Two years after opening in Greenbelt, Ember is giving its menu a glow-up with new dishes not just for the grown-ups, but for the little food lovers, too.
When chef Josh Boutwood (Helm/The Test Kitchen) opened restaurant Ember two years ago, their side of Greenbelt was a different place. Situated beside a popular bistro and an upscale Thai restaurant, the dressy-casual sharing plates were designed to fuel nights out with the girls or power-lunching executives.
Ember’s food does attract that kind of market—a fancy crowd looking to impress and be impressed by the well-executed dishes with that global, borderless Boutwood flair.
However, chef Josh realized that not only was the world around them evolving, but even his personal needs too. “My son is a picky eater,” he confesses, “and sometimes when the eldest requests to eat at Ember, the younger one complains, ‘I have nothing to eat there.’”
It dawned on the father of two that there is a whole sub-market of young families who pick restaurants based on the availability of children’s options. Adding a kid’s menu is a small compromise, really, since the adults still get to enjoy the experience they set out for, while the kids find comfort in dishes that are familiar and delicious to them.
So chef Josh recently introduced a few dishes that will surely make his son happy along with a few new dishes to spruce up the menu at Ember. There’s burger sliders, chicken fingers, and mac and cheese that might have the grown-ups stealing a bite or two from the tiny tots. However, there are many delicious things on the regular menu to pick and share as well.
Their version of a Caesar salad, for instance, is made for the fans— unapologetic about the anchovies, generous with the garlic, and topped with an almost unjustifiable amount of grated parmesan. The pulpo with harissa is a classic, and so is that burrata that is so incredibly creamy you will surely need that Test Kitchen sourdough to mop it all up.
Bread butter pudding
The gnocchi with crab fat and blue crab is a good place to start with the large plates, and what the turbot might lack in the looks department, it makes up for in fatty, gelatinous goodness.
Chef Josh also added a tasty alternative to the pricey fish— a salmon head curry that not only has that same fatty, collagen-rich character, but a sauce that calls for a cup of hot rice.
And since you are not counting carbs at this point, might as well have more rice to match with that new steak dish that utilizes F1 Wagyu (a hybrid, really) cubed and cooked with garlic and oyster mushrooms. Salpicao, if you will, dressed up for a special occasion.
The steaks are straightforward and done right, just as expected from a kitchen that values quality ingredients and proper technique. When one works with the likes of Ranger Valley WX Wagyu t-bone or Australian Black Onyx ribeye, you just want those natural beef flavors to come through.
Seasoned simply, and then paired with well made sides such as their creamed spinach, smoothest potato puree, pickled cucumbers, and grilled carrots that are so naturally sweet you almost do not need dessert. Almost. But do save room for their spins on the classic tres leches and an incredible walnut date cake.
Back when fine dining only meant set menus and plated dishes, Ember was one of those who saw the value of a sharing format and how it immediately makes the dining experience more relaxed, therefore, more fun. Two years since, everybody seems to be transitioning to that kind of service in one form or another. It is good to be reminded of how Ember was one of those who started it all.
