise we feel stems from a food hangover brought on by the gluttony of Thanksgiving dinner just days prior. But just moments inside Addis Ababa we quickly realize that this night will be so much more than just another meal out, it will be a cultural adventure.

The dining room is made up of an eclectic blend of colonial inspired short legged chairs, goat skinned rugs, handmade straw mesob's,(Ethiopian serving tables) and colorful hand painted lamp shades. All of this combines to create a feeling of exotic comfort. Suddenly our malaise disappears as we feel we have been teleported into another world. 

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