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~
Very cool. I can’t picture which building this is. Another place downtown with outdoor seating is a very good thing.
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.
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.
Which building is it? I am trying to visualize where there is a 1880s-era mansion on 228 N. Market st.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
$120?
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.
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.”
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
The owner-chef at The New Lohr’s Restaurant–across from the tractor dealership on East Patrick St.– is a CIA grad.
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?
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
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.
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.
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!!
if you’re looking for a great steak you need to go to Firestone’s. They’re an a la carte steakhouse and the food is amazing. They only serve prime meat and they’re dishes are all quite creative.
This is the WORST restaurant to open in Frederick in a while.
I had an 8 PM reservation on August 30th with four friends. We got there at 7:55 and the host said our table would be ready “just past the hour” as “people were sitting at my table.”
Then 8:30 rolled around and still no table…
I went out to the host and he said “they’re just leaving, it should be a few minutes more.”
Then 9:00 came….NO table.
No apology either as I walked out in a huff.
Sadly, this was NOT a unique experience. One of my best friends was there with his wife. Their reservation was for two people at 8PM. They were told the same thing I was…and then when they went to leave at 9:15, the manager begged them to say and offered them free appetizers.
They were not seated until 9:45.
They left angrily at 10:30 when their food they ordered 45 minutes earlier was still not there.
This place has THREE different dining rooms and NO seating??????
Are they kidding when they say “someone is at your table?” Really???
I was out for dinner at Acacia this week and I heard someone at the bar ask someone “hey, have you eaten at VOLT? ” and they replied “no, but I’ve been there!” So I chimed in with my experience to find that at least ten people have all had the same dining experience in the last month.
I say BOLT and boycott VOLT! Frederick does not need a poorly run high-end food joint with crap customer service!
JEA, chill bro. FYI, Fredericktonians has been in the local lexicon for years and years. It may strike you as silly and reaching and pretentious, but it’s almost mainstream.
Do a Google–and then get a drink or four. You are one angry, amigo!
A quick Google finds “Fredericktonians” used in the Gazette, Frederick News-Post, WTOP Radio, the Tentacle, and much much more.
Fredericktonians
Fredericktonians
Fredericktonians
Fredericktonians
God, I love that Bill of Rights!
JJ:
Bolt and Boycott Volt? Wow. Caesar Chavez would be proud.
It’s a restaurant dude.
I still would love to try it. It looks fantastic. Like any new place there are bugs that need to be worked out. The same happened when La Paz moved and now they are in great shape. Had a fantastic dinner there last Friday night. I think volt will work out their opening jitters and problems and be a huge succcess. A freind was in town and lives in NYC and is familiar with the owner as he was associated with a fine NYC dining spot that was VERY succesful!!