Brick Wood-Fired Bistro, Prince Frederick, Calvert County, Maryland

Brick Wood-Fired Bistro is in one of those Prince Frederick shopping centers off Route 4, the one across from the fire station, a few miles south of the Safeway. It’s a big new place with acres — well not quite — of seating, a community asset that attracts group events. It’s known as “The Brick,” according to our good friend, Dan Blankenship, who lives nearby, and who for over 15 years has done a great job every time we’ve needed to build, remodel, or do just anything.

On our first try, the Brick was booked for an event. I was tempted to join the event — I’m sure they would have invited me had they ever met, seen, or heard off me, but there were six of us, including Ella and Lily, and Nancy and I had a movie deadline.

Nancy and I went back during off hours and were greeted with smiles. People seem to smile more in Calvert County than they do in Washington, and I value smiles more and more each year. Anyway, another smile adorned the server who gave us menus and asked if we would like anything to drink. I noticed my favorite beer on the menu and said, “I’m in the mood for a Special Lady Friend.” The server smiled, and it wasn’t that eye-roll patronizing Dad Joke Smile I get so often. It was a nice small, genuine smile that added a couple of dollars to the tip. Meanwhile, Nancy rolled her eyes audibly.

Nancy ordered the Butter Crisp Salad with shrimp.

Nancy was very pleased with her salad. The greens were very fresh and seemed local, as advertised, and the salad included, among many other goodies, crispy prosciutto, good blue cheese, and fresh, not dried, cranberries. It was a hit.

I ordered a Buffalo Chicken sandwich with Brick Fries, and then embraced my Special Lady Friend with gusto.

The chicken breast was huge. It had been brined in buttermilk and it sat upon a slaw of shaved Brussels sprouts. Those are house-made pickles sitting on an onion brioche bun. The chicken was not at all dry, but it didn’t have that Buffalo taste, the not-at-all-subtle taste of Frank’s or Texas Pete. The flavor was okay, it just wasn’t the flavor I wanted.

The Brick Fries were flavored with confit garlic and parmesan cheese, and filled with flavor. These are some good fries. They came with a house-made ketchup. I’m not a fan of ketchup, and asked for some mustard to go with my fries. The server promptly returned with a delicious grainy mustard — maybe Pommery. I did taste a dab of ketchup, and it seemed to have a touch of apple flavor, which was intriguing. But it was still ketchup.

As you can see, the Brick takes great care and offers many special touches to its food. They really worked with Nancy’s salad. I wasn’t thrilled with the Buffalo chicken, but the fries hit the mark. And that mustard was a treat. The Brick exceeded my expectations in many ways. My Special Lady Friend is always … I better drop this. I’ll probably test drive one of their burgers and some more fries, or else the salumi pizza.

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