The September Bon Appetit is its 15th annual restaurant issue. In a story on the best Italian food in America, Baltimore's Cinghiale is featured for its wild mushroom crostini and fresh artichoke and white bean crostini (recipes included).

Of course, I would love to know how the magazine discovered Cinghiale, but I'm probably not going to find that out.

More importantly for me, I'm so used to national publications presenting Baltimore as a place to pick steamed crabs, go to Little Italy or get a meal in the Inner Harbor that I'm delighted for another side of the city's culinary scene to be recognized -- one that shows we have  some variety here.

For one thing, every tourist who is coming to town picks up the phone or e-mails to ask me for one of those three things. It gets boring.

But this reminded me that I had more to say about the imaginary restaurant that won the Award of Excellence from the Wine Spectator. (Not because there's any question about Cinghiale's wine list, or crostini for that matter, but just because foodies place a lot of importance on this kind of national recognition.) ...

First of all, thanks to Bucky for posting a link to the Wine Spectator's side of the story. I thought it deserved to be highlighted in a main entry, not just in a comment.

I also thought the magazine's arguments were pretty convincing, especially that no one should be expected to do much more to establish the restaurant's existence than the staff did. But the one thing that didn't get answered for me was something that writer Robin Goldstein brushed off:

Osteria L’Intrepido’s high-priced “reserve wine list” was largely chosen from among some of the lowest-scoring Italian wines in Wine Spectator over the past few decades. ...While it’s interesting that the reserve list would receive such seemingly little scrutiny, the central point is that the wine cellar doesn’t actually exist.

That isn't the central point to me, if you accept the magazine's side of the story. But I don't get what the Wine Spectator is doing for its $250 if not checking the merits of the reserve list, whether it exists or not. Unless I'm reading the rebuttal wrong, the magazine argues that only 15 wines on a list of 256 wines were subpar. But these weren't 15 wines randomly scattered in among all the rest; they were the most expensive wines in the cellar, the ones where folks might most need expert guidance.

I know, I know. The rest have you have moved on. This was yesterday's news.

Just a thought.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

I'm going to have a new attitude about winter this year. I'm trying to think Happy Thoughts about winter.

Steaming mugs of hot cocoa. Soft white flakes of snow, etc., etc.

However, Labor Day weekend is still depressing because it means the end of summer, no matter what the calendar says.

Every fall I used to insist on reading Keats' "To Autumn" aloud to my family at least once (Gailor would run and hide if she saw me coming), and I don't even like Keats otherwise. Everyone else thinks it's a poem about fruition, but they are the glass-half-full people. It's about decay. ...

To make matters worse, I saw my first pumpkins at the market this morning.

Also apples. Ugh. Nothing against apples, which I happen to love -- I mean, who doesn't? -- but their appearance means the impending end of peaches and nectarines.

Are you beginning to understand why my husband and daughter want to lock me away in the attic for eight months of the year until about May?

Anyway, I was happy to see Honey Crisps, but I was told that this week it would be better to get Galas; the Honey Crisps are about a week away from full ripeness. Just a tip if you're not too depressed to go to the market after reading this.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (46)
        

Federal Hill Jim has put forth the proposition that there is no such thing as American cuisine. I disagree, but not strongly enough that I've got all sorts of persuasive arguments at my fingertips.

And I was struck by the fact that when I proposed it as a Top 10 topic, readers immediately started talking about Asian cuisines, and Italian, and French.

Anyway, along the same lines, Slashfood published Emily's 100 American Foods You Really Ought to Try Sometime Before You Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil. I really like her list, so check it out and tell me what you think.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (78)
        

The rumor is that Jill Snyder, head chef of the Asian tapas lounge Red Maple in Mount Vernon, is a contestant on the next season of Bravo's Top Chef. It's appeared on so many blogs I guess I ought to link to one of them.

In a way, I hate to. I'm afraid she might get kicked off, if indeed the rumor is true, because of breach of contract or something. This is why I will never make a good investigative reporter.

I've never watched Top Chef. I love scripted TV too much, so I'm boycotting reality shows.

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I'm sad to report that Giovanni Rigato, owner of Boccaccio, one of Little Italy's premier restaurants, died at his home in Parkville this Wednesday.

The restaurant will be closed at least until next Tuesday.

(Photo courtesy of Boccaccio's Web site)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

I never have a book.

I think because I genuinely like to be in restaurants, even when I'm eating alone, I'm happy just to be sitting there, especially if I have a glass of wine and a little bread in front of me.

It's a treat for me to order anything I want to off the menu without having to worry about whether it's "representative." I know I won't have to write about it (although the blog is changing that) so I don't even have to think about what I'm eating if I don't want to.

I like watching the other people, and these days I watch the servers as well because I've gotten a heightened awareness of their point of view from this blog. I notice "bad" customers more than I used to.

If there's a TV on with sports, I have to admit my eyes are drawn irresistibly to it; but there doesn't have to be one for me to be happy. If I'm eating at the bar, I like it when the bartender talks to me, but I don't initiate the conversation usually.

Of course, I'm always thinking of the blog these days if I'm in any sort of eating place. That's a given. But mostly I just sit there happily (because I'm not doing any work for the meal), sip my wine and think about the day's events.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Ted made my day yesterday by sending me this link to a story in the Sioux City Journal.

Nothing against Olive Garden, where I waited in many a line with my daughter after her tennis matches when she was little.

Maybe it's the weather that makes Sioux City residents so desperate. ...

This is from the lead:

To Siouxland residents, many of whom consider themselves connoisseurs of fine food, a city is not a city without an Olive Garden. So as of Monday, Sioux City becomes a real city.

What for years has been a local obsession -- the OG's manicotti formaggio, chicken vino bianco and zuppa toscana driving Siouxlanders to Omaha and Sioux Falls -- has become a reality.

What the story doesn't tell us, unless I missed something, is WHY Olive Garden has been a local obsession. I mean, why not Red Lobster?

And don't neglect to read the comments.

The photo, by the way, isn't of the new Sioux City Olive Garden. It's for illustrative purposes only.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

KristinB just sent me a link that will solve all my Top 10 problems -- at least for this week. A national travel writer has made up a list of 10 places to eat before you die.

Of course, he had the whole country to choose from, and we're limited to Maryland, but I still think we can do it.

Even if you don't want to participate in making up the list, I think you'll be interested that a crab house was chosen, and it wasn't in Baltimore. ...

Here are the categories we need to come up with "bests" for: ...

OK, these are categories, and I will choose the top restaurant in each for my list next week:

* The Steakhouse

* Restaurant with a View

* The Crab House

* Barbecue

* Hamburger

* Cajun/Creole

* Wine Country Cuisine (obviously we'll have to cheat a little on this one)

* Pizza

* California Cuisine

* Hot Dog

I have to add this wouldn't necessarily be my 10 categories. If I don't have another hot dog before I die -- although I like them -- I'd be OK. So if you want to tell us what categories you'd substitute for what (remember, it has to be 10), feel free.

(Doug Kapustin/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (71)
        

I hope you didn't try to adjust your set. There were technical difficulties, but now Owl Meat has come through with Dining@Large Crossword No. 3, What a Tool! Here's what he had to say about it:

"Cars on the highway, planes in the air
Everyone else is going somewhere
But I’m going nowhere, getting there too
I might as well just sink down with you
- Fountains of Wayne
 
Glug glug.  Why so glum chum?  Not glum, in fact, ebullient that the summer heat is almost over and I'm taking scuba and spear-fishing lessons for a trip to Baku in November. With any luck I will bag one of those elusive Caspian Tigerfish -- ha tah!
 
Today's Funtastic Thursday clambake of merriment is the third and probably final crossword puzzle for a while.  These are hard to make! My brain box hurts a little and I think that the crossword-making area is depleted.  I'm depleted!  Oh well, on to other 'tastic pursuits. You will note that my new mastery of Photoshop has allowed for the return of some of our mystery friends. ...
 

This puzzle asks the perennial question, 'What kind of tool are you?' Today's theme is kitchen tools -- anything from a spoon to an electric cannoli stuffer. There are a few that might be called mythical kitchen tools, so hang 10 on this one. For example, even if  PorkForks and Hasenpfeffer-izers don't exist now, I'd like to think they will in some shining future. 
 
Today's prize? My manservant and scuba instructor Adobo Karilli will fashion an origami likeness of you -- under water! Or a box of Cuatro Carne Fiesta Hot Pockets, the new 'meat party in a pastry' with four kinds of 'meat.'  One of the ingredients is 'mechanically separated woodland creature.'   Go boldly.  Go boldly into that dark night of the microwaved soul.
 
I entered into unknowing,
yet when I saw myself there,
without knowing where I was,
I understood great things;
I will not say what I felt
for I remained in unknowing
transcending all knowledge
 
Extra points if you can tell me the source of the poem and what level of Hell I will be flung into for juxtaposing it with Satan's pouch of rue.
 
As always,
Larvatus prodeo"

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (50)
        

The time has come for me to step into the Great Seafood Controversy. Sometimes the most interesting discussions are when a kind of boring post by me gets derailed. The problem is that readers who don't know to check the Most Recent Comments on the right of the page never see them.

I want to come down (hesitantly) on the side of Lissa on this one. Well, she is my computer guru, isn't she? ...

My feeling is that the meaning of "seafood" is in transition. I'm just thinking of how we're using the word, and isn't that what language is all about? If you say you don't eat meat, but you do eat seafood, no one would say, "But do you eat catfish?" Everyone knows you mean any fish.

On a menu divided into "Seafood" and "Steaks and Chops," none of us is surprised to find "pecan-crusted trout" or crayfish listed under seafood. Nor do we think, "Well, that's a funny use of the word."

My guess is that now that fish and shellfish from the sea are available everywhere in the country (they weren't when I was a kid) and fewer and fewer freshwater fish are consumed in comparison, the distinction has become essentially meaningless.

(Monica Lopposay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (50)
        

I don't get out as far as Cumberland to review restaurants, but Federal Hill Jim was there recently and had this to say:

It was an appetizer described only as calamari. On arrival we saw what looked like oversized fish sticks. Nothing wrong with it,  just blah. The waiter explained (too late) that they received it in a slab (presumably frozen) and cut it to size, then deep fried. Why anyone would do this to calamari is beyond me. Maybe a way of dealing with the tougher body section.

Coincidentally, my son-in-law had 'calamari steaks' in Monterey the same week. Sounds like the same product sliced differently.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

Oh, John, John. You think you're fooling the rest of us; but we know you're using this Shallow Thought Wednesday for your own personal benefit.

If you still worked for The Sun, that could be grounds for dismissal, or at least a reprimand; but since you've abandoned us, I suppose there's nothing for us to do but try to help you out.

Here's Multimedia Editor Emeritus John Lindner with this week's Shallow Thought: ...

"You're having a nice meal with friends. Maybe you started with a cocktail then shifted to a bottle of wine to wash down the appetizers. By the time the main course arrives --- late! … again! – you're well into your second bottle of wine. For the dessert course you naturally choose a hearty cognac or perhaps a robust Scotch.

Now the bill's paid and because you and your party have imbibed enough grog to clear your brains, you clearly perceive that the night's too lovely to end. You all head off to a corner tap and work off your repast with beer and billiards (you're far too refined for foosball). By midnight, you're popping shooters and singing.

All in a night's work, certainly. But if the next morning happens to be, say, Wednesday and you have a job and you absolutely cannot call in sick even though the Battle of Midway is replaying over and over in your ears and your forebrain has developed fissionable carbuncles that explode every time a bird chirps* because if you call in sick due to a hangover that is like the Number One Sign that you're a degenerate alchy, so whatever is one to do?

Easy peasy: On your way into work you stop at a well known restaurant and buy The Cure. You smile, knowing full well that by the time you finish this miracle substance, you will be right as rain in April. I mean head, stomach, aura: everything back to just a touch better than normal.

What is that restaurant+, O Elizabethans? What is The Cure?

 

* I'm basing this narrative on reports, not actual personal experience. Results may vary.

+ Term used loosely."

(Photo by Robert Rathbone/Bloomberg News)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (63)
        

Night before last as I lay awake in my bed staring up at the darkened ceiling, it occurred to me I had done 75 Top 10s. OK, feel free to correct me if you want to go back and count, but you get my drift.

Then it occurred to me I needed to come up with No. 76 right away or I would be writing it on Labor Day, not the best day to get in touch with restaurants.

My husband suggested Top 10 Foods for Labor Day, but I pointed out it was actually the day after Labor Day so it might seem kind of dated. Then he suggested -- and this is why I'm glad I married him -- going back and seeing what I did the day after LAST Labor Day. ...

However, when I checked, it turned out to be Top 10 Romantic Restaurants, which makes no sense. But it was a good Top 10, if I do say so myself.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a friend who wanted a recommendation for a "quiet, relaxing" restaurant, "not too pricey." Well, I'd like one myself. And there has been so much interest in noise on this blog, I'm sure you'd like one, too.

The question is, can we come up with 10? If not, I may have to revisit crab houses, or some other Top 10 of your choice.

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Baltimore is the star tonight on the Food Network's new prime time show Road Tasted with the Neelys. It airs at 9:30 p.m.

Pat and Gina Neely seek out family businesses and one-of-a-kind specialties. As for their Baltimore trip, first they go to Dangerously Delicious Pies and learn about savory pies. Then on to Gracie’s Gotcha Ginger for ginger recipes. So far, so good.

But I'm a little worried that they couldn't find all the wonderful eats they wanted in Baltimore itself. They drive to Delaware, which is not exactly Towson, "to taste one-of-a-kind treats at Sweet and Sassy Cupcakes."

Of course, you knew they would stop at Faidley’s Seafood. Hey, read this blog, Neelys. Good as Faidley's is, I wish outsiders would give a little love to some of the other places in the area where you can get a fine crab cake.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
        

Beijing blogger Rick Maese, my hero, sent me this photo with the promise that Kevin's post would be coming soon after.

Not.

Somehow I don't think we'll ever get it, but I hate to waste the art.

Feel free to write your own caption, like that (fairly) new feature we have on the home page, Caption Call. Only I'm sure you'll be more clever.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

I came across this quote on the window of a store in Evanston, Ill. called Design Within Reach. First of all, I thought it was a funny place to hang that incredibly elaborate Swarovski crystal chandelier, and then I thought it was funny to be selling a chandelier that cost $2,600 in a store called Design Within Reach.

But I like the quote a lot. We had an earlier discussion about whether Fin in Fells Point could be worth eating at when the menu was so plain. Mies van der Rohe's words argue "yes" much more eloquently than I did. I think they also explain the value of restaurants like the Black Olive, and I'm sure you can think of others.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

When I decided to go with a Top 10 Most Difficult Foods to Eat,  I thought, no problem. I'll do a search in the Sun archives, key phrase "difficult to eat," byline "Large."

But I found that in almost two decades I've used the phrase three times: once to describe someone who finds it difficult to eat healthfully around the holidays, once complaining that Wayne's Bar-B-Que's wings had so much sauce they were difficult to eat, and once saying that the baguette at the Vanguard Cafe, which had been toasted, was so crunchy it was difficult to eat. (Vanguard Cafe? I don't even remember it, let alone its baguettes.)

In other words, there are few foods greedy people find difficult to eat, and I imagine that's true of most of you foodies.

Still, the object of this exercise is to think back to when you were first introduced to something, perhaps at a dinner party, that you had never faced before. Raw oysters on the half shell might fall in that category, but they are sort of self-explanatory. The idea behind this Top 10 is foods that either a) made you feel a little panicky that you would embarrass yourself if you tried to tackle them or b) take so much work they are hardly worth the trouble.

I decided to eliminate hardshell crabs from contention because, hey, all of us have been picking crabs from birth, right? And because you thought they would be No. 1 on the list.

Luckily I had a lot of help from my friends making up this Top 10. Also here: ...

1) Whole lobster. Not only does it take specialized equipment, you have to know what's edible and what's not. The telsons? The tomalley? The mouth parts?

2) Pomegranates. I wondered what advice I could find on the internet, and here is a list of the equipment (not sure why the plurals) you'll need to get pomegranate juice, which admittedly is not exactly eating them, but still:

*cheesecloth strainers

* pomegranates

* blenders

* food processors

* knife

* nut picks

3) Snow crab claws. Why these would ever be served as part of a buffet (see link above) is beyond me.

4) Escargots in their shells. Remember that scene in Pretty Woman where the shell slips and goes flying?

5) Marrow bones. When you eat your osso buco, you can suck the marrow out or use your marrow spoon.

6) Whole fish, not filleted for you, especially when it's fried and sauced. 

7) Sushi. Whether you have to eat it in one bite is still a controversy in the U.S. If you do, you could choke on some of the bigger pieces. And do you know what to do with the wasabi? Do you know when to eat the pickled ginger root?

8) Whole artichokes. If you had never seen one before, could you guess that you scrape the bottom of the leaves off with your teeth, or that you scrape off the choke with your fork to get to the heart?

9) Mangoes. It's like when George Burns, playing God, admitted he made a few mistakes, such as making the avocado seed too large. The mango seed, it seems to me, is a much bigger error.

10) Brazil nuts and hazelnuts in their shell

Bonus food: Rice with chopsticks if you're not Asian.

You may think I didn't do any work putting this list together because I stole so many suggestions from my readers. You would be wrong. I just did a survey in which I asked five editors if they thought small game birds were difficult to eat because of the bones and lack of meat. I got two vegetarians, one who said she didn't even look if someone else ordered them, one who had never eaten them, and one who said, "No."

I also had one editor say, "Why would I want to read a Top 10 list of things that are difficult to eat?"

OK. Next week we revisit Top 10 Crab Houses.

(Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (63)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

OK, it's not exactly morning. In fact, it's almost not Monday any longer. But it's always time for hindsight.

Yesterday I reviewed Shin Chon, which reopened after extensive renovations. It's a fun place to eat, but to get the most out of it I suggest you do your homework on the 'net first. You'll feel more comfortable if you aren't obviously a tourist.

Don't get me wrong. Everyone is anxious to help. But of the servers working the night we were there, only the owner Jum Suh, pictured on the left, had enough English to explain the menu and identify some of the dishes. If you're adventuresome, this won't matter. Jump right in. There's plenty on the menu to like.

If you've eaten at Shin Chon since it reopened and want to add your two cents, please post below.

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

What role should a critic play in helping you choose a restaurant? This is a question that comes up from time to time with our Top 10 Tuesday lists, but I hope I've made it clear that they are simply to get the discussion going. For newbies out there, I even wrote a disclaimer at one point.

But what about reviews that appear in national publications? I guess I expect the glossy magazines to send critics before they issue awards, or at the very least make it clear that they haven't. Esquire's restaurant critic John Mariani says he has actually sampled the prime rib at the Prime Rib, as well as many other prime ribs, so I trust him when he praises it.

We discussed a local Food & Wine mention for best wine list in an earlier post, which leads to me to a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for the wine list of an imaginary restaurant. The incident is both disturbing -- especially the paying $250 part -- and funny.

Thanks to the several readers who sent me this link. 

(Glenn Fawcett/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Wine and Spirits
        

So it's decided. Tomorrow's Top 10 will be foods that were difficult to eat the first time you encountered them (until you got direction from someone else). This is in honor of Gailor, whose original idea it was, and who is now in Rio de Janeiro.

I know, I know. Business school has changed since you got your MBA. The idea is that you bond with your group and also there's a "service component." Which I think in Gailor's mind means helping Brazil's economy by taking salsa lessons. ... 

She may be thinking salsa lessons, but I'm thinking dengue fever, or dengue hemorrhagic fever as Wikipedia just informed me. I'm not reading any further.

Apparently there is a dengue fever epidemic in Brazil at the moment, as I learned from her Passport Health instructions. And while you may think that that's an odd thing for me to be talking about on a food blog, if you knew Gailor you would know that this is a food discussion, only she's the food. She never met a mosquito that didn't like her.

Assuming she comes back in one piece, however, I've made her promise to send us photos and to write something for the blog about Brazil's food. She wasn't allowed to take her computer with her so she won't be able to do it from Rio.

(Photo by Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

I almost forgot to tell you about next Sunday's review. I went to Pisces in the Hyatt, the dining room with the best view in Baltimore.

It also has a new chef and some very good seafood, but I'm always struck when I review a hotel dining room these days that people don't seem to take them (hotel dining rooms) seriously. Whatever happened to the restaurant in the Brookshire, for instance? Or the Tremont?

Odd that once hotel dining rooms were the best restaurants in a city. I'm not sure why that changed.

(Glenn Fawcett/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Review Preview
        

I managed to get to the airport last night, although it took an hour and a half, what with getting lost and the traffic. (Can you say "Cubs game"?) As Gailor joked when she dropped me off, "I think I may get home before you do, but I'm not sure."

Once inside Midway I discovered a travel tip I'm happy to share with you. The TSA lanes there are divided into "Family Travelers," "Casual Travelers," and "Expert Travelers." Naturally the lanes in the first two categories on a Saturday night were jam-packed. I figured the last category was for those who had the new I.D. cards you pay for, but I didn't think that program had started yet.

Anyway, you know how I feel about missing a meal. ... 

It was anoint myself an expert traveler or go hungry, so I marched up and handed the woman my boarding pass and driver's license, and she waved me through to a machine. Maybe it's like an express lane at the supermarket, for those who know enough to take out their laptops and their 3-1-1 bags and pull off their shoes. It must have saved me 15 minutes.

Which meant that I just had time to wait in line at the Potbelly Sandwich Works across the way from my gate. This was my first Potbelly sandwich, and even though they are hot sandwiches, and even though it sat under my seat on the plane for an hour before I ate it, it was pretty good.  The Swiss cheese had done the sort of melty thing into the turkey, and the roll was nice and crusty.

I got the turkey and Swiss simply because it was the first sandwich on the menu, but maybe there's something else that's even better. I'd like to hear about it because I imagine this won't be the last time I eat at a Potbelly. 

Even though you may remember how I feel about the name. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Isn't that a clever way to introduce the entry where you can post your comments about the new Baltimore Sun on a food blog?

OK, maybe not so clever, but it was the best I could do after a rough trip home. (More about that later.) I figure you're chomping at the bit to comment on the redesign.

Remember, I consider today's Sun the redesign, tomorrow's the reinvention, but maybe that's just me. To get you started, one of the most surprising things to me was the name change.

And, no, you may not have any of my casareccio toast.

That photo is cinema verite, by the way, chipped, mismatched china and all. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (66)
        

While Gailor has been doing her community service, I've been getting to know her new roommate. This is Allison, who brought FOUR cutting boards with her from San Francisco. One for fruit, another one for vegetables and so on. She and Gailor knew each other briefly when they worked at the same place in LA, and met again at a weekend here.

The fridge is going to be looking very different in this new living arrangement. Allison loves to cook, she told me. Her mother is sending all the equipment she needs like major pots and pans and colanders (not sure my daughter knows what a colander is, although she could explain amortization).

Allison uses, she told me, healthful, organic foods, and plans to cook things in quantity like turkey chili and freeze it in individual servings etc. etc.

I told her Gailor would be good at setting the table. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

I forgot that I wanted to post something so folks could report on the farmers market today, thereby alerting other readers to the good things they are likely to find tomorrow at the market under the viaduct and other markets during the week. It may be too late for the Waverly market today, but there's always Sunday's.

I sent my husband off this morning for the absolute essentials -- peaches, nectarines and tomatoes -- just in case my plane gets delayed, and I don't get to the Sunday market myself.

Always the optimist.

I'm sitting here eating a fabulous Illinois peach as I write. Who even knew they grew peaches in Illinois?

My daughter is living in student housing, by the way. Student housing for business school is like student housing everywhere except there are free Wall Street Journals in the lobby. I'm not making that up. 

To clarify Gailor's idea further (I know I'm jumping around here), imagine that someone put down a crab or an artichoke in front of you and you had never heard of one before. How difficult would it be to figure out how to eat it? That's what she meant by difficult foods. The problem is I can't think of eight others, so it's probably not a good idea for a Top 10.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

OK, all I've seen of Chicago is the worst traffic ever. What I meant to say is Evanston, Ill. is pretty nice. In fact, this morning it's almost tropical, with warm, humid air and very breezy. My kind of weather. I'm sitting in a Peet's Coffee & Tea writing this, which reminds me of California, too.

But this is a food blog (sometimes), so I should start by saying my day yesterday pretty much ended at Tapas Barcelona.

I say ended because with the endless drive from scenic Newton Falls, Ohio, and the hour and a half in Chicago traffic, after Gailor and I had unloaded the car I turned to her and said, "I need a nice dinner, by which I mean alcohol."

"I knew what you meant, Mom."

That Gailor. Sometimes she's almost telepathic. ...

One glass of sangria on the restaurant's very nice patio was almost enough to cure the aches and pains and put me to sleep after the day we had had.

For some reason, we had a lot more trouble with this trip than we did with the cross-country jaunt. The reason being I-80. THE MOST BORING INTERSTATE IN THE UNIVERSE. Gailor said she was beginning to feel like no matter where she traveled -- California, Florida -- the route always went through Ohio. And that was not a good thing. "Nothing against Ohio, but it sucks."

Gailor doesn't like it when she's driving and her passenger does something else, like a sudoku or napping, so if you fall asleep she pokes you awake. It's like being tortured, especially if you're driving through Ohio. 

 Other highlights:

* We saw jersey wall units stored in corn fields three times.

* Every mile  for a stretch there was a sign that said, "Animal loose in area when flashing." Squirrel? Moose? (Once the light was flashing but no animal.) 

* The entertainment of the day was reading the back of trucks. Did you know that they advertise on the back of trucks for drivers? And that the going rate is 42 cents a mile? 

* Every fast food vendor in each of the service plazas is listed on the back of the turnpike ticket. 

* Driving on I-80 and I-90 you pass the exits to every school in the Big Dance. 

* Burger King has come up with the idea of cutting up an apple (Red Delicious, I'm sure), putting the pieces in a french fry container  and calling them "apple fries." And charging big bucks for them.

But my favorite thing was seeing that someone had planted a tomato plant (pictured below) at the Mishawaka service plaza. It makes me feel All Is Not Lost.

Today Gailor has a community service day, so later this afternoon I'll make my way on the el to Midway. I have a pretty good Southwest number, A-37, so barring anything unforeseen, I'll be back in Baltimore tonight. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

Now that Top 10 Tuesday is part of the print edition, I feel even more pressure to come up with fabulous topics.

However, to balance that, next week is going to be extremely busy, what with the reinvention and my return from "vacation," so something easy would be nice, too.

Gailor wants me to do the Top 10 Most Difficult Foods to Eat. If this time we also ranked them, that might be fun. At the very least, the comments might be more interesting than "I hate the tortillas at El Mexicano."

But I'm also open for suggestions. I get requests like the following all the time, and a Top 10 list would be mighty helpful to point people to: ...

I am writing to ask you for your advice. Laura Lippman suggested that I read your columns when I asked her about Baltimore restaurants, but in the wonderful age of email addresses being on-line, I thought I would also write you directly.

I am attending the big mystery writers/readers convention at the Sheraton (Bouchercon) in October. Laura Lippman is being honored there, as a matter of fact.

I am looking for a good, reasonably priced place to eat for a group of 15-20 of us early on a Saturday evening where the noise level isn't so high that we can't hear each other.  And we'd like to be be within a mile of the Sheraton if at all possible as people will need to get to evening events.Do you have any suggestions for us?

We have checked OpenTable, but it's so hard to know if any of these places is any good. For instance, Lucy's looks close.  Or Sabatino's.  But since we are not locals, we don't want to be led in the wrong direction. I really appreciate any guidance that you can give us.

Thanks very much.

(AP Photo/L.M. Otero)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (101)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Under an earlier post, a discussion got started on the proper temperature to serve a salad. This wasn't something I had really thought much about before, except that I hate it when a restaurant salad comes out on an ice-cold plate because that means for sure it was made up in advance. (Otherwise you can at least pretend it was made to order.)

There are many other things about a restaurant salad that annoy me before the temperature of the lettuce. ... 

7) Getting a piece of the iceberg lettuce core

6) Lettuce leaves browning at the edges

5) Store-bought croutons that are fat-free

4) The giant pepper grinder brandished by the waiter, never offered when you have a steak in front of you 

3) Wedges of winter tomato when grape tomatoes are good year round

2) Slices of raw white onion, especially when you've said, "No onions, please"

1) Enough salad dressing to sink a ship, especially when you've asked for it on the side

And what is this with adding sugar to every salad dressing these days? When did that start? I had a blue cheese dressing the other day that tasted sweet. Gak.

If you think I'm being fussy, my mother wasn't allowed to put anything into a salad with dinner but lettuce. Otherwise my father would say, "What fell in the salad?" I'm sure she found that very amusing, especially the 500th time. It also had to have an olive oil and vinegar (or lemon juice) dressing. No sugar, of course. 

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

How boring has the trip been so far? Just west of Hagerstown, around 1:30 p.m., Gailor decided to call the motel where we had a reservation in Newton Falls to ask about places for dinner. And she was driving.

She got hold of Trina at the motel desk, and she could not get Trina off the phone because Trina wanted to give her exact directions to Roby Lee's Italian Pub & Grill, the Covered Bridge -- as close as Newton Falls comes to fine dining -- and Faces, which has a "great lounge atmosphere" (pictured).

When we got here at about 6:15 p.m. -- we finally left Baltimore at 12:15 p.m. -- I wanted to go to the Chophouse in Warren, which had been recommended; but the desk clerk said it was half an hour away, and no way we were getting back in the car for that long.

We had dinner at the Covered Bridge, where it was all-you-could eat sirloin steak night for $11.95, with salad bar and vegetable. The "Italian Specialties" included country fried pork.

The bad thing about mom-and-pop restaurants in small towns: The butter was Tastee Gold Spread. The good thing: homemade cavatelli. The radio was broadcasting the Brockfield-Liberty high school football game.

The check, with steak dinner, a half-order of cavatelli, and two glasses of chardonnay ($3), the only white wine choice, came to $22.

While we were waiting for our meal, Gailor noticed an ad for "Brenda L. Lane, L.M.T., massages and facials"  (along with two funeral homes and a welder) on our place mats. Before I could stop her, she whipped out her phone to make an appointment. Luckily no one answered.

I'm going to have to take away her cell phone. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Across from the Royal Farms on 41st Street where I was getting gas the other day, I saw Rita's, which must be fairly new. I've never noticed it before. It doesn't look like much; but, oh, the power of good signage.

I never need ice, and up until now I've never had a frozen custard (which is what I presume "custard" means that Rita is selling). I must say after our conversation, though, I'm tempted to try it.

But happiness.

If that's what Rita is offering, I'm there as soon as I get back from my road trip.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)
        

Our fun friend Owl Meat has come up with another food-oriented crossword for us, but we need some ground rules. What do you think? How long should we give people to work on it before allowing anyone to shout out the answers? On the other hand, maybe it should be a group activity?

Here's what the Owl has to say about his puzzle:

"Blistering heat, Weltschmerz and too much free time ... what's a boy to do? After kicking my withering addiction to huffing ditto masters, I've got all kinds of time and brain space.  So here is the second Dining@Large crossword puzzle ... now with 33 percent more.  Bigger, meatier, and more themey.  Plus welcome back Funtastic Thursday's mascot happy flaming banana thing whose true identity will be revealed in a future puzzle.
 
Today's theme is 'Action in the Kitchen'!  There are 12 answers that are forms of verbs used in restaurant kitchens and lots of other food-related clues and answers.  There is also an obscure Seinfeld reference and the new verb 'Schnabelled.'
 
Because you are such clever monkeys, I made some of the clues more tricky. For example: Our country is messed up on golf gear = SAUTEES (USA 'messed up' + Tees) Oh yeah.  This is where we separate the maguro from the toro.
 
Good luck. ..."

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

Oh, all right. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. A life without southern California. A life that contains (shudder) Chicago.

This has nothing to do with Tribune. Faithful readers know that my daughter left southern California last spring and is now planning to go to business school at Northwestern near Chicago. People tell me what a great city it is, and particularly what great restaurants it has.

I keep thinking how cold it will be.

Goodbye, trips to California on United, and to feeling special because of my premier status for flying so much (and free upgrades to Economy Plus). Hello, Southwest and standing in lines to fight for an aisle seat. 

But I'm looking ahead. Right now I'm staying out of sight until the car is packed, and then Gailor and I are heading to Newton Falls, Ohio, our stop for the night. I don't think we're going to have any culinary adventures to report, but you never know. ... 

I did learn my lesson from the spring road trip, though. I refused to consider driving straight through because I know -- how shall I put this delicately? -- we don't always get off as early as planned.

As my brother said in March when he called at 7 p.m. to see how far we'd gotten and I had to admit six blocks, "At least you're in the frigging car."

We do have a reservation for Friday night in Evanston at the tapas restaurant MD Canon recommended, but once again I'm not allowed to bring anything to wear to save space in the car. So if it seems too fancy once we check it out, we'll eat there another visit.

Not to worry. I'm taking my trusty laptop with me, and, yes, Owl Meat did send me a Funtastic Thursday for a bit later. 

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (66)
        

I haven't heard word one from Kevin yet (hint, hint); but Beijing blogger Rick Maese has come through big time. Faithful readers know that my goal on this blog is to get as many guest bloggers as possible so I can do as little work as possible, but I think I've outdone myself this time.

Here's Rick: ...

"Sadly, we cannot offer the definitive guide to Beijing cuisine in this space. Charged with the most grueling and time-consuming assignment at these Summer Games – covering Michael Phelps and his quest for eight gold medals – we've had little time for culinary adventure. Much of our dining has come in between assignments and interviews in the first-floor cafeteria of the Main Press Center. As Kevin would attest, McDonald's is one of the more popular options – for both American and foreign journalists. During the past two weeks here, there are a couple of meals, however, that do stand out.

We arrived for a Phelps-related appearance this week about an hour early, certain that our cab driver would get lost, as every previous one had. Oddly, this one didn't, and with an hour to kill, we wandered into a restaurant called Fat Mother for lunch. It was a hot pot restaurant and there was a hole in the middle of our table with a burner beneath it.

Once we ordered our soup broth, a pot was placed in the hole and it wasn't long before the soup inside started to boil. We'd innocently ordered a chili soup, thinking we could tackle the fiery challenge. With tiny red peppers swimming about, the soup looked very much like a juicy lava. We'd soon learn that it tasted this way, as well.

The Fat Mother staff brought trays of food to our table – uncooked mushrooms, spinach, beef, prawns, potato noodles, ham. Using chopsticks, we dunked our food item in the soup, allowing it to cook sufficiently before pulling it out, cooling it off with a peanut dipping sauce and enjoying. It was relatively easy to eat – mostly because after just the tip of any food item touched your mouth, your tongue went instantly numb.

Like I said, we mistakenly ordered the lava soup. The heat never seemed to cool. We went through a pair of Cokes apiece and I had a pile of about a half-dozen crumpled napkins that had tended to my running nose. The eyes and antennae scared Kevin from even biting into a prawn, but he didn't want to offend the staff at Fat Mother, so he dumped half the slimy critters into the bottom of the soup.

We left with a sense of accomplishment from dipping into the volcano in the middle of our table and bragged to many people throughout the day. Unfortunately, only three or four hours passed before my stomach began to rumble. It felt like a troop of 12-year-old Chinese gymnasts were performing deep inside me. Needless to say, Fat Mother left a lasting impression.

We've had a couple of meals here that cost in the $25-$50 range. But my best meal came from outside of Beijing and cost just dollar. Visiting the Szechuan province, devastated by an earthquake four months ago, we stopped and ordered a bowl of noodles from a storefront restaurant. We ate on a picnic table set up on the sidewalk.

The long flat noodles were in a red spicy broth – the heat, tolerable but noticeable – and was topped with parsley and a fried egg. The flavor was thick and soothing, hitting your nose long before the chopsticks even reached your mouth. The meal was packed with superlatives: For this trip, it was the cheapest meal, the biggest serving and the most flavor, a taste I'll dream about back home for years to come."

(Photos of the hot pot and the noodle dish by the boys) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

We've talked about doggy bags before, but not about what Multimedia Editor Emeritus John is discussing this week. His Shallow Thought Wednesday centers on the leftovers themselves. Let me remind you once again of my mother's definition of leftovers: Something you put in the refrigerator for three days and then throw out.

The one thing I want to take home from a restaurant (but am usually too embarrassed to) is good bread.  I know it will be eaten. It seems tacky, but on the other hand, if I don't the restaurant will throw it away.

I hope.

John also sent me this charming note: "I've shipped a photo in a separate email. Taken with cell phone and far below D@L standards. Do you forgive me? Do you have a choice?"

Well, yes, John, I do. And guess what it is. However, if readers raise an outcry, I may relent and publish the Worst Photo of Leftovers in the Universe.

Here are John's Shallow Thoughts: ...

"I find myself more frequently unable to finish a significant enough portion of my dining-out meals to warrant the embarrassment and inconvenience of requesting 'a box' – the article formerly known as 'doggy bag' -- with which to transfer the unfinished portion of my meal from restaurant plate to home refrigerator.

(Anyone besides me recall the days in which items placed in doggy bags actually were fed to the dogs? My earliest fine-dining memories are of Eau Claire Country Club meals (hosted by my grandfather). We gleefully ordered steaks, and any leftovers were deposited into waxy white bags sporting a cartoonish doggy logo, the contents brought home to give the dog(s) a taste of the good life.)

These days, the nicer the restaurant the more shame I feel trotting a box out with me. First off, it's a buzz killer. I'm stuffed, relaxed to the point of indifference, wined down to benign insouciance: I don't want to schlep anything heavier than the change in my pockets out of the restaurant.

But I do.

And here's the rub: I rarely eat the leftovers.

It's like I take home the refugees of a meal, set them in the fridge, and they lie there till they become the gastronomical equivalent of the Island of Doctor Moreau. When they begin to talk – in their inimical olfactory way -- I transfer them from the cooler to the 50-gallon Glad Bag.

My question to the Sandbox: Do I need to rethink this issue?

By the way:

Items I do not box up and bring home:

* French fries (maybe I'll start bringing them home and revivifying them in duck fat?)

* Vegetables (unless they are incorporated into a worthy sauce, leftover vegetables quickly become organic sadness: a cold, moist disappointment that suggests there is a point past which a potato has suffered enough)

* Garnishes (I don't take them home for the same reason I leave the silverware at the restaurant: good form)

* Salt cellars (not that I'm not tempted)"

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (49)
        

There were no blueberries at the market this weekend so I got a pint at the supermarket. My husband was having some for breakfast yesterday and made this astounding statement:

"I can tell these are northern blueberries because of their size."

I told him, of course, that was the most absurd thing I'd ever heard (do other people have conversations like this really early in the morning?) and I was going to get the container and prove it to him. ...

I triumphantly said, "As long as you consider Watsonville, Calif. northern"; but then I noticed the label also said, "Produit du Canada."  (When I went to the Driscoll's Web site, I found out California is the "loading point.")

I don't get it. I remember picking blueberries in Tennessee deep into summer.

This is really a mystery fruit. The whole antioxidant thing has always struck me as strange -- may help prevent cancer; may help slow the aging process -- and what they fight, "free radicals," sounds like an Angela Davis slogan.

Also I never noticed the "bloom" until I read about it on the Web site:

Blueberries should have a soft hazy white coating, which is called "bloom." Bloom is a completely natural part of the berries' defense mechanism protecting them from the harsh rays of the sun. 

Not to be confused, of course, with what grows on them when they spoil.

And who knew blueberries can be kept as long as 10 days (they never last that long in our house) while raspberries should be used within a day? This according to Fruitarian.com.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (45)
        

From Beijing blogger Rick Maese in response to my nagging e-mail about getting a Chinese food post for Dining@Large:

fret not.
 
we'll get you something.
 
in fact, today, we arrived about an hour early for an assignment (always have to take into account that cab drivers will get lost)... and went to a hot pot restaurant. we talked much about what a great blog post it would make.

i even have a couple of photos ill send you.
 
hopefully we'll be able to write tomorrow (overnight for you)....

(Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Yesterday Gailor came down to The Sun to take me out to lunch before she left. We walked up to Sasha's on N. Charles and found it locked up. (That's Gailor taking the photo.)

The sign says it's Sascha's annual summer pause, but I didn't remember it from past years. And I don't remember so many Baltimore restaurants closing in August for vacation. We talked about a couple of others in an earlier post.

Some places, like Corks, see it as a good time to get renovations done. But some just see this week and next as a time for a well-deserved rest after Restaurant Week and during the slowest season of the year for eating places.

All that makes sense, but I still think more downtown restaurants are closing for vacation than used to. Is that just because of the economy? Anyway, if you want to tell people about others by posting below, please do.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Gailor came down while I was eating breakfast this morning, and the first thing out of her mouth wasn't, "Good morning, Mom. How are you this beautiful morning?' but:

"YOU DIDN'T MENTION THE UGLIEST CORN IN THE UNIVERSE."

I guess she's been catching up with my blog posts.

OK, Gailor, here's the link to the ugliest corn in the universe. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

This Top 10 started out as a request from Dave for places to find good fish and chips because I didn't think we'd ever come up with enough to make it a Top 10.

Wrong.

What I didn't want to make this was simply a repeat of our Top 10 Irish pubs list. I was impressed that the combined efforts of readers, reviewers past and present, and Midnight Sun Sam (who had done a carryout column on fish and chips) produced a legitimate 10 that were mostly pubs but not mostly Irish pubs. Some are Irish restaurants, and some are neither.

Note: They are in alphabetical order, not ranked. No, Galway Bay is not No. 1. It's a "G." 

A great order of fish and chips marries flaky, mild, white, very fresh fish (golden-crusted, natch) with hot, fresh, crisp-edged fries. You know a lot of grease must be involved, but you don't notice it because they are so well done. 

I'm hungry. Let's eat.

Here's the list: ...

* Galway Bay in Annapolis

* Koco's Pub in Lauraville

* Life of Reilly in Butchers Hill/Patterson Park 

* Mama's on the Half Shell (2901 ODonnell St., 410-276-3160) in Canton

* McCabe's (3845 Falls Road, 410-467-1000) in Hampden

* Mick O'Shea's in Mount Vernon

* Nick's Fish House in South Baltimore

* Red Brick Station in White Marsh

* Ryan's Daughter in Belvedere Square

* Slainte in Fells Point

(Photo by Gordon M. Grant/Bloomberg News)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

These days, ugly is good as far as vegetables are concerned. Ugly vegetables have a certain cachet. If you don't believe me, just take a look one more time at my heirloom tomato photo. Ugly is real and tasty as opposed to perfect and plastic.

But Multimedia Editor Mary just sent me a link about regulations in Europe concerning the looks of produce. Who knew retailers anywhere weren't allowed to sell ugly vegetables?

That got me looking around the 'net, of course (who actually wants to work on Monday?), and I found this link to the ugliest veggie in England. Yes, there was an ugly vegetable contest, and pictured is the winner. ...

This reminds me of the year we planted cucumbers in our little garden, and the next year in the same spot, Crenshaw melons. What we got was a melon-shaped cucumber that had a faint melon flavor. It was so weird and creepy I couldn't eat either cucumbers or melons for a long time.
 

(Photo courtesy of Ananova)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

We just had a meeting about the blog posts like Top 10 that will be appearing in the print edition for those who don't read blogs; these will also have a "talk back" feature. I mentioned it in an earlier post.

At least now I know what the "talk back" feature is. It looks like with the list I'll also be including a comment or two of yours. (Not to worry. We won't be printing your misspellings.)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Until I started this feature, I didn't read my reviews once they were in print. I didn't want to make myself crazy if something had been changed when it was too late to do anything about it. But now I read them just to see if there's anything that needs to be addressed here.

Alas, at the very end of my review of Jumbo Seafood yesterday there was this strange sentence (my bold): ...

When I go back, I'll probably stick to the simpler dishes: stir fries and mu shu, the former because they are as good as the specials and mostly fewer than $15; the latter because I still dream about the delicate Peking pancakes that come with the mu shu dishes. 

When I last saw this sentence it said, "less than $15." I can make enough mistakes on my own, thank you very much. I don't need them inserted into my copy.

The photo, by the way, is of grilled salmon served with lo mein and string beans, with choice of ginger scallion or black bean sauce. Price: $16.95.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

The reason I'm using a photo from two years ago to promo my review of Shin Chon (in the Lotte Plaza in Ellicott City) is that there was a bit of miscommunication about the photo assignment.

I spoke on the phone to a waitress who seemed to understand what I was asking, but I realize now she was just agreeing with everything I said to be polite.

When the photographer arrived for the shoot, the owner (Jum Suh, pictured) knew nothing about it.

Not to worry. There will be new photographs for the review. They're being taken Tuesday. I'm hoping they will show you the major renovations that this Korean restaurant underwent. It was closed "a hundred days," the owner told me.

If you enjoy Korean barbecue cooked at your table by you or your server (you can do it yourself or not), don't miss my review in next Sunday's Arts & Life section. I think this is the only place in Howard County that offers it, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Review Preview
        

Your  market reporter really fell down on the job yesterday. Not only did I not go to the market, I forgot to link to the story in Saturday's paper about how well the local farmers markets are doing this summer. Here it is.

What I want to do one of these days when I have the time (ha ha) is go to the different ones and compare prices and what's offered, particularly by the same vendors.

I've heard complaints that the new market at Harbor East is more expensive than the Waverly market or the Sunday one under the viaduct, and that they weigh the produce. (Not sure why this is bad.)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Do other families discuss most memorable Olympic events over dinner? We do, and particularly favorite Olympic quotes. So I was shocked by Beijing blogger Rick's suggestion that Lil Wayne's comment should get a gold.

My favorite (and I'm seriously paraphrasing here) was from Charles Barkley when he was on the original Dream Team. The interviewer asked him before the game, "Charles, do you know anything about Angola?" And Charles said, "No, I don't know anything about Angola. But I know they're in trouble." 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Recently I got a nice e-mail suggesting I include the new Bistro Blanc next time I did a Top 10 of Howard County restaurants. I had never heard of it, which surprised me, but it looked interesting when I went to the Web site.

Friday late afternoon I decided to give it a call rather than wait to the last minute, the way I usually do, when I needed it for Table Talk. The phone rang and rang. No one answered, and no voice mail picked up. Odd for a wine bar, but maybe it was really busy. ...

I decided to Google it. Two links took me to Chowhound.com, but they both said, "This topic has been removed."

I went back to Bistro Blanc's Web site and the "Contact Us" page. I sent an e-mail but haven't heard back.

I meant to call again last night, but I fell asleep on the couch the Ravens game at 8 p.m. (Sorry, folks, that's why your comments weren't published till this morning.) When I went to the Bistro Blanc Web site this morning. It looked odd. Wasn't there a photo in the middle before instead of that black box?

I started to get really paranoid, thinking that someone (OK, it would have to be Owl Meat) was playing an elaborate prank on me. But could he get the listing in the Yellow Pages?

So my question to you is, Do you know anything about the mysterious Bistro Blanc? Of course, I can call the liquor board Monday, but I'm not sure it's worth it. Or maybe the bistro will be answering its phone today.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (61)
        

When we stopped to pick up dinner from Thai Landing just now, we parked across the street because of the construction. The parking spot was right in front of Chewy's, which City Paper awarded Best Breakfast Sandwich 2007. It was the first time I ever noticed the place.

I don't get it. I had a whole post on breakfast sandwiches, with many comments, but nobody mentioned the best breakfast sandwich place in the city? Doesn't that strike you as odd? What makes a "best" breakfast sandwich anyway, other than it's near your house or place of work? (That was a rhetorical question.) ...

Anyway, when I went to Chewy's Web site (I can't believe that a place called Chewy's that has the city's best breakfast sandwich even has a Web site), I found they also have -- ta da! -- SOFT ICE CREAM.

For some reason I've been craving soft ice cream recently, but I've been too lazy to find some place around here that serves it. I wonder if they have the kind where they dip it in the chocolate and it hardens around it. I love that. Or maybe it wouldn't even taste as good as I remember. I missed my chance in Vega, Texas.

Also, what's this with calling it soft serve ice cream? Is that a Baltimore thing? 

(Detail of photo of the award-winning breakfast sandwich from City Paper) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
        

I recently got an e-mail the subject line of which was "Are rodents ever acceptable in a restaurant?"

Uh, no. 

Then yesterday I received a press release from the Center for Science in the Public Interest on its report "Dirty Dining." I kind of like the subhead: "Have reservations? You will now." 

Baltimore was one of the cities studied, and while there are no surprises, it's worth taking a look at the report. The recommendation is for health department letter grades to be posted prominently in restaurant windows. Faithful readers will already know how I feel about that. ...

“The results of our grading system in Los Angeles have been very positive, with improved restaurant sanitary practices, reduced rates of severe food-borne illness, and high consumer confidence in this key public health regulatory system,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health for Los Angeles County.

As for the e-mail on rodents, here it is:

I have had the repeated experience in the last 12 months of dining in some high-end restaurants (read: hip, local produce, acclaimed chef, organic, etc.) where I witness mice running across the floor of the restaurants.  In all three cases, I notified the management (after the fact, as to not cause a scene during the busy dinner period).  The first restaurant apologized and said they would look into it.  It happened again, at the same restaurant about six months later.  I know the owners of this restaurant and would not want to get them in trouble with the Board of Health.

The third occurrence happened the other night, again in an extremely popular, standing-room-only, hip restaurant.  There were mice actually frolicking near a corner table.  A woman seated nearby put her feet up on a nearby chair, but appeared relatively non-plussed. The owner of the restaurant was sitting approximately 5 tables away. 

I have a miserable phobia of rodents so promptly left the restaurant, leaving my husband to settle up the bill and wait for the coffee I had ordered but would not be drinking.  When my husband explained to the waitress that I left before my coffee arrived because of mice near the table, she more or less shrugged if off.

My husband is actually of the opinion that one should not be surprised when they see mice in a restaurant....that all restaurants have them and there isn't much the management can do to keep them out of the dining area.  I am appalled by this idea and cannot accept that rodents in the general dining area is not a sign of a lack of cleanliness.  I admit my phobia is out of hand, but expecting to see rodents in a restaurant could seriously impact my desire to dine in a restaurant.
 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)
        

Our earlier discussion of the Wheel of Death touched on the Red Undelicious apple, but I thought more could be said. This nice photo of apples has the Red Undelicious in front. 

I can see why it's popular with growers and store owners (it's pretty indestructible); but with all the varieties available now, it's not clear to me why the public is still buying it.

According to Wikipedia, it's still the largest produced cultivar in Washington state.

Do kids like them because they're pretty and pretty bland, so moms buy them? ...

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the apple, with the usual caveats about getting info off the Internet:

In the 1980s Red Delicious represented three-quarters of the harvest in Washington state. In the 1990s reliance on Red Delicious pushed Washington state's apple industry to the edge of bankruptcy. In 2000 Congress approved and President Clinton bailed the apple industry, after apple growers lost $760 million since 1997. By 2000, this cultivar made up less than one half of the Washington state output, and in 2003, the crop had shrunk to 37 percent of the state's harvest, which totaled 103 million boxes. Red Delicious still remains the single largest cultivar produced in the state, but others are growing in popularity, notably Fuji apples and Gala apples.

(John Makely/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

I got the following two inquiries this week about restaurants that I should remember the names of but don't. The first is from A Lam, the second, Paul.

Of course, I could go into the archives and ferret them out, but that would be work.Want to help me out? ...

1) I thought that perhaps your newspaper would have a review of a wonderful MEXICAN restaurant that use to be on (?)Charles Street near the Brown's Aracade.  I have asked all my friends if they had remembered the name, but no one seems to remember it.  It was in the 80's and it was very a very upscale restaurant.  They had the best mole sauce and I have never been able to find another restaurant in the United States that compared to their mole sauce.  They even made their own corn tortillas at the front of the restaurant for public display.  Unfortunately, as with all good restaurants, it closed and was only opened for a few years.  It seems to be that the name might be Mexicana Rosa, but I could be wrong.  Can you find the name of this restaurant which has been on my mind for several years?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Dear Rick and Kevin,

I've really been enjoying your reporting from Beijing, you're doing a great job, but I'm afraid you just haven't answered the most important question, the one on all our minds here at Dining@Large.  

We all know about Michael Phelps' famous appetite. Here's what he was eating in Ann Arbor for breakfast after his workouts, for instance, according to the Detroit Free Press:

A bowl of rice pudding followed by "three eggs over easy, hash brown potatoes, five sausages, wheat toast. Depending on his appetite, he'd request a side of bacon." 

We also hear that Phelps isn't going to get back into the pool until February once the Olympics are over. ...

So here's the question inquiring minds want to know:

Is he going to keep eating all that food? All of us have had to stop exercising -- OK, maybe not quite so intensely -- at one time or other because of injury or whatever. You just can't keep eating the same way.

Will he sit down one morning after the Olympics and have a bowl of cereal with skim milk and an order of whole wheat toast, hold the butter?

While we're discussing his diet, should he actually be eating all that saturated fat and cholesterol even though he needs the calories? Isn't that unusual for elite athletes?

C'mon, Rick and Kevin. We need some answers.

Your friend,

Elizabeth the Restaurant Critic 

PS: And while we're talking, where's my guest post on the fabulous Chinese banquets you two are enjoying over there? 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Again, with the local institution. And again, I think the overused term is justified in this case.

Nick's Inner Harbour Seafood (that's the correct spelling), which is in the Cross Street Market and not in the Inner Harbor, has new owners. Federal Hill Jim tells me the fresh fish counter has been shut down. Change is not always good.

I called to find out more just now, but neither the new owner nor his son could be located by whoever answered the phone. I left my phone number, and I'll report back when I learn anything else.

(Photo of former owner Tommy Chagouris by Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

What do these two things have to do with each other, you might wonder?

My editor just asked me what next week's Top 10 Tuesday topic was going to be because in the new Baltimore Sun it will appear the following week in the food section with a "talk back" feature.

This is scary to me for a couple of reasons. First of all, I actually have to come up with a topic in advance, rather than schlepping along until inspiration hits me or it's Monday. ...

My fantasy was also that if I (or you) got bored with it, Top 10 could simply go away. That's why I love the blog. Not sure that can happen so easily now.

And then, faithful readers of Dining@Large know that Top 10 is simply a starting point for discussion, and never meant to be a definitive list. I often learn more than you do from these discussions. But there is still the occasional comment that goes something like this: "This is the worst article I've ever read because..." and I respond that it isn't an article. Only now it will be.

We had a meeting on the new Baltimore Sun yesterday, and I have to say it is a reinvention, not a redesign. From a personal point of view, it's good for me because Table Talk will get more prominence, starting on the front of the food section, and I'll get to talk more about trends and not just deliver the news. Also very good: We'll have more color with the new configuration, so my restaurant review photo is more likely not to print in black and white.

Still, the reinvention is certain to be controversial, and I'll post an entry its first day, Aug. 25, so you can comment here if you want to. (I'm sure there will be plenty of other places to comment, but I like to hear what you have to say.)

Of course, as usual you're welcome to rant. I like rants. At the same time, I think more constructive criticism and suggestions might actually be listened to. (I'll repeat this last part a week from Monday. Constructive. Suggestions.) The Powers That Be do read this blog, and do read your comments.

But back to the Top 10 I've got to come up with for next week. It will be a busy week for me, what with my leaving town next Thursday, and its being the week before the reinvention, so I was thinking of gathering up all your good fish and chips suggestions, taking the easy way out and creating a list from them. I'm not sure this will fly now.

My other idea was one from Jennifer M.:

Did I dream it or did you put out a list of the Top 10 restaurants to make you feel like you're not in Baltimore? ... trendy, ultra-cool

Maybe I have done it -- they are beginning to run together -- but I don't think so. It would be a good counterbalance to grilled cheese sandwiches and delicatessens. On the other hand, it seems kind of anti-Baltimore for the first day of a new feature.

Maybe you have a better suggestion. 

(Photo of Ixia by Matthew Paul D'Agostino /Special to The Sun)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (56)
        

 
If you haven't read Dan Rodricks' lovely column in today's paper yet, you may not know that Martick's Restaurant Francais is closed. Morris Martick, owner and head chef, says he's had enough. "I've lost my enthusiasm. My spirit is broken. At 86 and a half, who needs the headache."

When I heard the news yesterday, I gave him a call. I'm very sentimental about the place because it's where my husband and I had our first anniversary dinner.

Other highlights: ... 

* When I told an older friend we had had a very good meal there, he laughed and said his 16-year-old son, who was working at Martick's that summer, had actually cooked it for us.

* Once when a friend and I were having a girls night out at Martick's, the kitchen sink flooded (the kitchen was upstairs) and water and part of the ceiling came down on our table.

* It was the first place I had profiteroles, those lovely little cream puffs stuffed with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. 

Don't be fooled by the fact that Martick's answering machine is still taking reservations. Morris told me Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso had just left a reservation on the machine and Morris had had to call him back to tell him the restaurant was closed for good.

"I don't have any staff," he said, "and I don't have any food." 

The precipitating factor seems to have been the city's requirements for exterior improvements, which Morris said would cost him $30,000 or $40,000. But when I asked him if that was somehow taken care of would he consider reopening, he said no.

"My age is against me." 

 (Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Over dinner (spareribs, baked apples, stewed tomatoes, creamed spinach, lima beans and cheese biscuits, none of it cooked from scratch by moi), I asked Gailor if she had made a reservation for the nicest restaurant in Evanston for next Friday night.

"Do it soon," I told her. "It's going to be hard to get a reservation with everyone's parents being there for moving in day."

She just laughed at me. "You think a lot of other people will have their parents taking them to business school?" 

Oh. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Things aren't going well with the 10-Thing Kitchen Challenge, and I can understand why. But this isn't just an academic exercise for me.

Next Thursday Gailor and I are going to pack up her car (actually I'm hoping her father will do the packing) and head for Evanston, Ill. I'll fly back Saturday night. ...

If you remember, she came home for the summer before she started business school because her lease ran out in LA and the company she has been working for is based here.

Lately she's been talking a lot about microeconomics when we go on our morning walk, so I know the end is near. I'm very sad. Although there are certain advantages, like not having to hide the chocolate anymore.

I'm trying hard not to take it personally that she got into Anderson (in southern California) but  chose instead to go to Kellogg (near Chicago). You know how I feel about winter.

Anyway, I'm not going through a move like we went through in LA, so I'm trying to convince her that student housing with an apartment mate is not like having your own apartment, and she needs to pare down. I'm telling her tonight she can only take 10 things for the kitchen, six of which will be for me when I visit: the microwave, the toaster, the sharp knife, a tea cup, a spoon and the teapot. 

I'm only afraid she'll laugh at me and say, "Sorry, Mom. I'm only taking five things for the kitchen. You'll have to leave one of those behind."

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

One of my flaws as a reporter for The Sun is that I see no reason a good story should have a news hook. This is not a flaw John Lindner, multimedia editor emeritus, shares, as you can see from the following Shallow Thought Wednesday: ...

I can swim, and have, extensively. But no more.

The exploits of Ms. Hoff and Mr. Phelps assure me that swimming is in good hands. It doesn't need me.

But during the build up to the Olympic games, and now with the swimming news out of Beijing, a question from the past has become a nag: Suppose I was marooned on an uncharted (or more likely charted and ignored) island. For two weeks I eat nothing but nuts and berries. I'm famished, but delighted to have lost some weight. And then I come across a wild pig. Not because I was hunting it, mind you; I'm more the "gatherer" type. The pig came upon me because the ocean is rising and the pig realizes we have only about 10 hours before our island is under water. Long story short, I coax the pig onto a spit, roast it, and eat it, finishing off the last bits just before feeling the salt water splash over my feet.

My question: how long should I wait to swim after eating?

(Photo by Rosemary McClure/Los Angeles Times) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

My husband sometimes gets into his Buddhist mode and wants us to get rid of stuff. I hate that. My plan is never to clean out our attic or basement and not to move out of our house so I won't be forced to. Then Gailor will have to do it when I die.

What does this have to do with food, you may ask? I'm getting there.

Awhile back b ran a story on the 100-Thing Challenge. I never got around to reading it, but I saw the headline, almost as good. I think I understand the basic idea, which, believe me, I'm not telling my husband.

Could you live with just 100 things? ... 

What would they be? Do we have to include major appliances in the 10?

My list would start with a good, sharp knife. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)
        

I just got a very long voice mail message from Elliot Bodner, owner of Mary Mervis delicatessen in the Lexington Market, asking why I said he was No. 6 of the Top 10 Delicatessens and not No. 1 because he has the best corned beef in the city and would I stop by tomorrow at lunch and try it and see if I didn't agree and he was going to be on Fox News tonight at 10 p.m.

Apparently the owner of Barron's across the way came over this morning and gloated because I had said he was No. 2.

NEWS FLASH, GUYS. THE LIST IS ALPHABETICAL I did not rank the delis. Do you think I'm crazy? Attman's is NOT No. 1. And it's not not No. 1.

If you rename your delicatessen Aardvark Deli, you will be first on the list.

Let's move on now.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

There are certain unforgettable moments in history when America has triumphed against long odds and proved itself to the world: Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon; the U.S. Men's Hockey team beating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. But one such moment has never received the recognition it deserves: In 1976, a small American winery sent shock waves through the wine industry by besting the exalted French wines in a blind tasting, putting California wines on the map for good.

Two things worry me. One, Gailor didn't see it or hear anything about it at Sundance 2008. She goes every year and gives me a heads up on films she thinks will interest me. And two, our film critic Michael Sragow (and you know what I mean when I say "our") says it isn't being screened for critics.  

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

I admit it. I have bad vending machine karma. I know, I know. Your restaurant critic shouldn't be eating out of a vending machine. But a few weeks ago I tried to get some pretzels from our snack machine and out fell a bag of something called Burger King Ketchup & Fries.

I felt like I should try them for the blog, but I just wasn't up to it that day. There's something about the fact that "ketchup" is the first word in the name, which I think means that's the main ingredient. I took them home, but somehow they ended up in the back seat of my car, where they stayed, getting more and more crushed, until finally I threw them out unopened this weekend. ...

Then yesterday I put my 60 cents in the machine and the bag of pretzels teetered and teetered on the edge of the rack but didn't fall off. Even when I banged against the glass. (OK, even when I threw my whole body repeatedly against the glass.)

Finally I gave the machine another 60 cents so the second bag would push the first bag off, but not until one of my quarters rolled under the machine. One of The Sun's higher ups came across me on my stomach reaching under the machine, which has not been vacuumed under since it was installed. Embarrassing.

And I never found the quarter, of course.

The only good news I have about the whole vending machine situation is that when the new food service came in they removed the Wheel of Death.

The Wheel of Death was one of those rotating automat-type vending machines that was mostly empty except for an occasional cheese and ham sandwich that never seemed to be swapped out, a yogurt (ditto), a half pint of skim milk (ditto again), and a Red Delicious apple. There are many months in which I don't want to eat a Red Delicious apple from a vending machine, but the month in which I most don't want to eat a Red Delicous apple from a vending machine is August. But that's a subject for another post.

In its place is the best soda machine I've ever seen. Even when I don't want to drink a soda I want to buy one just to watch it dispense. It has a kind of Rube Goldberg set up where there's a little soda elevator that moves to the bottle you've selected. An arm shoots out, plucks it up and puts it in the elevator, which then moves to the side and after about three more fascinating-to-watch steps it dispenses the soda.

Yes, I will do anything to put off sitting down and writing a story. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)
        

Thanks to Jessica Lemmo for originally suggesting delis as a Top Ten, and Donny B for reminding me of the idea at least twice until I finally got around to it.

What inspired me to do it now was the opening of Freda's Kitchen in Mount Washington, a Jewish deli that cures its own meats and makes everything fresh. It sounds like it deserves to make a list like this, except it's so new none of us has been there yet.

If you haven't read my earlier post, you may wonder why no Italian delis are included. My feeling is that they deserve their own Top Ten list.

As usual, I'm grateful for the earlier suggestions.

Joe's Place and the Charter Deli in Columbia were nominated by etucker. I hadn't heard of either of them, but I'm glad of the chance to get a little geographical diversity in by at least drawing attention to them. Comments telling us more about either or both would be appreciated.

I don't have any great childhood memories of delis because, hey, I'm from Tennessee. But I was taken to a Jewish deli in Philadelphia on the first day of my first job and fed my first corned beef sandwich with cole slaw on rye. I have absolutely no other memory of that day, but I can still remember how wonderful that sandwich tasted.

Here's my list: ... 

* Attman's downtown

* Barron's in the Lexington Market

* Chick and Ruth's Delly in Annapolis

* Edmart (1427 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, 410-486-5558) in Pikesville

* Lenny's downtown and in Owings Mills

* Mary Mervis in the Lexington Market

* Miller's (2849 Smith Ave., Pikesville, 410-602-2233)

* Mueller's (7207 Harford Road, Hamilton, 410-444-4860)

* Suburban House in Pikesville

* Towson Delly North in Lutherville

(Chiaki Kawajiri/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (60)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

The September issue of Esquire, which will be on newsstands tomorrow, contains a celebration of steak, including a list of the 20 best steaks in the U.S. The Prime Rib's prime rib is one of them.

I just got off the phone with Ryan D'Agostino, the editor in charge of "The Esquire Almanac of Steak." He told me that critic John Mariani, who picked the 20 cuts, "loves the place" -- that is, the original Prime Rib in Baltimore. It, and not its branches in DC and Philadelphia, is the one honored.

The whole package is pretty entertaining, with a review of Outback by John Mariani, an explanation of why steak has gotten so expensive (hint: blame corn) and a Steak Information Center, which has some good information but also some not so useful statements like "Prime [the cut]: what you want."

Here's what Esquire has to say about the Prime Rib: ...

PRIME RIB

On the side: Fried potato skins

At the Prime Rib, it’s always 1965—the year it opened. The leopard-print dining room looks like George Steinbrenner’s private club. The waiters wear tuxes. You wear a jacket. And the kitchen roasts the majestic prime rib on the bone, its collar of fat suffused into the inner layer, the core a rose red all of it giving off the intoxicating aroma of old money. 1101 North Calvert Street; 410-539-1804; theprimerib.com

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

Before you get too nostalgic about how much more accurate the paper used to be, let me remind you about a review I wrote in the '70s when I was a freelancer.

The restaurant was in a bad neighborhood, so my lead was something like, "As he was walking my husband and me to our car, the owner said..."

I opened the paper the day it was printed, and some editor or copy editor had changed the lead -- the LEAD, mind you -- to "As he was walking my husband and I to the car, the owner said..."

To add insult to injury, ... 

A couple of days later The Sun printed letters from outraged readers without an editor's note saying that it wasn't my mistake. My father was an English professor, so the whole thing was doubly mortifying.

Anyway, this got me thinking about my early days, so I asked Paul the librarian to dig up my first review for me. Our computer archives don't go back that far. It was of Danny's, at N. Charles and Biddle streets, the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in town:

The entrees begin at $7.50 and work their way up. While that doesn't seem extraordinarily expensive to me for beef Wellington or lobster, I have to admit I was shocked at the sight of crab cakes a la Maryland, cole slaw and homefried potatoes for $8.50. 

I guess it's not a surprise that things were somewhat cheaper then. However, when I read the review I was shocked now that the Grand Marnier souffle was $8. Maybe it was for two.

My ending was this:

It was all good -- it just wasn't unforgettable: except for the dime [the owner] gave us for our telephone reservation. Somehow, since our check [for three] came to about $50, that seemed a little superfluous. 

By the way, the jump of my review was next to an advice column by Billy Graham. I didn't remember that.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

Yesterday I reviewed dinner at Sanders' Corner in Loch Raven, although I also talked quite a bit about what's available for breakfast under the new owners because that's what this Baltimore County restaurant is probably best known for.

Last week there was general agreement on the blog that this would be a good place to discuss noise levels if I hadn't mentioned them in my review, but noise wasn't much of a factor for us because we ate outside.

Of course, there was music playing; but as long as you like old rock 'n' roll that shouldn't be a problem. And there was one woman talking loudly on her cell phone, but impolite people aren't really the restaurant's fault.

If there's anything else you want to discuss about Sanders' Corner, or my review, or your weekend, please post below. 

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

I'm feeling bad about my post yesterday morning. Last night when I was fixing dinner I couldn't find my $3.49-a-pound heirlooms. I went down to the market under the viaduct this morning, saw the woman who had sold me the tomatoes yesterday and asked if she remembered me.

"Yes," she said. "You forgot your tomatoes."

She even remembered how much they cost, and let me have the same amount. I love the farmers market.

Not only that, but the heirlooms at another vendor were $4 a pound today.

Yesterday Elite Elephant Lover asked if I could tell the difference between heirlooms and regular vine-ripened tomatoes. ...

I think it depends on the variety. There are some popular heirlooms (Brandywines come to mind) that don't have an intense tomato flavor. But any of the dark varieties, often with green around the stem end even when they're ripe, have a noticeably better flavor to me than Big Boys or Early Girls. The ones I like best often have the word "purple" in the name like Cherokee Purple (pictured) or Pruden's Purple.

On the other hand, there are hybrids that are every bit as good as some of the heirloom varieties, such as the small Fourth of Julys. The thing about heirlooms, though, is that until they became popular most people didn't realize how much variety in flavor, acidity, sweetness and color a tomato can have.

Another quality I love about heirlooms is how thin-skinned they are. Many of the regular vine-ripened tomatoes that have good flavor have still been bred to be sturdy for shipping, with a thick skin. I don't like that.

While I'm going on and on about vegetables,  I finally got some bi-color corn this morning and it looks good. Not that I don't like the white varieties, but they don't seem to me to be as good this year as other years. The ears seem big and too mature.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

Jumbo Seafood is probably my favorite of the Chinese-American restaurants in the Baltimore area, although I've only eaten there maybe three times over the years. The people are just so darned nice, and the delicate Peking pancakes are to die for.

Recently the place added a sushi bar to keep up with the times, but really this is the restaurant to come to when you feel like the classics -- won ton soup, beef with broccoli and so on. I was going to say it's a place where you don't expect any surprises, and then I came across this striking photo that was taken for the review. Pictured is a special that was on last week, sliced tuna with orange slices, olive oil and capers for $11.95. Not something that was offered when I was there, but I love the photo.

Anyway, read my review of Jumbo Seafood in next Sunday's Arts & Life Today section.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)
Categories: Review Preview
        

In case  you missed it, the owner of Burke's Cafe downtown died this week. He was 91. Here's Fred's good obituary.

Burke's is another one of those "institutions," because of longevity if nothing else. Or maybe I should say because of the crisp, golden fried onion rings if nothing else.

I always heard good things about the food; but oddly, I never got around to eating there. I wonder what will happen to it. At least for now, it sounds like it will be business as usual.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

When I went to pay for my heirloom tomatoes this morning at the Waverly Farmers Market, I went into sticker shock. They were $3.49 a pound.

"But last week they were $2.50 here," I said. That was because last week, I was told, they were selling just a few early ones that weren't all that good (they tasted great to me), and they weren't separated and named.

I'll take the $2.50 a pound nameless ones, please.

I did see a few heirlooms at another stand for $2.99 a pound, but that seemed to be about as low as they're going for today. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Dave in Perry Hall has suggested a blog item on the best fish and chips in the area.

I don't have much to offer because that's more in the LIVE reviewer's bailiwick. I did have a glorified version at Victoria's Gastropub in Columbia, but when you make them with sea bass stuffed with lump crab, I'm not sure it counts.

Richard hasn't been on the job reviewing for LIVE long enough yet to bother him with this request (although I hope if he reads this and has any suggestions, he'll share).

I looked up his predecessor Karen's old reviews in the archives, and the last time she recommended fish and chips was in '07. when she reviewed the Life of Reilly in Butchers Hill.

I guess it's up to you to help Dave out.

(Linda Coan/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

Junior's Wine Bar in Federal Hill sent me an e-mail saying it will be closed for vacation Aug. 25 through Sept. 2, reopening on the 3rd.

Can I nominate this restaurant for worst Web site for a supposedly hip place with good food and wine? It doesn't even have the address or phone number, or am I missing something?

Joe Squared Pizza in Station North is closing next week for what sound like major renovations of the interior, including a new glass front, decor changes, better lighting, an upgrade of the kitchen, and most interesting of all, the installation of a coal-fired pizza oven.

Shades of Phat Pug.

(Kim Hairston/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

In one of naturemade's comments under The Split Check and Other Horrors, he mentioned "necessary reasons for sending food back," which I think is a great topic for discussion. The whole sending-food-back thing is a problem not only for the waiter, but also the customer, because his or her companions have to decide whether to go ahead and eat while their food is hot, or be polite and wait. It's awkward for everyone.

Still, if you're paying $30 for a medium rare steak and it arrives medium well, it doesn't make sense to sit there and eat it as is.

I would say the No. 1 reason you shouldn't send something back is just because you don't like it. That is, nothing is wrong with the coq au vin, it's just you didn't know that was how it tastes. You don't have to eat it, and you can order something else, but you should expect the restaurant to charge you for both.

But what about something that's oversalted (in your mind)? Or so garlicky you can't eat it? Or room temperature when it ought to be hot?

(Photo of dish I wouldn't send back at Rocket to Venus by Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (62)
        

Donna's in Charles Village is the fourth of eight restaurants to take the Eat in Season Challenge. Once a month one of them offers an all-local menu (some prix fixe, some not) for a week. So far, Watertable in the Inner Harbor, Brass Elephant and Joe Squared Pizza have participated. I don't have much sense of how successful they were; anybody know?

Anyway, this month's restaurant is Donna's in Charles Village. The Eat in Season menu will be offered tomorrow through Aug. 16. Here it is: ... 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Here's Bucky's e-mail about his mystery menu:

What was it?  Serial killer John Wayne Gacy's "last meal."  (Gacy had, earlier in life, been a manager of a KFC, as I understand it.)
 
Yeah, pretty morbid.  I agree.  But it could segue into a discussion of "what would be your last meal, if you could pick a starter, an entree or two and a dessert, each one from any restaurant in town."
 
Just tryin' to think ahead...

Bucky is relatively new. He doesn't have any idea of just how morbid we can be. On his trip through all the archives, he must have missed this entry on Death Row Last Meals and Okra. 

But I like his twist on our old favorite, last meals: What would you get from what restaurant if you were on death row and still had an appetite? Let's make it local restaurants for the sake of argument.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (60)
        

A guy at the gym yesterday was telling me about staying at a Marriott in Houston, and one of the items on the breakfast menu was "bagels and locks."

The conversation segued into a discussion of delis in the area, and three of us ended up making a list of our favorites. Guess what next week's Top Ten is going to be?

What I'd like from you is not only your favorite deli suggestion, but also what you particularly like there or what you think its specialty is. Some specifics, in other words.

Let's exclude Italian delis. That's a Top Ten of its own. ... 

I'm thinking of this as a counterbalance to the effete snobbery of restaurant cheese plates and elite grilled cheese sandwiches.

But not to worry. If delis are too blue collar for you, I've got the effetely snobby Top Ten to end all effetely snobby Top Tens for the following Tuesday. Unless, of course, you have a better suggestion. 

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I had been meaning to call the Cordish Co. about Luckie's Tavern, which is scheduled to open soon in Power Plant Live! but hadn't gotten around to it. Yesterday Rosebud forwarded me an e-mail from Vin in Towson that finally got me to make the call.

The e-mail announced that Justin McGaunn, sous chef at Vin, and Billy Peterson, general manager, would be moving to Luckie's when it opened. The Towson restaurant has closed during at least part of the traffic circle construction. (Here's the link to the earlier post about Vin.) ...

Anyway, when I heard that I realized Luckie was going to be more of a place to eat and less of a place purely to party than I thought.

Reed Cordish, a vice president at the Cordish Co., described it as "serious food in a fun environment."

Luckie's will be located on the first level of Power Plant Live! where the Lodge Bar was, The interior is 7,000 square feet, and there's an outdoor deck. It is a tavern, though, not a fine-dining restaurant like Vin, with live music, "a TV presence for sports viewing," and 16 beers on tap.

The grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 19. 

(John Makely/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

I like the way guest bloggers have stepped up with Owl Meat Gravy's absence. (To repeat what I said under a comment that you might have missed, I've heard from the Owl Man and he'll be back soon. Of course, I, too, am wondering if he might not really be Springs1. I don't know how difficult it would be to create her amazing blog.)

This week it's Bucky, sending me a mystery menu for our Funtastic Thursday:

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (49)
        

Earlier this year I was nagging the folks at the new Ritz-Carlton Residences along the Inner Harbor because I had it on good authority that a BLT Steak would be moving in.(Naturally they would neither confirm or deny.)

Boy, was I wrong.

Check out this story in today's Baltimore Business Journal. The owner of Crazy Lil's in Federal Hill and oZ. Chophouse in Fulton has filed an application for a liquor license to open a restaurant in the Ritz.

The hearing will be held next week, the city liquor board tells me. I've called Katie Buscher, the owner, at her home all afternoon; but the number has been busy. She probably took the phone off the hook once the story appeared. 

(Andre F. Chung/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

Periodically someone asks me to do noise level ratings in my reviews. I'm sorry I can't remember who it was last -- Dahlink? I meant to take note and didn't.

It's a good suggestion, but not one I'm comfortable with, because of the way my reviews are structured.

As faithful readers of this blog know, I go once and describe the meal I had, supposedly duplicating the experience of the average customer. Whether you agree with that method or not, I can't see it changing in this economic climate. That makes it impossible for me to judge the noise level beyond saying, "Tonight it was incredibly noisy" or "There's no fabric so I imagine when it's crowded it would be deafening." ...

One could argue, and rightly so, that I ought not to want to assign stars for food, service or atmosphere for the same reason. I ought to just describe my experience that one night. Well, faithful readers also know how I struggle with the star system, so the last thing I want to do is start assigning them in other categories, like noise, if I'm not going several times and at least once on the weekend.

You can be sure, though, that if a restaurant is loud, I'll mention it in my review -- although here was my last take on noise. And here's an earlier post on restaurant noise research.

(Photo courtesy of RA Sushi) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

Well, so far so good. Ex-multimedia Editor John (I need a new name for him; suggestions?) is still thinking shallow thoughts and writing them down for us.

This week he looks at signs and labels. He didn't even mention my favorite negative one, the one that makes me do a U-turn as I'm approaching a restaurant:

"Waitress needed. Inquire within." ...

Sad labels: 

"No lard, cholesterol free" 

"Real meat and meat byproducts" 

"All our burgers are cooked well done" (apologies, Bucky) 

"18% gratuity added to parties with more than five credit cards" (OK, I made that one up) 

The saddest: "Imitation vanilla"  

Glad labels: 

"Extra Creamy Smooth Milk Chocolate" 

"No muscle shirts, no colors" (as seen in finer dives and holes-in-the-wall) 

"Contains raw milk" 

"Cigar smoking mandatory in this section" (OK, so I made that one up, too)

 The gladdest: "Warning: [place fun food practice here] may result in serious injury or death"

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

 I'm wary of labeling restaurants "Baltimore institutions." Just because a place has been around for a decade or two doesn't mean it automatically gets that designation.

But Martick's Restaurant Francais (214 W. Mulberry St., 410-752-5155) is the real deal.

The thing about Baltimore institutions is that stuff happens like what's going on with Martick's, as Barry's e-mail explains: ... 

Six of us had a marvelous meal (as usual) at Martick's last Saturday. We were thinking it would be nice if we could get you to put Morris on your radar. Believe it or not, the outside is even crummier than it ever was, although the inside is relatively unchanged. We got to talking with Rose the waitress (she's been there 18 months which I think is a record for there). She told us that the City is giving Morris a hard time about the exterior and has made some "threats" of what might happen if repairs are not made.

I think Morris is quite belligerent when it comes to things like zoning issues and repairs and refuses to spend the money. Therefore Rose is working on getting volunteers to repair the exterior. This isn't an appeal for volunteers, but an occasional mention of Martick's Restaurant Francais in your blog would be great to remind everybody what a great Baltimore institution Martick's is.

I have to say, given the location, unless the other buildings have been seriously upgraded in the past month or so since I drove past, it's hard to believe that Martick's isn't still the best kept-up exterior on the block.

This photo is perhaps a better indication of what Barry is talking about than the one above.

(David Hobby/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

Wow. Such interesting comments from Piano Rob and Drew from Greektown under today's earlier post. I made a joke something to the effect that no owner ever told me his restaurant closed because his food wasn't very good.

I was thinking that was often the reason restaurants close. ...

I assumed that if the food is fabulous, people are going to put up with surly waiters, loud noise, long waits, terrible location, high prices, no parking...whatever.

I mean, isn't the food the main reason you go to a restaurant? Wait. I know the answer to that. The main reason you go to a restaurant these days is that you're too tired to cook.

But how important is food to you when you eat out? And I never imagined I'd be asking that question.

Rate the reasons:

* The food is fabulous

* It's something I can't make at home 

* I'm too tired to shop and/or cook

* I love the setting

* I feel like being waited on

* I want to socialize with family/friends 

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (36)
        

As msal3 pointed out under an earlier post, Northwoods in West Annapolis will be closing its doors Aug. 16. The press release that came to me started by saying, "Score another one for the poor economy."

Northwoods, which has been around for 23 years, is owned by Russell Brown, who is also the head chef. He doesn't know what he'll be doing, but he plans to stay in the Annapolis area.

Under that same earlier post, Jason asked for a discussion of why so many restaurants close. It's a topic we've discussed before, when I've complained that it's usually difficult to find out; but there's certainly more to be said. ...

He wondered if the city was to blame for Zodiac's closing. The owner thinks so, and certainly the construction was a contributing factor; but as someone else pointed out, Tapas Teatro and the crepe place seem to be doing OK in the same block.

Usually the reason places close is a combination of factors, starting with the fact that great chefs who own their own restaurants aren't necessarily great business people. Nor should they have to be.

Then it's just a terribly hard business, even though a lot of people go into it starry-eyed. The hours are brutal, the frustrations endless.

Then there are the factors you just can't predict, even if you're doing everything right, such as when Donna's became the cafe for all the Bibelots, and then the bookstore chain went bankrupt. Donna's managed to survive, but it wasn't easy.

Or the owner runs off with his partner's wife.

Or we get an economy like the current one.

Or the city decides to streetscape the block in front of your restaurant.

The one thing no one ever says to me is, "I had to close my restaurant because for whatever reason, customers just didn't like my cooking enough to come."

As for another possible closing, Drew from Greektown mentioned that Tiburzi's in Canton has seemed closed since May 24. I haven't heard anything, but the Web site is still up and running. On the other hand, I've called a couple of times and always gotten a busy signal. Anyone know anything one way or the other?

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

When I started this Top Ten, I was thinking of places for lots of food at bargain prices, in which case you would head for the Bay Cafe in Canton at happy hour. But then I realized Midnight Sun Sam had already done a Best Of happy hour buffets. Unfortunately one of the five places he mentioned has closed its doors, so maybe that's not the best thing to be publicizing. Anyway, I decided to go for a more varied and possibly more interesting (food-wise) list.  

For more suggestions, please check under a previous post. And I hope you'll have other thoughts for us about happy hour food deals and post them below.

Here's my list: ... 

* Arcos in Upper Fells Points has a "Happy Hour Fiesta" menu with two tacos, nachos, quesadillas or guacamole for $4, $3 margaritas and $4 glasses of sangria. Thanks, Bourbon Girl. I wouldn't have thought of it.

* City Cafe in Mount Vernon offers $7 fried calamari or nachos, $8 lobster ravioli, and $9 mini crab cakes or crab and artichoke dip. Special prices for happy hour only.

* Harry Browne's in Annapolis has complimentary hors d'oeuvres and special prices on raw bar items: 50 cent oysters, $5 bowl of mussels, 10-20 steamed shrimp for $8-$14, and clams for $1 each.

* If you aren't looking for quantity, Ixia in Mount Vernon has complimentary hors d'oeuvres at happy hour, provided by one of Baltimore's excellent chefs, Kevin Miller. Dinner may be way out of your price range, but happy hour isn't, with discounted martinis, wine and beer.

* Morton's the Steakhouse, area locations, has a happy hour Bar Bites menu with items like miniature crab cakes and petite filet mignon sandwiches for $5.

* You have to like loud rock 'n roll, but RA Sushi in Harbor East offers a happy hour menu of nigiri, rolls and non-sushi items like pineapple wontons for under $5. Customers like the hot sake for $1.

* Aperitivo Hour at Sotto Sopra in Mount Vernon features "light bites" at the bar for small change, along with discounted drinks and $10 pastas.

* Tabrizi's in Harborview has half-priced tapas for happy hour, which could be something like grilled house-made stuffed grape leaves. Plus you can sit outside next to the water.

* The Tusk Lounge in the Brass Elephant has two-for-one drinks at happy hour, and the bar menu is so reasonable compared to the prices downstairs, it can be considered a deal. Plus there's the elegant setting.

* The "2, 3 and 4 at 5" at the Wine Market in Locust Point stands for $2 beer, $3 mini-appetizers that sound very good, and $4 glasses of wine. Obviously you don't have to be there exactly at 5 p.m.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (50)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I'm always happy to announce openings, especially one like Crush in Belvedere Square, in the location where Taste was. It's the creation of Daniel Chaustit, the Daniel of Christopher Daniel in Timonium. Crush is a scary name, but not so much if you realize that it refers to the time when grapes are crushed for wine. The restaurant will open its doors this Wednesday, if all goes well.

As for the closing, which I'm always sad to announce, I got an e-mail from Joy Martin, owner of Zodiac in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, saying that she was closing her restaurant after 12 years. Saturday will be the restaurant's last day. Apparently one reason was the construction in that block of N. Charles Street that cut the restaurant's gas line, damaged the water line, and discouraged customers.

(Photo taken at Zodiac by John Makely/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

While I was making up my list of happy hour food deals, I noticed Jon Parker had asked if we'd done a Top Ten on nightly specials, a comment I somehow missed answering when he posted it. We have, but I've been thinking we should do an update because folks are particularly interested in bargains right now.

Under the same post, Anonymous (please differentiate yourself from the other Anonymouses so I can give you proper credit) suggested a few ways to have a week of corner bar eating/drinking. I thought that would be entertaining, to come up with a special deal for each day of the week.

Suggestions welcome. Friday and Saturday might be tough.

(Photo of Yellow Dog Tavern appetizer by Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Sorry, I was working on happy hour food for tomorrow morning, and I totally forgot about Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Here's the link to my review of Bliss in Riverside, which appeared yesterday. If there's anything you want to say about the place or the review, please post below.

And if you have any thoughts about happy hour deals, I could use a few more of those, too. 

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

Because this is a full service blog, I feel I should bring up our solution to the ants-in-the-kitchen problem. Or maybe I should say I feel I should bring up the ants-in-the-kitchen question. I'm not sure that what we did had anything to do with the solution.

Earlier this summer we were plagued by those teeny ants, the ones that you squash with one finger without thinking about it when you walk in the kitchen just so you can get to the toaster. It doesn't help that we have white countertops.

I'm sort of live and let live (except, of course, for squashing them and brushing the little corpses off the countertop), but Gailor was going nuts.

How nuts was she going? ... 

She wanted me to go to Whole Foods and buy "green" ant poison.

My feeling is if you want to wipe out a species, you don't worry about whether you're being environmentally correct or not, but that's just me. I was more worried about finding ant poison containers that were decorative enough to look nice on my countertops.

At first neither of us was happy with the Raid Ant Bait I bought. This is the kind where the workers take the yummy food back to the queen and it kills her. (May I point out that the name itself is a little disquieting. I don't want to attract ants, or even catch ants.)

But instead it seemed like I had bought food that the ants enjoyed, and also were telling their friends about. There are actually some pretty funny reviews on Epinions, including one titled "A Warm Invitation to Ants & Family."

The stuff is supposed to work noticeably in a few days, but we never saw any fewer ants, and Gailor started making sarcastic comments about the containers being almost empty and shouldn't we buy some more so they wouldn't go hungry. This went on for weeks.

And yet now, I realized this morning, the ants have completely disappeared without our ever noticing. But it's been so long even since we tossed the baits I can't believe they had anything to do with it. Is it just not teeny ant season anymore? Or did they move on to greener pastures once we stopped providing delicious food for them?

Or did we actually kill a whole colony of ants? 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

I'm guessing that posting a comment is taking a particularly long time today. One newbie just now posted her comment 11 times, a new record. I feel your pain; it takes forever to publish them, too. But please, try to restrain yourself and only post once. It will happen.

The problem is that when you keep trying to post, they all do show up eventually. Then I have to kill them out, a minor but tedious process, or sometimes I publish them twice by mistake. 

I usually go read a couple of chapters of War and Peace, and then, voila! The comments are published. I'm sure that will work for posting comments as well. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Commenting
        

Baltimore magazine's Best Of issue, I have a feeling, is going to provide us with material for several interesting discussions. I, for one, was struck by the fact that the first item under Food was "Ambiance."

Well, yes, it's an A, but still. The surroundings are important to me, but I guess I was expecting everything under "Best of Food" to be, well, food.

The winner was the Ambassador Dining Room, which also surprised me; and yet thinking about it, that's why I go there even though the Indian food is expensive compared to every other Indian restaurant in the area. ...

The ambiance at Petit Louis is as important to me as the food, and a couple of places that have good outdoor seating, and I suppose Martick's. Maybe Little Italy for the whole neighborhood. But I'm not sure there are many restaurants in Baltimore where people go primarily for the ambiance. Am I wrong about this?

(Gene Sweeney Jr./Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

Next week I review an old favorite with a new owner, Sanders' Corner in Loch Raven.

The two best things about it have always been the breakfasts served until 1 p.m. every day and the fine outside seating on the covered porch overlooking the Loch Raven Reservoir area.

When I looked over the photos for the review, I realized I hadn't asked for one of the view. Luckily I had taken one from the porch when we ate there, so I'll post it below.

And look for my review in next Sunday's Arts & Life Today section. 

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Review Preview
        

Dan D and a waiter are having a discussion under an earlier post on how much you save if you eat at a participating restaurant during Restaurant Week. The estimates are ranging from 10 to 15 percent (Dan D) to 50 percent (a waiter).

Obviously there are a lot of factors to be considered. Portions can be smaller, or different than anything on the regular menu, so it's hard to judge. And in some ways it doesn't matter.

You know if you're eating at the Prime Rib you aren't going to get the usual size slab o' beef plus other dishes for $30.08. Likewise, if you go to a tapas place, you expect more than you'd usually get for $30.08. Either way, you expect it to be a bargain, and the point is that you know what you're going to pay for food in advance as long as you don't up the ante by ordering extras.

And woe to the establishment that tries to make the same profit as usual during Restaurant Week. ...

So my question is, whether you ate at one of the ritziest restaurants in town or a place where you normally wouldn't spend much more than $30 a person, did you feel you got a bargain? Why?

If you had to guess, how much do you think you saved off the regular menu (in percentages)? Who do you think was closer in generalizing about the savings during Restaurant Week, Dan D or a waiter?

Is the event itself not the bargain it was when it started? (Which is sort of the feeling I'm getting from what people have posted here.)

(Patrick Smith/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

I thought I better find out about the cling vs. freestone question at the Waverly Market today. I know I could have just looked it up on the net, but that feels like cheating sometimes.

Chris Reid, son of Dave, the owner of Reid's Orchard, told me that when peaches are bred to develop faster, and ripen earlier, the stone doesn't have time to set, so you get the split pits and the flesh that clings to them. The slower, later varieties are the cling-free ones. ...

My bigger problem with the local peaches I've had this year is that they seem somewhat flavorless and watery. I was wondering if that was because of all the rain earlier. (I didn't ask Chris this; it seemed kind of insulting.) The ones I bought today are a different variety, and I'm hoping they'll be better. I was actually reduced to composting a few local peaches my family wouldn't eat, and buying some New Jersey peaches from Whole Foods, which were a lot better. We could have a whole discussion on buying local when it just isn't as good.

While I'm talking market, I'm desperate for bi-color or yellow corn, but all I could find was white. If any of you know of any vendors that are selling one or the other, let me know so I can go to the downtown market tomorrow.

(Photo of the new variety, which looks pretty good, by me) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

"OK, just for the record, the following posts have result in over 100 comments:

7/10/08 - Sandwich Musings (150 comments)

5/28/08 - Beef Fat Again Already (142)

6/3/08 - Top Ten Crab Houses (137)

2/5/08 - Top Ten Locations We Miss Terribly (131)

6/5/08 - Crabtastic Fun From You Know Who (106)

7/26/08 The Split Check and Other Horrors (100, with this one)

(Although, Splitting the Check, Part Deux on 7/27/08 had 54 comments and I, for one, kept getting confused about which of the two posts I was commenting on.)

Two Posts have garnered over 90 comments:

6/2/08 - Where Else To Get A Great Crab Cake (99...missed the top list by just this much...)

1/15/08 - Top Ten Burgers (92)

Yes, I scrolled back through all the archives. Did you know that when you scroll quickly down page after page, eventually your eyes, in a vain attempt to keep up, roll back into your head?

They do.

And when ever this happened, my cat, who usually sits on my desk while I'm on the computer, would start hissing as my eyes started rolling back and when the only thing showing was the bottom white part of my eye ball, he would leap off the desk and go hide behind the bookcase.

This, my friends, is what passes for a fun Friday night in the big rectangular states.

By the way, EL, as I was scrolling and scrolling, I would read a little and it turns out that on 4/4/2008, you and Gailor listened to Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" on your cross-country trip.

This performance of that song is my favorite.

Posted by: Bucky | August 2, 2008 12:51 AM"

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

John McIntyre, he of the martinis, bow ties and dangling participles (not that he commits any, but he's ever vigilant), stopped by my desk today and invited me to the copy desk soiree, which was going to happen after the more general party late this afternoon for all the people who took the buyout and would not be back Monday.

I explained that I was a coward and I was pretending no one was leaving, and that was why I wasn't going to any of the parties or reading any of the goodbye e-mails.

And when anyone came up to me today to say goodbye individually I put my hands over my ears and said, "Nyah, nyah, nyah. I can't hear you," which was really mature of me. ...

But later when I looked in the fridge there were six very enticing cheesecakes, handcrafted by John's wife, Kathleen Capcara.

I made him e-mail me the names of all of them, and I was very tempted to steal one of those chopped Reese's bits off the top of the peanut butter cheesecake. But out of respect for John, I didn't.

I just love the idea of someone making six cheesecakes for one party. (And believe me, there are not enough copy editors to eat six cheesecakes.) It's so decadent. 

Here's the list:

* Angel cheesecake with strawberries (sugar-free, low-fat)

* Peach yogurt cheesecake (no sugar added, low-fat)

* Lemon mouse cheesecake with gooseberries (not shown)

* Peanut butter cup cheesecake with chocolate crust

* Chocolate marble cheesecake with dark chocolate topping

* Sweet potato cheesecake (recipe from Galatoire's of New Orleans)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

Last night four of us finished up our Chinese dinner the usual way: playing fortune cookie charades. I've talked about this before in an earlier post. First of all, I want to say how grateful I am that my daughter isn't interested in an acting career. How bad is she? Even though we got "horse," she never managed to convey that the word was "horses." The fortune, if you can call it that, was "You enjoy gambling, horses and drinking, but nothing to excess."

But here's the amazing thing: When we finally guessed her fortune (only without the horses) and moved on to the second person, he had the same fortune. Not only that, my husband and I had a different fortune, but ours were the same.

I wonder what the odds of that are. ... 

This morning I started Googling fortune cookies, and, of course, whole books have been written on the subject. They were invented in the U.S., probably by Japanese-Americans, and made by chopsticks (not sure what that means) until 1964.

But what I was trying to do this morning was find out information about the fortunes themselves. I was picturing writing fortunes as a career path, something I might go into if I decide to take the next buyout.

I would make them real fortunes, and interesting, things like "Death will strike if you take a shower tonight." But there was almost nothing about the fortunes themselves that a cursory Google search could tell me.

There is the Lucky Fortune Cookie factory in Jessup, Md. But it buys its fortunes from a wholesaler in Atlanta. Maybe I'll get my brother, who lives there, to do a little legwork for me. 

(Chiaki Kawajiri/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

August is amazingly short of national awareness subjects, but it is National Catfish Month. (According to the list I was looking at, the others are Peach Month, Harvest Month and National Water Quality Month.)

I'm not exactly sure what you're supposed to do during National Catfish Month except eat more catfish, something I don't mind doing because I'm from Tennessee, where for many years it was the only seafood besides fried shrimp you'd really want to order in restaurants.

But if for some bizarre reason... 

 ...you want to take this opportunity to learn more about catfish, this is the link to the National Catfish Institute. 

And hang on to your horses, here's something amazing: There's a Web site to guide you to restaurants that serve catfish. I looked up Maryland, and according to CatfishRestaurants.com (motto: "Hooking America up with great catfish"), there are no places in Baltimore. (Please let us know if this is wrong.) Elsewhere in Maryland, at least according to the site, only Red Hot & Blue serves catfish.

February, by the way, is National National Awareness Month Awareness Month. Yes, I am easily amused. 

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (34)