Volt

Incredible dining at dangerously serious prices. Not for the food or wine illiterate. Every time we eat there the service has been the best in the world. Try the «Table 21» — a 21 course tastings menu with 9 wines that is served right in the kitchen! If you are lucky, Bryan Voltaggio will be there.
Chef Bryan shops locally, and make his sausage and pickles in the basement of the «Black Tower». Free parking through the Market street gate. That doesn’t mean you won’t find French wines paired with your meals. Bryan tends to buy all 500 cases when he goes shopping. Sadly, most of the wines are four times the retail price (average in a restaurant is three times) — my only complaint.
We took our daughter for her 30^th birthday, along with about 20 of her friends, and dined in the Oval Room overlooking the garden. Even with this mob we were treated just as professionally as when dining as a couple in the main room, or at Table 21. The wait staff is extremely capable — Bryan hires only the best. You will have a three or four ratio of staff to table, from a «Captain» who explains what you are eating all the way to a crumb scraper between courses. Fresh flatware, place settings and glasses as well.
Special note: Be sure your available credit is at least $ 300 per person, especially if you drink too much.
This is the best place in the entire Washington, D.C. or Baltimore area — no kidding. Although I haven’t been to Bryan’s new restaurant down on the NW DC border — yet!

This wasn’t just dinner, it was an experience. Probably the best meal and eating experience I have ever had. Our service was fantastic (Brian) and everything we ate was nothing short of perfection.
I would highly recommend Volt, it was well worth the price.

Our first Bryan Voltaggio restaurant was Baltimore’s Family Meal. One sentence summary of my 3 star 2015-​02-​22 review: humble yourself, Bryan, and try harder. Our next was his other Baltimore restaurant, Aggio, during restaurant week. Didn’t review it, but would have rated it somewhat higher; its current Unilocal consensus of 3.5 stars is accurate. So, we were unsure about driving all the way out to Frederick for a possibly lackluster experience.
Our fears were unfounded: Volt exceeded our expectations.
We sat in the normal dining room, and ordered about 7 selections (all small plates) from their tasting menu. Every dish was at least good, and several were superb. I particularly liked a duck pasta dish, the halibut, the scallops (served similar to a ceviche – never had scallops that way before), and the king trumpet mushrooms. Dessert was their Yuzu white chocolate ganache, violets, coconut; it was a light and perfect end to the meal. Oh, and they also gave me another free dessert because we were celebrating a special occasion.
Service and environment were spot on.
We’ll be back!

One of our group had been to Volt before and wanted to try it again. For this visit, we had a group of nine and not one person wants to go back. Ever.
The décor was lovely and the presentation of each dish looked wonderful. Those positives did not make up for the service being so pompous and intrusive.
It took absolutely forever to simply place our orders after an initial confusing explanation of the menu, and the drink service was spread for well over 15 minutes. How hard is it to simply bring one round of drinks? In addition to the long time for serving the initial set, some were were served to the wrong guests. Two of us later asked for a second drink and mine was comp’d when it didn’t come till desert was about to arrive and I said to not bother. The other person’s second drink never did come. Then we waited between courses.
Through the meal the staff conveyed a condescending attitude of «I and this experience are the best.» Our primary server repeatedly came in and interrupted whatever conversation was being held. We were told about the food, told about the place, etc. He and other staff were stiff without true warmth or listening to connect, which further diminished the experience. (The difference between listening to connect with an individual versus listening for points to talk at.)
In the end some of the massively overpriced items were tasty while others were totally bland or just odd. Examples: The initial fish (tuna iirc) was tasteless, people who had the rockfish and halibut enjoyed them, and while the prime rib was excellent, the two small pieces which cost $ 26 were the size of steak tips elsewhere.
All of this was painfully stretched out over three and a half hours.

Ok, it’s been a coon’s age since I went here but I thought Volt deserves the review. I’ve been by the place and heard the reputation touted by others and read the other Unilocal and really wanted to go here. After walking in out of the blue, just settling down at the bar, you get right away that Volt is like an old house that was repurposed. I decided to not go into the regular restaurant as it was spur of the moment and just stayed at the front «waiting area» and wanted to test the staff to see if they would pay attention to me. At first I told Damon, the designated wait-​staff dude for the house front/​bar that I only wanted appies and drinks. He was completely cool with it. This wasn’t easy as the ressie holders were pouring in and the bar was heating up. He took a lot of time explaining Brian Voltaggio’s philosophy and his different places, etc. Right on. This is exactly what I would’ve done if I had a table. He was so polished and informative. Perfect! I asked Damon if it was alright if I had dinner there and we completely cool with it and I had the prixe fixe menu for the night. I can’t remember what the occasion was, but I had the items below and each one of these were amazing. I have a soft spot in my heart for beets and they were rock-​star flippin fantastic! He paired the wines great and was totally cool with one I sent back, which was completely ok. I even had him taste it and he brought it back and the sommelier agreed it was off-​color, both in taste and color. No prob. I offered to pay for it anyway! It was a great evening, I originally meant to be there for 45 min tops, but stayed for 3 hours!!!
If there’s one thing I would recommend is the furniture and corners and floors and everything up front kinda looks a bit beat up, if food is going to be served there, which it is. It’s hard to explain, wherever you looked, there were bumps and scratches and marks on the furniture and tables where you eat. Kinda neglected. Either freshen up the whole area up front, or not serve food and nice expensive wines there… I hope that’s not too harsh. Definitely not a ding on the service and food.
Nicely done!
Salsify
Scallops
Sea urchin
Beets
Raviolo
Coconut
Damon

The headline is, food is great but at least for my dining experience the service was not, which drives my rating. At a restaurant like this, I expect superior service and when it is not then they need to do something to make sure I leave as a satisfied customer… they did not.
On the upside, the menu is unique and the food was good. A good selection of wine, despite most options are priced too high for the average diner. We were a group of 6 and not rushed which was nice.
On the downside, they forgot to serve one of my entrees (until I reminded them) which I then ate after everyone was done. They forgot to serve a drink another guest asked for and the pressed coffee had to be returned as it was full of coffee grounds. Lastly, they put our white wine somewhere else in the dinning room (instead of next to our table) and we had to repeatedly ask for them to get it and fill our glasses (vs them seeing that we needed refills).
At most upscale restaurants this does not happen and if it does they usually provide some form of «make good». We got nothing, other than a soft (sorry). So I am «sorry» to say I will not be returning.

Love, love, love it here! Our third or fourth brunch, first one in the dining room, and it was awesome — every single morsel was packed with flavor. Among all the bites, all tasty and beautiful, some subtle, some «wow», and all delicious! Thoughtful service, lovely presentation, portion sizes just perfect. Delightful in every way!

I was delighted to be a part of the fine dining experience at Volt for a friend’s birthday celebration on 5÷8÷16. We dined in a private room and listened to great music. Our wonderful waitress Mykel was the best ever! She made our dining experience very pleasant and took time with us to share about every meal. I had the Charred Romaine and the Lobster w/​steel cut oats, kombu and coconut, I was on the fence about it at first but to my amazement it was the most delicious dish I’ve had in a very long time. The wine, exquisite! I highly recommend the 2014 Chardonnay Chablis. (I should have ordered the bottle). The dessert wine with my Orange Curd was one of the best! I can’t think of the name :(
My friends and I loved this restaurant and we all agreed it was pretty damn good. The plating of the dishes were like fine art on a canvas. The bonus were the mini plates of goodies that were a nice surprise. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the delicious dishes that Volt has to offer. I hope to go back one day for sure. The staff were genuine, amazing and attentive. Overall, it was great!

My wife and I came here this past Sunday evening to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately, when I called to make the initial reservation for table 21, the 5:30 seating was all booked already. We were able to get a seating for the second round (8:30) instead. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were informed that the last party was still there and was not finished yet. We had the option to wait until they left, or be seated at a table near the kitchen instead. We waited until 9pm and decided to get the table option instead, which turned out to be a great alternative.
What really impressed me at Volt was how our hostess handled the situation. I totally understand that it’s hard to time when people will be done with their meals — especially a 21 course meal. As a result, he hostess let us know that ALL drinks throughout the night would be on her. Wow! I don’t know how else she could have handled the situation better.
The food was good throughout the night and had a very eclectic flavor. By the end of the night, after 2 hours of eating, my wife and I were ready to go and start our 1 hour commute back home. Although, we weren’t as awed compared to our experience at Minibar (molecular gastronomy), Volt was an excellent choice for my wife’s birthday dinner. Will definitely be back sometime in the future!

Summary: Good service. Some tasty items, but mostly horribly salty food. Unresponsive chef.
Full Review:
‘Salt’ not ‘Volt’ is what the name should be. A tale of a lovely dinner gone horribly salty. The meal started off well. The cocktail ‘Lily Pad’ was delightful and refreshing, the amuse bouche (celeriac meringue filled with foie) was tasty, my first dish (a salsify & osyter chowder) was also quite delicious, but then there was bread (a bacon rosemary popover and a cheddar biscuit)… they were a tad salty or maybe it was the butter. So I set them aside and waited for my next dish (squid ink conchiglia) and that was even saltier.
I got about 3 pasta pieces in before I had to call it quits and ask if the chef meant for it to be quite so salty. I didn’t get a direct reply, instead a different dish was sent out compliments of the chef. While I appreciated this gesture, I really would have preferred to have what I ordered, but made less salty. Also, this replacement duck bolognese dish wasn’t an improvement seasoning-​wise.
I started to feel paranoid, how could I have been sent a salty dish to replace a dish that was too salty? Was this revenge from the chef or had my palate gone haywire?! I left the dish half-​uneaten (I water rinsed and re-​tasted repeatedly to even get that far) and waited for my last course, but I should have asked them in advance to use half the salt they intended to use to prepare my last dish.
The last dish (sea urchin roe and cauliflower custard) was too salty as well! and it was laid on a bed of salty asparagus. I tried different components trying to figure out if there was something wrong with my tongue, but there were elements on that dish that were alright, it was just that 90% of the dish wasn’t. I don’t enjoy sending dishes back and already felt unhappy for being forced to send the first dish back, so when asked, I just said these subsequent salty dishes were fine even though they weren’t.
After the first dish was sent back, shouldn’t the chef have adjusted the seasoning for my next few dishes? Why was every dish coming out just as salty as the dish that got sent back? This whole experience just left me upset.
None of the good parts could wipe out the disappointment and confusion generated by the salty mains; and there were some highlights: the salsify & oyster chowder, the foie meringue, the little dessert plate with an amazingly textured caramel and the mint truffle that tasted like a chocolate covered mojito. It’s really too bad. I really wanted to have a delicious & wonderful meal, but instead I just left disgruntled.
P. S. This is the 3^rd Top Chef restaurant in a row I’ve been to that has poor seasoning QC, though this was by far the worst offender in terms consistently over-​salting (the others had just 1 or 2 bad dishes). I think I’ve finally learned my lesson and am going to avoid these Top Chef restauranteurs)

I’ll try to keep this short; lots of other great reviews here!
I came here once (before chef/​owner Bryan Voltaggio was featured on Top Chef) for a fancy lunch date. A three course prix fixe meal was only $ 20 on a weekday! We even opted for the wine pairing at an extra $ 15 each. I’m sure it’s gone up by now. Their sommelier was superb; every wine heightened the dish to a level beyond simply adding wine.
Seven years later, I’m back with my wife and we opt for the Table 21 meal which, as the name suggests, is a 21 course meal of amazing dishes. The timing is perfect, as soon as you start thinking of the next dish, it arrives. The waitstaff is trained with an almost military precision. I saw them exchange a glance before placing all dishes down in one synchronized movement. This menu changes frequently, but I can say every bit was excellent.
What first drew me to Volt was the tendency to serve food that is seasonal and typically local. Frederick county provides much of the bounty of produce and some meat, and the Chesapeake will even provide crab and other seafood. This business model is one to support.
For a special event, it’s totally worth it to drop some extra cash on what you can guarantee will be an unparalleled dining experience.

We had a very nice meal here. We were originally thinking of choosing dishes from the a la carte menu, but everything looked so good that we decided to do the tasting menu so we didn’t have to make decisions!
My husband ordered the regular tasting menu and I ordered the fruits and vegetables tasting menu, but we split all of the dishes. I think that we both preferred the regular tasting menu dishes overall, but perhaps late March is not the best time to order something that is focused on fresh fruits and vegetables — I would imagine that in the middle of the summer with everything in season we might have had the opposite opinion. One thing to note is that several of the dishes on the fruits and vegetables menu had fish, which is not true in the online version of the menu, but not a problem since we eat everything.
My favorite dishes were: the crudo of scallops with yuzu, the raviolo (two different preparations for the two menus and I loved both), the salsify chowder, the wagyu beef, and the chocolate dessert. I also loved most of the little freebie bites, especially the everything bagel inspired gougere and the sweet bites at the end of the meal. We also had really delicious cocktails.
Things I liked less were the beets and tuna dish (this might have been more successful if the beets were cut the same size of the tuna), and the other fish dish that came with the meat tasting (I forget which kind).
The service was wonderful from end to end. I read so many complaints about robotic service, but I thought it was really perfect. The server asked us at the beginning of the meal whether we were celebrating a special event, and we told him that it was our 6 month wedding anniversary, though obviously that’s not all that significant of a milestone. Still, at the end of the meal he brought us an extra dessert with a candle and congratulated us, which was a classy touch. I also liked that they gave us little coffee cakes to take home, though they were not as tasty as most of the food we had eaten (pretty dry).
My husband grew up in the Frederick area and kept remarking on how weird it was that the place is located in Frederick — definitely fancier and way more inventive than the other places in town. Not a cheap dinner but we had a wonderful experience. I’d love to go back for brunch sometime.

The Frederick Restaurant week deal at Volt is hands down the best value in fine dining I have ever experienced. I was able to secure a reservation for Wednesday night after work.
First impressions: I was surprised that there was no valet, however, there is a great parking lot behind the building. The building is beautiful, and very tastefully decorated.
Food:
As we were making our drink selections our server presented 4 fennel pollen bread sticks for us to snack on.
After drink and dinner selections we were presented a savory foi gras macaron amuse bouche. It was very tasty, and surprised Mr. D, who did not know that a savory macaron was possible.
Between the two of us we shared 2 glasses of wine and a honey badger cocktail. Restaurant week pinot noir and the $ 14 rose. All of the drinks were very good.
Breads: the cheddar biscuit was too salty for my taste, and the sourdough fell flat, but tasted good. The butter was nice but not the best I’ve ever had (this accolade goes to Animal Farm butter, eaten at The Inn at Little Washington)
Salsify soup with oyster and summer truffles. Very delicious, however there was a slightly too al dente root vegetable in the presentation.
Added the supplemental Raviolo and did not regret it at all. Again Mr. D’s mind was blown by the runny yolk inside of the pasta. The root vegetable brodo was incredible.
Both of us had sturgeon for the main. Mr D’s was thicker than mine and cooked perfectly and mine was a touch over cooked.
Desserts: We were celebrating my Birthday because we spent the actual b-​day snowed in as usual.
The special occasion thingy: coconut semifredo rolled in coconut shavings served with toasted marshmallow. This was by far my favorite!
Charcoal-​late: meh too smokey for me.
Pineapple icecream dish: I did not care for the pickled kumquat. Salted OR Vinegary dessert, not both :/​
Treats: At this point we were both so full, but when the treats came we both reached for the tiny concord grape macaron. Delicious and paired very well with my rose. Mr. D also ate his grapefruit pâté fruits. Saved the caramels and the yuzu truffles for later.
Parting gift: Coffee cake (laying in my pantry, yet to be tasted.
TOTAL: $ 122 before tax and tip. This was an incredible value for the experience!

My family and I visited Volt for my birthday this year. I haven’t yet gotten a chance to check out any Frederick restaurants, so I was pretty excited to check out the area while dining at Volt.
There were very few false notes. And, with my mom and sister being developmental in terms of their taste for food, I ended up eating most of what they ordered (no complaints here). I started out the meal with a nice boozy whiskey cocktail. For the meal, I started with the ‘Beets’. This was comprised of yellowfin tuna, beets, picked roses, kaffir lime, and an avocado purée. Surprisingly, the flavors melded spectacularly well and the combination of textures only enhanced the experience. I then had the ‘Calamari Bolognese’. I’ve had similar dishes that weren’t able to balance the salt, but this dish was balanced between the umami of the seafood and the pepperoni and parmesan. The cavatelli also had a nice bite to it that I enjoyed. I then ended up eating my mom’s ‘Rye Cavatelli’ dish that consisted of broccoli rabe, tasso, and ricotta. Some of the individual parts of the dish weren’t my favorite, but when everything was contained within a bite, the dish truly worked. I then had the ‘Octopus’ with chorizo spices that was tremendous. The octopus was a perfect texture, and the spices complimented the dish tremendously. I then ordered the ‘Lamb Shoulder’ and had my sister’s ‘Wagyu Beef’. Both dishes had tremendous flavor. The beef could be a bit touch but not to the point where it really had any negative impact on the experience of the dish. For dessert, I had the ‘Charcoal-​ate’. I’ve never had such a chocolaty dish that wasn’t very sweet, which is my kind of dessert. There was such a tremendous mixture of flavors (smoky, sweet, spicy) and textures (crunchy, smooth, silky). It was a tremendous dessert.
Originally had given the experience for stars, but after going through the meal and thinking about the experience, I would have done myself and Volt a disservice by not giving it 5 stars. The only real miss was the wine, which had a somewhat minerally flavor profile. The wine wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t nearly as good as its price point. Otherwise, the food was great and the service was tremendous. I’d highly recommend Volt.

I’ve only been for brunch, but Volt definitely offers a top notch fine dining experience. I highly recommend the 3 course tasting menu for $ 35.
Everything, from the décor to the plate presentation, is on point. The dishes look like pieces of beautiful art– the detail is precise! The side order of Applewood Smoked Bacon was phenomenal! We went for my husband’s birthday and in addition to our dessert course, they also brought him out a birthday surprise– love the attention to detail! Volt also sends you home with a little treat. I look forward to my next visit!

Absolutely incredible dinner. The service was spectacular. Went here for my friend’s birthday and the staff went above and beyond to give her a great night, including sending out a special birthday dessert AND letting her meet Bryan Voltaggio. The food was delicious and I was not disappointed.

I celebrated my 50^th with 7 friends at Table 21 in the kitchen with the 21 course tasting menu. That was 3 years ago and we still talk about it! It was hands down the best meal any of us had ever had in a restaurant in Maryland. The drinks were amazing and the wine suggestions spot on. So happy to have celebrated my monumental birthday with one of my favorite chefs.

Nice place to take a date before going to the theater nearby. I liked that you could order half portions in order to sample more courses. I will return.

We were in the area, and as soon as I saw reviews for VOLT, I knew we had to go there. (Full disclosure: I am a Top Chef fan, and I remembered Bryan Voltaggio from a past season. I liked him a lot better than his brasher brother. ;))
We had the dinner tasting menu, and the food was outstanding – creative, clever, sometimes daring, AND delicious, I think without fail. (Opinions at my table varied by dish, but I didn’t hear a «bleah» or a «yeah, whatever,» ever.)
The ambience was good — I wouldn’t say outstanding, but pleasant. It’s located in an oldish building (a server told me an old family home, though I had thought it felt like a small institutional building, like a small hospital or school) on Frederick’s busiest downtown street. Noise level is good (low, but not churchlike). Décor is nice, low-​key.
Service was variable. The first time I went to the restroom, I felt like I was literally running a gauntlet of well-​intentioned, intensely serious servers who wanted to help me make my way there. At one point, I felt like the entire staff was focused on my progress. Honestly, it was a little unnerving.
Most of the table service was well informed and professional. My party and I agreed, though, that it was variable — some servers were more pleasant and helpful than others, and, overall, even the most pleasant servers were a little too much present, for our taste.
Overall, though: if you’re in the area, and you can spring for it, definitely go. We spent at least 3 hours on the tasting menu, in addition to a fair amount of cash, but it was absolutely worth it.

Even without the knowledge that the chef is a former Top Chef contestant, people go here because the entire evening is an event! Yes, you will be paying a lot of money, but the combination of service, great food and a few extras to boot will make you think that Volt could be a great destination to do that special event.
In my case it was an anniversary, my girlfriend and I had been dating for a year and we’re both Top Chef enthusiasts, plus we always said we would go, but just wanted to find the right occasion.
Upon arriving, the hostess welcomed us in to the bar as we had arrived early and we had drinks to start off, the tenders were very knowledgeable and the drinks were added to our dining room tab, easy enough. The bar is also a place where you can go to grab a quick and awesome meal, without paying the high dining room prices, which I found to be the case as it was pretty full.
When seated, our server introduced himself and started cracking a few jokes, then he started telling us the details of the menu. Through the night, I noticed that the servers were somewhat stumbling through the menu and that may very well be because the menu had been changed recently, obviously I am not docking points, but its definitely easy to notice.
The menu was top notch and you had the option of going with a tasting menu or going a la carte and choosing from four to five items. After an amazing amuse bouche and delicious bread, my first course arrived, which was the beets, I love beets, but I had never had them before and it tasted just like heaven. I followed it up with the Nero, which was a squid ink pasta dish and I can’t stop thinking about the taste. I also had the fluke which is done in a sashimi style and I kind of wished I had my girlfriends’ choice (the lobster) but I was concentrated on the taste rather than the quantity of the dish. After the fish, I had the pork which was so tender, you did not need the knife that they added at the table. Followed that up with a mango sorbet dessert.
I am sure y’all are curious as to what the g-​friend had, she had the salsify to start, then the Anson Mills grits, which was actually rather large, the lobster and then the lamb, for dessert, the Charcoalate, which is chocolate that is black and it does give off a smoky taste.
When we were done, the server had noticed that we were celebrating an event and served us an excellent dessert, which was an ice cream, but when I first looked at it, it looked like a pancake (it really wasn’t a pancake). And to end it all the server left us with a few treats as well as a coffeecake for each of us for breakfast.
Volt is definitely an event to behold

Volt killed it last night. We were a party of four and sat in the chef’s kitchen section. We all ordered four courses from the snow-​fixe menu 2016 and a few (too many) gin fizzes.
Major highlight:
Chef Bryan Voltaggio sent out and served! a couple dishes on the house, including monkfish with mustard green broth, charred cippolini, and chestnut miso.
Notable dishes:
CALAMARI BOLOGNESE, pepperoni, squid ink cavatelli, parmesan — light and rich
LOBSTER, steel cut oats, coconut, kimchi — super flavorful with contrasting notes
ANISON MILLS GRITS, scallop, shrimp, sea urchin — creamy and delicious
CHICKEN, breast and thigh, arborio rice, confit maitake mushroom, laurel leaf — savory and warm
CHARCHOAL-​ATE, chocoloate, charcoal, thai basil — smoky and chocolatey, yet not overpowering
Thoughts:
We started going to Volt when we moved to Frederick a few years ago and the first time we went, we were blown away. It was phenomenal. I still have dreams about the foie gras dish. We’ve been back about a dozen times over the past three years and it has always been good, but never quite lived up to our phenomenal experience the first time. Well, no more. Last night, Volt is back a top its game and we could not be happier. The dishes were well executed and slightly larger than I remember (which is a huge plus because I hate leaving hungry). The bill for each couple, excluding tip, was $ 120. For the food, experience, and service, I would happily pay it again. The snow-​fixe menu is one of the best deals around the Washington area.
Keep it up, Bryan, and thanks for the hospitality!

My coworkers bought me to this place to celebrate my promotion. It was an impressive place to dine and the typical very expensive prices for a «bite» of food as an entrée. One of my coworkers joked that he was happy that he had a left over chicken wing from KFC in his hotel room. There were many extras given during the meal and the biscuits and rolls helped to fill me up. I liked the «parting gift». It was a great treat with tea before I went to bed. The only reason I’m not giving this place 5 stars is because after spending that much on a meal, no one should leave hungry… Sorry, just my opinion.

I made the fatal mistake here of having sky high expectations and therefore being slightly underwhelmed.
The food was good. Okay, it was really good. But for those prices, the entire experience better be flawless and it simply wasn’t.
I have to say that the cocktails and the bread were my favorite part. Drinks were heavenly (I think I had 3? Prosecco was zingy and fresh, cocktails were the perfect mix of tart and smooth) and the biscuit-​y breads that the server brought around were fantastic. I wanted to take a box home for breakfast the next day.
In terms of the actual meal, I had a ravioli dish with an egg that I found extremely yolk-​y yet bland. It wasn’t hot enough and the flavors tasted a bit off to me.
The chestnut soup I tried was fantastic. Judging purely by flavor, one of the best I’ve ever had — I wanted to lick the bowl clean. Instead I used my bread to soak up every last drop. It was a bit cooler than it should have been though. Seemed like it had been sitting just a moment too long. I know it’s a balance between not scalding the diner’s tongue, but again, for this caliber of a restaurant, they should have all the kinks worked out.
Finally, I got the salmon. Again, the flavor was out of this world delicious, but it was slightly undercooked and again, cold. I felt terrible but actually sent it back (which I almost never do and was mortified to even ask). Luckily, the second time around was perfection. Even though I was stuffed at this point (so much bread and cocktails!) I finished off the dish in its entirety. It was that irrisitible.
We opted not to do dessert because we were just too full, but even so, they brought out caramels and a few other tasty treats with the check. They were a great way to cap off the night.
Overall, I though Volt had a lovely atmosphere, attentive service, and tasty food, but I just couldn’t justify giving it above a 3/3.5. It was solidly good but there were a few too many imperfections to justify a higher rating. Maybe when I return, I can be wowed :)

My husband and I came here with his parents for New Year’s Eve and it was a fantastic experience. We had a 10 course meal with plenty of seafood, such as mackerel, monkfish, sea urchin and oyster chowder. Everything was delicious and nicely presented.
The service was outstanding, I especially enjoyed T.J.‘s knowledge of wine.
The décor was elegant… except for the artwork! I had to look at an ugly painting all night of a dog that looked buzzed. Ah well, the staff told me that the artwork is switched out often, so hopefully few others will have to deal with that.
The desserts were divine, especially the chocolate gelato.
It was a memorable experience, and I hope to return someday. I definitely encourage others to come here for a special occasion.

Volt is one of those restaurants that you go in to with high expectations and walk out realizing your expectations were met but also expanded to unknown territory. The art of the meal is really the best part. Biting in to what your eyes assume MUST be one thing, then the moments of confusion as you reassess what it could be, followed by the development of flavors and the discussion that comes after each piece. I enjoy food that makes you think and feel. Some made us laugh from surprise. I can’t say there are many meals on my list that have accomplished that.
We had the chef’s tasting and wine pairing. The wine pairing was worth it to us. Not only did I get to test a lot of great wines in one sitting, but they were all paired well with each course. The wine pairing is a challenge for lightweights. You’ve been warned! I wasn’t driving us home though, so it was okay :)
When offered bread, get the cheddar biscuits! Seriously.
The service was wonderful. Our meal had a nice flow and the servers were genuinely kind.

Food was just ok for the price you pay. The best part of the food was actually dessert.
The nice thing is that they give you a lot of complimentary things to eat, but the bad thing is not everything tastes good and the portions are small.

Sadly not what we are used to from this place I normally look forward to a stop here while visiting family on the east coast but the food was so disappointing.
Luke warm, overly salted and over thought. No reason to go back again. The staff as always was attentive. But what’s going on in the kitchen? Time out for celebrity chefs. Can someone just stay in the kitchen and cook? Ready to get back to LA for decent food.

We’ve been to Volt before for a romantic dinner. This was the first time we’ve gone there for a weekend brunch. It was amazing as always. 3 courses for $ 35 is a great price for the Volt experience. Can’t really go wrong with the food — delicious. I didn’t notice it when we were there for dinner, but the dining room is really quiet and makes for a very intimate meal.
Highly recommend!

Driving from southern Virginia to Baltimore after a wedding I wanted to see what of interest might lie in between. After searching for Michelin star restaurants in the area, I saw this and hooray, it is owned by Bryan Voltaggio, who was one of my top chef favs!
Let me explain there are two rooms here, the main dining room, and then the Table 21 room which is where you watch the chef prepare your 21 courses. We sat in the main dining room. While the dress code says business casual, I believe that you are under-​dressed if you are not wearing a jacket (sans tie is OK). That would have been good to know as my boyfriend felt under-​dressed wearing slacks and a nice shirt and sweater – maybe business casual is different on the east coast than in the midwest.
We ordered the tasting menu with wine pairing. Tasting menu = $ 95 pp; Wine pairing = $ 65 pp.
The tasting menu was 6 courses, I won’t go into detail about each dish, but everything was wonderful, and the wine pairings were great. Wines that I don’t normally like were definitely enhanced by the food.
I would have given this restaurant 5 stars, but I felt the service was lacking. First of all we could barely hear our waitress speak and had to ask her several times to repeat what she was saying. Secondly, often our dish would come without the wine, or the wine would come without the dish, it just seemed out of sync. We were handled by a «team» however, it seemed the waitress was blaming the «teammate» when we didn’t get something that we should have. That didn’t do anything to add to a seamless 5 star dining experience.
All in all I would recommend the restaurant, you can order off the menu a la cart style and it would probably add up to the same amount or close to it, but we wanted to try the menu put together by the chef.

First, a little about me. My husband and I are Michelin Star fanatics, fine dining lovers who travel the world around food. We have been to some of the world’s best restaurants as well as the very best ones in the US, like Eleven Madison Park, Daniel, Alinea, Le Bernardin, Victoria and Albert’s, Bouley, Jean Georges, Restaurant August, etc. We are definitely in love with food, and what we mean by food is something much different than most. For a place to wow is it must be truly outstanding.
Volt has been ranked by some sources as one of the top 100 restaurants in the US. Given that my parents live in the Bethesda/​Potomac area and we were visiting them from NY, it is not that far, so we made a reservation a couple of weekends ago for 4 people for Sunday Brunch. Our reservation was for 1:30PM and we arrived two minutes early. We were told our table was not ready and we should wait at the bar — so we did. None of us drink much, and we had not eaten anything yet so drinks were not something we were looking forward to. We wanted to be seated and served. But it took them exactly 26 minutes to sit us. 26. That is a LONG time to wait when you have a reservation that you arrived on time for. No apologies, they just came to notify us (after we checked on the delay at least once) that our table was ready.
Given the long wait we figured the place must have been packed. It is a very small restaurant with very few tables, so I would not be surprised. But no. We noticed most tables were empty and set. It was a mostly empty restaurant that sat us almost half an hour after our reservation. There was ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON for such a long delay. None whatsoever, except that perhaps that was a plot to get us to order drinks first — which failed. After we sat down it took a longer than usual time to be given our food menu. They gave us drinks menus right away and waited a long time to come back to check if we were ready to order our drinks — which again we were not interested in. So they took those menus and took their time again bringing the food menu.
We finally ordered our meal by 2:20PM (again, our reservation was for 1:30). They brought us home-​made bread and fresh butter. The bread was delicious. Then finally our meals came out in a timely fashion. And wow. The corn soup was out of this world and so was my mom’s pasta. The white fish was also very good, but not as good as the soup. It was however perfectly cooked, crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. The chocolate dessert as well as the coconut one were unbelievable.
So the food was absolutely divine. And it was so great that it made up for the somewhat cold and disdainful VERY LATE START service. Completely made up for it. Of course I would prefer the service was not that way, and hence why I cannot give it five stars, but the food is worthy of as many stars as possible, best food in town for sure, one of the best restaurants in the entire Washington DC area food wise, but their host staff needs substantial improvement.

3.5 really but couldn’t bring myself to give it a 4.
We went on a Friday night at 8:30pm for table 21. On Fridays, there are 2 time slots for Table 21. We reserved our spot for 8:30 pm since 5:30 seemed a little early for us.
Anyway, we got to the restaurant at 8:25 and checked in. The hostess was very nice and told us that our table would be ready soon and then sent us to the bar while we wait. We went ahead and started our night with a couple of drinks. The Parisian Sour was delicious. Of course I like my drinks sweet and light on the alcohol, so fair warning, that this one is pretty sweet =). My husband got the Old Fashioned and he says he liked it as well.
The one and only negative thing of the night was how long we waited. We did not get seated until 9:15pm. We didn’t really get any kind of indication that it was going to be this late. Someone came up to us once and said that they are getting the table ready, but I’m sorry, a 45 minute wait WITH a reservation is not reasonable for any restaurant. And since we knew we were going to have 21 «courses,» we were not about to order something off the bar menu.
Anyway, by the time we got seated, we were starving and it was a little hard to enjoy the first couple of dishes because we were so hungry.
BUT as our stomachs settled, the rest of our night went pretty well. It was cool to sit in the kitchen and watch everyone work together to get the dishes together. The stand outs for me were the Hamachi with salsa verde, huckleberry with rose wine and cheese, cauliflower with purslane and uni, corn soup, sunchoke, and the 4 dessert dishes. The rest was pretty good. I was definitely very full at the end of the night. However, my husband and our 2 wonderful friends that came with us, were not completely full. I think that they left just a little disappointed though they also say that the dishes were pretty good.
I think the idea of table 21 is certainly wonderful for people who want to see how a kitchen in run. All in all, it’s definitely something to try at least once in your life =)

OUTSTANDING FIVE STAR RESTAURANT
This is the flagship restaurant owned and run by the well-​known chef Bryan Voltaggio, who has appeared on Top Chef and has received James Beard Foundation nominations. You must make a reservation 30 days in advance if you expect to dine here. And everything about this place resonates in excellence and superior quality.
I had the 6 course tasting menu comprised of Hamachi, Parsnips, Halibut, Chitarra Egg Pasta, Lamb and Chocolate for dessert, all together with an Amuse-​bouche and wine pairing. It was quite a meal, and absolutely fantastic.
Why did I give this obvious five star restaurant only four stars? Well, everything about it was worthy of a full five stars but the service which was very poor and served to drag the rating down in my opinion.
The service was impersonal and robotic. We had multiple servers, with no one person appearing to be in charge of our table. When a dish or wine pairing was presented, the description had obviously just been memorized and was offered in a rote manner. Questions were not encouraged, no doubt because they didn’t possess a sufficient depth of knowledge to answer them.
The service would have been improved if there had been a recording of each description and we could simply push a button to hear it, or even repeat it if necessary. The service was completely and utterly lacking in anything that could be referred to as a personal touch.

So perhaps the best approach to Table 21 at Volt is to treat it like a marathon that you do not necessarily want to win but rather enjoy and get a great time/​pace at.
Do not treat it like a eating challenge that separates the women from the girls and the men from the boys, like I did. After starving myself that day, I came in knowing I was gonna eat all the things, and not a single crumb will be left over from my 21 courses. I started off strong, I even had couple moments of glory when my main competition, a nice lady but she seemed to be more into her iphone than the meal, tapped out of the race at Course 10 and asked that every course thereafter be sent to a take out box. Come on lady, this ain’t no Cheesecake Factory, you think these courses are gonna look as stunning, be the right temperature, and taste as amazing the next day after being jostled around in boxes? Amateur.
Here was the problem though, we sat down to eat at 9:30pm (our 8:30 reservations were delayed and Volt was highly apologetic about it). Somewhere around 1am and Course 16, I wanted to tap out too. Basically, I wanted to ask the wait staff to roll food into my mouth while I laid on the table asleep with my mouth open. I didn’t want to miss a thing but I also wanted to nap. The strugglebus has pulled into the station, folks.
So here’s my first piece of advice: Pace yo self, before you wreck yo self. The staff is not in a rush nor should you be.
Second piece of advice: Reserve a month before, that’s when reservations open for these eight seats in the kitchen that are arranged like a sushi bar.
Third piece of advice: they greatly appreciate know dietary needs/​allergies, and the is great variety in the dishes, and the menu seasonally changes but there were some repetitive ingredients throughout, on the night we went the ingredients we seemed to have a lot of were huckleberries, eggs, and venison. I actually do not care much for venison, and loved the first dish with it but was a little over it by the second rendition, so be upfront with your preferences.
Here’s a list of what was offered course by course, but please understand that this menu changes but I listed it here just for information:
Egg Osetra Caviar with Uni Hollandaise-​creamy custard stuff eggshell. Loved it.
Rice Crisp with aged cheddar and old bay-it’s like a stale rice crispy treat with doritos or Kraft Mac n’ Cheese powder on it with old bay. I have a hard time understand why this is on the menu, when barely none of us touched it.
Oyster with huckleberry and shallot-​easy to take as a shooter, nice sweet foam on top with a fresh oyster
Scallop celery root with grapefruit and fennel, absolutely loved this cold dish with frozen celery root with a passion.
Cured venison with hazelnut, burrata, and mulberry vinegar, probably one of my top three favorites of the night and I don’t even like venison but the thin slices were barely gamey in taste and the burrata was fantastic.
Huckleberry, rose wine, fresh cheese, and chanterelle mushroom.
Cauliflower, watercress, green apple and uni. Loved the uni in the broth.
Hen of the woods mushroom, tosaka mushroom, pickled ramps, sea beans.
Foie Gras, arugula, black truffle and salsify.
Mustard Green Soup with mussels, winter radish and brioche croutons. V
Sunchoke with lacinto kale, sherry vinegar, hazelnut.
Dover sole with parsley and gnocchi parisienne.
Spelt Radiatore guanciale, fiore di sardo and soft poached egg. A great pasta dish, in my top 3 favorites. The spelt was so hearty and the sauce was just right.
Veal Sweetbread with butternut, mole an masa.
Venison rutabaga, turnip brussel sprouts
Lamb with black trumpet mushrooms, steel cut oats and swiss chard. LOVED the lamb! The steel cut oats were just ok, tasting more like a porridge.
Fresh saffron cheese, sourdough, golden raisin, cauliflower
Mango pistachio, smoked celery root and mascarpone
Fennel Citrus frozen yogurt with Kumquat and sage. Head over heels for this. You would not think fennel and sage would work in dessert but they absolutely taste amazing with the citrus frozen yogurt. Best frozen yogurt and dessert I have had.
Concord Grape, cashew, dark chocolate and caramel.
Orange Creamsicle-​I wish I had saved more room for this. Taste like an orange creamsicle BUT with a white chocolate layer.
Nearing on 2 am, we had finished all 21 courses and I felt like I deserved a medal. The staff was so apologetic about dinner running late we ended up with beverages (by the way, their $ 11 cocktails are modestly priced and expertly made) being comped. They even gave us a print out of our menu and a to go box of chocolates. Without a doubt, I would say that Volt and our experience at Table 21 was well worth it, definitely a once in a lifetime experience so add this to your culinary bucketlist!

I have had this restaurant bookmarked forever. Finally I got a chance to give it a try!
I got the 6 course tasting menu, the portions were small, beautifully presented and surprisingly filling. I got full in my third course.
If you come to volt, I highly recommend the tasting menu. if you’d like the full experience get the chefs dining table where you can see the entertainment and chat with the chef … And Be prepared to experience an artistic meal. I would have gone for it if they had availability the night I’ve dined, maybe next time.
The service was excellent. They were all professional and knowledgeable. It’s been awhile for me to get this fantastic service!
The atmosphere is so relaxing and intimate. Décor very simple and elegant.

My partner and I have been trying to go to Volt for a rather long time, but have never made it up to Frederick. When we finally went to one Friday night, we were not disappointed at all and we had a great time and delicious meal.
There has been buzz about this place for years, but I guess it’s kind of worn off because we were able to get a reservation for Friday night only a few hours before hand. I’ve been to a few of Bryan Voltaggio’s other restaurants in DC, but this one is by far the best one.
The vibe of this restaurant is casual yet intimate. I will say that the service here, for the price, was very good. Service was adequate and not smothering. Our plates were always taken away very quickly, and they were all very professional. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at a restaurant where I noticed the good service so much.
As for the food, there are a few standouts. Specifically, the braised lamb was our favorite dish. It was a large portion and cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do the tasting menu, but ultimately we thought we got a wide array of the food options here just by ordering all a cart. The foie gras mousse was right up my alley. It was a very large portion, that’s for sure, so I had to ask for a bit more of their delicious bread. I generally try and stay away from carbs, but these breads are worth it. The calamari bolognese, for me, was my least favorite dish. It’s the flavors didn’t mesh together, and the dish was very salty.
Overall, we had a great meal at Volt. It is far away from DC, so it’s more of a «destination restaurant,» but ultimately, it was worth it!