The Dogwood: Baltimore, MD (Hampden)

Friday night, Kevin and I wanted a healthy dinner out. Since my weekends are usually where I slip up eating-wise, I googled "Healthy Restaurants in Baltimore". A few cool places popped up, but we ended up choosing The Dogwood because of the way it was summarized on the website and I have heard a few good things about it.

The Dogwood: Neighborhood Gourmet.

The Dogwood offers you a neighborhood gourmet experience, down-to-earth elegance that welcomes and nourishes you from start to finish. Our menus, featuring what is freshest and most breathtaking in each season, invite you to celebrate the farmers, the fishing boats, our chefs’ working hands.

This restaurant is located in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore city, which is a cool, eclectic area with a ton of interesting shops and restaurants. The front of the restaurant is not visually appealing at all and I was a little worried.

But, as soon as we walked through the doors, it led us down a long downward walkway into a great space, so all was OK. Water glasses were promptly filled and I made sure to get a picture because I love different-looking water glasses. In the background, you can see my boyfriend's dimple-face which equals happiness.

The homemade Irish Brown Bread with Mango-chutney butter was quickly gobbled up. Very dense and moist bread.

To start, I ordered the Warm Fig - Goat Cheese Strudel baked in phyllo dough served over baby greens with a pumpkin seed - honey granola and madras spice oil.

I guess I am not as "figged out" as I had mentioned a few days ago because I ate every single bite.

Kevin ordered the Pan Seared Sea Scallops to start which came served with house-made chorizo, caramelized pineapple and spicy grits.

Perfectly cooked and it was topped with the fancy "foam stuff" that one guy from top chef used to do all the time. Marcel, right?

After much discussion, we both ordered the same entree. Yes, it sounded THAT good. Pan Seared Rockfish with a pumpkin seed crust, grilled polenta-root vegetable hash, tomato and pasilla pepper molasses.More "foam-stuff" that I will admit - weirds me out slightly since it closely resembles spit, but it sure was tasty spit. The fish was cooked perfectly - more perfectly than anything I can explain. And the polenta-vegetable hash with that sauce - I am running out of descriptive food words that do it justice.

No dessert since we were pretty stuffed, but the choices sounded great. I specifically remember seeing a Chocolate Pot de Creme that I would love to try next time.

While we decided to go the entree route this time, but next time I go, I would love to order a few of the small plates to be able to try more things. The great thing about this restaurant is that they had a ton of choices that would be great for a lighter meal. Lighter on the wallet and stomach.

Our waitress told us the chef is working on his spring menu, so we will definitely be going back to check that out!