We have witnessed many changes of the Houck Mansion as we bring VOLT to fruition. The carpet will be installed in the main dining room on the fourth, the chef’s dining room will get its final coat of paint, and the tile floors will get the final touch of grout. The transformation has been exciting and when we get through the weekend we should have one completed dining room. So sorry to say for all of the passer-by’s it is time to seal the windows for the last couple of weeks so we can bring the finishes to life and set the dining room for service. We want the opening of VOLT’s dining rooms to be surprise for all of our guests, one of the exciting parts of playing host is to see the initial reaction of our guests when they walk through our door. We are very close to opening and cannot wait to hear the call of the first order into the kitchen.

For those of you who haven’t checked back in a while, our full website is live. It is filled with information about the restaurant and the menu. You may also make reservations directly from our website. If you are booking for large parties, or more than 30 days in advance, you need to call the reservation line directly. To experience the full tasting menu please note the Chef’s Kitchen in your reservation request.

Looking forward to seeing you at VOLT.

301-696-8658
Reservations are highly suggested.

voltrestaurant.com

While trying to perfect the VOLT coffee blend we’ve also accumulated a lot of chaff for our herb garden. When coffee beans are roasted, they swell and expand in size. The husk of the bean then cracks and is shed by the bean during the roasting process and is collected and bagged separately as a byproduct waste. This byproduct is called chaff and it is a light papery material that contains protein, some fat, and large amounts of fiber and is a terrific soil amendment. It can go directly into the gardens soil without having to decompose first. In short, great coffee = healthy herbs.

The face has been applied to the bar and the steel that will hold the glass top is in place. Our contractors have also have begun installing the back bar equipment. Today starts the priming for all rooms in the space. Painting had begun! By early next week we will be able to post a few shots to give a preview of the finished rooms. Our kitchen install has been delayed a bit with some needed adjustments to our plating table. We should have our kitchen in working order by the end of next week.

We thought it would be a fun event and a great focus group to invite our partners to taste through the “Glasses of Wine” program.  With the help of six of our purveyors, we tasted through about 75 wines from all over the world.  In this picture I’m holding the Bourgogne Rouge from Rene Leclerc. -One of the crowd favorites of the evening and subsequently one of the wines that we’ll be offering by the glass.  As we get into the swing of things we envision many opportunities to have thought provoking experiences with new wines as they come across the table to us. 

When not acting as general contractor during VOLT’s final construction weeks, Chef Bryan Voltaggio takes some time to be with friends and family and to enjoy the wonderful summer weather. This is one of two pigs being brined on ice with rosemary, orange halves, and garlic cloves to be smoked along with 25 chickens for 100 guests at a friend’s “A Good Ole Cosi Pig Pick’n” party this weekend.

The install on all of the stations has begun. We should see the stations coming together by the end of tomorrow. We will have our kitchen divided into three rooms. From the kitchen dining room guests will view the garde-manger, pastry plating station and the meat/game, fish, and entremetier station (aka, vegetable cook) Our pass or plating station will be in the center of the kitchen. The second room behind the main line is the first preparation room then behind that area is the storage areas for raw product and our butcher. The kitchen as it comes together, is relieving to see, as the plans on paper translate into an efficiently spaced kitchen. Working within a once residential space, can be challenging in laying out a professional kitchen. I am very excited with how the design has taken shape and look forward to lighting the first pilot.

We have begun hanging drywall in the restaurant this week. This is a very exciting milestone in more ways than one. We are able to see all of the walls taking shape. One of the contractors who had not been on the site for a week was understandably taken back by the changes the space has undergone in such a short amount of time. As we progress this week more pieces of the kitchen will start to arrive. By Friday we should start to see the stations come together then we will get ready for our first testing in the later part of next week.

View from the kitchen dining room towards the pass.

This shot was taken last night around 9:00PM. The development of a new restaurant takes a lot of committed people who will do what ever it takes to get the job done. All of our contractors have been working nights, weekends, and holiday’s in order to deliver VOLT on time. We are proud and lucky to work with such a great team and feel they are as excited as we our to see the arrival of our first guests to the dining room. By the way that shot with the vacuum was not staged I helped for a few hours.

This is the tile in the kitchen are specifically at one of the garde-manger stations

Chef Bryan Voltaggio has his hands full with his 1 year old son, Thacher, and the opening of his Frederick, Maryland restaurant VOLT in mid-July. By this picture of a decanter sitting safely in a car seat, it seems that they go hand-in-hand very well!