This weekend, we made our first visit to The Ordinary Hen, a new restaurant in downtown Frederick. We loved it!
Prior to our visit, I had some apprehension. The Orginal Hen is the new, repurposed restaurant that replaced Thacher and Rye, which I previously considered the best of the downtown Frederick restaurants. I’m happy to report that this conversion has been quite successful.
Replacing A Favorite Bryan Voltaggio Venue in Frederick
To give you slightly more background on this conversion, this venue has been the site of Bryan Voltaggio’s Volt or Thacher and Rye for 17 years. Voltaggio is a Frederick native and celebrity chef who also owns Showroom. He has a major new restaurant, Savor, opening soon as part of the new Visitation Hotel in downtown Frederick.
Recently Thacher and Rye announced that it would be closing and re-opening as The Orignal Hen under the guidance of Chef Bradley Butts. Butts is a former sous chef at Thacher and Rye and now gets his own restaurant. Voltaggio announced that he will be transitioning to a mentorship role.
Our server gave us more insight into the transition during our recent visit. It seems Thacher and Rye was created during COVID and was always meant to be temporary. Its success kept it open longer than expected, and Voltaggio’s plans all along have been to enable up-and-coming chefs like Butts to take on their own restaurants.
The Ordinary Hen: Basics
The Ordinary Hen takes the place of Thacher and Rye in a characteristic and historic residence building on the North side of Market Street in downtown Frederick.
- Address: 228 N Market St, Frederick, MD 21701
- Web: TheOrdinaryHen.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/theordinaryhen
- Phone: +1.240.332.3186
- Price Range: $$$
- Reservations: OpenTable Link
- Menu: Link
The Vibe Inside The Ordinary Hen
We will readily admit that one of the things we noticed about the new restaurant was how little the interior had changed. Yes, there’s new artwork on the walls, and there are probably finer details that we didn’t notice. But eating by the window in the main dining room felt mostly like it did during the Thacher and Rye days.
That’s not a criticism of The Ordinary Hen. In fact, the bar area still has a sleek, modern vibe that will continue to make it one of the best bars downtown. The venue has always drawn on the neat characteristic of the building itself, a historic brownstone that was once a residence.
The Drink Menu, Exciting Emphasis on Maryland Locals
Nicole and I are passionate about everything local in the Frederick area and Maryland in general. So its fabulous to see so many local beers and wines on The Ordinary Hen drink menu.
The beer list includes brews from both Elder Pine Brewery and Olde Mother (just down the street), both places we love.
Likewise, The Ordinary Hen’s wine list includes selections from Old Westminster, Loew Vineyards, and Catoctin Breeze. We visit all of these frequently and consider them some of our favorite wineries around Frederick.
For our visit, I enjoyed an Elder Pine Kankitzu (Japanese Pils) to start, then the Old Westminster Bordeaux Blend with supper!
Eating at a local restaurant like The Orignal Hen is meant to give a local experience, in this case, an experience that is all about downtown Frederick. By incorporating local beers and wines, everything is enhanced, and there are some great local breweries and wineries in the surrounding Fredrick area.
The Orginal Hen drink menu also has a great cocktail list, similar to its predecessor.
The Ordinary Hen Menu
The Ordinary Hen promotes its cuisine as focusing on “the rustic and heartwarming flavors of Appalachian cuisine.” The Ordinary Hen menu is far simpler than the previous one and definitely focuses on upscale rural cooking.
The menu is divided into four basic sections, and sharing is encouraged: Snacks (apps), Supper (entrees), Sides, and Sweets. We tried the Peaches and Burrata and the Corn Bread as starters, and both were scrumptious.
The Supper (entree) list is short but impactful, and you’ll have to collaborate with your dinnermates to ensure you share properly. The Rainbow Trout for Two is definitely a two-person dish.
We ended up ordering three entrees, all of which were great. The Fried Chicken is probably the signature dish, and from looking around the room, the most popular. Our server said that chef had spent months perfecting the recipe.
The second (and probably my personal favorite) was the Pot Roast. It’s a stunningly beautiful presentation that pairs excellently with red wine. The Squash and Dumplings is the veg entree in the Supper section and are well worth it as well.
Pulling off ‘upscale’ southern food, or upscale rural, I believe, is always a tricky thing for a restaurant. It’s a similar approach attempted by Frederick’s other recently opened restaurant, Bentztown, with decent success.
A Sorry Goodbye to Thacher and Rye, But...
As mentioned in the open, the Thacher and Rye closing announcement hit me with a tinge of sadness, given how much we enjoyed that place. But the transition to the new restaurant is a good one, and The Ordinary Hen is well on its way to becoming a downtown Fredrick favorite.
