Howard County Restaurant Weeks 2013 Guide, Farm 2 Table

Farm 2 Table is back! This year 21 restaurants are participating in the event that focuses on local food and local restaurants that runs from July 17 to August 5. Participating restaurants have created price fix menus that range in price from $10.13 to $40.13 for multi-course lunches and dinners.

Check out highlights from restaurants' Farm 2 Table menus below or click on the restaurant's name to see a full menu: 

Aida Bistro & Wine Bar – 6471 Columbia Gateway Dr., Columbia – 410-930-0500

Aida Bistro is offering a three course dinner for $40.13 per person as well as wine flights consisting of 3 oz. pours of three different wines for $17 to $19. Menu highlights include blackened fish tacos with jalapeno and pineapple salsa; local farm fresh squash blossoms; and main courses such as grilled sockeye salmon with turnips and beets as well as  a seafood linguine containing scallop, shrimp, mussels and crab.

Ale House Columbia – 6480 Dobbin Center Way, Columiba – 443-546-3640

The Ale House opened in December making it a newcomer to this year’s farm 2 table restaurant weeks. The beer pub is offering a 2-course lunch menu for $18.13 that includes a black and blue salad (beef from Clark’s farms, red onions, mix greens, with white wine and gorgonzola dressing); a smoked turkey and maple bacon melt; and pasta puttanesca with ground turkey.

Alexandra’s American Fusion – 2700 Turf Valley Road, Ellicott City – 410-480-2400

Alexandra’s is offering price fix menus for lunch (three courses $25.13) and dinner (three courses $35.13). The lunch menu includes a crab cake sandwich and blueberry crème brulee. For dinner, the restaurant is offering roasted corn chowder, smoked beef short rib, pan-roasted rockfish and a peach crisp.

Baldwin’s Station – 7618 Main Street, Sykesville – 410-795-1041

Get off the beaten path and head west to Baldwin’s Station for a three course lunch menu ($16.13) or a three course dinner menu ($35.13). Baldwin’s Station was named the Restaurant Association of Maryland’s 2012 favorite restaurant. For lunch you can try the shaved beef and cheese sandwich, or marinated Portobello sandwich and finish it off with New York cheesecake. For dinner, the restaurant offers a grilled flat iron steak or for the more culinary curious, a blackened pangasius—a type of shark catfish native to Asia.

Coho Grill – 11130 Willow Bottom Drive, Columbia – 410-740-2096

Coho Grill, located in the clubhouse of Hobbit’s Glen Golf Course, will have a two-course lunch menu ($16.13) and a four-course dinner menu ($30.13) for restaurant weeks. Included are items such as asparagus fries, Sam Adams winter shrimp chowder and harvest pork tenderloin. Finish off your dinner with pumpkin bread pudding or Toll House pie a la mode—chocolate chip walnut filling with a flaky crust served with French vanilla ice cream.

Drover’s Grill & Wine Co. – 17004 Frederick Rd., Mt. Airy – 410-489-7717

Drover’s offers a four course “chef’s” menu for restaurant weeks for $39.13 per person.  Included on the menu are dishes such as a dry aged rib eye, lobster and scallop risotto, tuna and salmon carpaccio and a seasonal fruit tart.

Greystone Grill – 6850 Columbia 100 Pkwy, Columbia – 410-715-4739

Greystone is serving up a $16.13 three course lunch menu and a $30.13 three-course dinner menu. Highlights for lunch include a pulled pork sandwich and an avocado BLT; while for dinner the restaurant is offering a 14 oz. delmonico steak as well as banana cake for dessert.

Kelsey’s Restaurant – 8480 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City – 410-418-9076

This Ellicott City Irish bar features a watermelon gazpacho and poached shrimp with a spicy chicken salad for lunch ($13.13). The three-course dinner menu ($31.13) features the gazpacho as well as a New York Strip or Rockfish and a brownie with raspberry ice cream to finish it off.

Portalli’s – 8085 Main Street, Ellicott City – 410-720-2330

Portalli’s features a three-course dinner menu ($30.13) with items like squash stuffed Italian sausage, grilled rockfish, marinated pork loin and jumbo shrimp with bacon, squash, zucchini and spinach with red pepper pesto cream sauce over futtucini. For dessert, the restaurant is serving grilled watermelon, basil cheesecake or chocolate chip cannoli’s.

Ranazul – 8171 Maple Lawn Blvd., Fulton – 301-498-9666

Maple Lawn’s Ranazul tapas restaurant offers a three-course lunch for $20 and a four-course dinner for $40. The restaurant is offering Latin American cuisine like arepas, open pork empanadas and Peruivian chicken.

Stella Notte Restaurant – 8809 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City – 410-461-1122

Stella Notte, an Italian restaurant on Route 40, is offering price fix menus for both lunch and dinner. The three-course lunch menu ($14.13) includes a summer tomato salard, stuffed eggplant Mediterranean, a seafood pizza and homemade cheesecake to finish it off. For dinner, the menu includes three different salads, chicken cordon blue meuniere, rainbow trout or fettucine prima vera marinara.

Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant - 8293 Main St., Ellicott City - 410-465-4004

Restaurant weeks just may be a perfect opportunity to try Tersiguel's—one of the most expensive restaurants in the county. The traditional French restaurant is offering a three-course lunch menu for $21.95 and a three-course dinner menu for $39.95. The menu includes French specialties like soupe de poisson bretonne—fish soup with cheese and croutons; poulet—chicken prepared two styles, pan seared and chicken leg confit with roast portabella. For dessert, the restaurant is offering house-made ice cream, sorbet, or traditional French custard.

The Elkridge Furnace Inn – 5745 Furnace Ave., Elkridge – 410-379-9336 

The Furnace Inn is offering a three-course dinner menu for $40.13 that included appetizers like a savory tart with smoked blue cheese and heirloom tomatoes, seafood soup, a stacked Caesar salad, and entrees like pork loin scallopini and a house made sausage sampler.

The Iron Bridge Wine Co. – 10435 State Route 108, Columbia – 410-997-3456 

Continuing a tradition from last year, Iron Bridge is offering their full menu for restaurant weeks for $38 for three courses. The menu varies, but highlights include a charcuterie plate with paté and pickled egg, crispy calamari, tuna tartare, and braised pork cheeks for starters. Entrees include chipotle brined pork loin, Maple Leaf Farms duck breast and goat cheese cavatelli.

The Kings Contrivance – 10150 Shaker Dr., Columbia – 410-995-0500 

Kings Contrivance offers a three course dinner ($30.13) with appetizers such as shellfish bisque, tomato and feta cheese salad and crispy fried crab balls. Entrees include a seafood medley with crab meat, shrimp scallops and summer squash risotto; a blackend pork loin with mango salsa; and a grilled bistro fillet. Customers are invited to choose anything off their dessert menu, including key lime pie or a chocolate hazelnut dome.

The Melting Pot – 10451 Twin Rivers Rd., Columbia – 410-740-9988

Columbia’s fondue hotspot has a four-course dinner menu ($40.13) that includes a creamy lump crab cheese fondue to start, a cherry blossom salad for the second course and a choice of entrees. Entrees include an Old Bay chicken breast with shrimp or bay scallops served with a filet mignon. The dessert is a chocolate fondue (white, dark or milk chocolate) topped with Berger cookie crumbles and served with fresh fruit, Rice Krispies brownies, pound cake and Oreos.

Town Grill at Lisbon Citgo Auto Center – 15943 Frederick Road, Lisbon – 410-489-5016

Town Grill, which specializes in smoked meats and barbecue, is offering dishes like a smoked rainbow trout omelet or scramble ($8.13), a Town Grill bbq sampler—a choice of ribs, pulled pork, brisket, pulled chicken, pit beef or pit turkey—with baked beans or mac and cheese ($13.13). Thursday night the restaurant will serve dinner specials like a southern bbq chicken dinner on July 18, grilled rainbow trout on July 25 and lamb kabobs on Aug. 1.

Victoria Gastro Pub – 8201 Snowden River Pkwy, Columbia – 410-750-1880

Victoria is offering a three-course lunch for $19 and a four-course dinner for $29. For lunch, they’ll have a corn and tortilla soup with shrimp or a local tomato soup as well as a grilled BLT salad or shrimp pasta. Dinner items include a crab cake appetizer, pork loin or swordfish entrees and a dessert of chocolate zucchini cake.

The following restaurants are participating in restaurants week, but did not have a menu posted to the Howard County Tourism's website, their website or their Facebook page on Tuesday.

The Woodstock Inn – 1415 Woodstock Rd., Woodstock – 410-750-3673

Bistro Blanc – 3800 Ten Oaks Road, Glenelg – 410-489-7907 

Café de Paris – 8808 Centre Park Drive, Columbia – 410-997-3904