January 15, 2008...8:23 pm
Keep an eye out for Volt
Looks like Frederick will be getting another restaurant soon …
Bryan Voltaggio, the 31-year-old executive chef and general manager at Charlie Palmer Steak, tells me he’s leaving the popular Hill steakhouse after 4 1/2 years next month to return to his roots: Frederick, Md., where he plans to open a place of his own in an 1880s-era mansion at 228 N. Market.
The restaurant, which will include an outdoor terrace and an open kitchen, will feature “forward-thinking American cuisine” representing “my all my experience as a cook and a chef,” says Voltaggio, who plans to call the 60-or-so seat restaurant Volt. Voltaggio, who leaves with boss Charlie Palmer’s blessing, formerly worked at the acclaimed Aureole in New York.
Taking Voltaggio’s place in Washington will be his long-time sous chef, Matthew Hill. Volt is expected to set sail by “late spring or early summer,” says Voltaggio.
Thanks for the tip JH.
~Guy~
27 Comments
January 15, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Very cool. I can’t picture which building this is. Another place downtown with outdoor seating is a very good thing.
January 15, 2008 at 9:58 pm
This will be a huge leap for Frederick in terms of its seriousness as a place to get good food. I’m not generally a steakhouse fan, but I’ve been to CP Steak several times and Voltaggio was doing amazing work there. It will be great to see another place cooking at or above the level of The Tasting Room as an option in town.
January 16, 2008 at 8:42 am
I wish him the best. Opening a high-end, downtown steakhouse when the economy is teetering on the edge of recession, and when expense accounts are tightening up, takes guts.
January 16, 2008 at 9:26 am
Which building is it? I am trying to visualize where there is a 1880s-era mansion on 228 N. Market st.
January 16, 2008 at 10:22 am
It’s the building that I think used to have a short brick wall on one side that was torn down and on the other side it has a iron gate with a side garden/courtyard behind it. Maybe across from Retro Metro? I am terrible with directions (and I live downtown) but I can see the building– it’s gorgeous and imposing.
January 16, 2008 at 11:48 am
If I’m looking at googlemaps right, this will be located in the red brick mansion on the left side of Market Street, across from H&R Block. It used to house dentist offices, and most recently Murray Financial Group was there before they moved to the new digs. Its between the pawn shop and the pretzel place.
January 16, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Yep, that’s the building. Currently in the midst of renovations. Guessing they’ll go in the ground floor. There’s room for a large outdoor area.
January 16, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I think it is or used to be called The Professional Bldg. It is beautiful and it will be fantastic to have another outside eating place in downtown Frederick.
January 19, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Actually, I’d be surprised to see (a) the restaurant open anytime soon and (b) do great business. This recession is going to deepen, and it’s hard to build (not just retain) a clientele who’s willing to drop $120 (or more) for a steak dinner for two.
January 22, 2008 at 1:15 pm
$120?
January 24, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Steakhouses–at least the really good ones–are well known for charging a la carte. My $120 figure is for a big night out. It’s also very conservative.
Let’s say your juicy steak sets you back $33 and your side dish $7. Double that for two people and you’re already in the $80 ballpark. Add $10 for the appetizer, $14 for two desserts, $13 for two wines (very conservative), and you’re inching close to $120. Throw in tax and gratuity, and your roughly $150 bill presents a big financial hurdle for Fredericktonians who are unfamiliar with your restaurant, yet staring into the specter of an emerging recession.
That said, a couple could probably get in and out of this steakhouse for less than $100. Especially if they are vegans.
January 28, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Problem is, folks who routinely spend $120+ on dinner are not the ones who are apt to get hit the hardest by this recession. Working class folks that only dream about someday having a $120 dinner are the ones that will take the brunt of the damage done to our economy by greedy lenders and a lack of proper oversight in the banking industry. And what will become of those in the industry who allowed predatory lending practices to proceed unheeded? It appears we will just “let them eat steak.”
January 28, 2008 at 8:04 pm
The housing boom came to the rescue at the end of 2001 and has carried the economy through until now. That’s a great run. In the end investors, lenders, speculators, and home owners forgot to manage their risk and wound up exposed. Just like the dotcom bubble that preceded it, the irrational exuberance had to end somewhere. People have been “eating steak” for years paid for by their equity or the payment gap they enjoyed because of a teaser rate. It’s hamburger time for a few years, but the economy will come back and so will housing values.
I do feel for the people who were duped and wound up losing their homes, but they aren’t exactly going to the gulag, they’ll just be renters for awhile.
I for one hope that we get a high quality steak restaurant in Frederick. I had dinner at the Capital Grill on Pennsylvania Avenue last Monday night and they’re steaks are just incredible. Prime steaks, dry aged on the premises. We’re probably a long way from a CG, but I can dream….
JJP
January 29, 2008 at 9:38 am
The people who “would up losing their homes” will indeed be “renters” for awhile, but many will also be forced to declare bankruptcy, if revised bankruptcy law so permits. At the least, their credit ratings will be sullied for many years and they will likely be able to buy another house only if–brace yourselves–they can find a subprime loan. I imagine the disruption to their lives has been enormous, gulag or no.
January 29, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I do feel for those who were duped and there are several programs in place by investors, lenders, and the GSEs to help them stay in their current homes.
As for those who decided to risk their equity and their near-term financial futures by buying home(s) that they could not afford under normal circumstances or sucking out their equity in an inflated market, I have little sympathy. Maybe that’s cold, but those people not only risked their financial situations, but they also risked those of their neighbors and their communities. Foreclosures hurt everyone because when they occur, they drive down the values of the houses around them, hurting those who were smart and managed their risk appropriately. When it happens to a whole street, it is a financial tragedy. I doubt any of them were thinking about the rest of us when they were cashing those checks or buying those big houses.
January 29, 2008 at 11:10 pm
JJP,
The Longhorn on 85 is in the same franchise as the Capital Grille. They get their steak from the same curing houses, it’s just the better cuts go the CG.
I’ve been to the Capital Grille at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Very nice, very expensive.
January 30, 2008 at 6:18 am
Interesting. I didn’t know the Capital Grille and Longhorn were related. Capital Grille serves prime, dry aged beef beef. Longhorn serves a low grade choice that tastes like select. There is no comparison between the two.
I usually eat at the one in Tyson’s. Their space is pretty limited so I don’t know if they age on the premises, but the location on Pennsylvania Avenue does. You walk past the temperature/humidity controlled “refrigerator” on your way in and can see the cuts through the tinted glass.
Yes, CG is very expensive. Dinner was $140 for the two of us. We got a little carried away with the sides or it would have been cheaper. They have a killer rib-eye steak sandwich for lunch that runs about $15.
I used to eat pretty regularly at Morton’s, but GC has them beat hands down. Their steaks are better and they know how to cook them rare. More times than not at Morton’s, the steaks come out raw.
January 30, 2008 at 8:47 am
JJP, as I just read your comment on prime beef, and $140 dinners, and Mortons not quite being good enough, I swear I could hear the theme song for Masterpiece Theatre!
Just kidding, my good man. Carry on.
February 13, 2008 at 10:41 am
There’s an update in todays FNP.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=71202
I grew up very close to the CIA in Hyde Park NY. It is one of the premiere cooking schools in the country, so it is always good news to see one of their graduates coming to town (the chef/owner at Monocacy Crossing also graduated from CIA).
February 13, 2008 at 1:11 pm
The owner-chef at The New Lohr’s Restaurant–across from the tractor dealership on East Patrick St.– is a CIA grad.
February 13, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Yep. Sure is. I haven’t been in a few years, but I wasn’t very impressed. He was aiming for the down home cooking market. Anything changed?
February 19, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I for one am happy to hear that a decent steak house is moving into frederick. It will be interesting to see how they handle the construction and transformation of a classic old world building. Let’s hope this is the trend moving forward concerning places to eat downtown. Bravo
February 20, 2008 at 6:25 am
I don’t see anything in either article that says this new restaurant will be a steak house. I don’t think it is going to be. Just because he is leaving a steak house in DC, I think that may have caused the confusion. All I’ve seen is that the menu is going to focus on fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.
March 31, 2008 at 1:27 pm
To “the dude”: There is no such thing as Fredericktonians… there is no such place in Maryland called Frederickton, it’s Frederick. There is such a thing as Washingtonians from Washington. Stop trying to come up with clever nicknames for people from Frederick. Just stick to complicated math.
April 2, 2008 at 7:33 pm
[...] Preview of Volt Jump to Comments This video of Volt’s space was posted in the comments, but I thought I would post it here to [...]
April 3, 2008 at 8:06 am
I think he will do just fine! It believe it is the old Porfessional Building next to Whitesell’s Pharmacy. I think it will be a big boost to downtown! KUDO’S!!
May 7, 2008 at 2:07 pm
[...] Little More on Volt Jump to Comments I discovered today that Volt has a blog. From the most recent post (May 3rd): We are well under way with construction at this [...]
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