Bryan Voltaggio, the celebrity chef behind Volt, where Irene and I recently celebrated the 38th anniversary of the day we met, opened a new restaurant in Frederick, Maryland at the end of June—Family Meal, named after that meal eaten by restaurant staff before or after a shift. Unlike the tasting menu meals of Volt, Family Meal aims to serve comfort food. And since we were heading over to Maryland to run some errands and see our son, we decided to check it out before that new restaurant shine rubbed off.

After seeing some folks over at Yelp complain about long waits, most of which seemed to occur over dinner, I decided to check whether a reservation was needed for a Saturday lunch. When I called, I was told that they were recommended when possible, and that 25% of tables were set aside for reservations. So we made one for 11:45. We arrived a few minutes early, and were taken to our table immediately. (During the course of our meal, I never noticed more than one or two parties at a time waiting briefly, so there seemed no problem with long lines, at least not during lunch.)

Family Meal is housed in a former car dealership, and as you might expect, that means there’s plenty of parking.

But more important than that—there are crispy pig ears on the menu!

And when there are crispy pig ears on the menu, you eat crispy pig ears!

I know pig ears are trendy right now, so maybe I’m supposed to be above enjoying them because they’ve suddenly become hipster somehow, but I’ve got to say that these were wonderful, particularly when mixed with that soft-cooked egg you see beside it.

For the main course, I ordered the fried chicken and biscuits, most of which ended up heading over to my son’s house as leftovers. (He’s certainly benefited from the slimmer me in that way. Many take-away cartons have found their way into his refrigerator.) The chicken breast I did eat was just about the best fried chicken breast I can remember. It was a perfectly cooked, as juicy as I’ve ever had a chicken breast (most fried chicken breasts turn out somewhere between slightly and very dry), with an intriguing blend of spices, none so powerful that they overwhelmed the meat.

The biscuits were also excellent. I often find biscuits so light that there’s no there there. These had some heft to them, without being heavy or sacrificing their tenderness. (A contradiction, perhaps, but you’ll get what I mean once you taste one for yourself.)

The servers were attentive. Our water glasses must have been topped off at least half a dozen times without prompting, and honey—real honey, none of that faux diner syrup—was provided when Irene asked for some to go with her biscuit.

Intriguingly, the servers took their orders not on those ubiquitous pads used in diners, but in top-folding reporter-style Moleskines. When I asked whether this was because the chef collected them later to get an better understanding of what people were ordering, or whether they were saved for some other historical purpose (after all, Moleskines seem kind of permanent for such an ephemeral purpose), I was told that, no, they were used entirely for the consistent look, even though they were more expensive than the alternative.

The check arrived on a plate bearing an image you’d usually prefer not to see, but in this situation, it was amusing.

I was definitely impressed with what Bryan Voltaggio has come up with for Family Meal, and will be back. After all, I never got a chance to try the deviled eggs with smoked trout roe, bacon, and chives!