Once again this fall Harbor East is the setting for a progressive dinner, which I'll tell you about first and then suggest a couple of other possibilities.

I actually got a review of the one last year from one of the participants. I hope if any of you go this year, you'll let us know about it. 

You'll get one course at each of these six restaurants: RA Sushi, Pazo, Cinghiale, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Lebanese Taverna and Roy's.

The date is Wednesday, Oct. 15. There are two seatings, one at 6 p.m. and one at 7 p.m.

Reservations are required. You can go to HarborEast.com to make them or to find out more about the evening. You can also call 410-752-9331. ...

The cost is $95 a person, which pays for dinner, drinks, tax and tip.

Participants are escorted from restaurant to restaurant in 4 groups of 20. There will also be "surprise performances" along the way.

I find the idea of a progressive dinner sponsored by a neighborhood's restaurants appealing. I'd like to see Lauraville/Hamilton doing it. Drinks at Lauraville House, hors d'oeuvres at Los Amigos, first courses at Hamilton Tavern, entrees at Chameleon Cafe, dessert at Clementine. Of course, you'd have longer walks between restaurants, but would that be so bad?

Or how about Fells Point? Drinks at Todd Conner's or Alexander's (or name your favorite tavern here), hors d'oeuvres at Mezze, first courses at Kali's Court, entrees at Fin, and dessert at Meli.

I'd keep going for Canton, Federal Hill, Ellicott City and Bel Air, but I don't want to do all the work here.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

To maintain my professional dignity, I can't admit I have any, so I can't get you started.

However, I have no doubt that one or more of the regulars will jump right in to get the ball rolling.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (76)
        

Michael A. Gray posted a comment earlier wondering, "Is it possible to start a totally new thread on this blog (especially when you're away bringing Gailor her cleats) rather than work it into another subject?"

Unfortunately, I don't think so; but if anyone wants to introduce a random topic under here, please feel free to do so.

While I was packing and trying to figure out what would go in my  3-1-1 bag, I told my husband I hope to live to see the day Osama Bin Laden is shot on national TV. Or maybe a public hanging.

He suggested that it would be even more satisfying to see him forced to go through airport security lines again and again for the rest of his very long life, every moment of it broadcast on public television.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

Joyce W. started a discussion of deadly first date food under an earlier post without suggesting it for a Top 10 topic.

But I like it because it's a little offbeat and just thinking about it brings back the horrors of "Should I even talk or even smile when I'm eating?" and "What should I order? If I order a chicken sandwich, he'll think I'm dull. If I order escargots I won't be able to eat them."

The first food I remember eating on a date (which isn't quite the same thing; I was probably smart enough to realize you should never eat anything on a first date) was my first pizza (with sausage) and an orange soda. My first because at the time they didn't eat a lot of pizza in Knoxville, Tenn. My family had just moved to Ohio.

I was so enchanted with my first pizza, I ignored my date. It's what I remember, not him.

But I'm getting off-track here.

Here's our list of foods you should never order on a first date: ...

* Wings dripping with sauce. Wings were what inspired this idea in the first place.

* French onion soup (both for the breath and the stringy cheese problems).

* Broccoli, for the little bits that get stuck in the teeth.

* Spinach. It's a cliche but...

* Any long pasta with red sauce. Unless you're Italian you'll look silly eating it and the sauce will get on your clothes.

* A house salad that has raw onions.

* Steamed crabs. You simply can't look romantic tearing apart a crustacean.

* Soup. You are bound to make slurpy noises as you eat, especially once you think about it. And you may feel silly and too formal tipping the bowl away from you to get the last of the soup but rude if you don't.

* Any food for two you have to share. If one of you takes more than the other thinks he/she should have and the other is a foodie, romance could be nipped in the bud.

* The most expensive item on the menu if your date is paying. As Matt Hudock put it so well, "Speaking as a guy, when a girl orders the surf and turf on a first date, it does not bode well for future expenditures."

(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

I got this e-mail from Dave yesterday, and I'm amazed that I can't remember which local Italian restaurants make their own pasta (beyond ravioli), although I'm sure I've eaten at some.

A quick search of the archives didn't help and, hey, I'm on vacation. Quick is all you get.

If anyone can help him out, please post below:

I love Italian food but have an unsophisticated palate that I don’t think can distinguish between good (homemade) and packaged/store bought pasta.  Generally, if I like the sauce, I like the pasta.  Trying to determine if I could really appreciate good homemade pasta, I have asked in a few Italian restaurants where I have enjoyed my meal, if they make their own pasta and all have said that they do not.

Does anyone make their own pasta?  If you have already done this could you link me to it?  If you haven’t how about doing a “best pasta in Baltimore”?

(AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

EL, I'm all in favor of debate; however, I don't see the point in allowing outside posts from political interest groups. Any post that concludes with the address and website of some advocacy group seems to violate the spirit of the blog.

That being said, I would like to encourage everyone to send a donation to the foie gras purveyor of his or her choice.

Posted by: Robert of Cross Keys | September 29, 2008 8:40 AM

I've been trying to figure out if I should do anything about this. The main thing is that I hate to be in the censorship business. If regulars all feel the same way as RoCK, I think it might work better if you would ignore the ones who have an axe to grind and make sure that whenever one of the foie gras comments appears on the Most Recent Comments, you comment on enough other posts to knock it off the list.

That way they can talk among themselves if they want to. I mean, it's a big internet and I have a lot of space, so who cares?

If I had the capability to say "comments closed" on the post, I would, but as far as I know, the only way I can do that is to remove the entry.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Faithful readers know I travel light. I never check luggage anymore. But when I fly out of here tomorrow to visit Gailor, I'll be taking her high school field hockey cleats with me.

This is not my idea of what business school should be like, but, hey, what do I know? She's on one of the flag football teams and needs her cleats. Women are valuable on the Kellogg teams because two of them have to be on the field at all times, and you get more points if one of them is involved in a score. I would also bet she's the only woman at Kellogg who can throw a football spiral. Statistics I'm not as sure about. The next game is Wednesday morning. I'll report back.

I'm also going to have to explain to security at the airport why I'm wearing a jacket and also carrying a full length wool coat that isn't my size. I'll just say that I'm afraid Chicago gets really cold a lot earlier than Baltimore. Like in September.

Anyway, the reason I'm bringing all this up is to alert you that tomorrow afternoon I'll be on my way. ...

I've asked my editors to publish comments regularly when I can't, although I'll have my laptop with me. DON'T EMBARRASS ME.

Here's the drill once again:

If anything interesting food-wise or otherwise happens in Evanston (where Kellogg, Northwestern's business school is) or Chicago, I'll post it. I'm proud of the fact that my page views don't drop when I'm on vacation, and I need your help to keep my record unbroken. I'll have some Baltimore-relevant posts but also the idiot questions, which I would appreciate your answering, even if you want to use an alias.

Marty Katz was kind enough to send me a Chicago Zagat, and many of you have given me great suggestions, both restaurants and events. My problem is that by the time I get there I'm afraid I'll be a vegetable (this post's food reference).

My life here is overscheduled, so it will be nice just to sit.

I'll also have to be guided by what Gailor has time for, after flag football and Mathematical Methods for Management Decisions. I think I'll get into Chicago, and I've asked her to get reservations for the architectural boat tour, but you never know.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

I got a very nice phone call from Tom Creegan (pictured) the other day when I posted about how noisy the Hamilton Tavern in Hamilton was.

Creegan owns the building, and his wife is one of the business partners.

I say "very nice" because it sounds like he's heard the same thing from other folks, and maybe more than once, but he was patient about explaining the different things they're doing to cut down on the noise. He also said they hadn't counted on how busy the tavern would be from the beginning, which of course is the main reason it's so noisy.

I told him to feel free to post the particulars under the entry, but I guess he never got around to it. He also said that the menu was going to change soon. It may already have changed by the time you read this.

Anyway, my review of the Hamilton Tavern appeared yesterday. If you've eaten there and want to put your two cents in, feel free.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

Next Sunday I review Tapabar in Little Italy. I talk a lot about whether a non-Italian restaurant can survive in Little Italy, but maybe I ought to have thought about the question in broader terms.

I don't have much sense about how Little Italy's restaurant scene is doing in general.

I know there are several spots that have been empty for awhile. I'm not sure if and when Boccaccio is going to open again after its owner's death.

Tourists are always going to want to go to Little Italy. Locals seem to realize that there are other neighborhoods in Baltimore that have good Italian restaurants, but a lot of us still love Little Italy.

Anyway, is there room for a Spanish-Venezuelan tapas bar in Little Italy?

(Gene Sweeney Jr./Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Review Preview
        

Someone told me one of the best places to buy fresh flowers was Whole Foods, so a couple of weeks ago I bought a dozen roses there. In about two days they did what long-stemmed roses often do, they drooped their little rose heads instead of opening and had to be tossed.

And yes, I trimmed off a couple of inches of stem, cutting on the diagonal, before I put them in the warm water that had flower food in it.

So yesterday I bought these beautiful roses at SuperFresh. ...

You can tell they're going to open and not droop. I love a mixed bouquet of roses. Three gorgeous reddish-pink ones with cream, three yellow, three cream and...two white? I'm not great at math, but that seems to be 11, not the dozen I thought I was buying.

It's one of those things where it's too much trouble to take them back, so they've got me.  And if I had known there were 11 from the beginning I probably would have bought them anyway because they're so pretty. I just don't like to feel I've been had. I mean, roses come in dozens.  The sign even said, "12 roses for $12.99." It might have been a miscount if they were all one color, but wouldn't you notice you were putting two, not three whites in the bunch?

So to make myself feel better I'll just tell 5,000 of my closest friends to count your roses before you leave the SuperFresh.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

Even though I went to the Waverly market yesterday, I made a special trip down to the Sunday market just now for corn. Faithful readers will remember that Brown's Cove Farm told me last week they would have my beloved bi-color corn this week. And I was planning to buy a dozen ears to freeze the way Joyce W. suggested.

So I got there early, parked my car and then opened my purse to see if I had any money because, you know, what would be the point of checking at home where I could actually get some from my husband if I didn't have any. ...

Counting the hidden quarters I keep for parking meters, I had $2.25. Of course, that ended up not mattering because Brown's Cove didn't have any corn.

I did buy five ears of really ugly corn from the pitiful stash Calvert Farms, an organic farm with a stand across from Brown's Cove's, had. The pleasant surprise was that it's yellow corn, something I haven't seen all summer. I only had money for four ears, but I talked the guy into giving me a runt for my last quarter. I bet this will end up being the best corn I've had this season.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

What do you do when your basement floods? You go to the liquor store, of course.

I don't know if everyone's basement in Baltimore flooded or whether they knew winter was coming so the only thing to do was to stock up on alcohol and chocolate, but the Wine Source in Hampden was hopping. Or maybe it was the tasting of Oregon wines (chardonnay, not oaky; pinot gris, fruity and acidic).

But I was on a mission. ...

I headed for the shelf with the bitters. I realize that many of you must feel like I'm reinventing the wheel here, but bitters. Wow. There was a whole shelf of them: orange, grapefruit, lemon. I was tempted to buy one of each, but I realized just in time that they were just going to sit on a kitchen shelf unopened if I did. Because really, this bottle of Angostura Aromatic Bitters that is now next to my keyboard is probably going to sit on a kitchen shelf unopened as well.

I also bought a case of Gruet blanc de noirs, and I just can't see putting sugar and bitters in a glass of it. Maybe I should have bought a split of Freixenet. Is this like "the better the wine, the better the dish"? "The better the champagne, the better the champagne cocktail"?

Or will cheap champagne do just fine?

OK, what else can you do with Angostura Bitters? I'm reading the wonderful label now, which just puts me in the mood for watching '40s movies, or Heat of the Sun, the PBS Mystery series set in Kenya that I love.

I can make a Manhattan cocktail or a Rangoon Typhoon. Or I can add two to three dashes to cooked or canned fruit. I can add it to salads, pies or soups.

There are 12 calories in 1/2 teaspoon and 1.2 mg of potassium, for some reason.

Somehow nutritional information doesn't belong on this label.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Whoa. I can't believe Paul Newman is dead. This is sort of a food post, considering all those salad dressings and popcorn his name was on.

I saw Paul Newman once when he came back to his alma mater, Kenyon College in Ohio. (My father taught there.) Newman had given the money for a new theater. I remember thinking first, Wow, he's just as good looking in real life and second, wow, is he short.

My husband saw Hombre so many times in his youth he can say every line with the actors. I love all the H movies Newman made -- Hud, The Hustler, Harper. I wonder what the significance of the letter was.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

I got the following e-mail from the owner of the Grand Cru Wine Bar in Belvedere Square after my post on having a champagne cocktail. Now I'm even more intrigued.

It's just the kind of day that cries out for a champagne cocktail.

If I had Angostura Bitters.  (I wonder if you go to a liquor store or a place like Eddie's to buy them?)

If I had a bottle of champagne.

I do have sugar cubes. They are one of those things that I shouldn't spend the money on but do. I wonder how they make them. Or rather, I don't now because I just Googled them and here's what I found in Wikipedia: ...

Suppliers of sugarcubes make them by mixing sugar crystals with sugar syrup. Jakub Kryštof Rad invented sugarcubes in 1841 in the Austrian Empire (what is now the Czech Republic).

Still, this doesn't say how they get in those neat little cubes. Do they put them in molds? Or cut them with very sharp blades?

Anyway, here's Nelson Carey's e-mail:

It was great to read about Champagne Cocktails on your blog.  The drink has been a staple at Grand Cru since the beginning.  We make ours by marinating sugar cubes in a mixture of Angostura & orange bitters.  When ready to make the drink, drop two cubes into a champagne flute & fill with Champagne.  No fruit garnish as the oil in the citrus will quell the bubbles in the cocktail.  It is the ONLY cocktail I know of that changes flavor (in a good way) as you drink it.

(It changes flavor as the sugar dissolves and the bitters add their herbal notes.) 

(Photo of Mary Beth Marsden and her drink of choice, a champagne cocktail at the Ambassador. Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Wine and Spirits
        

Yes, the Waverly Farmers Market was in full swing when I got there a little after 7 a.m. Bring your umbrella, though. I almost left mine in the car, but I was glad I didn't. The heavens opened up and those who didn't have one looked like drowned rats.

When I bought my loaf of bread, I remembered another way you know you're a foodie. The woman put the loaf in the bag, and even though I felt silly, I pointed to the one next to it that looked almost identical but somehow seemed better and asked for it instead. Even though I knew in my heart that if you made me shut my eyes and switched them around I probably wouldn't be able to tell which was which. ...

It's like Gailor asking the server for the biggest biscotti he or she can find. She would never know if it actually was, and even the smallest biscotti is certainly a good size. That's because she inherited the foodie gene from me.

I could tell the woman was annoyed with me because the first loaf was already in the bag. That's how I know she's not a foodie. A foodie would have understood.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

So you think you could do better than Rachael Ray? This is your chance.

The Food Network is having an open casting call in Washington (sort of) for its show The Next Food Network Star. It's the first time for a casting call in DC. Amateur and professional chefs are welcome.

The cattle casting call will take place next  Friday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Art Institute of Washington in Arlington, Va.

You should bring an application, photograph and resume or bio to the audition, where you'll meet with network casting directors.

For an application and contest rules, click on this link at FoodNetwork.com.

(Chef and Food Network host Rachael Ray, left, poses with "The Next Food Network Star" contestant Elizabeth Raynor. Handout/ Food Network/KRT) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

This morning I was thinking about Tiburzi's and musing about Canton restaurants in general because KristinB. mentioned under an earlier post that she had noticed the Italian grill had turned into yet another sports bar.

We noted several weeks ago that Tiburzi's Cafe in Canton had closed. 

As I was walking my dog yesterday, I saw that it's now re-opened as Tiburzi's Sports Bar. Just what Canton doesn't already have enough of: a sports bar!

Posted by: KristinB | September 15, 2008 10:48 AM

I tried giving them a call, but so far the new place's number isn't listed and the old number has been disconnected. If anyone knows anything more, please post below.

But KristinB. is right. Doesn't Canton have enough sports bars? It's seems like the neighborhood has been gentrified enough to support some very nice restaurants, but they all tend to disappear. I'm thinking of the Atlantic and Canton's Pearl (which has become Canton Dockside) as well as Tiburzi's. ...

The problem with generalizations like that, of course, is that the reasons they disappeared may not have had anything to do with their clientele.

A good example of this is illustrated by Vicki's comment under yet another post:

My husband is a chef in Canton and when I asked him why Tiburzi's closed he said simply that "Hemry [one of the owners] ran out of money." I know they had some problems with one or more of their past chefs. ::shrugs::

Posted by: Vicki | August 5, 2008 11:08 PM

The photo is from Tiburzi's when it was an Italian restaurant.

(John Makely/kSun photographer)

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

We've talked about splitting the check before, but I have to say when you throw a birthday dinner into the equation, that adds a whole new layer of guilt and friendship to the mix. I'm referring to a recent post by Consumer Blogger Liz on a woman who asked her friends to split a $3,450 restaurant bill evenly among themselves.

I don't like any of the solutions mentioned that much. I think the best thing is probably to have the menu and cost set in advance, with a private room and an open bar. Then guests know what they're getting into if they decide to attend.

On the other hand, If you don't ask in advance what the arrangements are in a situation like the one above, maybe it's somewhat your own fault.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

As I was wallking off the court after my tennis game at Meadowbrook this morning, I saw that they were about to have a press conference announcing that Michael Phelps was going to be on the front of Kellogg's cereal boxes and other products.

Lloyd Fox, one of the Sun's photographers, was there; and sure enough, when I looked in our photo archives just now, there were pictures.

This is great. I can scoop my own newspaper.

OK, I can see why you'd want Phelps on your box of Frosted Flakes, to encourage the little tykes who hero-worship him to buy your breakfast cereal.

But Club Crackers?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

For today's Funtastic Thursday, Owl Meat has done a great roundup of fantastic food moments on Seinfeld.

At least I think it's a great roundup because I never saw an episode of Seinfeld.

What I was struck by was how many of these I had heard about anyway. 

Here's the Owl Man:...

"The Jerk Store is Out of You

After two weeks of actual writing, I thought I would take a different route today.  Has there been a non-cooking television show that featured food more prominently than Seinfeld?  I think not.  In a show that dwelled on the minutiae of daily life, food was front and center.
 
The show was so food-centric (McIntyre just felt a twinge) that many episode titles are about food:

16 The Chinese Restaurant (5/23/91)
17 The Busboy (6/26/91)
24 The Cafe (11/6/91)
31 The Pez Dispenser (1/15/92)
60 The Junior Mint (3/18/93)
65 The Mango (5/16/93)
71 The Non-Fat Yogurt (11/4/93)
77 The Dinner Party (2/3/94)
79 The Pie (2/17/94)
88 The Big Salad (9/29/94)
93 The Soup (11/10/94)
107 The Fusilli Jerry (4/27/95)
116 The Soup Nazi (11/2/95)
120 The Gum (12/14/95) [Food or not?  A Seinfeldian discussion.]
121 The Rye (1/4/96)
130 The Calzone (4/25 /96)
142 The Chicken Roaster (11/14/96)
155 The Muffin Tops (5/8/97)
157 The Butter Shave (9/25/97)
163 The Slicer (11/13/97)

People said that it was a show about nothing, but it was a show about everything.  Some say that the characters were shallow overaged adolescents obsessed with nonsense.  I disagree.  Here are some of the topics of discussion at the Owlgonquin Roundtable™ this week: buying a shower curtain on the internet, crushed versus cubed ice, whether Coke is better out of a can or bottle, why ice is a ridiculous invention and why I threw out my ice cubes trays, what's the deal with spelt, storing ice in Zip-Loc bags, and what's the difference between a shower curtain and a shower liner.
 
Often food and restaurants were supporting amusements, but sometimes they were plot centerpieces.

I present for your perusal and commentary a Seinfeld culinary bestiary:
 
(1) Marble Rye (Episode title: The Rye) Plus "Beefarino" and Rusty the horse.
 
(2) Soup Nazi (The Soup Nazi)

(3) Is soup a meal?  Kenny Banya. (The Soup)

(4)  Special duck, make own your pizza, abortion and hand washing. (The Couch) Deft social commentary spoken by morons:
 
POPPIE: (...) but we cannot give the people the right to choose any topping they want! Now on this issue there can be no debate!

KRAMER: What gives you the right to tell me how I would make my pie?

POPPIE: Because it's a pizza!

KRAMER: It's not a pizza until it comes out of the oven!

POPPIE: It's a pizza the moment you put your fists in the dough!

KRAMER: No, it isn't!

POPPIE: Yes, it is! (...)

(5) Muffin stumps (The Muffin Tops) Elaine's old boss opens Top of the Muffin to You. 

A homeless shelter employee named Rebecca DeMornay scorns their 'muffin stumps.' In case you are out of the hipster doofus loop, a 'muffin top' now signifies the roll of fat that a woman has when she's wearing tight pants and a tragically short shirt.  30 Rock exploited this when a character says that her dance club single 'Muffin Top' was on the charts in Israel.

(6) The Deli Slicer (The Slicer)

Kramer trades in his sausage press for a deli slicer.  Possible uses: meat so thin that it's invisible, trimming Elaine's uneven heels, slicing meat for the cat next door to Elaine, food for Elaine when she locks herself in her apartment, and Dr. Van Nostrin's intended surgical tool for getting a section of Mr. Krueger's mole.  A man with a lot of potatoes lives near Elaine also.

(7) Fusilli Jerry (The Fusilli Jerry)

(8) Lobster in the Hamptons (The Hamptons) Purloined lobsters, 'shrinkage,' George's lobster omelet hate crime, and Hampton tomatoes.

(9)  Mr. Pitt eats a Snickers bar with a knife and fork (The Pledge Drive)
 
(10) Poppy seed muffin  (The Shower Head)

J. Peterman: 'I'm afraid it's your urine, Elaine. You've tested positive for opium...That's right. White Lotus. Yam-yam. Shanghai Sally...The dark continent is no place for an addict, Elaine.'

(11) George eats a chocolate éclair from the trash (The Gymnast)

Jerry Seinfeld: So let me get this straight. You find yourself in the kitchen. You see an éclair in the receptacle... and you think to yourself: "What the hell, I'll just eat some trash."

George Louis Costanza: No, no, no. It was not trash.

Jerry Seinfeld: Was it in the trash?

George Louis Costanza: Yes.

Jerry Seinfeld: Then it was trash.

George Louis Costanza: It wasn't down in. It was sort of on top.

Jerry Seinfeld: But it was in the cylinder.

George Louis Costanza: Above the rim.

Jerry Seinfeld: Adjacent to refuse is refuse.

George Louis Costanza: It was on a magazine, and it still had the doily on.

Jerry Seinfeld: Was it eaten?

George Louis Costanza: One little bite.

Jerry Seinfeld: Well, that's garbage.

George Louis Costanza: But I know who took the bite. It was her aunt.

Jerry Seinfeld: You, my friend, have crossed the line that divides man and bum. You are now a bum

And so many more."
 

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

Gailor told me this morning that she's been catching up on the blog when she should have been studying for her Mathematical Methods for Management Decisions class.

She said, and I quote, "Those people on your blog are unbelievable. You could ask them whether it's better to make a giraffe or an owl out of a paper clip and they would argue about it for hours. Someone would come up with some obscure knowledge to prove his point, and someone else would bring up his Uncle Larry's experience with paper clip giraffes." ...

This, of course, reinforced an idea I've been toying with for my vacation next week. As usual, I'll do some posts relative to Baltimore restaurants and some about my Chicago trip, but I'm also going to try to come up with one simple question a day that involves no work on my part.

I'm hoping regulars (or anyone, but especially regulars) will do their part to get the ball rolling by coming up with an answer or two. This will make my life easier on my vacation.

Not to worry. These will not be the kinds of questions you might find in Mathematical Methods for Management Decisions.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

Last night I had dinner at Michael's Steak  & Lobster Restaurant on Eastern Avenue, where I had my first champagne cocktail. (Don't ask me why. It was listed with the Sutter Home wines that were all $4 by the glass, and I thought why not?)

This is the classic recipe that was the rage at dinner parties in the 1800s: a sugar cube soaked in a couple of splashes of Angosturo bitters and covered in champagne.

It was better than I thought it would be, even though it came in a wine glass with cheap champagne and an orange slice garnish. I think I'll try it at home.

Anyway, I was thinking about how many Old Baltimore restaurants like Michael's there are around that are off our radar. (The current owners have had it for 18 years, our waitress told us.) That ought to be a Top 10 sometime. Name the places that you no longer hear much about but they just keep trucking along. ...

However, next week, as you know, I'll be on a vacation, so I want a really easy Top 10 Tuesday. I like the deadly first date foods idea, and I've already almost got my list made up. But if you've thought up any more since we talked about it, please post below.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

My earlier post on Krispy Kreme's woes reminded me of a press release I got on a new book, Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut by Paul R. Mullins, associate professor and chair of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis:

It explores the development of America’s consumer culture through our relationship with the doughnut, beloved by many, a symbol of temptation and unhealthiness to others.

I wrote back saying I don't exactly see how a soft, warm, yummy glazed doughnut could be a symbol of America's consumer culture, only I sounded more serious and less hungry than that.

Dr. Mullins kindly sent me this explanation: ...

Elizabeth,

If you think about what are usually taken as the key elements in 20th century consumer culture--suburbanization, car commuting, mass production, chain stores, and an embrace of modestly priced commodities like fast food -- doughnut marketing and consumption were significantly bolstered by all those transformations. 

For instance, in the 1920s doughnut machines began to churn out massive quantities of doughnuts, which really made doughnuts a mass-consumed commodity instead of a food folks fried once in a while in their kitchens; when chain stores began to provide standardized supplies to franchisees (which really hits doughnut stores in the 1950s), doughnut chains expanded very rapidly led by Dunkin' and Krispy Kreme as well as a bunch of regional chains; and if any food has ever been well-suited to car culture and suburban commuting, it is the doughnut, which is easily delivered in drive-throughs, can actually be consumed while driving (or at least more easily than an Egg McMuffin and the competitors), and doughnuts are inexpensive and filling. 

Like lots of other changes associated with 20th century fast food, there are genuine undersides of such transformations, so at the same time doughnuts' history stresses the implications of such shifts in how we buy and consume food.

I wish I had asked him whether he like Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kremes better. Or whether he likes doughnuts at all.

(AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

I think that it would be great fun to take Sarah Palin to Daniel's for a bacon cheeseburger.

But that's a shallow thought for another day. I'm still trying to find a decent barbecue place for You Know Whose You Know What. Of course, if Daniel's served barbecued moose, I could net two birds with one …. Nah.

(PS. Bucky: Wanna go to heaven without the bother and mess of dying? Next time you're in B'more it's Daniel's on me. And that's no hollow duck fries promise.)

But I pre-digress. Enough SEO badinage. On to the meat of this week's STW: ...

Oh yes, yes, it needs H&R sport springs and Bilstein shocks (this weekend), some new rims (in negotiations), and brother (and sister!) does that Ireland stainless catback exhaust look pretty peeking up under Baby's classic backside (pictures to follow in the fullness of time). But!

Here's the dilemma, Emma: Do I drive this thing to an upscale joint and take my chances, or do I slide it in amongst the Evos and Twin Cams at Daniel's and go for the sure thing?

I mean, just how important to your dining experience is the vehicle you arrive in? Pick your favorite restaurant: What do you want to be seen in when you pull up to the valet station or parking space?

And if you can find a shallower thought than that, my money's on you in an arm-wrestling match with this celebrity DUI.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

My husband told me this morning about an ad he saw on TV for the "revolutionary Green Bag." "Wait," I said. "Let me guess. Only $19.95."

"$9.95," he said without missing a beat. "It keeps fruit and vegetables from ripening and rotting for 16 days or more. Only I'm not sure I want to eat them after all that time. Plus, it works by a chemical in the bag which absorbs the chemical that ripens stuff. I don't call that green."

I was intrigued, so I got on the 'net just now and found the Debbie Meyer Green Bag Web site (with a really annoying soundtrack for this hour of the morning). ...

I suppose they are "green," in the sense that the bags (it turns out you get 20 for $9.95) are, you know, green. Or at least there's a greenish cast to the plastic.

Here's how it works. I love this. Mysterious research. Antarctic scientists find the answer in Japanese caves. Ancient knowledge. Space age technology. (That would be plastic bags, I think.) Great stuff:

Scientists involved in Antarctic exploration were searching for ways to prolong the freshness of produce. During their research, they found a region in Japan where for thousands of years farmers have been storing produce in mountain caves with amazing results.

The caves were dark, consistently cool, and dry. But it was discovered that the key to the remarkable preserving properties of the caves was a clay called "oya," and the cave mountain was made of it. The oya absorbed the ethylene gas that produce gives off as it matures. Green Bags combine ancient knowledge thousands of years old with space age technology for preserving produce.

If any of you just can't resist, please let us know how they work.

While I'm at it, let me mention that I saw another one of these infomercials on SportsCenter this morning saying that they would pay cash for gold and diamonds, AND THEY WANTED ME TO MAIL THEM MY GOLD AND DIAMONDS AND THEY WOULD SEND ME CASH BY RETURN MAIL.

Is this a great country or what?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
        

Liz Kay, a frequent contributor on Dining@Large who always sends me great tips from other blogs, asked me to link to one of her posts today (something she's never asked before). Here's what she said:

I wondered if some of your readers could help me with this week's Cheap Trick Thursday: finding grocery bargains at ethnic markets.
 
I wrote a post today with my top three ethnic market suggestions, including Hmart/Han Ah Reum, Trinacria and the Pennsylvania Dutch Markets (hope those count as ethnic). The point is that these shops --- which don't have to foot the bill for a national advertising budget --- can offer staples such as produce and meat at way better prices. I'm planning on following up on Thursday with the best of the suggestions.

And here's the link. If you have any tips, please help her out. She helps me out often.

(Photo of Trinacria by Nanine Hartzenbusch/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

I was noticing that people were still posting comments under my last TV post. That got me thinking about food and TV, and the fact that except for sit-coms where families sit around the dinner table, people don't eat much on TV shows.

It used to drive me crazy that Jack never ate on 24. I mean, I know he went to the bathroom during the commercial breaks, but that wouldn't have given him time to make and eat a sandwich or even gulp down a granola bar. ...

One exception is the boys on Entourage (I don't have HBO; I watch it on DVD). They are always eating at Urth Caffe, which makes me very happy, and other LA restaurants that I sometimes recognize and sometimes don't. The show wouldn't be as true to life if they didn't, because everyone eats out in LA.

Everyone eats, for that matter, and I think TV ought to make better use of that fact. Now I've started watching to see if anyone ever eats anything on the other shows I like. Last night as far as I could tell, although I fell asleep by the end of the first hour (don't give away any plot points; I TiVoed), in the season premiere of Heroes the kitchen was used only for scalping Claire.

However, on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sarah fixed plates of spaghetti for her family after an action-packed day tracking down a robot from the future, rescuing her ex-boyfriend's wife and shooting a lot of semi-automatics.

I suggest everyone start watching for food and restaurants in their favorite TV shows for, say, a week; and report back here when you have a sighting.

I'll bet we find there isn't much.

(Photo by Anthony Mandler/Fox) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

My husband told me about a Dr. Dean Edell show he was listening to on the radio when he was shaving the other day. Dr. Dean Edell is where we get all our information now that our doctor's receptionist has gotten too busy to dispense medical advice. You ask why I don't talk to my doctor? Hahahaha.

Anyway, Dr. Dean Edell was talking about the Ornish Diet, which apparently everyone knows about but me, even my husband. ...

This is no fad diet, according to my husband and Dr. Dean Edell. It's been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. Unfortunately, it seemed to me when I looked it up, it's so rigorous you would want to die early if you stayed on it.

I could live with no meat or fish, and maybe even no wine, but no avocados? No nuts? No fat of any kind? No dairy products other than skim milk (which I can drink by the gallon)? No olives? No, gasp, sugar? Aaaargghh. If anyone has tried this, I would like to hear from you.

Interestingly, why my husband was telling me this over breakfast wasn't because of the diet, but because Dr. Dean Edell was saying that although research has shown that cholesterol drugs do indeed lower blood cholesterol, the bad kind, it hasn't been shown that they increase survival rate.

Wow. That would annoy you if you were on the drugs, as half of America is, I guess.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
        

Sometimes when I have an idea for a post, I fill in the title and go back and write it when I have the time. For Top 10 ideas I do the same. But since I work in chronological order, after awhile the entries disappear from the top of the list unless I change their dates. I was going back just now to weed out some old ones, and I came across one for, you guessed it, Top 10 Restaurants in Strip Malls. In the entry body I had written some notes: ...

"Thanks to Bill for this one." I wonder who Bill is? Please speak up if you're still around.

And then I had started my list:

* Aida Bistro

* Cafe de Paris

* Cafe Mezzanotte

* Cynthia's

* Pasta Plus

* Szechuan House

* Trattoria Alberto

If I had to do this morning's list over again, a couple of these would definitely be on it, although I'm not sure what I'd leave off. Which goes to prove that you shouldn't take these Top 10s too seriously.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I can see you asking, "Why do we care whether a restaurant is located in a strip mall?"

For several reasons. First, there are hidden gems here. If you didn't know they were good, you might overlook them because of the location.

Second, it gives me a chance to highlight some restaurants in the 'burbs that aren't chains.

Third, you don't have to worry about parking.

These are just the ones I know about. If you have other suggestions, please post below. (And tell us why you like them.)

Here's my list, in alphabetical order: ...

* Aida Bistro in Columbia. Italian food, small plates and a wine bar. $$

* Asean Bistro in Columbia. Pan-Asian food. $$

* Christopher Daniel in Timonium. New American with a martini lounge. $$$

* Cynthia's in Severna Park. Seasonal New American cuisine. $$$

* Grace Garden in Odenton. Gets votes for most authentic Chinese in the area. $

* House of India in Columbia. Casual Indian. $$

* Mia Carolina in Glyndon. Recently renovated, with northern Italian food. $$$

* Orchard Market & Cafe in Towson. Contemporary and traditional Persian cuisine. $$

* Shin Chon (8801 Baltimore National Pike) in Ellicott City. Korean barbecue. $$

* Trattoria Alberto in Glen Burnie. Fine-dining northern Italian food. $$$$

(Andre F. Chung/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (70)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

The Associated Press is reporting that Krispy Kreme's sales have tanked because of the "health craze" that has caused customers to rethink having a nice warm, soft glazed doughnut.

Right. I'm sure those customers are all buying tofu now. But maybe there's some truth to it.

So what's the company's strategy to fight back? It's going to start selling soft-serve ice cream.

I love that.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

This afternoon Midnight Sun Sam and I were talking about the fact that Bin 604 in Harbor East has just gotten its Class BD-7 beer, wine and liquor license (so that it can stay open Sundays), and whether that would be of more interest to his readers or mine.

On the one hand, he's the heavy drinker of the two of us. Ha ha. Just kidding, Sam.

His readers, he mused, probably aren't going to be all that excited about a new place to buy a bottle of wine on Sunday when they can get a decent one at many bars. ...

On the other hand, Sam pointed out, my readers might be more likely to want to buy a bottle on Sunday from a place that specializes in "little known bargain wines, collectible wines and low yield vintners," to quote from the press release, rather than a nice Kendall Jackson chardonnay.

I had dismissed the news when Bin 604 first applied because I was told the shop won't be serving any food, even though what it's got is called a tavern license. But Sam has a good point.

So there you go.

(Photo by Steve Ruark/Special to the Sun)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: Wine and Spirits
        

From the comments under my review preview of Crush in Belvedere Square, I know some of you had a different experience than I did when I ate there. Here's my review.

I hope other readers will chime in. I'm not sure Crush will sell enough $25 entrees to sustain itself in this economy; but I think there are enough small plates, dinner salads, and sandwiches also offered to give it a chance for success. ...

I also want to say that I appreciate the straightforwardness of the menu. I'm getting to the point of exhaustion with reading some of the descriptions listing the glories of every ingredient and where it came from -- which reminds me once again of Radar magazine's spoof.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

Hungry Eyes sent me this link to an announcement of a public auction of a Little Italy restaurant.

When I Googled the address, it turns out the restaurant is India Rasoi.

Of all the possible closings in the neighborhood, I guess this is the least surprising. People just don't think of going to Little Italy for Indian food.

Midnight Sun Sam tells me Big Kahuna Cantina in Harborplace has also closed its doors.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

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

When I had my first apartment (in Philadelphia), I bought myself a set of hand-painted Italian salad plates in the Blue Carnation pattern. They must have been inexpensive, because I didn't have any money, and I use them for everything. Now I'm down to three, and they are quite chipped, as faithful readers know.

Over breakfast this morning, I was telling my husband about how unhappy this made me. I haven't been able to find any more of them in stores around here, although it's a very famous and popular pattern. (Replacements, Inc., which everyone who likes nice china should know about, doesn't have any at the moment either.)

When I looked on the 'net, I came up with a store in San Francisco that's selling them for $60 apiece, which is a little expensive for something I eat toast off of and then stick in the dishwasher. 

My husband said something that surprised me. ...

He said buy them. And then he went on to explain (I'm paraphrasing here so any mistake is mine, not his) that it was a dharma of Buddhism that you shouldn't surround yourself with chipped, ugly things.

I like that.

Not that I'm going to buy $60 salad plates. But maybe I should find some others that are beautiful, unchipped and slightly less expensive.

In the interest of full disclosure, he also said, "There is nothing more exciting in sports than Ed Reed making an interception when he starts directing traffic as to who should block for him."

(Photo courtesy of Replacements, Inc.)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Those of you who only read the Sun online and this blog only sporadically may not realize that the Top 10 from Tuesday the week before is reprinted in the Wednesday food section. In the interval between the two I may have a whole new candidate.

This happened with the Top 10 Noisiest Restaurants. One of people who went with me to the Hamilton Tavern in, where else, Hamilton went nuts when he saw it wasn't No. 1 on the list. I had to assure him it would have been, but when the list was originally made up we hadn't been yet.

So just to let you know if you go back to the Top 10 archives, none of those restaurants, except maybe RA Sushi, holds a candle to it.

But what about the food? Ah, for that you'll have to wait for my review next week in the Sunday Arts & Entertainment section.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Review Preview
        

OK, no jokes, please, about my photographic skills. I waited to go to the farmers' market this morning specifically because Brown's Cove Farm doesn't sell at the Waverly market on Saturdays. Last week they told me they'd have their wonderful bi-color corn only another couple of weeks.

Nothing against flowers, but what are those horrible pots of chrystanthemus doing where the corn truck should be?

They told me they will have corn again next week, but my heart is broken. It's never good to get too fond of summer produce. It always leaves you.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

(And say, EL ... you got any way for us to share our own reviews with each other, maybe on a sidebar site? Though you are obviously the fearless leader of this sandbox, I'd love to hear individual takes from other denizens. My biggest problem with Zagat, say, is the fact that I can't engage in conversation with their reviewers the way we engage here. I'd take any recommendation from any of the regular sandlings without hesitation -- even OMG [though I'd put my BC/BS card in my shirt pocket for easy access]).

I've often tried to get people to post mini-reviews here to start such a discussion. I haven't had much luck. I thought with the Monday Morning Quarterbacking I could get more reaction because the places I review are often new, so other diners' visits would be recent, too. But I rarely get more than, "The service was terrible." ...

Sometimes when I post an e-mail from a reader asking for suggestions, I get some responses, but they aren't very descriptive. Even when I ask for Top 10 restaurants, the posts are more often just "The Eat-In Inn" rather than "I ate at the Eat-In Inn Saturday and the veal chop was great but stay away from the braised tongue."

Let me point out that even the winners of the Dining@Large restaurant gift certificates have never talked about their winning meals.

I have no idea why this is, but if you have any suggestions as to how to get other people here to share their thoughts on restaurants with us in a little more depth, I'd love to hear them -- both the suggestions and the thoughts.

Here was my first attempt to get other reviews on the blog. Ha ha. I'd know better now than to ask for civility. How innocent I was then.

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

I can't believe it. I went to the Baltimore Sun's home page to check if my earlier entry was still on the blog roll, and the first thing I see is "I am not Owl Meat [You Don't Say]." Right. You don't say. Mr. McIntyre would never let his id hang out that far.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

A rhetorical question if ever there was one. Puffs & Pastries has just opened in Hampden, and you're going to like what the owner, Anisha Jagtap, has to offer -- from the Granny Smith apple tart to the mile-high chocolate cake to the croissants, not to mention the "minis," little bites of sweetness.

She trained at Atwater's bakery and was executive pastry chef at Sascha's, both for the catering and restaurant. My favorite part? She has a "butter only" policy.

Anisha says it's the only local and seasonal bakery in Baltimore, but I'm not sure that's a big selling point. I mean, the idea of croissants or walnut brownies not being available all year round is kind of worrisome.

OK, OK, just kidding, but you know what I mean.

(Photo by me)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

One reason I love this blog is that there are some really interesting disagreements and well-argued positions -- unless we're discussing foie gras or Sarah Palin, of course. I'm thinking of covering my ears and going, "Nyah, nyah, nyah, I can't hear you," to both sides until the election is over.

Anyway, I'm worried you might miss the discussion going on about the two Soup's Ons because it started under a 15-month-old post and the first few words of the most recent comment under Most Recent Comments look kind of dull. ...

My massage therapist (don't you love the sound of that, "my massage therapist," like I go once a week?) told me that the Soup's On in Hampden reopened after being closed all summer. I wanted to include the reopening in my Table Talk column, but the phone has been out of order since I started calling. I finally stopped by, got the info on the hours I needed, and also noticed it didn't seem to be connected with Rose's Cookies any longer.

It was coincidence that in the same week Richard reviewed the other Soup's On, once with a location in Perry Hall but now in Mount Vernon only. (We should have a Friday Morning Quarterbacking for the restaurants Richard reviews. Good idea, Chowsearch.)

I tend to think less harshly of the owners of the Soup's On on Preston Street than Chowsearch does, although I have no idea of the truth of the matter. I talked to one of them when Soup's On first opened in Perry Hall, and as I remember, the soup place they had in California had the same name. At the time the Hampden cafe was calling itself Soup's On at Rose's Cookies.

One thing I'm sure of. Both these places, particularly when one was located in Perry Hall, were neighborhood spots. Neither was taking customers from the other. Now that they are both in the city, it's more of an issue.

I wonder which one has the best soup? I wish we could have a Soup Off because there's certainly room for more than one place that turns out good soup, and both of these places have had excellent reviews. Has anyone out there tried both of them? I guess if not, that proves something in itself.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

I have to respond to Rev'Ed's comment about the season premiere of House ("so sad") -- even though I'm encroaching on David's territory here, and there was not one morsel of food consumed the whole hour.

But as faithful readers know, I'm the world's oldest teenager according to my daughter, which means I watch a lot of (scripted) TV.

Stop reading here if you expect any food connection. It's not going to happen. ...

I loved House for its first couple of years, both because Hugh Laurie was a favorite of mine from the first season of MI-5, and also because he was in a tennis clinic at the public courts in LA where my daughter and I played, and I liked the fact he wasn't having private lessons at some private club.

But then one day I stopped being interested in the show. It hadn't jumped the shark, nothing had really changed. Laurie was just as fabulous an actor. The medical "it's not this, it's not that" just seemed stupid.

I took another look at the first show of the season and felt the same way. If there weren't any medical stuff, which was so enthralling the first season, I'd probably still be watching the show.

This happens to me with other TV shows. It's like falling out of love, one day you wake up and you just don't care anymore. Unfortunately my problem is usually the other way round. If I like a show, it's usually the kiss of death. I should make a list of my Top 10 TV shows that I personally killed by liking them too much. It would start with ABC's Eyes.

(Photo by Dean Hendler/NBC Universal/Fox)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

RJB's comment suggesting a Top 10 on wings is a good example of one that's worth doing because so many people like wings and it would be fun to do because it's different, but I wouldn't know how to begin to tackle it.

I mean, what's not to like? You have your little morsels of deliciously fatty meat dripping with a spicy-hot, sweet sauce and you cool your mouth off with crisp celery and blue cheese dressing. Of course, there are more calories than you can imagine in one wing (around 100 depending on size).

But take the most wonderful wings you've ever had. Are they really that much better than the worse wings you've ever had, as long as those key three ingredients are there?

I'll make a Top 10 out of this if I can get 10 legitimate entries that are more than just the name of the bar. Tell us why your nomination stands out more than any other wings you've had. Does the place offer more varieties? And can variations improve on the basic model?

Also, if there are any gourmands out there who don't like wings, I'd be interested in hearing from you, too. I'd rather we'd be fighting over food than politics.

Here's RJB's comment: ...

Top ten places to get wings. The place in Cross St. Market wins the city paper award every year. I am a big fan of $9.49 all you can eat wings at Bill Bateman's in Towson on Monday nights. Then I hear from some that Kislings is the place to go. Since there are countless bars that serve wings in this town, coming up with ten should not be hard.

Posted by: RJB | September 18, 2008 4:52 PM

Here's what about.com has to say about the origins of wings:

There is some dispute about who came up with the original hot wing appetizer, but most credit the Anchor Bar in where else but Buffalo, New York, USA.

The historic creation date for Buffalo Wings was October 30, 1964, when owner Teressa Bellissimo was faced with feeding her son and his friends a late snack. Having an excess of chicken wings on hand, she fried up the wings, dipped them in a buttered spicy chile sauce, and served them with celery and blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce to cut the heat. The wings were an instant hit.

The city of Buffalo has designated July 29 as "Chicken Wing Day," and today, the Anchor Bar serves up more than 70 thousand pounds of chicken per month! The Anchor Bar original recipe for hot sauce is now sold commercially.

The Wings 'n' Things Restaurant also claims a hot wing first, although their method was a bit different and used a spicy mambo sauce instead of a hot chile sauce.

I like the sound of that "buttered spicy chile sauce." Way to add a few more calories and a little more fat to them!

And look: there's a whole Web site devoted to chicken wing recipes. Now that's specialization.

(Photo courtesy of chickenwingrecipes.net)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (73)
        

It's hard to imagine that we once again so soon have to come up with a sparkling Top 10 Topic. Many of you have given me good suggestions before, and if I haven't used them, I apologize.

It's usually because I don't feel qualified, even with a little help from my friends, to come up with 10. I like, for instance, the chicken salad suggestion just because it's so different, but chicken salad isn't something I order when I go out, given the kind of restaurants I review. ...

My grammar guru John McIntyre (by the way, congrats for your City Paper award, John -- sigh, we weren't even in contention for Most Civilized Blog -- AND I BLAME YOU, OWL MEAT AND SHALLOW THOUGHT WEDNESDAY JOHN, BECAUSE I'M VERY CIVILIZED) suggested "best restaurants in strip malls."

I like this idea. Unfortunately someone else gave me this suggestion a long time ago, and I didn't get around to it. Now I've forgotten who it was.

So unless I get a better idea, restaurants in strip malls will be the topic for next Tuesday.

(Sun archives)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (55)
        

This Funtastic Thursday needs no introduction, so I'll turn it directly over to Owl Meat:

"Welcome to another All-American Funtastic Thursday, faithful groms and gromettes. Last week's Political Sandwich edition seemed popular, so if you are munching on a Dennis Kusandwich, which is rather dry, you are going to want a cocktail  to wash it down and dull the depression of having made that choice (secret shout out to Monkey Girl).
 
Barack Obama says that he likes a beer at a baseball game and Hillary Clinton looked like a frat house townie chick on spring break chugging Presidente beer  (irony alert) from a bottle and doing shots of Wild Turkey on the campaign trail. Woo hoo, you deserve a few, girlfriend, it ain't easy being green.
 
John McCain says that his favorite cocktail is Stoli on the rocks. His time in the Hanoi Hilton gets him a lifetime free pass on practically everything, but that's not a very American drink, Comrade McCain. I'm not suggesting that he is a brain-washed automaton like in The Manchurian Candidate. I'm not saying that at all. Really. It's not like he picked an unknown zealot running mate from that country above Canada, who brags that she can see Russia from the semaphore tower at her Alaskan dacha, er..., home.  

That's crazy talk. ...

And now for CAMPAIGN COCKTAILS
 
John McCain - The YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN! - Old Grand Dad and Ensure in a World's Best Grandpa mug.  Be careful.  Too many of these will make you handsy.

Barack Obama - The BARACKO BOMB - Chilled shooter of vodka, Red Bull, and Jaegermeister ($8.50).  Pay for this in cash and you will get change.  Sí se puede.  (Does it bother anybody that this clearly doesn't translate to "Yes, we can" as they claim?)
 
The SCHADENFREUDIAN SLIP aka the DOW JONES TANKINI  - What kind of fancy-pants elitist uses words like Schadenfreude?  Well, I do.  How do you explain the Three Stooges?  I love that only German could have a word for shameful joy.  Like Obama, this drink becomes more popular the worse the economy gets.  Grapefruit juice, Ciroc vodka, grenadine and a dash of bitters.

Sarah Palin - She gets more than one drink because

My VPOTUS wants to party all the time
    Party all the time
    party all the time
    My VPOTUS wants to party all the time
    party all the time

The SARAH-TONIN - Much like its homonyminous (?) neurotransmitter ... it stimulates pleasure but not for long.  It's a scoop of snow in a pretty glass.
 
The PALIN-DRONE - It gives you that dull existential ache when you realize that the Vice President sounds like the sheriff from Fargo when speaking to Vladimir Putin.  Rail gin, bitters and Ouzo.  Also creates a mind-blowing hangover that lasts four years that you can't get rid of even if you chew your arm off.  
 
Actual palindromes for today:

Live not on evil

Rise to vote, sir!

Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era.
 
Yes, drawn by dog sled to the new era ... the new 19th century, where women are muklukked and oven-bunned all the time.  Get me some more moose antler powder, woman!  It's time to get you poppin' fresh again.

Joe Biden - The CHIA SENATOR -  A boilermaker and Propecia.  I find it hard to get the funny on this one, because I think he would be a blast to have a beer with.
 
Hillary Clinton  - The INEVITABILITINI - vodka, Apple Pucker, bitters, sour mix, and a splash of Tabasco.
 
Bill Clinton - The MARGARITA FIESTA - One margarita sits on your lap, another dances and you do body shots off  the third.   ¡Olé!  
 
Bill Richardson - The STEALTH MEXICAN - Pimms and soda with a cucumber slice and a slice of orange.  Sometimes called the TOASTED WASP.  (You know, because of his name.)
 
Al Gore - Sorry but who would buy Captain Buzzkill a drink?  86 for you, my gloomy veep.

George W. Bush - The MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - An 85-ounce Cabo Wabo margarita served in a ten gallon hat.  Take one sip, yell 'Why don't you love me, Daddy?' and leave the tab and the rest of the drink for the next guy.  Served with a bowl of crunchy Empty Promises tortilla chips.

Dick Cheney -  The SNARLY SHOOTER - A shot of Wild Turkey tossed in your friend's face,  aka the FRENEMY.  Served with a mini Snickers bar.
 
Condaleeza Rice - The PETER PRINCIPLE - A 3 ounce Stoli martini in a 12-ounce glass, aka the ANTI-GRAVITY because after a few you fall upwards.
 
Mike Huckabee - A Deep Fried Shirley Temple - How is that possible?  The same way cavemen riding dinosaurs is.  
 
Mitt Romney - The MORMON SURFER - It's a stiff drink and nobody really knows what goes into it.  
 
John Edwards -  The D-BAG - One part self-made populist, three parts jackass, one too many shots of Southern Comfort and a dash of dash.  After you realize that you bought one of these you want to vomit and get your money back.

Mr. Caribou Barbie -  the dude with the awesome "snow machine" chops and frat boy goatee - THE COUGAR-WHIPPED - A little of this and that in a small glass because it doesn't amount to much, although it does have prodigious potency.
 
Palin's 16-year-old daughter's baby daddy  - The SLAP SHOT- Red Bull, Enzyte, Extenze, Captain Morgan, and misguided high-fives.   Chill well until after the election.
 
Karl Rove - What spirit fuels this chrome-pated Baby Huey from the Pit of Ultimate Darkness and gives him the energy to command his political Army of Darkness and beckon John McCain to the Dark Side?

Answer: THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT - Just like a  Bloody Mary, but add some actual infant blood (type Oh So Negative) and a double shot of stem cells. Sip slowly while stroking a cat.
____________________________________________________________________
 
Today's theme song is Randy Newman's classic 'Political Science,' the tongue-in-cheek take on Anti-Americanism that seemed dated by the 1990s.  Well thanks for bringing it back, Dubya.

No one likes us - I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens
 
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them
 
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
 
We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too
 
Boom goes London and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me
 
They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

Belly up, political mixologists. Give me your tired and your pours, huddled massively against the bar (make up your recipes). I would be disappointed if someone didn't make an Owl Meatini.

Mmmm .. very owlie."

(Photo courtesy of freefoto.com)
 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
        

Sadly, I must now put away my wonderful award from City Paper for best Sun blog 2007. I've wrung all the lording-it-over-my-colleagues out of it that I can. It's a new year, at least as far as the City Paper Best of Baltimore awards are concerned.

However, we can have the fun of discussing the paper's picks for dining. Multimedia Editor Mary suggested a Top 10 of the City Paper's awards; and while that might be, as she thought, a little meta, here are the 10 I most agree with: ...

* Best Tapas/Small Plates: Tapas Teatro

* Best New Restaurant: Woodberry Kitchen

* Best Fancy Restaurant: Charleston

* Best Restaurant Service: The Prime Rib

* Best Former Employees: The Brewers Art employees opening restaurants

* Best Homemade Meats: Clementine

* Best Vietnamese: Baltimore Pho

* Best Reason Not to Have a State Dessert: Smith Island cake (although I did have a great one made by Sugar Bakers at Catonsville Gourmet)

* Best Cake: Patisserie Poupon

* Best Crab House: Mr. Bill's Terrace Inn

I'm not sure these would be my picks in every one of these categories, but they are all good picks. I do find some of the other winners more problematic, such as the now-closed Parthenon Diner. But I feel the City Paper's pain. Restaurants are always closing on me, too. That's the problem with print.

Besides, De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est, which as faithful readers know is the second motto of Dining@Large.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

I wanted to remind you to eat out tomorrow night if you possible can to benefit Dining for Life. I don't usually use the blog to publicize benefits because there are so many worthy ones and, frankly, they make for boring posts. But this is one near and dear to my heart. Here's the Web site with participating restaurants.

I noticed for the first time this year that it doesn't just help people with AIDS, so I asked Ted Blankenship at Moveable Feast about the change. Here's what he said:

"We started serving women with breast cancer and their families about three years ago.  This is possible through the generous support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Maryland and our partnership with The Red Devils. 

"Across the country, organizations that were founded to feed people with HIV have begun to expand their services to people with other illnesses.  If the kitchen has the capacity, and you are delivering in the communities, it’s just a matter of funding because the need is certainly there. 

"Now that Moveable Feast has moved into our new home in East Baltimore with a kitchen that has an enormous capacity, we hope to feed more people with HIV or breast cancer and in the future, expand our services to other people in need of nutritious food to help fight an illness."

 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

I was thinking to myself yesterday that if I saw the expression "farm to table" one more time, I was going to push back my chair from my computer, stand up and scream. That was when the press release for Founding Farmers, a new Washington restaurant that opens tomorrow, appeared in my inbox.

Nothing against this place, which may very well be wonderful, but the press release reads like a SNL parody of green, locally sourced restaurants:

Developed by VSAG (Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group) in conjunction with a collective of more than 40,000 American family farmers, the restaurant serves fresh Farm-to-Table American-inspired true food and drink.

“We are thrilled to launch the Founding Farmers concept in Washington, DC, where our founding fathers worked the land nearby. Our menu and our approach is honestly derived from a great history of American farm culture and what it means to serve ‘true food’,” describes VSAG Principal Dan Simons.

I dunno about the founding fathers working the land part. Maybe they watched their slaves do it. ...

However, not to worry. You can still get a stiff drink if you need one:

“Our bar is one of the most exciting places to see the true art of cocktailing,” describes Executive Bar Chef Jon Arroyo. “We make each juice, each mixer, each elixir, each cocktail by hand, with skill and craft that is reminiscent of prohibition-era mixology. Add bar snacks like homemade potato chips or breadsticks with cheese fondue and you’ll realize what a true bar experience should be.”

The restaurant's phone number is, unfortunately, 202-822-TRUE.

I have an unbearable craving for a big bag of fluorescent orange Cheetos now. And I haven't even had breakfast yet.

(Photo courtesy of Founding Farmers Web site)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (70)
        

Unfortunately for Patrick Rocko, he didn’t know that one of the best things about Baltimore is that it’s a small town disguised as a city.

A Federal Hill restaurant got a very negative e-mail from him through the contact page of its Web site. Naturally the staff was unhappy, and wrote back immediately, offering to send a gift certificate as an apology (standard procedure). Rocko, properly grateful, sent them an address in Canada to mail it to.

But meanwhile the chef was talking to the chef of another Federal Hill restaurant, and his restaurant had gotten the same complaint, word for word.

The first restaurant did some Googling, and found Rocko’s name on two Web sites offering coupons and deals. ...

It seems this guy writes to restaurants all over the country and sits back to wait for the gift certificates to come in. Then he sells them on the ‘net for 10 percent off their full value. He’s probably making a nice little bit of change off the scam. I have to admit the ingenuity of it amuses me.

Once our restaurants realized what was going on, they sent e-mails to other restaurants and customers in town alerting them. A PR person from one of the restaurants forwarded it to me.

Sorry, Rocko, not in Baltimore you don’t.

Here’s the e-mail he sent originally. Note how carefully generic it is:

Subject: unhappy with recent visit

Hey, we recently, well, about two weeks ago, came back from another family outing, concluding the shopping there with family, we stopped off at .... This time around, as always, we stopped by there simply because we love the food, ambiance, and atmosphere of the place. I've heard nothing but good things about it a few years back. It is definitely one of our favorite restaurants. It has always been a great and welcoming place to take the kids, as well as for more formal occasions, and we end up there monthly with the entire family. I even took some clients there recently who've never heard of it and they fell in love with the place too. Every time, the service is at least very good or better, but recently, it has been sub par.

I went in as usual, and we were finally seated. When we were, we had noticed that the table wasn't clean, and there were a few scraps here and there left from prior. Normally, I'd expect to be moved to a new table, but the server came back with a moist towel and began cleaning it right than and there.
Some scraps came to rest on our laps as she did it in haste, and than smiled, as if she had done her job well. We than began to order our food when she had come back. We had ordered our meals, and the kids' meals came without a problem. When my wife and I received our meats, we were happy and began eating only to find that the meats were medium rare at best, not well done as we had asked for before. We had to wait around 10 minutes until the server appeared again, chewing gum, looking as casual as ever, in order to exchange our food. They came a while after, finally cooked right, and our kids were already done their meals. I had to order them dessert as they were getting fidgety, something I don't normally do as I believe they are useless calories and not something I like to buy for them. When we had finished, I had gone into the male's bathroom, and found the seats to be messy, they were wet and had loose toilet paper around the bowl. I can't blame the restaurant, its the patrons that use them and they're cleaned every so often, could happen anytime/anywhere.

After having been to your restaurant numerous times before and always praising you on how excellent and great the food and service is, this was a disaster. It was not even an alright experience on any account. I am giving you my fair take on it, and I have lost a lot of integrity for the restaurant and its quality in the service and food department because of this lone situation. I'd expect this kind of incompetence and service if I stopped by at a fast food place like Burger King, but I go to your establishment for a reason, a promise, a reoccurring promise of quality. I do not normally point out every flaw but feel this experience was as negative as one could possibly be. I was not initially going to complain, but since we have dined out a lot since than, daily if not more, I have not found a suitable replacement, and I still have the positive experience in the back of my mind speaking volumes as to how much regard I have for this place. I realized I'm keeping a childish grudge and would rather write to you and see what you have to say/what you think about it. I would like to hear your opinion of this, as I, as a long time customer and loyal patron feel like this experience was uncalled for and not something to expect from your restaurant.

Have a nice day. Waiting to hear from you.

Regards,

Patrick Rocko

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

Midnight Sun Sam tells me Kooper's Tavern is making some changes to become a more wine-centric place (something he felt Fells Point didn't have enough of before).

That, of course, is just one example of a mini-trend, with places like Alexander's Tavern and Todd Conner's opening up -- and now the new wine shop/wine bar V-no (905 S. Ann St., Fells Point, 410-342-8466).

At V-no, the wines are priced under $30 and arranged by style: “crisp white,” for instance, and “bold reds.” (There is a “cellar” group of more expensive wines.) “Green” wines, as in organic and local, have been given extra consideration, and make up about 25 percent of the stock.

For more about V-no, check out my Table Talk column tomorrow in the food section.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

The idea seemed like a good one at the time: dive bars that have unexpectedly edible pub grub. The problem seemed to be that no one wanted to label their favorite hangout a dive bar with all the phrase's negative connotations, so I didn't get many suggestions.

Next I asked what a "dive bar" is, and readers came up with some fine definitions.

A dive bar:

* has a pool table and/or pinball machines.

* is usually occupied by three types of people: alcoholics, people wanted by the police, and guys hiding from their wives.

* has a jar of pickled pigs feet (or at least pickled eggs) on the bar.

* is a place where you don't take your girlfriend/wife. ...

* has a condom  machine in the men's room.

* offers only Slim Jims, Beer Nuts, or Utz Potato chips in the way of food.

* is a dirtier, nastier, sometimes scarier sort of place.

* has bottles of onions and other pickled nastiness that sound great after you start working on the second sixer.

* doesn't have a house salad.

* offers no vegetables but french fries. (The jury is still out on onion rings.) The french fries better not be rosemary garlic fries either.

Those definitions may seem to have derailed the whole concept, but I never give up an interesting Top 10 topic once I sink my teeth into it. So let's call the following places "dive bars" in the nicest possible sense. They are a little funkier than neighborhood taverns, they haven't been gentrified, and they definitely don't offer any rosemary garlic fries.

Thanks to all the posters, my fellow reviewer Richard Gorelick, and Midnight Sun Sam Sessa for their suggestions.

Let the arguments begin:

* Bertha's in Fells Point. In spite of the afternoon tea, the live music and the famous mussels, it still has some of the good dive bar elements.

* Daniel's on Route 1 in Elkridge. Bikers dive extraordinaire, all the food is good. (Faithful readers will know who suggested this one.)

* Kisling's Tavern in Canton has good, some say great, wings.

* Linwood's in Parkville. (NOT the Owings Mills fine-dining restaurant.) Great french fries and gravy served on a paper plate. Need more information on this one. Anyone?

* Long John's Pub in Remington. Shrimp salad and fried oyster sandwich.

* Mount Royal Tavern in Mount Vernon for pizza.

* Poncabird just off Boston Street on Ponca. Great burgers and decent shrimp salad, but the service didn't get a great review.

* Spirits Tavern in Upper Fells Point. Excellent homemade guacamole, hot dogs, good cheeses.

* Swallow at the Hollow in Govans. One poster mentioned the bacon cheeseburger, the grilled ham and cheese, and the beef stew.

* Wharf Rat in Fells Point. Stick with anything fried.

(Kim Hairston/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (75)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

That was the subject line of the e-mail Gailor sent me this morning. Needless to say there was a photo attached to it. The photo to the left.

If you're a new reader, you may not know what this refers to, so please go back to this post (and even earlier if you're having a boring day at work). ...

All this, of course, is because of Gailor's Perfect Roommate, who loves nothing more than cooking gourmet meals for my daughter when she's not studying statistics. (Allison, not my daughter.)

Evanston has been feeling the effects of Ike, and apparently whenever there's a bad rainstorm, Allison's mom likes to make kimchi, so that's what the two of them had for dinner the other night.

It's the Mother of All Kimchis, filled with seafood and served with a side dish of sauteed spinach.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
        

So much has happened since my last Eat in Season Challenge post I had almost forgotten about it.

Gertrude's at the BMA is up this week, and the fixed-price menu is printed below. It's available tomorrow through Sept. 21. As usual I hope someone will try it and give us a mini-review: ...

Chefs John Shields and Brian Greene have developed a menu based upon produce, meat and seafood available in the Chesapeake region this time of year. The $49 prix fixe menu features:

STARTERS

Traditional Virginia oyster stew w/ Old Bay seasoning

Roasted beet salad topped with candied pecans and Firefly Farm's goat cheese

Chessie Sliders - Gunpowder bison burger sliders on house-made rolls with ketchup, dill pickle and local cheddar cheese.

Red pear and goat cheese gallette (a rustic Italian-style pastry in a freeform crust)

ENTREES

Brined Springfield Farm's pork loin chop topped with roasted fig and apple compote, served with sage cornbread dressing.

Fresh Maryland rockfish wrapped in locally made prosciutto, with celery

Root and Yukon Gold potato puree, topped with fried Concord grapes.

House-made pumpkin ravioli with toasted pumpkin seeds and wilted greens

DESSERTS

Mount St. Michael's apple crepe mound with toasted almond butter

Butternut ice cream with hazelnuts

Wilbur Chocolate Dessert - Chocolate mud cake with a fig compote center, served with a vanilla cranberry compote and pecan brittle

Gertrude’s chefs are using the following local suppliers: Firefly Farm, Gunpowder Bison and Trading Company, Springfield Farm, Black Rock Orchard, Broom's Bloom Dairy, Trickling Springs Creamery, One Straw Farm, and the 32nd Street Farmers' Market. Gertrude's regular menu will be available as well. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

My review of Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen/Wine Bar in Annapolis appeared in yesterday's paper, and this is the place to post if you have anything you want to add to my assessment of it.

If you haven't been and aren't interested, this is also the place to talk about the incredible popularity of mid-priced Italian restaurants that have decent food. Marylanders' appetite for this kind of restaurant seems to know no bounds, I'm not sure why.

Or just tell us about your weekend.

(Doug Kapustin/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

In a couple of weeks I'm going back to Chicago for another visit before the snow flies. That is, I'm visiting Gailor in Evanston, the suburb, but this time I'll go into the city to see what all the fuss is about. I'm going to dig out my Architecture 101 textbook and make a list of houses and buildings I should visit. And, OK, maybe I'll dig out a Chicago Zagat and make a list of restaurants I should visit as well. ...

I'll do my usual thing of taking a laptop and my camera, but I'm planning to still do Baltimore-centric posts for those who aren't interested in my travels.

I was also thinking of having one Question of the Day for an easy, vacation-style post, such as "What do you think of foie gras?" -- Ha ha. Just kidding -- hoping that the regulars will get the discussion going without my posting anything about it.

I'll ask my editors to publish comments when I'm too busy having fun, so be patient. They don't realize you're talking to each other so the comments have to be published as fast as possible. Otherwise you might as well be writing letters to each other.

Anyway, please post suggestions for topics you'd like discussed.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

One of the most anticipated restaurant openings recently has been Crush, which took the place of Taste in Belvedere Square.

Although Baltimoreans never embraced Ann Nault's creation, everyone agreed the neighborhood would suffer without another restaurant anchoring the square. So when Daniel Chaustit, formerly of Linwoods in Owings Mills and Christopher Daniel in Timonium, took over, you could practically hear a collective sigh of relief.

The question is whether Crush is enough of a neighborhood place to survive, considering Chaustit's fine-dining background. Find out what I think in next Sunday's Arts & Entertainment section.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Review Preview
        

This sign at the entrance of the Sunday farmers market under the viaduct amuses and disgusts me. Who thought it up?

First of all, why doesn't it just say, "No dogs allowed"? Are they worried someone will bring a pet goat?

But OK, they don't want any shoppers wandering around with their Siamese cats on a leash, so why not say, "No animals allowed"? Are they worried someone will complain that the steaks and sausages vendors are selling are dead animals and therefore shouldn't be at the market?

The problem with the sign, of course, is that it reminds you that those lovely steaks and sausages actually are dead animals, which is probably a good thing if you're a vegetarian or worried about your cholesterol, but is otherwise kind of off-putting.

Maybe I'm overthinking this.

Anyway, I wasn't at the market meet up, obviously, because I do my shopping as early as possible. But I hope it went well and that you'll post any observations you want to make here.  ...

Meanwhile I overbought on peppers -- there are so many varieties that you never see at the supermarket. I particularly love the sweet skinny red salad peppers that are extra-crunchy.

But since there are only two of us we really don't need all those peppers. I guess I'll make some kind of quick stir fry with them. Not Chinese, but something faux southwestern with strips of chicken breast, onion, different colored peppers, tomatoes and corn cut off the cob, seasoned with the Mexican seasoning from the West Coast that someone gave me as a gift.

Mmmm...bi-color corn. The guy at Browns Cove Farm tells me this is almost the end of it, maybe only a week or two left. By then I hope to have eaten enough to feel like I do about summer tomatoes right now.

No mas.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (44)
        

OK, I have to agree with Bill Bruce et al that a real dive bar wouldn't serve good food, but for the purposes of this discussion let's stretch the definition a bit. The idea was to find places for the Top 10 that don't usually get any press. And it worked, didn't it? How many of you knew about the Emerald Tavern in Parkville? Or the Pepper Bar in Ocean City? I'm not even going to check to see if these places have Web sites to link to. Dive bars don't have Web sites, do they?

So these aren't real dive bars, and yet part of the definition seems to be that they seem more real than the bars that come and go so frequently in the trendier parts of the city. (See Midnight Sun.) Also they aren't quite neighborhood bars, but I still haven't gotten at the way to explain the difference without offending them. But they aren't places where you'd expect to get good (fill in wings, hamburgers, whatever here).

Keep those suggestions coming, folks. I know there must be some in Hampden, Canton, Locust Point and Hamilton/Lauraville that haven't been overrun by yuppies yet.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

For some reason, I have no idea why, Cheese's suggestion of dive bars with good pub grub appealed to me for next week's Top 10. I say no idea why because these are more what Richard and Sam do, and I hope to get good suggestions from them.

But I'd like to hear from the rest of you. Please tell us not only the name of your favorite dive bar, but also the food(s)  you think it does best. And while we're at it, anyone want to take a crack at defining "dive bar," or is it just something you know when you see it, like diners?

Don't forget the 'burbs, or are dive bars a city phenomenon?

Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

I got an e-mail from Celeste saying that she went to Clementine in Hamilton for lunch and it was closed for renovations until Sept. 17. It reminded me that while I had reported the item in the print edition, I hadn't said anything here. And the two groups of readers don't necessarily coincide.

Here's what I said:

Meanwhile, Clementine is expanding into the building next door for more seating, a bar and lounge (yes, a liquor license is in the works), and a curing room for charcuterie. The restaurant will be closed from [last] Sunday to Sept. 17 to complete the renovations.

(Andre F. Chung/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)
        

Pigtown asked me to remind everyone about the Under the Viaduct Baltimore Farmers Market get-together this Sunday. I don't know if a time has been set yet (she can post below), but she asked that I ask for suggestions of how to meet up.

The photo is kind of interesting and weird, isn't it? It's of some cabbage from Gardener's Gourmet at the market.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I've linked to the Devil's Food Dictionary Web site before, although I can't send you back to the original entry on Dining@Large because for some reason the search function is taking me to recipes. And not devil's food cake either. Oh, well.

Anyway, Barry Foy has just published the book The Devil's Food Dictionary. Pretty funny stuff. Here's a sample entry: ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

How about a really great hot dog. I've yet to find one. Had some decent and far too many not so good. I'm still hunting for a great dog.

Have tried C&A (from Diners show) - so so. Zacks is passable, (though I do like Vienna Beef products) The place in Glen Burnie was a serious disappointment.

The best so far is Burke's, but not convenient access.

Posted by: Bob Scherer | September 12, 2008 8:17 AM

(Photo courtesy of "Summer Gatherings: Casual Food To Enjoy With Family And Friends." by Rick Rodgers)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (51)
        

You know how much I like mini-reviews from people we know, so I was glad to hear from Michael A. Gray about his meal at the newly opened Dizz, the bar-restaurant formerly known as Dizzy Issie's. (The photo to the left is of Dizzy Issie's, not the newly renovated place.)

Here's what he had to say: ...

"For those that have been wondering about Dizzy Issie's reincarnation as the Dizz, there's good news. My wife and I made our first return visit yesterday and the premises have certainly been upgraded. The floor is now polished wood. The brickwork's been laquered. There's a Tudoresque beamed ceiling. And our favorite table no longer wobbles.

But the food, vibe and prices have survived the transition. I had a Black and Bleu Burger which, if anything, was better than ever -- with the blue cheese seeping deliciously into the meat. My wife enjoyed a tasty chicken salad BLT substantial enough that half went home -- as did the remnants of a massive portion of french fries. With her iced tea and my glass of Chardonnay, the tab came to just over $22. Tough to beat, given today's spiraling prices.

Elaine was back in charge, assisted by some new staff members. Our server was her daughter-in-law -- sweet, perky and genuinely pleased to welcome Dizzy's regulars to the new improved Dizz.

Where what made it popular over the years hasn't really changed."

(Karl Merton Ferron/Sun phographer)   

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

No, Owl Meat didn't abandon us today. He's back with an even more Funtastic Thursday than usual.

Here's Owlie...

"Portrait of the Artist as a Funtastic Tyke.  How adorable is Little Owl Meat?  Look closely and you will see that I was already practicing the art of Sandbox domination.  I loved the smell of Play-Doh in the morning.  It smelled like ... Victory!
 
... and now for the Main Attraction ...
 

I planned to do something on celebrity-named sandwiches at the Stage Deli in NYC, but things swerved hard.  They kicked me out for taking photos (of the menu) plus their concepts are uber-lame. For example,
 
Richard Simmons Tropical Fruit Salad - Cottage Cheese, Fruit Salad & Strawberry Jell-O.: (1) That's just mean, (2) Strawberry Jell-O?

Sid's Caesar Salad - Just lazy

Clint Eastwood - Turkey, Tongue & Corned Beef.  Something is deeply wrong.  (It's the tongue.)

Larry Gatlin - Turkey, Salami & Swiss Cheese.  Who the hell is Larry Gatlin?

Gloria Estefan - Tuna, Bacon, American Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato.   Eso es simplemente estupido. 

Derek Jeter - Roast Beef, Turkey & Muenster Cheese.  In a Boston deli, this would probably involve a skirt steak. Oh!  No he di'int.
 
Now it's time to name drop people in the news to rope in wandering Google-groms.  Today's game is Political Sandwiches.  I consulted with the mighty VoodooPork for his mad sandwich skillz.  Ah Salami I Like 'Em, brotherman.
 
The John McCain - Steamed crabby cake with true American cheese and SPF 90 mayo with a bacon comb-over on a stale hero roll. 
 
The Barack Obama -  It changes every day.  You can make it out of anything possible.  Yes you can! 
 
The Sarah Palin (The Caribou Barbie)  - Grilled baby moose on nut bread with marshmallow fluff dressing.  There used to be a choice of cole slaw, pickle or chips, but now there is no choice.  In fact, if you try to choose one on your own, you will be jailed and executed.  Profits are donated to the Egg Council's Leave No Ovum Behind program for teenage girls.
 
The Joe Biden - Fried bologna, scrapple, pickles and potato chips on potato bread with what are those?  - sprouts on top.  (Who's he trying to kid? Everyone can tell they're sprouts.)
 
The Ralph Nader - Wilted lettuce, tainted Costco mayo and dryer lint in a low carb wrap. Sorry, we no longer carry this item due to lack of demand.  Try the Dennis Kusandwich instead.
 
The Martin O'Malley - We tested various ingredients but they all left a bad taste in people's mouths.
 
The Cindy McCain - Iceberg lettuce on lots of bread, like more bread than you can imagine. 
 
The Hilary Clinton - Well-done skirt steak marinated forever with extra gristle on a hard roll and a hard-boiled egg.
 
The Bill Clinton Hoagie - Some meat in that sandwich?  Not a real sandwich, just something he asks pairs of women in hotel bars.
 
The Rudy Giuliani Club Sandwich -  Toast, American cheese, 9-11, baloney and mayo, toast, 9-11, tomato and malarkey, 9-11, toast, ham, lettuce, 9-11 and toast. Comes with a side of 9-11 mango chutney.
 
The John Edwards Submarine - Coldcuts and asiago cheese with a little extra meat slipped in.  Served with a heapin' helpin' of Southern Fried Shame. No need to pay now.  You will pay for this for the next twenty years.
 
Please suggest your own sandwich recipes.  I dare you to create an Owl Meat sandwich, but look at that adorable imp above before you launch that grenade.

Bring it!
 
Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.
--  Will Rogers"
 
 
 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
        

Bucky was the first to notice, and probably the first to ask for, a longer Most Recent Comments list to the right of the page. But I also have to give credit to Voodoo, who sent me an e-mail this morning reminding me to ask someone if the Most Recent Comments list could be expanded. ...

Web Editor Lauren responded incredibly quickly (considering what else she has on her plate) and now we have eight instead of five. I love that because it means older entries get new life and some very funny/insightful/helpful comments don't get lost in the shuffle.

While she was at it, she says, "I had one of our producers create a ‘Top Ten Tuesdays’ graphic to make the category pop a bit in the rail and give it its own branding."

Er...I guess Top 10 Tuesday isn't going to go anywhere soon, so let's get those thinking caps on, boys and girls.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

So, what's it going to be, folks? Restaurants with soul? Places to have private parties? (I've probably collected enough ideas from the two previous posts to make up a list of either.) Or something completely different? Top 10 shrimp salad sandwiches? How about Top 10 Restaurants We've Never Mentioned in a Top 10 List?

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Great. As if I didn't worry enough about food-borne illnesses because of my job, consumer blogger and reporter Liz Kay has sent me a link to BarfBlog, "Musings from the International Food Safety Network."

It sounds a little nutty, but it's written by food-safety experts at Kansas State University, so maybe not as nutty as it seems. I had to stop reading it after a few posts, though, because I've been thinking too much lately about the hazards of having other people cook for me. And about chicken salad sitting out in the cafeteria and...oh, never mind.

I mean, do you really want to read a blog entry entitled Mystery Meat?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

How sad that Elizabeth Malby's very nice photographs that went with today's Table Talk column were printed in black and white. But that's the great thing about having a blog. I don't have to worry about a section's color positions.

Anyway, here are the two photos of Bistro Blanc in full, living color. Love the looks of that Pig and Fig, but then what's not to love when you're talking about pork and fresh figs, one of my favorite fruits?

One of our copy editors has a fig tree, and she brought them in for a couple of days recently. She offered fig-eating lessons, but only I seemed to be pigging out on them.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

I'm getting discouraged by the names of new vegetable and fruit hybrids. I wonder if the guy who used to make up all the wonderful names like "Honeycrisp" (the apple), "Cherokee Purple" (the tomato) and "Silver Queen" has died.

I love the fact that after Silver Queen corn declined in popularity, Argent is one of the varieties that took its place. (Argent is tincture of silver, something most folks who love the corn probably don't appreciate.)

Anyway, whenever I discover, say, a peach variety I love at the farmers market, I ask the name so I can look for it for next time (or next year, as the case may be). Lately all I've been getting is a mix of letters and numbers that I could never remember. The same goes for the bi-color corn I crave. ...

I've noticed this is happening with cars and lipsticks as well. I realize I'm getting a little off-topic here; but I wonder if naming lipsticks is a full-time job, and if not, who does it?

Don't say I don't do my research for this blog. I was looking at lipstick colors on the Revlon Web site (I just don't feel like filling out my expense report right now), and at least Revlon still has the wonderful old-fashioned names like Persian Melon and Love That Pink that I remember from my childhood. So romantic.

By the way, little known fact: the nectarine is simply a peach without fuzz. But it always tastes like a completely different fruit to me.

(AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

Multimedia Editor Emeritus John has recovered from the Squirrel Incident, and is back to his usual irreverent self for this Shallow Thought Wednesday:

"I was in a restaurant Saturday, ingesting lunch, when a great idea presented itself, as great ideas will sometimes do -- albeit usually when you are in the shower.

I was enjoying a variation on the bacon cheeseburger theme. It was really a quite satisfactory burger. Trouble is the accompanying fries were dull things, pale, bland, like they'd come underdressed for the ball. They were … not duck fries. They made me wish for duck fries.* But this particular joint doesn't serve duck fries.

Know what else? They served pretty decent wings …** but! -- not as good as my favorite wing place.

How vexing! A great burger set next to adequate potatoes is like a great actor surrounded by mouthbreathing line readers.

That's when the Next Great Thing sauntered onto center stage with its hat tipped at a rakish angle and its Italian suit looking thrown-on glamorous in that casually oh-so-grown-up Sinatra way.

The Idea: Next time, don't roll the dice. Run to the wing place for wings. Eat them on the way to the duck fry place, where you pick up an order and race them to the Great Burger Place and eat them with the great burger.

It's a concept that's ahead of the culinary curve in all things save gas prices.

I'm calling it dining a la car.

Sounds better than dining a la motorcycle, or segway, or bus.

* (not the Colorado variety made from real ducks)

** I'm on an elipses diet and will not use more than three per STW till I lose 10 pounds."

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

Copy chief John McIntyre stopped by my desk yesterday to suggest a post on favorite cheeses. He went to a restaurant with his family recently and everything with cheese, the cheeseburger and more, was made with goat cheese.

"Not my favorite cheese," he said. He mused that the chevre overkill was because goat cheese is so trendy.

Au contraire. Goat cheese's 15 minutes of fame have passed, if you're talking about trendiness. At this point, you'd think restaurants would only be serving it when it's appropriate.

Of course, if you adore goat cheese above all others, it's always appropriate; but if I were a restaurateur, I would proceed with caution. Too many people feel the way John does.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

I got an e-mail from Voodoo today suggesting we talk about table manners. (Why does that make me laugh?) Or as he put it:

Manners, etiquette, what foods can you pick up with your hands, is it permissible to drag a piece of bread around your plate like a starving deathrow inmate in a Turkish prison? (Did I give away too much there?) ...

My table manners are fairly good, but I only learned comparatively late in life that it's considered rude to put anything on the table when you're eating out, such as eyeglasses, cell phone, tiny clutch purse and so on.

A lot is common sense. Ladies, please don't reapply your lipstick at the table after eating; even if you don't use your mirror, we can see you. And whatever your gender, please, please don't blow your nose, even delicately, at the table. Excuse yourself.

As for dragging the bread around in the sauce, I was taught that using a piece of bread to sop up sauce is OK if the occasion isn't formal, but it's a bit declasse to put the bread down, then use a fork to stab it and swab.

It used to be polite to pick up asparagus spears with your fingers to eat them, but these days you'd get odd looks if you did that in a nice restaurant.

The one that drives me wild is people who put paper (paper napkin, straw wrappers, cellophane from crackers) on their plate when they're finished eating. This grosses me out.

If you're using a cloth napkin, never refold it when you're finished. Just lay it loosely beside your plate.

(Sun archives)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (58)
        

With a grain of salt, of course.

I got an e-mail from a restaurant owner recently gently complaining about a negative comment I had published. The restaurant otherwise has always gotten good press.

Some comments clearly can't see the light of day: "The chef replates uneaten food that comes back to the kitchen." But some are borderline: very negative, but not actionable. For all I know, they are made by a competitor or just a customer whose experience was an isolated incident the restaurant owner has no control over.

Here's what I wrote back to him: ...

Yes, the whole "censorship" issue is very troubling to me. What I always hope will happen is that someone else will say, "we had a great meal at wherever." ...

On the other hand, I also think when one person seems to be restaurant-bashing without other voices chiming in, he/she begins to sound like there's a personal grudge involved, and other readers discount it.

If it makes you feel any better, I always hate publishing the nasty comments directed at me, I feel unfairly, but I do so anyway.

Of course, I get something out of publishing negative comments, namely a more interesting blog, which the poor restaurant owner doesn't. But it reminded me to remind you that this Internet information thing only works if you don't take everything you read as gospel. Everyone has an axe to grind. (Wow. That's a weird metaphor when you think about it.) And to encourage you to post an opposite view when you feel the original commenter was unfair, even if you're shy .

Housekeeping note: S. Ring, for some reason your comment from a few days ago popped up unpublished. I did publish it. Sorry for the delay. As usual, I blame it on the blogware.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

That headline was just to get you to read this. Locavorism can never go too far.

When I checked my voice mail this morning, there was a message from Gailor. The Perfect Roommate wanted me to know that the Evanston, Ill. Costco is selling heirloom tomatoes. She didn't say for how much. How weird is that?

I wonder what the cosmic implications of this are. Will the effete snobs stop buying heirlooms now that they are available to the masses? Will all Americans now realize that food with flavor is actually better than food that looks good?

Or will the tomatoes just sit there and rot, with no one buying, until Costco realizes it's made a cosmic mistake. ...

On a related subject, the Perfect Roommate has been cooking dinner for Gailor every night (thank God someone is), and the menus Gailor has described sound delicious. I've asked her to send me a week's worth, which might give some of us some inspiration.

OK, I'm not making the whole-wheat-crust pizza from scratch with avocado and tomato salad that they had last night -- nor can I conceive of doing so and being in your second week of business school -- but I like hearing about it.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (88)
        

When I first thought of this topic, it seemed very negative, unlike most of our other Top 10s. But actually noisy restaurants usually have lots going for them, including good food, because crowds of people having a great time are the main reason they are noisy. 

Still, these are places that don't have good soundproofing or lots of fabric or other things that might cut down on the noise. And they may play music that just adds to the chaos. Some restaurants have a very loud bar near the dining room, so unless you can get one of the tables far from the bar, you're in trouble.

I'm not saying don't eat in these restaurants. You'll simply enjoy them more if you go at an off time or on an off day -- unless noise is a plus for you because you equate it with high energy.

Here's my list, and thanks to everyone who made suggestions: ...

* Cinghiale in Harbor East

* Clementine in Hamilton

* Helmand in Mount Vernon

* Paolo's in Towson

* Pazo in Fells Point

* Petit Louis in Roland Park

* RA Sushi in Harbor East

* Red Star in Fells Point

* Tark's Grill in Lutherville

* Woodberry Kitchen in Woodberry/Hampden

I was looking, by the way, for a photo of a crowded restaurant; but I chose this one of Red Star taken four years ago, even though the restaurant wasn't packed when the picture was taken, because it showed some potential noisemakers (bare floors, brick walls, high ceilings). Also I just liked it.

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

It's scary how many e-mails I get where the subject line is simply HELP. Often they want information on restaurants that can accommodate private parties, something that I don't get into when I'm reviewing restaurants.

I frequently post these here, hoping some of you have had rehearsal dinners or graduation parties somewhere you loved. And will tell us about it. That usually doesn't happen, but I'm not giving up: ...

And then there's this one from Cheryl:

Are there any all-you-can-eat-plus-champagne brunches (including at the major hotels) worth trying? The Hilton in Pikesville advertises one, but I am a bit nervous about giving it a try. 

I'm not an all-you-can-eat brunch person, but maybe one of you out there is and can offer some advice.

B.G. is hunting for mousse:

I am attending a conference in Baltimore the second week of October and have been searching online, including your review archives, for a restaurant that serves chocolate mousse. I've found the cake, but not the mousse itself. I hope you don't mind my writing to ask if you know of a restaurant downtown, or nearby, that serves the dessert.

I feel like sending him a good recipe. Chocolate mousse is something so easy to make I wouldn't choose a restaurant based on it. On the other hand, I respect cravings, so I suggested trying Petit Louis and Brasserie Tatin.

I looked in our archives for a photo of restaurant chocolate mousse and there wasn't one. I came up with this photo with no photographer credit and this odd caption information:

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
        

The blogware is having a very bad day today, even from your end. (I just tried to post a comment on David Zurawik's new TV blog and it took forever. I finally gave up. Please don't give up.)

Meanwhile, Retired in Elkridge just sent us this: 

"A while back a few people were asking about Iron Chef Japan. Reruns are now showing on the Fine Living Network, the one with Emeril and Martha Stewart, at 3:00 p.m., and at least this coming week at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The 'secret ingredient" this week is Sea Urchin on Monday, Shark Fin on Tuesday, Sea Eel on Wednesday, Spiny Lobster on Thursday, and Natto (a type of fermented soybean) on Friday. Wasn't sure where to post this, so I'm sending it to you directly." ...

And I got an e-mail from LIVE reviewer Richard Gorelick asking if I had seen Laura Lippman's new Sunday Serial in yesterday's New York Times Magazine, with a bedridden (preclampsia) Tess Monaghan asking a friend to bring by her favorite Baltimore foods.
 
“Bring wine,” she hissed into the phone. “And Matthew’s pizza. Those lima beans with feta cheese from Mezze. Sopapillas from Golden West. Hurry!”

Good stuff, but remember to come back soon or the Powers That Be will get angry at me for sending you there.

(Photo courtesy of Fine Living)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

Let's celebrate longevity in restaurants by mentioning the Bare Bones Grill and Brewery's 20th anniversary, being observed this week. Twenty is an eternity in restaurant years. ...

I wonder what its secret is. (I've never eaten there.) And don't tell me it's the good food. Too many places close quickly that have good food. 

I know in Bare Bones' case, business really took off when the owners added a microbrewery to the restaurant in the late '90s. 

Sometimes I think it's just location, location, location, but then I remember Salt and Woodberry Kitchen, which draw from all over the city and beyond. 

I guess if I knew the secret, I'd be a millionaire.

I like the fact, by the way, that the link takes you to what else was going on in 1988.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

1) Is bacon better if it's meatier, as I think Cara feels? (Sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth.) Not to me. I eat bacon for the fat and salt, although I like it crispy. If I want meat, I'll get a pork chop.

2) Joyce W. posed this question: "some better than others, but what could be bad?" I have had bad bacon, although I can't exactly say why. I don't mean it had gone bad. It just didn't have a good flavor. And I haven't found a bacon I really love around here.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

I had to run down to the Sunday market this morning to pick up a loaf of bread after Uptown let me down yesterday, and also some bi-color corn. (I still haven't seen any all-yellow corn. I guess the growers save that to can or freeze.)

For the first time I noticed Ole Pioneer's Kitchen and its bacon at the market. I'm sure it's been there, I'm just usually moving fast. I was tempted to get some and write about it, but I was short of cash, so if anyone who's tried it wants to tell us about it, feel free.

While I'm at it, I'll make this the post you've all been waiting for, the bacon post. Frankly, I had no idea people were so addicted to bacon until I started this blog. A while back Voodoo sent me a link to the Bacon of the Month Club, a different artisan bacon delivered to your door each month. Artisan bacon. Somehow it sounds like a contradiction in terms, doesn't it?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

As faithful readers know, I'm "on vacation" today as far as my review is concerned because I didn't write one the week I was in Chicago for a couple of days. I work pretty far ahead.

For next week, I ventured out to Annapolis, and Carpaccio, the new Italian restaurant in the Park Plaza complex.

Like so many restaurants that are in these big new complexes and malls, it has a chain feel to it, even though it's not. I think no matter how nicely they are decorated (and this one is), it's hard to overcome the soullessness of the space.

Note to self: Maybe restaurants with soul have to be in older buildings? ...

Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen & Wine Bar is part of a local restaurant group. Some people think of them with scorn as chains even if they are locally owned and each one is different. But the upside is that the owners of these restaurant groups usually know how to make a restaurant work from the get-go. There's a lot to be said for a professional operation.

But what's it like to eat at Carpaccio? How's the food? For that you'll have to read my review in next Sunday's Arts & Entertainment section.

Now here I'm going to go a little off-topic. (Gee, that's a surprise.) When the sun came out in the middle of the afternoon, was that the eye of the tropical storm? It was so weird. And then every forecast I heard said the worst of Hanna was going to be between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., so when it clouded up again I figured the rain would start again anytime. I know weather people don't like to revisit wrong forecasts, but I wish someone would say if the storm suddenly veered off or what. Just curious.

(Doug Kapustin/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Review Preview
        

The nominations for both the area's noisiest restaurants (please feel free to include places outside of Baltimore in your suggestions) and for restaurants with soul continue to pour in. OK, maybe dribble in would be more accurate. But in any case, please keep them coming. Pretty soon we'll have enough for Top 10s for the next two weeks. I love that.

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Dear RedFishEx:

I'm writing an open letter to you because you put in a nonexistent e-mail address when you posted your comment. That annoyed me. I don't care whether you put in a working e-mail or no e-mail when you post (although the higher ups probably do), but I wrote a long e-mail back to you about your post and why I wasn't publishing it, and my e-mail bounced back. Just leave the space blank next time if you don't want to hear from me. ...

Wondering why I didn't publish your comment? Let me refer you to Rule No. 1.

I did want to suggest you get in touch with the Baltimore city health department. And, no, for you other readers out there, this has nothing to do with Red Fish, the restaurant in Canton. I just want to make sure everyone realizes that a working e-mail is good (you might be the 100,000th commenter and win a fabulous prize) and no e-mail is OK too. Time wasted writing long e-mails to addresses that don't exist makes your restaurant critic ANGRY.

While I'm at it, I'm also talking to you, the poster who wrote recently about Timothy Dean. (I forget your user name.) I guess you noticed I didn't post your comment either. I mean, how dumb can you be? Wait. I'm sorry. That wasn't very nice of me. Let me just refer you to Rule No. 3, the obscenity part. Unlike posts under the stories, posts to this blog actually get read before they're published.

Thank you,

Elizabeth the Restaurant Critic

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
Categories: Commenting
        

I stopped at the SuperFresh on my way home from the gym just now for some fresh flowers (I needed a treat), and the lines were out the door. I thought everyone did their shopping for toilet paper and milk the day before the storm, not during.

My new least favorite phrase is "wind-swept rain," edging out "wintry mix" by a narrow margin. Followed closely by "commitment to excellence." Gee, seven more and I'd have a Top 10.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (51)
        

You weren't going to go to the Waverly Farmers Market this morning? What a wimp you are.

I recommend your going as soon as you read this because no one will be there. They were all shopping at 6:45 a.m. when I was.

I bought my first melon of the season, a canary. (I was hoping for a Crenshaw, but I haven't seen any this summer.) Two kinds of beans, broccoli, squash, apples, nectarines, corn. Nothing exciting, in other words. I've ODed -- I wonder if that's how you spell that -- on tomatoes. People are starting to bring them into work. ...

What I didn't buy was bread for breakfast, because Uptown Bakers didn't come today, along with a couple of other vendors. (Not to worry. There were still plenty of them there.) I was stunned. I've bought loaves of bread from Uptown in snowstorms at the winter Waverly market.

As for me, my tennis was canceled -- what's wrong with people? -- so I plan to make this a productive day of finishing the second season of Dexter, watching the first five episodes of True Blood (TV critic David Zurawik lent me the screener; look for his new blog starting next week, by the way), watching as much of the U.S. Open men's semifinals as they can get in, and posting blog entries more than usual for a Saturday.

With my luck, the power will go out. As my husband always says, it's like living in a third world country if you live in Baltimore as far as BGE is concerned. Our power goes out when the sun is shining and the winds are totally calm.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

One Top 10 no one has asked me for is the noisiest restaurants in Baltimore. I'd like to hear your nominations. My No. 1: RA Sushi.

I was thinking about our earlier discussions of noise when I went to a restaurant last night that was designed with no thought in mind of how loud it would be. The bar crowd is deafening unless you sit in the seats farthest away. And one noisy group made an otherwise half-empty restaurant noisy. ...

But I wonder why people like the idea of noise ratings enough to suggest my carrying a noise-o-meter with me when I review. Isn't it enough for me to say, "I couldn't hear myself think?" Sure, it's subjective; but all reviewing is.

The photo, by the way, isn't of a Baltimore restaurant. I just thought it looked like it would be noisy.

(AP Photo/Karel Navarro)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

Several alert readers e-mailed me this morning about a post on Chowhound.com suggesting that one of Baltimore's most successful new restaurants, Woodberry Kitchen in Woodberry/Hampden, was closing for good. As you can see, the Chowhound post has been removed.

I just got off the phone with owner/chef Spike Gjerde, who told me that Woodberry would indeed be closing -- for four days next week to put in new flooring (Monday through Thursday). The restaurant should reopen Friday, Sept. 12.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

OK, I've got the skinny on Joshau Hill's move to Robert Oliver Seafood in Mount Vernon. First of all, he wants me to tell you he's signed a one-year contract with the restaurant, so he won't be going anywhere for awhile, in spite of my earlier post.

He's revamping Robert Oliver's menu, and he's planning to roll out the new one next weekend. (The restaurant will be serving a limited menu this weekend.) ...

He's sending me a copy of the new menu next week, he says, but meanwhile he describes it as "American eclectic."

He's shown Baltimore the range of his cooking style, he says, first at Truffles with classic dishes, then at Tabrizi's with Mediterranean, and last at Night of the Cookers with southern. He didn't mention Red Fish in Canton. Entree prices on the new menu will run from $17 to $31.

He's starting a mix-and-match menu where you can get any three of a glass of wine, soup, salad, appetizer, entree and dessert for "a very reasonable price," which can be turned around very quickly if you're a theatergoer. (You don't have to be a theatergoer. It will be offered throughout the week.)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

I turned in my Table Talk for next week yesterday, in which I talk about the mysterious Bistro Blanc. It's not so mysterious anymore, after Chef Marc Dixon called me. (I guess someone told him about my original post.)

Suddenly Bistro Blanc is looking a lot more interesting. Dixon is the guy who opened the Iron Bridge Wine Company in Howard County, and he was cooking when I gave the place three-and-a-half stars for its food. He then went to Cafe de Paris in Columbia, and eventually ended up in Glenelg when a liquor store owner wanted to add a wine bar and restaurant. ...

This place sounds like it will have good food if nothing else, and there is something else: the enomatic wine-tasting machine. This is like an automat for wines. Bistro Blanc has 24 wines on tap, and you purchase a card (think Starbucks), then use it in the self-serve machine to try a one-ounce pour, a half glass or a whole glass.

Far out.

Look for more about the menu in next Wednesday's Table Talk column.

(Photo courtesy of Bistro Blanc Web site)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (46)
        

I almost hate to mention it, but I hear that Chef Joshau Hill is now at Robert Oliver Seafood near the Meyerhoff.

Why do I hate to mention it? Blink and he'll be gone again.

(Photo courtesy of Robert Oliver Seafood)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

I would like to write a snappy introduction to Owl Meat's Funtastic Thursday, but for once I'm stumped. On the other hand, it may be my favorite one yet. Here's the Owl Man: ...

I have a bunch of stuff half finished, but I'm just not feeling it. So for this week's Funtastic Thursday I am stealing a cue from funtastic LJ -- Monkeys are funny. Who could disagree? So today I'm going to clean out all the monkeys in my head.
 
If you were an animal, what animal would you be, based upon its diet? I sort of stole this from the Top Chef zoo party challenge. In general I want to be reincarnated as a dolphin -- not even sharks mess with them, they play all day, eat sushi, and are probably smarter than humans.
 
Wouldn't it be cool to have a zebra that you could ride? You would be the most popular kid ever, except for the rich kid with the unicorn.
 
Here are some anagrams for "Dining at Large" that I thought were fun. Which ones do you think suggest the essence of the blog?  I like Ganglia Tinder best.

Gaga Diner Lint
Radiant Niggle
Tangled Airing
Ailing Dragnet
Irate Dangling
Dilating Anger
Natal Diner Gig
Ganglia Tinder
Lading Ingrate
Landing Triage
Larding, Eating
Eating Darling
Genial Trading
Tidal Enraging
Ragtag Idle Inn
Gala Grind Nite
 
Politics aside, I find Sarah Palin very appealing. Apart from the sexy librarian thing, I would love to have a woman who goes out and shoots a moose for dinner. Now that's hot. Something about a babe who shops for dinner with a rifle is intriguing (and not like my last girlfriend who once tried to rob a 7-11 with a BB gun). The current VP has only bagged a lawyer at close range and lawyer burgers sound a little gamey.
 
To wrap up this random roundup of loose monkeys, here's the food that I had in a dream that I just woke from. Scene: picnic on the rooftops of Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore in a wind storm. Food: Grilled whole chicken breasts on the bone slathered in commercial BBQ sauce and stuffed with tiny baby oysters in their shells which in turn were stuffed with tiny tiny shrimp. I didn't realize that the tooth-breaking impediment was a tiny oyster shell; I figured it was a piece of bone. Silly me. Well, the Dean of Medicine loved them, so go figure.
 
Ever have interesting food dreams? Sometimes I just go shopping at the Giant in my dreams.  Other times I invent recipes in dream world. Mmmmm....dream food ...no calories.

(Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (65)
        

I walked into Eddie's last night with a hankering for chicken cooked in wine. I didn't have any chicken and I didn't have an open bottle of wine, so on impulse I stopped on the liquor side and asked the person there for the cheapest dry white she could come up with.

Most of us who cook have had Julia Childs' (or whoever said it first) axiom "the better the wine, the better the dish" beaten into us. I don't believe it.

I thought we had talked in an earlier post about the article in another newspaper where the cook tested cheap versus expensive wines in the same dish, but I couldn't find the post. The dishes tasted different, but they all tasted good.

I've been meaning to try it for myself.

The Mediterranean white pictured to the left cost me $4.99, and the chicken dish it made was excellent. ...

This reminds me of how different things are these days. It's rare there isn't an open bottle of wine in my fridge so I can throw in a splash when I'm cooking. But when I first started cooking, I took Julia's advice and kept dry vermouth on hand, which lasted longer. Comparatively few Americans had a bottle of wine open in their refrigerators when she wrote her cookbooks.

And, of course, the first wine my circle of friends started keeping on hand were those round bottles of Carlo Rossi chablis. Whew.

Even after wine drinking became something everyone was doing, when we would go visit my in-laws, they would reach up into their liquor cabinet and pull down the open bottle of white they had served us on our last visit.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (87)
        

I want to get in on the action.

On the same day I'm bursting with pride to have reached 20,000 comments in a year and a half, my colleague Susan Reimer got 7,880 comments IN TWO DAYS about her column "A woman -- but why this woman?"

It's hard to come up with a food-related topic that involves Sarah Palin, but I think I've done it: ...

Alaskan food!!!!

Yes, folks, I went home at lunchtime and pulled out the first volume of my wonderful Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking, first edition. Each month one volume of the 12 came out and was sold at the Acme Food Market. (I bought mine in Philadelphia)

This is a fabulous cookbook, not to be compared to later not-so-good editions. In this one, you come across all sorts of wonderful surprises, like James Beard writing on his Christmas dinner memories. But I'm getting off topic here.

There isn't a separate entry under Alaskan cooking, but every state is covered under the American cooking entry.

"The Klondike is cold and Sitka spruce shiver in the empty loneliness..." it begins, followed by recipes for salmon pie, trapper's game stew, marinated venison, Alaska duck salad, chopped-cabbage pickle, spiced blueberries, raspberry-jam bread pudding, and sourdough pancakes.

I wish I could tell the person who wrote this so many years ago just how weird this election year is getting.

(Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

I think we need more discussion of restaurants with soul before it becomes a Top 10. I like what kabobhunter had to say:

...As for soul, I'm guessing either a lot (aka "not Applebee's") or only a very, very few have it. I'm thinking small, privately-owned, maybe quiet, niche...Thai Restaurant? If Greg's Bagels counts as a restaurant, I'm going with Greg's Bagels.

Thoughts? Other nominations? Gailor suggested Cafe Hon, but a little hesitantly, when I told her Martick's had closed.

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
        

Guest blogger John Lindner had some R-rated shallow thoughts this week. Or at least you'll feel that way if the photo to the left makes you go, "Awwww." ...

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting a baby squirrel named Jeffery. Cute little guy. He got me thinking (shallowly): What's the most tastiest wild thing I ever ate?

Bison burger is passe, right? Same with venison. Rabbit? Nah. Emu? Getting warm. Squirrel? Tastes too much like chicken (apologies, Jeff).

Actually, this is easy: bear salami. Outdoor writer in Wausau, Wisc. turned me on to it. Only had it once. Wanted to try it again ever since. Bear salami is the best.

Of course, I'm still waiting for that package of duck fries from Bucky.

(Photo by John)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Now reopened after a summer vacation, Three... in the Patterson Park area is making some changes. Michael Harmel, one of the owners, answered the phone when I called yesterday and said the changes would make Three... friendlier and more of a neighborhood place. "But the menu and food will remain the same."

That puzzled me, but he explained further. The two improvements are a menu of specials based on what the restaurant buys at the Sunday farmers market, and deals aimed at attracting more neighborhood folks. (I asked him if they check addresses on  IDs.) ...

I've been meaning to post something about restaurant deals, hoping that if readers have come across any good ones lately they can let the rest of us know. Here's what Three... is offering:

* Lower beer prices

* Tuesday: wine flights, three wines for $5

* Wednesday: half-price small plates for neighborhood people and Happy Hour prices all night on drinks

* Thursday: half-price bottles of wine with an entree

Now it's your turn.

(Photo courtesy of the Three... Web site)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Welcome to the Commenting Hall of Fame, LEC. You have just posted our 20,000th comment, a figure I'm more proud of than any other statistic involving Dining@Large.

There is only so much I have to say about restaurants, food in general and life that can be of interest to anyone else but my immediate family. And not so much even to them after awhile. It's the variety of voices and opinions that continues to make this blog interesting. (Especially to me.)

Let's see what wonderful prizes our crack marketing manager Anne Burger (or whatever her new title is; she's been promoted) has for our winner.

Anne? ...

If you're wondering about our previous winners in the Commenting Hall of Fame, they are:

* The 1,000th comment: Hal Laurent (not yet the Voice of Reason). He said:

I was just mentioning this discussion to my wife, and she said that a place that she really misses is the old Harvey House on Charles St.

* The 3,000th comment: Owl Meat Gravy, who was right in character when he said:

Screaming Yello Zonkers Remember the great Quisp versus Quake war of the early 70s? It all turned ugly when they showed graphic photos of Quisp's POW camps. 

* The 10,000 comment: e, who posted these immortal words:

Matt- You can find the dates/locations of area markets here: http://www.mda.state.md.us/md_products/farmers_market_dir.php

but never made an appearance on this blog again. 

And here is LEC's winning comment: 

I second third and forth the Lovin Spoonful's Summer in the City. Every time I hear it, it instantly brings back memories the great times I had in the summers of late sixties.

Those who remember WCAO as "the" Baltimore radio station of the sixties might find this streaming radio station of interest. The letters are similar in Rhythm, WDJO and when they play their jingles it sounds so similar. http://www.oldies1160.com/

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: Commenting
        

Under Monday Morning Quarterbacking, Robert (the single one) had this to say:

As I was reading your review and got to the end of paragraph 3, it occurred to me that maybe the Sandbox conversational style has found its way into your more formal writing. Not a complaint, just interesting.

I wasn't going to respond, but then Gailor said the same thing when she called me last night.

Actually it's the other way round. The blog just lets me be conversational all the time, but I've always thrown in a review that's quirky when I'm feeling stale. Or my sense of the absurd overcomes my better judgment. I doubt if the restaurant appreciates it. Here are two examples I dug up from the archives: ...

Prime Rib (2000)

Let me introduce you to the restaurant that was the ne plus ultra of dining out when I first arrived in Baltimore almost 30 years ago.    

Things are and always have been tres sophisticated at the Prime Rib. The walls are black, the mirrors framed in gold, and the floors covered in swank wall-to-wall leopard-print carpeting. Someone is actually at the piano playing that suave piano music. And note the paintings: just slightly titillating but oh so tasteful, like that naked Leda cozying up to a swan.Aren't the details perfect? I love the fresh flowers and the small fringed lamps on each elegantly set table.    

Yes, it is noisy. But that's not really the restaurant's fault. We happen to be wedged in -- OK, the tables are pretty close together -- between two sets of birthday revelers.    

The stage is set. I have my best pearls on, and I'm feeling that little frisson of excitement that happens when you know you're dressed elegantly and have about two pounds of beef heading your way.    

This is a dining room that insists you drink a martini. No, I'm working, but you go ahead. We'll follow it with a full-bodied red from the encyclopedic wine list.    

You want prime rib? You've come to the right place. The aged beef is superb here, tender and bursting with meaty flavor. If you say you want it pink, you'll get it pink. A couple used to be able to split an order of the Prime Rib's prime rib -- it's more than enough for two -- for a great special-occasion bargain. Nowadays, though, the prime rib and most of the steaks cost $30 (no side dishes included) and there's an $8.50 service charge for split entrees. It's not quite the bargain it used to be.    

As for those steaks, I'd recommend getting the New York strip straight up, so to speak. Once the kitchen starts fooling around, it's just gilding the lily. The steak au poivre sports a marchand de vin sauce with shallots and reduced red wine, only the sauce hasn't been cooked long enough and the shallots still taste a little raw. Just scrape them off and enjoy the gorgeous, well-marbled meat.    

Go ahead, start your meal with the jumbo lump crab cocktail or the gently smoked trout with mustard sauce and capers. Cost is no object. Which is good, because you get only five small oysters Rockefeller -- each one hardly a bite -- for $13. Still, I love the fresh spinach topping just hinting of anise, don't you? And small oysters are often more tender and flavorful than the large ones.    

Funny how sophisticated we Baltimoreans like to think we are these days, what with our nouveau this-and-that cuisines; but we still crave the Prime Rib's hot, crunchy Greenberg potato skins. Why are they so good? They aren't loaded with cheese or bacon, but you just can't stop eating them.    

One of the things that always surprises people about the Prime Rib is that, in spite of the name, it has some of the best seafood around. And the offerings have expanded since I was here last; it's almost as much a seafood restaurant now as it is a steakhouse.    

We're not just talking crab cakes and stuffed flounder. Here's a Chilean sea bass with a vieille maison sauce. But aren't you surprised that our excellent waiter suggests we get it stuffed with crab imperial and have the sauce on the side? Does he know something we don't?    

Good move, it turns out. This vieille maison sauce tastes like canned stewed tomatoes.    

Still, the seafood itself is fabulously fresh and perfectly cooked. All in all, a better choice than the rack of lamb chops baked in garlic butter and served -- who knows why -- with both mango chutney and green mint jelly. The lamb is OK, but not world-class like the beef.    

Oh dear. Somehow we've run up a huge bill without meaning to, just by ordering side dishes at $5 or more a pop.    

Still, what do we care? We're on an expense account, so it seems churlish to complain. Of course, if you come back on your own -- well, you might be justified in complaining about the special side dish of the day, fresh Silver Queen corn cut off the cob and cooked in cream and butter. I'm not saying it is canned corn, but it does taste like canned corn. And how about the house salad with chopped egg, wintry tomatoes and a house dressing with practically no taste?    

Haven't the au gratin potatoes gotten kind of mushy because they've been cooked too long? And why cook haricots verts Greek-style with tomatoes and onions? You lose the whole point of the young, tender green beans. But this perfectly seasoned creamed spinach will restore your faith in the kitchen.     Now take a deep breath, because you absolutely must make room for dessert -- even if you have to take a walk around the block first. Try to overlook the fact that the kitchen garnishes some of its desserts with lettuce leaves.    

You could get the chocolate mousse cake with three different layers of chocolate, or the best Key lime pie north of Florida. And you won't find a more satisfying slab of apple pie, if you like it hot with a crust that shatters at the touch of a fork.    

But I'm going to surprise you. In spite of the black walls and leopard-skin carpet, in spite of the fact that you feel so New York dining here, I'm going to suggest you get the bread pudding. There's nothing sophisticated about it; even the little squirt of whipped cream on top seems kind of silly. But this homey little bowl of bread pudding with its hot, buttery, rum-infused sauce -- well, it will knock your socks off.

Maison Marconi (1998)

Doug H. had lived and worked in Baltimore for 13 years before he moved to Annapolis, but he had never heard of Marconi's. Doug H. got taken to the local landmark for dinner recently, ordered minestrone and shrimp Creole and pronounced the restaurant "nice but dated." Elizabeth L., a longtime resident of Baltimore who knew Marconi's well, ordered the lobster Cardinale, the fried eggplant, the creamed spinach, the strawberry Melba. She didn't say much (she was too busy eating), but she smiled a lot.

So it goes. How to explain the appeal of this old-fashioned restaurant to those who don't have it as part of their pasts? How to justify a wine list that not only doesn't list vintages, it doesn't even list vineyards?    

Either Marconi's quirks will seem the epitome of Old World charm, or they will make you grumpy. (As restaurants do in Europe, for instance, Marconi's charges extra for bread and butter.)    

Many years ago I reviewed Marconi's and complained about my veal dish. An outraged reader called and chewed me out. "Everyone knows not to order veal at Marconi's."    

Everyone knows not to order shrimp Creole at Marconi's if you're expecting anything but a mild, bland version, because - frankly - much of the restaurant's clientele isn't as young as it used to be, and its collective stomachs can't tolerate very spicy food. (At least that's my theory.)    

You order the lobster Cardinale if you're in the mood for something extravagant. Lobster meat, mushrooms, lots of cream, sherry and Gruyere cheese are arranged in the lobster shell and broiled for a few minutes. It's a handsome dish. Or you have one of the oyster specials, like the plump little sauteed oysters arranged on a slice of Smithfield ham. Usually the lamb chops are wonderfully reliable, but this evening they had a distinct lamb flavor - too strong for my taste.

As for first courses, you can order minestrone like Doug H. did, but it isn't much more than vegetable soup. Instead, have the delicious antipasto, which features fat lumps of lobster with Russian dressing, a couple of steamed shrimp with cocktail sauce, quarters of hard-boiled egg, a fine slaw, Italian cold cuts, pimentoes and anchovies.    

I'm not a fan of the house salad, which is chopped lettuce, egg and tomatoes in a very mayonnaisey dressing; but Marconi's clientele seems to love it. Instead, I'd have one of the vegetables (everything is a la carte here), specifically the fried eggplant. It tastes like eggplant but has the texture of a cloud and a crisp gold exterior. The creamed spinach isn't bad either.

Doug H. had a slice of the "Dark Side of the Moon" chocolate cake for his dessert. Foolish. Everyone knows that such a trendy dessert wouldn't be a big seller at Marconi's, so chances are it wouldn't be all that fresh. And, indeed, it was a bit dry. Elizabeth L. had rich vanilla ice cream with plump strawberries and Melba sauce. Her husband and their other guest shared Marconi's signature dessert: more of that good ice cream with homemade bittersweet fudge sauce served in a bowl on the side.    

Doug H. glanced around and probably wondered what he was doing sitting on an uncomfortable bentwood chair in a dining room that looks like a pale green and white wedding cake (with elaborate crystal chandeliers). Elizabeth L. sat back and enjoyed being waited on by a truly professional and responsive waiter - one who never even introduced himself.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

As usual, the most interesting conversations are going on beneath my entries on a totally different topic -- about 40 comments deep.

I really have to jump in here and nominate "Hooked on a Feeling" as the worst song ever. Or anything by the Supremes. Now, as for good summer songs, my favorite is "Summer in the City" (Lovin' Spoonful).

"That was their name?" Gailor said incredulously when we discussing this very topic on the road trip.

Pictured are the shrimp she talked about in her e-mail to me, and below are some goodies that appealed to her sweet tooth. ...

While I'm jumping around here, she called this morning at 7:30 a.m. with a Top 10 topic. (I'm so glad she's thinking about that and not microeconomics and statistics.)

Top 10 Restaurants With Soul. I like it. Not to be confused with soul food restaurants, although not mutually exclusive either. Her example was Martick's if it hadn't closed.

Like all great concepts, it sounds excellent but is a bit vague. So the first order of business is to define exactly what a "restaurant with soul" is.

(Photos by Gailor)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

A friend asked me recently to recommend some quiet, relaxing restaurants that weren't too pricey. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to come with more than a few until I tried to make a Top 10 Tuesday out of them.

The problem is that new restaurants want to be buzzworthy. To call them quiet and relaxing would be the kiss of death.

That meant I had to look for somewhat traditional restaurants, preferably with lots of fabric, soundproofing and booths, three things a terminally hip restaurant probably wouldn't have.

If you're willing to spend the money there are restaurants like Charleston that by their nature are quiet and relaxing, but they don't exactly fit the "not too pricey" part. That also let out the Brass Elephant, where the entrees were all in the $30-$40 range when I was there last.  Brightons Orangerie also seemed too expensive.   

Of course, you shouldn't tempt fate by going to any restaurant on a Saturday night at prime time when you're looking to feel relaxed. But if you avoid these restaurants' busiest times, I think you'll find something that fits your needs (which may be simply to be able to hear your companion talk). ...                                    

* Ambassador in Homewood. Be warned, it's more expensive than many Indian restaurants, but the serene dining room and terrace are worth it.

* Cafe Troia in Towson will be moving across the street to new digs, but I have no reason to think the new dining room won't be just as relaxing.

* Carlyle Club (500 W. University Pkwy, 410-243-5454) in Homewood. Lebanese food in a peaceful setting.

* Ciao Bella in Little Italy. Unpretentious, homey and relaxing.

* Cynthia's offers fine dining in a Severna Park strip mall. Who'd a thunk it?

* Dogwood in Hampden is a locavore's paradise but isn't as hip (translate: noisy) as nearby Woodberry Kitchen.

* Mia Carolina in Glyndon. Traditional Italian and contemporary entrees in a fairly recently renovated dining room.

* Orchard Market & Cafe in Towson. Excellent Persian cuisine hidden away in a strip shopping mall.

* Patrick's in Cockeysville. As long as you stay away from the sports bar side, the place is comfortable in a pleasantly old-fashioned way.

* Spice Company in Homewood.  Nice American food and despite the name, much on the menu isn't fiery.

(Photo of the Spice Company by Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

You'll be glad to know that Gailor called to say she was back in the States.

Faithful readers will remember that she's started business school at Northwestern, and the first week was a group bonding experience in Brazil.  She wasn't allowed to take a cell or laptop with her, but I did get this e-mail from her. It's not like I remember school: ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

I hope you had a chance to read my review of Pisces, the high-end dining room of the Inner Harbor Hyatt Regency, or if not I hope you'll read it now. I'm dying to get some more opinions on the fact that one of the best crab cakes I've had in a while sat in a pretty little pool of...horseradish sauce.

The copy editor who worked on my review was so outraged she e-mailed me this, which had me laughing:

"Horseradish goes in cocktail sauce, for people who don't actually like the taste of their ice-cold airport-bar shrimp."

On the other hand, my husband loved the combination. Anyway, this is the place for you to talk about my review, why you love/hate horseradish, or what you're having for your Labor Day picnic.

(Photo courtesy of Hyatt Regency Web site)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking