I thought my entry on the number of steakhouses we have in Baltimore might generate more comments than it did. It only had one comment until a couple of days later when Dan responded with this long and interesting recap of his steakhouse experiences. I always like hearing how other people are treated in restaurants.

But could he really have finished Shula's 48-ounce steak in 18 minutes? EL

I'm surprised there hasn't been much interest in this thread. Based on my personal experiences with each one, I'd rank the steakhouses here in Bmore this way-

1) Capital Grille
2) Ruth's Chris (Water Street)
3) Ruth's Chris (Pier)
4) Shula's
5) Prime Rib
6) Sullivan's
7) Flemings
8) Morton's ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

I didn't go into the office yesterday, so I didn't get Lissa's delicious description of lunch in Iceland until late. Here it is. EL

I had lunch today at the library in Akureyri, Iceland, 60 miles from the Arctic Circle.  Today's special was Svínapörusteik með kartöflum, rauðkáli, sultu og piparsósu, or pork roast, potatoes, red cabbage, jam and pepper gravy. Of course, it came with bread and butter. An extra 100 ISK (just under a buck) got me coffee.

The chef was very concerned that I understood what I was getting (there was no English menu) and that I understood I could get seconds on everything. He also came by my table to make sure I liked it. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

I'm always glad when people think I'm all-knowing, but I haven't a clue about this one. If any of you saw the show and can answer her question, please post below:

Would like to know which DiPasquale's carryout/restaurant was featured on The Food Channel's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."  All they mentioned was Baltimore and there is more than one listed in the phone book.

Thanks. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

1.  Which has more calories?  A jelly doughnut or a regular sugar doughnut?

The sugar doughnut, because of the hole, which gives it a larger surface area and, thus, more area to absorb the oil it’s cooked in.

2.  Alfred Hitchcock used what to simulate blood in Psycho’s shower scene?

Chocolate sauce

3.  One measurement conversion that has been lost to history is “350 squirts =” what?

A gallon.  350 approximates how many squirts from a cow’s udder it takes to get a gallon of milk.

4.  Little Frankie Epperson was only 11 years old when he invented what?

The popsicle, in 1905

5.  Mix vanilla, wintergreen and cinnamon and what flavor do you get?

Bubblegum

6.  What’s a more effective weight-loss technique than drinking eight glasses of water a day?

Drinking eight glasses of ice water a day.  The body burns calories bringing the temperature of the ice water up to normal body temperature.

7.  Cesare Cardini invented what at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico?

The Caesar salad, in 1924

8.  According to the National Safety Council, this is the fourth leading cause of accidental death in the United States, after car accidents, poisoning and falls.

Choking.  Learn the Heimlich maneuver, people.  And learn the self-administered Heimlich maneuver, as well.

9.  In a test in 1993, this was connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor and produced brain waves identical to those of adult humans.

Lime Jell-O, when it was wiggled

10.  “Desserts” spelled backwards is “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _."


Scoring:

9 - 10:  Wow, you need a life more than I do.
5 - 8:   You’re one of Owl Meat’s two dozen personalities, right?
1 - 4:  You have a good memory for inconsequential facts.
0:  What?  WHAT?  You can’t even write “desserts” backwards?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Bucky has invented a wonderful food quiz for us, and I'm not allowed to say he will send you a fabulous prize if you win -- not because he minds sending fabulous prizes that I commit him to without his consent, of course, but because that encourages cheaters.

No Googling or otherwise looking up the answers. If you're the kind of person who will be embarrassed if you don't get all the answers right, use an alias and answer as many as you can off the top of your head.

Once again, no one likes a cheater.

Here's Bucky's quiz. I'll post the answers later today: ...

1.  Which has more calories?  A jelly doughnut or a regular sugar doughnut?

2.  Alfred Hitchcock used what to simulate blood in Psycho’s shower scene?

3.  One measurement conversion that has been lost to history is “350 squirts =” what?

4.  Little Frankie Epperson was only 11 years old when he invented what?

5.  Mix vanilla, wintergreen and cinnamon and what flavor do you get?

6.  What’s a more effective weight loss technique than drinking eight glasses of water a day?

7.  Cesare Cardini invented what at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico?

8.  According to the National Safety Council, this is the fourth leading cause of accidental death in the United States, after car accidents, poisoning and falls.

9.  In a test in 1993, this was connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor and produced brain waves identical to those of adult humans.   

10.  “Desserts” spelled backwards is “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.”


Scoring:

9 - 10:  Wow, you need a life more than I do.

5 - 8:   You’re one of Owl Meat’s two dozen personalities, right?

1 - 4:  You have a good memory for inconsequential facts.

0:  What?  WHAT?  You can’t even write “desserts” backwards?

(Los Angeles Times photo by Liz O. Baylen) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
        

I was wondering if and when the practice of getting a deposit to hold a reservation, particularly for a large party, would make it to Baltimore.

I know it's a real problem for small restaurants that some people make reservations at two or three places so they can decide at the last minute, or simply don't bother to cancel if they decide not to go out to dinner. This is the only one anyone has told me about, though: ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)
        

In case you were wondering what I was doing instead of publishing comments or posting entries this afternoon, I've been entering a contest for best food blog.

My editor needed the entry today. No problem, right? I just fill out the form with the URL.

Wrong. ... 

They wanted two consecutive weeks of blog entries in 2008 either printed out -- let me repeat that, PRINTED OUT -- or put on a CD. It took a little doing, but with the help of Multimedia Editor Mary I finally figured out how to burn individual entries to a CD. They are going to be a little strange without the links, though. Speaking of burning, that's what the Sun should do with the Mac I borrowed, or at least the keyboard. It's a bit germy.

Anyway, I almost forgot to link to Other Reviewer Richard's review of the semi-new Terra Cafe. Here it is.

Now I'm heading home to bed.

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Owl Meat has brought us some excellent farm-raised food for thought in today's Funtastic Thursday guest post. In fact, even his throw-away line would be worth a separate post: "Has tilapia become the merlot of the fish world?"

Here's the Owl man. EL

Arizona Shrimp Farms
 
Let this settle into your skull bucket for a moment ... Arizona shrimp farms.  Now sit back and relish the rare triple oxymoron.  Can I think of others?  Just Holy Roman Empire. Maybe that example isn't analogous since shrimp farms do exist in Arizona, whereas the other existed but was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.  I used to live in southern Arizona, where these unholy sites exist, but I don't remember any shrimp on the beaches there. ...

From the University of Arizona site:  "There are currently four inland shrimp farms operating in Arizona. Each of these farms is growing the Mexican white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in brackish groundwater. The farms are also incorporating various levels of water reuse, growing additional crops of tilapia, date palms, olive trees or field crops."
 
Back it up, Jebediah.  Tilapia?  As I'm struggling to wrap my brain around the idea that I might be unknowingly eating Arizona shrimp, I am gut-punched with the notion of Yuma tilapia.   Are we in the Matrix?  
 
Here is a link to the USDA's USMSFP (U.S. Marine Shrimp Farming Program).  Is there a non-marine shrimp program?  Can the word "marine" be used to describe man-made shrimp farms in the desert? 
 
I had no idea that shrimp could be farm-raised.  In 2006 the United States produced 4,000 tons of farm-raised shrimp.  In recent years China has zoomed to the top to be the world's largest producer with 1.2 million tons in 2006.  That's enough shrimp for about 77 trillion spring rolls.
 
The Shrimp-Olive Program sounds like a delicious evening of antipasto-inspired music.  In fact it is a program for "using plants as a filtration system for aquaculture effluents."  Weird?  Interesting?  Disgusting?  Clever? 
 
There are shrimp farms in other states including landlocked Arkansas.  Brave New Shrimp™ produces "A gourmet product grown utilizing the best, most leading edge, 'natural' production practices." 

Note to Mr. Brave:  Don't put "natural" in quotes.  I'm no marketing genius, but do you really want to taunt your market with an already slightly scary product?  Never heard of Arkansas farm-raised shrimp?  I dare you to eat some.  Are you brave enough?  Not to mention the clear reference to Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World, which takes place in a future where human beings are mass-produced like, uh, farm-raised shrimp.
 
A key part of their marketing plan is "the natural-food angle." A spokesman said, "We are not using any growth hormones, any antibiotics or any preservatives on our shrimp, and we are trying to grow something that’s a very healthy product."  It never occurred to me that any of those things would ever be in seafood.  China + chemicals + shrimp?  That's easy math.  Now I'm terrified.
 
Brave New Restaurant in Little Rock is run by partner Peter Brave and supposedly features Brave New Shrimp and possibly braver new customers.  Conspicuously absent from the menu?  Brave New Shrimp.  Not so brave after all, Bubba?  They do offer tilapia of unknown origin.  Psst ...has tilapia become the merlot of the fish world?
 
I stopped eating shrimp a number of years ago for no particular reason.  I just stopped loving them.  Now I have a 1.2 million tons of reasons.  Brave new world?  Not for me.  For the rest of you – enjoy your shrimpy future ... if you dare.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)
        

This whole "feed a cold" thing bugs me anyway. If orange juice and citrus fruits high in vitamin C are so good for you, why do they taste so awful when you have a cold? It's like pouring salt on an open wound to eat an orange if you have a sore throat.

It's another example of your body betraying you when you're just trying to help it out, like when you're pregnant and you're going to be the best pre-mother ever and eat only nutritious foods, and then for nine months all you can stomach is Jif peanut butter and Wonder bread. Does that make sense? ...

Recently non-canned chicken noodle soup has tasted good to me when I have a cold, but not this time. The only thing that's remotely palatable is a lemon-lime or grapefruit soda such as Sierra Mist half and half with orange juice over ice.

The flavor of tea is off when I have a cold, which is so distracting I don't enjoy it.

This, by the way, is why I work so far ahead when I review restaurants -- so I don't have to review when I can't taste anything, but don't have to miss a week.

(Photo courtesy of freefoto.com)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

What does "feed a cold, starve a fever" mean? 

a) Eat when you have a cold, don't eat if you have a fever.

or

b) If you eat when you have a cold, you won't get a fever.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

In today's Table Talk column in the print edition I talk more about the new La Famiglia, which finally has a permanent phone number. (See previous post.)

The place has generated a lot of interest for two reasons: first, Brasserie Tatin, which it replaced, had a following; and second, Boccaccio in Little Italy, where most of La Famiglia's staff came from, had even more of a following....

My column also includes some reopening news.

And then there's the print edition of last week's Top 10 for your amusement. This was actually a fairly timeless one (Italian cold cuts), but next week's (a recap of Mardi Gras places) will take all my fudging skills.

The main reason I link to Top 10: the Print Version is so  you can see which comments made it in.

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

Suzanne Loudermilk of In Good Taste over at Baltimore magazine has actually gone to Sip & Bite in Canton to see what the story is. Not something I was willing to do, I have to say; it's a lot easier just to link to her entry. According to her blog, the sign on the door says it will reopen Friday.

I'm so impressed I'm going to add In Good Taste to the Dining@Large blog roll. It deserved to be there already, but rebuilding the site after I add a blog takes so long I kept putting it off. Believe me, by the time I go home tonight, my computer will still be rebuilding. I don't know if it slows down D@L from your end or not.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

I'm not giving up anything for Lent, but I never knew until today that our Shallow Thought Wednesday guru and guest poster John Lindner was so religious. EL

Welcome to Shallow Thought Ash Wednesday.

You deserve better than what follows, but what’s new?

I don’t know if this post offers the proper level of fine-dining relevance, but on the plus side, for the Sandbox at any rate, it provides fertile ground for digression. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)
        

I got this e-mail in my inbox this morning from Ted from Parkville:

Dear Mrs. Large,

When we were in Canton the week before last Coburn's Tavern on Odonnell Square was closed. There were signs on the windows indicating that it would be reopening under "old management". Can you provide some details?

Thanks,

Midnight Sun Sam posted something a couple of days ago asking for details, but didn't get any. I thought I would try. 

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

With the opening of Sullivan's Steakhouse, given the number of other steakhouses in the downtown area, you have to wonder what's going on. How is there possibly room for another steakhouse?

Is it because steak is the ultimate comfort food? Is it because we've become a city of conventioneers? Or something else?

I don't have any ready answers. I just wonder how a city the size of Baltimore supports not one but two Ruth's Chris Steak Houses within walking distance of each other. ...

I was pondering all these questions when I noticed the current issue of Allure on my desk. Allure is one of those beauty magazines I get for free because I used to write some stories on fashion that went out on the wires.

Anyway, besides the story on Goddess Hair (whatever that is) and Shopaholic's Isla Fisher, there is this on the cover:

HOW TO:

* Apply mineral make up

* Survive a blind date

* Order a steak

And more!

I like that. Ordering a steak is as difficult as surviving a blind date. Who knew? I turned to the page and found that the expert telling us how to order a steak is Tom Colicchio, the head judge on Bravo's Top Chef.

His four tips are Make the Cut (order USDA-certified prime beef), Size It Up (an eight-ounce portion is fine for most people), Cook It Right (ask the kitchen to broil or pan roast your steak and finish it with butter rather than grilling it) and Accentuate the Positive (order sauces on the side and season with salt and pepper first).

Oh, and limit pre-date flirting when going on a blind date.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

The fact that yesterday two readers almost immediately noticed that there are now 10 rather than 8 Most Recent Comments, as per another reader's request. I couldn't have told you how many there were originally.

Usually I wake up thinking about toast.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

One of the editors at the Sun stopped by my desk this afternoon and said she had been shopping for hot dogs, and every brand she picked up had this ingredient: "mechanically separated chicken [or turkey]." She finally found one kind of hot dog that didn't and bought it.

I hadn't heard the phrase, but then it's been awhile since I bought hot dogs, so I Googled it. The first listing was this.

Twilight Zone music, please. ...

Here's what the link gave as a definition, although I couldn't find the original source immediately.

Mechanically Separated Poultry is a paste-like poultry product produced by forcing crushed bone and tissue through a sieve or similar device to separate bone from tissue. Mechanically separated poultry has been used in poultry products since 1969 after the National Academy of Sciences found it safe for use. In 1995 the final rule on mechanically separated poultry said it was safe to use without restrictions. However, it must be labeled as "mechanically separated chicken or turkey" in the ingredient statement. The final rule became effective Nov. 1996. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

The third person just told me that Sip & Bite in Canton has been closed with paper on the windows. Three doesn't mean it's closed for good, but it does suggest that all is not well.

When I Googled the Baltimore -- dare I say institution? -- to get the phone number, this is the first listing that came up, which made me laugh:

Sip & Bite in Baltimore. Come to Citysearch to get information, directions, and reviews on Sip & Bite and other 4-Star Restaurants in...

I let the phone ring until my arm got tired of holding the receiver to my ear, but no one answered.

(Sun file photo)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (46)
        

...get the whole collection. Yes, that was the subject line from our newsroom systems god Steve Auerweck when he sent me this picture.

Thanks, Steve. I'm just one Armour photo away from my goal weight.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)
        

Mededitor sent me this idea, which I like a lot. I have a love/hate relationship with a lot of food words, such as "crispy," which annoys me so I try not to use it but does exactly describe a food state that's different from crisp (better somehow).

Your "Urg" post prompted me to write, since several of the comments devolved into a discussion of Urg vs Gack. I was thinking just this morning about some of my favorite "food" words and wonder if the kids in the Sandbox might like to offer theirs? What food words do they like to say or hear or use to impress others...? I'm an editor by trade, so words are close to my heart. Some of my faves are "chiffonade,"  "veloute'," "mise en place," and, of course, "gack." Just thought if you ever run out of inspiration for a blog entry, maybe you could offer this up and let the Sandbox run wild. I can't even imagine what Owl Meat Noun-of-the-Day would come back with! 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

The idea behind this Top 10 is to list the 10 best places for New Orleans cuisine in honor of the carnival season, which culminates today in Mardi Gras.

The problem is that we don't have that many restaurants to choose from, so the best may also be the worst. Still, it is an opportunity to get some new places into the discussion.

If you don't read this blog for anything but the Top 10 lists once a week, please read this first.

Here's my list: ...

* Acadiana in Washington. I rarely include DC restaurants in our discussions. But there are so few places on today's list that aren't just bars having an event in honor of Mardi Gras, I thought I would mention a restaurant that serves a serious, upscale version of New Orleans food.

* Ale Mary's in Fells Point. The menu for the week is completely Cajun, and today's blue plate special is beef Wellington with a Cajun crawfish cream sauce and crawfish empanada for $5.99. I'm speechless.

* Bayou Cafe in White Marsh. Known more for its music than its food, the new menu under a new chef still focuses on Cajun cuisine. Maybe the changes will make it more palatable to some of our commenters.

* Clarence's Taste of New Orleans in Edgewood. Ex-LIVE reviewer Karen Nitkin gave the food three stars, and the oyster po' boy sounds fabulous.

* Ethel and Ramone's in Mount Washington. This well-regarded, funky little place serves a mixture of Cajun cuisine and Maryland fare.

* Kooper's Tavern in Fells Point. The bar is featuring a Mardi Gras celebration tonight with hurricanes, fried chicken, jambalaya, gumbo, etouffée, barbecued shrimp and oysters.

* Louisiana in Fells Point. It's expensive, and it gets mixed reviews, but it's as close as Baltimore gets to French Creole cuisine in an elegant setting.

* Mother's Federal Hill Grille in Federal Hill. Half-price gumbo all day and beer specials.

* Pickles Pub downtown. Mick Kipp, owner of the Whiskey Island Pirate Shop, will be cooking crawfish and chicken and shrimp gumbo tonight from 7 p.m. till 10 p.m. It's all you can eat and drink (beer) for $25, plus a band that starts at 8 p.m.

* RA Sushi in Harbor East. To celebrate its first anniversary, RA is holding a Mardi RA party Thursday, with Cajun wings, a voodoo roll and Creole crawfish. The special drinks include a Queen of Parade and a King Cake Martini.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, FILE)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Reality Check Sarah sent me this link, with the message, "I apologize in advance."

May I suggest you not even look at this if you're worried about your cholesterol?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
        

This was a topic on Chowhound.com, but as the discussion seemed to be focused on the DC area, I thought I'd steal it for us.

This seems to be my day for linking to Chowhound, but, hey, some days are like that.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

Yesteday I reviewed the Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown. I'm glad  Elite Elephant Lover mentioned the high price of wines by the glass under an earlier post. I hadn't noticed (I should have) because I was with three other people who all wanted the same wine, so we got a bottle.

Anyway, if you have anything to add, please post below.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

I don't usually send you to other blogs -- I like keeping you here with me -- but I hope you'll mosey over to Unleashed, my friend and boss Mary's new pet blog.

We don't have pets anymore. We always had cats, but the last three had such long, drawn-out illnesses I decided I couldn't go through it anymore. It's the same problem as with humans. The professionals can extend life, so they do....

Actually, I should give a shout out to my wonderful vet, Dr. Bradley at Aardmore Veterinarium, who finally said to me, "Elizabeth, it's time to let him go."

After I agreed to have Flash, our last cat, put to sleep -- sorry, that's the euphemism my family always used -- that afternoon (so my husband and Gailor could be with him), I took him home and went to work.

Mary took one look at my face and said, "Go home and stay with him until you have to take him back to the vet's." Which I did.

So that's why I hope you'll read her blog.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Hal Laurent VofR kindly sent me a tip that McCabe's, a Hampden bar that's almost a Baltimore institution, closed abruptly last Tuesday. He learned about it from this post on Chowhound.

I called, but the phone rang and rang with no answer. If anyone knows if this is permanent, please post below.

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

I just put Gailor on the plane back to Illinois. Sad. She borrowed a hammer from her dad and took it with her in her carryon luggage. I mean, really. She can't take 3.5 ounces of eye makeup remover with her, but she can take a hammer. 

Anyway, it was chance that I turned in my review of Brasserie 10 South about the time we had one of our most interesting series of comments in recent memory -- about that very restaurant. ...

I'm worried that as a result of that discussion some of my review will be inoperative -- for instance, I mention that there were no other customers in the restaurant that evening, and I complain about the misspellings on the menu.

But my basic thesis will still be true: This is a very difficult location for any restaurant. It's across the street from the now-closed Red Tapas, where Jerry Edwards was the chef. Same kind of restaurant, and look what happened to it.

In any case, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, because I had a good meal there.

You can read my review next Sunday in the Arts & Entertainment section or, of course, online. 

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Review Preview
        

When we got back from DC late yesterday afternoon, tired and hungry, we decided to let Gailor pick a restaurant for dinner. She wanted to go somewhere she hadn't been, and she liked the sound of one of the dinner salads on Tark Grill's online menu (she's a cheap date), so we called to make a reservation.

I was impressed. Even though it's not that long after Restaurant Week and Valentine's Day, two big eating-out events,  and even though the state of the economy has people thinking twice about going out to dinner, Tark's had no tables available until after 9 p.m. ...

We decided to go anyway and sit in one of the booths in the bar -- after the person who answered the phone assured us that on Saturday nights the bar isn't as loud as it is on work nights.

Finally a restaurant seems to be succeeding in that troubled Green Spring Station location. Tark's isn't an inexpensive restaurant, but I think it's doing OK because there are a lot of choices if you're trying to be careful. Besides the salads and sandwiches on the dinner menu, there are "house specialties" -- dishes like short ribs and chicken pot pie that are priced mostly under $20.

The best thing about Tark's is it's a professional operation; the staff is well-trained and seems to care about its customers. It's just a very pleasant place to be.

I'm not going to review the place again, but I will mention a couple of things. One, and this is a problem for me, the cheapest wine by the glass is $8 for an Argentinian malbec. Most are $9 or $10. If you're going to give customers some less expensive choices for dinner, do the same for the wine, please.

Two, it's such a professional operation that I wish they would correct the misspellings on the menu, which seems to be a permanent one. (Examples: The meatloaf has ground prok in it, and something is sauced with ber blanc.) I know. It's a minor point.

I want to mention again the creamed spinach, which is fresh spinach poached lightly in cream. I love it, but I wonder what the traditionalists think when they order it for the first time?

Here's my review from last April, by the way.

 (Photos by Gailor)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Posted by: hmpstd | February 19, 2009 5:25 AM

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Occasionally a product that you think couldn't be improved on is improved on. And for an extra bonus, without fanfare. I'm thinking of Land o' Lakes butter, which has started selling its pound of butter in eighth-pound sticks as well as quarter-pound sticks, each individually wrapped.

Maybe you have to be a family of two (or one) to appreciate having the choice, but I like to leave butter out during the winter under a glass bell. After all, our house is colder than our refrigerator. And I like to do it in small amounts. ...

It also seems as if recipes I use call for four tablespoons of butter as often as eight. Plus the little sticks are cute.

The thing I really appreciate is that, of course, they cost more because they are new and marginally more paper and labor is used in their manufacture, only -- gasp -- they don't. The price is the same.

Finally, most important, Land o' Lakes hasn't phased the original out for those who like the quarter-pound sticks. 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (87)
        

Now that restaurateurs can actually find reviews of their restaurants on the Sun's Web site, I'm in trouble. I can imagine that the e-mails updating the reviews will be rolling in.

And, yes, here's one in my inbox now. It's about my review of Bliss Coffee and Wine Bar in Riverside:

Elizabeth, I read your review of Bliss and just wanted to let you know that the establishment now has a new chef!  The change was made in October, and the reception has been great!  I think your review of the place will change when you visit again. 

Lynne Koppenhoefer
Media Specialist Extraordinaire

Actually, the new chef is Ms. Koppenhoefer's daughter, April. As a mother myself, I appreciate her concern.

(Photo of the owner by Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

A co-worker has asked me for recommendations of places that serve great corned beef and cabbage.

Is there such a thing?

Don't get me wrong. I like the dish, which I occasionally fix at home as a one-pot boiled dinner with carrots, potatoes and onions, just fine. And just to add a note of authenticity, I serve it with corn pone. ...

But I can't imagine picking one restaurant over another because it serves noticeably better corned beef and cabbage.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you've discovered there really is one that's the best. Or anyway, the best you've found.

If so, please post below.

(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (50)
        

Actually, after this guest post from Bucky, I may not be eating lunch at all today. If you're wondering how the video fits in, his e-mail said this: "Ok, with this, the metaphor I'm trying to construct should be more clear, I think."

Uh, no. Urg. Here's Bucky. EL

According to Wikipedia, earthworms (phylum: Annelida) are mammals that, genetically speaking, are closely related to the Canadian goose.

Ha ha ha.  I crack myself up.  Wikipedia says no such thing, of course.  I was just seeing if Prof. McIntyre was paying attention.

I have a theory that when guys get together in a bar, if there’s nothing on the big screen television in which they have a betting interest, there are four things that can happen.  Three of them are bad. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

The good news is that BaltimoreSun.com has a beautiful new database of restaurant reviews. It's much easier to find reviews, and that's going to make folks very happy.

Of course, you could also say going to the public library and looking up old issues of the Sunday Sun would have been easier than the old system -- that's how bad it was -- but this is a fantastic improvement.

You can search by name, cuisine or location. There's a photo with each one. It could not be better.

Except...

For the first time I'm realizing that there are some very old reviews in this database. Yes, I know the date is prominently displayed, but only if you call up the complete review. Reviews were so hard to find with the old database I never bothered to check.

Let me give you an example.

I went to "Search for recent Baltimore Sun dining reviews" and typed in "Brass Elephant."

I got the food rating (three stars out of four), the headline ("New chef polishing up the Brass Elephant") and the first three lines of the review. No date.

The date of the review, as you'll find if you click on "read more," is May 11, 2008, almost a year ago.

Since then the "new chef" of the headline has come and gone, and now owns Maggitti's, an Italian market and gourmet bakery in Fallston. The cuisine at the Brass Elephant is no longer northern Italian, as you'll find if you read my Table Talk column elsewhere on the site. And entrees average about $10 less than they did at the time of the review -- another example of restaurateurs responding to the present economy.

In other words, this review is inoperative.

None of this is meant as criticism of the Web editors who put together the elegant database, which in form is a vast improvement on the old. 

What I'm worried about is the content, namely what I (and Richard Gorelick) supply. Blame me. Any review older than about six months is hopelessly out of date, and I don't know what to do about it. I probably won't be back at the Brass Elephant any time soon. If I am, it probably won't be to review it.

When I get to work, I'll check against the Sun archives to see how far back reviews in the database go; I'm guessing about a year. Once that wouldn't have been long at all, but these days restaurants sometimes open and close in the span of a year.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Baltimore magazine has come out with its list of 50 best restaurants. And ranked them! Let me stress that: And ranked them!!!!!!!! This is gutsier (is that a word? It looks funny) than I can tell you. I applaud the food staff, especially Suzanne Loudermilk, who used to work at the Sun, and I also have some advice for them:

Duck.

I want to link to the list so we can discuss it at length, but when I asked the Baltimore magazine PR person about it, she said it won't be online for another week.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

My friend Patti, mother of two, has come up with the best reason yet not to fear death:

Death: The night you don't have to cook dinner.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
        

Jamie has e-mailed me asking where he can get a king cake around here to celebrate Mardi Gras with, and I haven't a clue. Neither does Food Editor Kate.

He also suggested a Top 10 for next Tuesday: Best Places to Get Creole- or Cajun-Inspired Cuisine to Celebrate the Mardi Gras Season. I'm game, although I can't think of many. If a restaurant serves jambalaya that may be enough to get it on the list.  Hey, if it serves eggs benedict a la Breakfast at Brennan's that may be enough.

Anyway, recommendations for either a Top 10 in honor of Mardi Gras or places to get a king cake will be much appreciated.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, FILE)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)
        

Today Other Reviewer Richard (who in case you hadn't connected the two, is gorelick when he's commenting on Dining@Large) reviews Freda's Kitchen in Mount Washington.

Takeout Reviewer Rob, meanwhile, was having what looks like a mighty fine sandwich at the Charm City Cafe in the Belair Beltway Plaza shopping center.

If you've eaten at either of these places, feel free to tell us what you thought.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Owl Meat makes his triumphant return to the Dining@Large pantheon of guest posters with this Funtastic Thursday. However, I have to say that I always thought you put salt in the water you're about to boil pasta in for the pasta's sake, not the water's. My bad. Here's Owlie. EL

Boil, boil, toil and trouble

Yes, I used the common misquote of the witches from Macbeth, but it serves my purpose slightly better than:

boil
1 a: to come to the boiling point b: to generate bubbles of vapor when heated —used of a liquid
 
While I was thinking about this subject, I stumbled upon an episode of MythBusters.  The myth posed had something to do with exploding water.  Little did I think that I would question the nature of boiling water.  You just never know.  Take a look at the video.  Apparently it is the impurities in the water that cause the familiar bubbling that we recognize as boiling.  So distilled water doesn't boil?  What?  It has always been my understanding that water (meaning pure H2O) boils at 212 degrees at sea level.  

Do I not understand the basic nature of boiling?  To quote Bill Murray from Ghostbusters (NSFW):  "Human sacrifices, dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!" 

I just don't know what to believe anymore.  That's good.

 The boiling point of water is lower at higher altitudes, say if you move from Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill.  We've seen the havoc that this caused for contestants on Top Chef when they cooked in Colorado.  The boiling point for water drops 10 degrees at 5,200 feet above sea level.  Exactly how did that effect their cooking?
 
Other water topics that will have to wait:

Does hot water freeze faster than cold?

What is the best method to heat water for tea?

Why do my ice cubes seem to shrink in their trays without melting?

So you think you can boil water?  Assume nothing, grasshoppers.

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (69)
        

SGI sent me this e-mail about a Baltimore Restaurant Week disaster. I enjoy disasters if they don't happen to me, don't you? So I thought I'd reprint it. (Just kidding, SGI.)

Although the place didn't warn her when she made reservations, it was only serving the Restaurant Week menu that night.

I don't know how widespread this practice is (maybe you can tell us), but it happened to me the first time I went to review the just-opened Junior's in Federal Hill. It was, I think, the first year of Winter Restaurant Week, and I just forgot about it. We ate from the Restaurant Week menu, but we had to go back later when the regular menu was being served for the review.

I'm not going to name the restaurant SGI is talking about in her e-mail because it's new and this is a tough time to be opening a new business. The photo, by the way, is from my review of the original Junior's. (At that time it still had its apostrophe in the name.) Here's SGI: ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (78)
        

In today's Table Talk, I give you the details about the new Sullivan's Steakhouse downtown. I also found out more about Taverna Corvino, the new Italian restaurant where Juniors was in Federal Hill.

I guess in a recession you can't have too many steakhouses or Italian restaurants.

My Deal of the Week (a regular feature in the print edition) was $2 steamed crabs at the Sue Island Crab House & Dock Bar in Essex. I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't heard of the place before last week. (I pride myself on at least knowing the names of most restaurants in the area after all this time.) ...

The owner called to tell me the restaurant was open this winter for the first time. We got to talking, and I found out there were actually several good deals, including a Friday steak night.

Crab houses like Mr. Bill's Terrace Inn, Bo Brooks and Costas Inn seem to get all the press. I was glad to know of another one that sounded good. Of course, I'd love to hear what anyone who's eaten there thinks.

It took me awhile, but I also found the online version of last week's Top 10, Romantic Restaurants for the Budget-Minded, which appeared in today's print edition.

I did a pretty good job of fudging, if I do say so myself, to explain why we were running it the Wednesday AFTER Valentine's Day. A few comments by readers also made it into the paper.

Interesting choice of steaks to photograph, don't you think? (I'm assuming the Sullivan's chef was the one who chose.) It's a 12-ounce filet.

(Elizabeth Malby/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (49)
        

I'm struggling so much with the chicken-fried bacon concept that I can hardly introduce my guest poster for today, our Shallow Thought guru, John Lindner. EL

Perspective.

I believe I may have lost it.

Like an intoxicated rube amid the glut of the Vegas strip, all sense of consequence is lost in an orgy of glittering frivolity, underscored by a carefully orchestrated noise.

At some point, the human mind must snap and waft away like Yeats' falcon.

How else explain chicken-fried bacon?

I'm not judging. (Heaven forfend!) Do I ken what fork in our psyches or souls or genes divides us so that some delight in the subtlest nuance and others glory in greasy excess?

Heck, no!

My question to you, dear Elizabethans, sage Sandbox solons: if we place chicken-fried bacon (previously I would have said deep-fried Twinkie) at one end of the dining experience, what would you place at the other, its opposite end? What one dish describes height as CFB so succinctly describes depth?

Answer quickly, please! I feel a digression coming on.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)
        

I may be a little late in reporting this, but I have photos. When Lee Morton of XS told me last week that the Mount Vernon hot spot had moved forward with its new lounge in spite of the economy, I asked him to send me details and pictures.

I promptly got bogged down in all the exciting things that were happening (Cornish game hen bowling! Giant pastries! Credit card roulette!) and forgot to post about it until now. Even Midnight Sun scooped me, but I Had It First. ...

When XS opened five years ago it had a lounge on the fourth floor that got turned into a dining area when the restaurant needed more tables.

With the recent expansion, XS broke through the brick wall next to the third floor bar area and turned the empty space next door into a high tech "chill room." I thought the following was an interesting part of the e-mail because it suggests a shift away from food:

This newly designed and expanded version of the original introduces XS new philosophy on beverages.  We believe the beverage is equally as important as the meal.  That's why we now emphasize a new tea menu with over 10 different flavors of hot and cold teas, most being organic.  Sips & Sweets [one of the lounge's menus] also has a creative new list of Mocktails, Cocktails and XSive signature desserts. The Lounge's new Wall of Sake & Wine gives our customers a chance to see a visual display the vast selection of sake and wine offerings.

Actually, this gives me an idea. Why doesn't someone open a bar around here that serves all the usual bar drinks, but instead of bar food like wings and potato skins, offers desserts exclusively, the richer the better. After all, isn't that where restaurateurs make their money, at least more so than with the entrees?

(Photos courtesy of XS)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

This just blows me away. I remember when folks used to drink instant coffee, and I didn't think I would ever see its return. Then here was a story on the Sun's home page this morning about Starbuck's selling its instant coffee online. Whoa.

My problem with this is that I enjoy the smell of coffee brewing even more than the taste of coffee.

I don't care if the suits say, "This isn't your mother's instant coffee." I want to hear from a serious coffee drinker who reads this blog if it really is drinkable.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (54)
        

Until the article in Style magazine, I had never heard of credit card roulette as a means of deciding who pays the check. Is this something everyone else knows about? Doing a quick Google search, it looks like it started in earnest about three years ago. ...

The idea is that everyone puts his or her credit card in the pot at the end of the meal, and by some means (there are several different ones) one credit card is chosen. That person has to pay the whole tab.

Here's an interesting discussion of the economics of credit card roulette.

I'm no gambler, so there's no way I would do this. What's the point? The risk? The excitement? The chance of free food?

When I sent this post to my editor, who happens to be Sarah K. of Reality Check, she told me she had just learned about credit card roulette last night from Jorge Garcia's blog (Hurley on Lost).

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
        

Oh, cripe. I was so bogged down in Italian cold cuts yesterday that I forgot to post Skewed Tomato's adventure in shopping, which would have made a good companion piece with mine. Here she is. EL

Hi Elizabeth: Thought everyone would like to know that Wegman's has duck fat, so let the frying begin! I made these last weekend and they are everything they're cracked up to be. My cholesterol-challenged husband, who normally shows the restraint of a zen master in these matters, devoured them. My 8-year-old cried when they were gone. Kids, DO try this at home.

Skewed Tomato

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

I know I sprang this on you unannounced, but here's the Top 10 you've all been waiting for (judging from the number of comments we got on Sandwich Musings): Top 10 Italian Cold-Cut Sandwiches.

OK, it's actually a list of Top 10 Places to Get a Great Italian Cold-Cut Sandwich, but you get the idea.

There are about five delis on the list that I think most Baltimoreans would agree belong there; after that the list becomes much more a matter of personal opinion. I'm also not happy I couldn't come up with an Annapolis suggestion.

Most of these places didn't have their own Web sites, but I gave you some kind of link for each one that would supply you with addresses and phone numbers at least.

If you aren't a regular reader of Dining@Large, please click on this before you keep reading: ...

* Ceriello in Belvedere Square. Expensive, and a chain, but the award-winning Italian sandwich is worth it.

* DiPasquale's in Highlandtown. A fine old-fashioned Italian deli/neighborhood market with world-class sandwiches. In business since 1914.

* Fortunato Brothers Pizza in Towson. Takeout reviewer Rob gave his sandwich here a "Best Bite" and described this as "a spicy mix of ham, pepperoni, onions, tomatoes, provolone and hot banana peppers."

* Isabella's in Little Italy. How do prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, proscuittini, salami and capicollo, lettuce, tomato, oil and red wine vinegar dressing (hot peppers by request) sound?

* Maggitti's in Fallston. This Italian market and gourmet bakery is now brought to you by a former chef of the Brass Elephant downtown.

* Mastellone's Deli and Wine on Harford Road. I linked to a City Paper Web page because of the interesting comment about whether it's located in Parkville, Lauraville or Woodhome.

* Pastore's in Rosedale. Family-owned and operated Italian grocery, deli and bakery. It's been around forever, but while many of these don't even have a Web site, Pastore's has a Web site and free wi-fi.

* Savona Fine Italian Food & Wine in Bel Air. Everybody loves eating here, so try not to hit it at peak lunch hour.

* Scittino's Italian Market in Catonsville. A "hidden gem" one commenter called it. Joyce W. said, "Great selection of meats and cheeses and fresh Marranto's sub rolls and if you are a mayo lover they will oblige you but their Italian dressing is to die for."

* Trinacria Macaroni Works downtown. We aren't the only ones who appreciate this institution. The Washington Post once described a Trinacria sandwich as "a symphony of Italian meats, provolone cheese and olive oil built on fresh, unsalted Tuscan bread."

For an Internet Only bonus, Midnight Sun Sam recommends Beach Bums Cafe and Deli in Federal Hill. The sandwiches are smaller since new owners took over, he tells me, but still excellent.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (77)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I've gotten into the habit the last few weekends of going to Eddie's of Roland Park on N. Charles street to buy a loaf of Bonaparte multi-grain bread.

It makes good breakfast toast, and I tell myself it's as much of a treat as a croissant would be because even though it's healthful, it's horribly expensive. (Do you follow my reasoning here?)

So why, you may wonder, is there a photo of mille-feuilles with this post? ...

Yesterday when I called to see if the store had a loaf, I was told Eddie's was probably going to discontinue carrying Bonaparte bread. I ended up driving down to Fells Point to the Bonaparte bakery itself, which is quite a hike for breakfast toast, not to mention the parking situation there. I guess multi-grain toast is a habit I'm going to get out of pretty quickly now.

The good news is that the loaf at the source cost $6, almost $2 less than the last time I bought one. The bad news: I spent $9 on two mille-feuilles.

They are one of my favorite pastries (I usually call them napoleons because I think more readers know them by that name, but out of respect for the French patisserie, I'll use the proper name.)

I like them made with puff pastry, pastry cream and fondant on top, just the way they look in the photo. But I was disappointed that Bonaparte makes them so huge. I ate a whole one last night (bad Elizabeth) and felt like the boa constrictor digesting the suckling pig afterward. Not to mention that if they were half the size they might not cost $4.50 apiece.

On the other hand, I don't know of anywhere else locally to get mille-feuilles without special-ordering them. That's probably a good thing.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
        

Yesterday I saw Seville oranges for sale at Whole Foods. I didn't have my camera with me, so I whipped out my handy-dandy cell phone. That's my excuse for the photo.

Faithful readers will remember that my father used to make Seville orange marmalade, and after he died I tried to continue the tradition, although it got more and more difficult. When my source for Seville oranges dried up (actually wild oranges that my Florida cousin sent to me), I scoured the Internet looking for them. I finally located some, but it wasn't easy. I haven't made marmalade in years, partly because it was just so darn hard to get the right oranges.

Now here Seville oranges are at my local supermarket, and the idea of my having the time -- or the inclination -- to make marmalade these days is so ridiculous I'm sitting at my desk laughing to myself.

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

I had given up on qzans and Robin after Zevonista sent us his report on Valentine's Eve at the Giant.

But when I got in this morning I found that qzans had sent me a ton of photos and a wrap up of her evening that will make you want to move immediately to the Eastern Shore so you can shop at the Easton Giant. Wine and cheese? Free Starbucks coffee? Bowling with Cornish game hens? Sigh.

Many thanks, qzans. I enjoyed the photos, but I'm only going to post one because they're too large for my computer to handle. By the way, I don't think you qualify as a lurker any more.

The rest of you, take note of the fame and glory that have come to qzans and Zevonista and start sending me your photos, preferably of NEW restaurants, and preferably under 1 MB in size so my computer won't start frothing at the mouth.

Here's qzqans' e-mail: ...

"Sorry that this comes so late. I was in class all day today. Our bowling included frozen cornish game hens. Some highlights of the evening included a beautiful chocolate fountain, filet and lobster tail, wine and cheese, and FREE starbucks coffee.

"I have attached some pics from the evening. I have to send 4 different emails because I can only attach so many pics before the program becomes enraged and boots me. [My Outlook e-mail was enraged too. :-) EL]

"So, there are more pics to follow...

"Let me know if there is anything else you would like me to comment on.

"Thanks (and I love your blog...even if i may only be a lurker)

"qzans"

(Photo courtesy of qzans)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

You have to be a serious foodie for this to interest you after Baltimore Restaurant Week and Valentine's Day, but I know you can rise to the occasion.

Annapolis is holding its first restaurant week today through Friday.

Thirty-four restaurants in Historic and greater Annapolis will be offering three-course, fixed-price meals ($15.95 for lunch and $29.95 for dinner). ...

The participating restaurants include Azure at the Westin Annapolis, Breeze at Loews Annapolis, Buddy’s Crabs & Ribs, Café Normandie, Cantler’s Riverside Inn, Carpaccio, Carrol’s Creek Cafe, Domenicas, Fado Irish Pub, Federal House Bar and Grille, Galway Bay, the Greystone Grill, Harry Browne’s, John Barry Restaurant at the O’Callaghan Hotel, Lemongrass, Luna Blu, Lure’s Bar and Grill, the Main Ingredient Café, the Melting Pot, O’Leary’s Seafood Restaurant, Pesce Grande, the Purple Tooth, Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, Rams Head Tavern, Reynolds Tavern, Ristorante Piccola Roma, the Rockfish, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Sam’s on the Waterfront, the Severn Inn, Stan & Joe’s Saloon, Tsunami, Wild Orchid Café,  and Yellowfin.

I'm not going to link to the places separately because you can find the contact information at the Restaurant Week Web site.

Interesting that no weekend is included.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

Next week I review the Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown in the Arts & Entertainment section. "The Grill" part was added to the name after the latest remodeling.

It used to be that "grill" in the name of an eating place was preceded by "bar and." It meant something very casual. Otherwise you stuck an "e" on the end. ...

I'm not sure what "grill" means now.  In the Harryman House's case, it does add a less formal element to the name of what used to be almost exclusively a fine-dining restaurant. And it does suggest that steaks and chops are an important part of the menu (although that's stating it a little strongly in the case of this restaurant).

I guess it's just another word like "bistro" that these days evokes a feeling rather than giving us any solid information about the place.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Sean's comment about where he took his wife for a Valentine's dinner last night got me thinking that it would be useful for next year's Valentine's Top 10 (God help me) to hear from you about which restaurants were wonderful, which were zoos, and which made you vow never to eat out on Valentine's Day again.

If you went out to dinner last night, please let us know where you were and how it was. You can even use stars if you like. 

(Chiaki Kawajiri/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)
        

I totally forgot to post the Comment of the Week yesterday, so I guess I'll have to call it the Comment of Last Week. Clearly the honors go to Trixie, who defused a headline that turned out to be more X-rated than I meant it to be. (I was going for PG-13, a quiet snicker, that would draw new readers into the blog):

Girls taste better than boys? Personally, I think it depends on how you cook them.
Posted by: Trixie | February 11, 2009 1:19 PM

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Well, I asked for it and Zevonista came through. Here's his report on Valentine's Date Night at the Giant last night. But I'm disappointed. Bowling with a toy soccer ball? No chocolate-covered strawberries? EL

Mrs. Zevonista and I packed up the car and headed over
 to the Columbia Giant. As we walked in, we were concerned
 that the place looked suspiciously like...a grocery store.
 But the night was saved by the greeter in the suit and 
festive hat, who took our names for the
 various raffles.

 ...

First stop, the chocolate fountain, which, while next to
 the strawberries, was curiously devoid of said fruit. But
 it did have chocolate-covered pretzels. While
 not fruit, they combined two of nature's perfect foods -
- chocolate and salt.



Next stop, seafood, where there was a lobster-tail
 preparation demonstration. There was a
 prepared plate -- steak and lobster tail -- to show
 all the goodies you could buy at Giant. A nice 
gentleman in a tux handed out samples of crab-stuffed 
lobster as Chef James prepared the lobster tails, and
 happily shared the fact that all ingredients could
 be purchased at this very Giant. 

They then raffled
 off the prepared plate, and we heard that all of the
 delicious-looking food could be bought at Giant. I'm not 
sure where I got this idea, but apparently the steak 
and lobster tail could be purchased at this very store!



As we walked on, we noticed that they were handing
 the sample plate to the raffle winner. I have no idea if
 she was expected to eat it there, or carefully bring it
 out to her car.

But never mind, we had business. Namely, we had to find 
the bowling. I asked several employees and apparently, 
the bowling lady was on break. But they pointed out that
 the event was occurring in aisle 12. And...there it was. 
Ten rolls of paper towels lined up, with a toy soccer
ball to the side.

Mrs. Zevonista gave it a shot, but ended 
up unable to finish off the 7-10 split. 

Other than that, it was pretty quiet. Not many couples 
partaking in the festivities. In fact, most people seemed 
to be...SHOPPING for some reason.



The date ended in a perfect Valentine's fashion -- namely, we picked up a quart of milk, paid, and headed out into 
the cool Columbia night.

(Photos courtesy of Zevonista)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Your restaurant critic, ever on the lookout for exciting new products to tell you about, has learned that cow urine soda is being developed by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group.

You may not think this is a good thing; but considering that in the past the group has been accused of more violent methods -- such as killing Christians and assaulting women -- of cleansing India of foreign influences (that's you, Sprite Zero drinkers) and promoting its ideals, I say let's not be negative about cow urine soda development.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

Consumer blogger Liz Kay tells me Saigon Remembered across from the Senator Theatre in Govans has reopened after being closed for a couple of weeks. Banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches  on a baguette) are now available at lunchtime, and the restaurant has started offering free delivery from Roland Park to Ruxton.

I'm afraid Lissa's mini-review of the new Mekong Delta at Cathedral and Saratoga might have gone unnoticed under a previous entry, so I'm going to reprint it here. I was surprised by the name. When I told Movie Critic Mike Sragow about it, he pointed out that the only thing weirder would have been if it were called the Gulf of Tonkin.

Here's her review (Thanks, Lissa): ...

...I got to Mekong Delta. They have $4.75 lunch specials. The summer rolls were not bad, nor was the peanut sauce. My Vietnamese pancake was quite good. It was an eggy crepe stuffed with veggies. The lemongrass chicken was perhaps a tad boring, and the rice was of mediocre quality.

We got a cold soup of lichi, lotus root and some kind of nut (ginko?) for dessert. I liked it, but it wasn't sweet enough for others. Unusual, not for everyone, to be sure.

The lunch menu is quite limited. They have a much longer menu for dinners and the weekend. There is pho, and I'll be back to try it soon. The dinner prices looked quite inexpensive - pho was $8-9.

I enjoyed it. The room is bright with interesting artwork of Vietnam. The owner was willing to explain dishes and make recommendations. Plus the only other place in the area you can get a good lunch for under $5 is Bouillabaisse Cafe.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

I noticed a mistake in one of my earlier posts, which I corrected this morning. But because the error must have been puzzling unless you intuited my meaning, I thought I better point it out.

In the discussion on where can you find real food and what non-real food is, I said "prepared" when I meant "processed" food with ingredients (that is, chemicals) I can't pronounce. Owl's mention of Coffee-Mate is a perfect example. (I think it was him.). ...

Why did I notice it this morning? I try to publish your comments as frequently as possible (and, yes, if I have trouble sleeping I even wander into the study and do so at 2 in the morning), but sometimes I have to publish them in batches. They appear in chronological order in the software, so I try to go back and read them on the blog itself to follow the discussion.

That's what I was doing with real food, and I have to say: If you haven't kept up with the comments, it's well worth going back. (Also with the comments under the grocery list entry.)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Actually this started out as a very late Christmas present. When I posted about my postponed Christmas dinner with friends last Tuesday, I forgot to mention the exchange of gifts. My husband was given cherry-almond bark from Glarus, a local chocolatier.

It was wonderful: a thin layer of white chocolate topped with a thin layer of dark chocolate (sometimes barks are too thick, in my opinion) with dried cherries and natural almonds scattered on it. Not as many as the photo suggests, which to my mind was an improvement. ...

I looked up the cost online, and unlike the hemp bar I bought (and haven't started eating yet), I think the price of $10.25 for 6 ounces would be well worth it. Especially if you're giving it to your true love.

Roses are beautiful, but I hate the way even the most expensive ones often droop their little heads without ever opening. It's depressing.

I promise you no one will be depressed with this chocolate. OK, maybe if he or she doesn't like fruit with chocolate or if he/she eats it all the one sitting, a real possibility. But otherwise.

Glarus has shops in Timonium and downtown.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Poor Bucky. To come up with the art for his guest post today he had to go buy a cup of Starbucks coffee. It must have killed him if he can't tell the difference between it and any other coffee.

Think of the photo as something old, something new. The old is his Stanley stainless thermos, which he tells me has been with him longer than Mrs. Bucky. EL

So, I hesitate to bring this up, because I know that, once again, I’m going to be exposed as Joe the Plumber of the Sandbox—somebody who is well-intentioned but who has managed to get himself in way over his head.

The current issue of Consumer Reports rates coffees.  And of the 13 different coffees they rate, Eight O’Clock Coffee ($6.28/lb) was one of three they judged to be “Very Good.”  Caribou ($11.76/lb) and Kickapoo ($14.33/lb) also earned a “Very Good” rating.  Because of its price, Eight O’Clock Coffee was judged a best buy. ...

(The best decaf coffee, by the way, was Dunkin’ Donuts brand at $10.25/lb. and was rated “Good” by CR.  Starbucks at $11.53/lb., seemingly the standard anymore, rated “Good” as well.)

I say I’m in over my head because, to me, one cup of freshly-brewed coffee tastes pretty much like any other cup of freshly brewed coffee.  I apparently don’t have a refined palate for coffee, either.  (Yes, I can tell the difference between a cup of coffee, a cup of espresso and a cup of chicory.  But not between one cup of coffee and another.)  So I’m inclined to buy Eight O’Clock the next time I need to buy coffee, based on price alone.    

The worst coffee I ever drank on a regular basis was made by the crew leader of a U.S. Forest Service trail crew I worked on during the summers I was in college.  Al’s idea of making coffee was to boil up a pot of water, dump the coffee grounds in it and let them soak for about five minutes, then pour the coffee through a bandana to strain out the grounds.  Because he got up before the rest of us every morning, he always made the coffee.

It smelled good, though, and the aroma was nice to wake up to.

Another thing…coffee “beans” aren’t really beans at all.  They are the pit of a coffee cherry.  

What do you figure the thought process was for the first person who picked a ripe coffee cherry and decided the coffee cherry pit would be a better thing to taste than the coffee cherry fruit?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad somebody figured that out.  But it never would have occurred to me to pick some coffee cherries, carve away all the fruit, then make a drink out of the pits.

(Photo credit: Uncle Larry's Photo Gallery)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

I got an e-mail today from Meghan the PR Person telling me she has heard that melons may be used for the date night bowling at select Giant stores tomorrow night. She offered to send photos next week, but I feel my evil minions, as Zevonista has termed you, can come up with something more timely -- like Saturday morning.

He, qzans and Robin have stepped up to the plate, and I'm sure there are others of you out there who are going to fill us in on the festivities.

I can't understand it. Midnight Sun Sam didn't use the event in his cheap date story that was in today's paper.

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

I'm not sure if you've seen it, but on the weekend business pages, there's a little chart called grocery list -- each week, a Sun staffer/intern/warm body goes to three different grocery stores and compares prices on 10 identical items. It's a popular feature but also quite limited (because the writer visits just three stores that tend to be in one region, we don't get to Columbia, Towson, Lutherville, etc., each week).
 
We'd like to do some sort of feature for the grocery list online. Would you mind asking your readers if they would contribute to something like that? What kind of information should it provide? We're not sure how to structure it, but perhaps a creative commenter has an idea. I know your readers eat out a lot, but those who live in the area must cook sometime, right? We're looking to make a reader-driven interactive feature that people actually use.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

I wish I could remember who this e-mail was from. This was the last sentence of an e-mail on a completely different subject. It was the question that interested me, so I saved it:

FYI  Most of my friends when they want to go out to eat -  ask  "where is real food?"

I don't think I can even define "real food," let alone tell him where to find it. ...

For me pimiento cheese, the kind that comes in those little glass jars, isn't real food (hey, that doesn't mean it doesn't taste good); but I have a feeling he means meatloaf as opposed to sushi. Maybe I'm doing him an injustice. Would this be an example of his list?

Mashed potatoes: real food

Artichokes: not real food

Lemon meringue pie: real food

Creme brulee: not real food

Of course, my personal real/not real foods would be different.

Processed foods that have ingredients I can't pronounce: not real food

Just about everything else: real food

Would Tio Pepe serve what he would consider real food? How about Samos? Or would it have to be a really good diner?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
        

No Table Talk today because I'm, well, on vacation. Funny, I don't feel like I'm on vacation. Sometimes coming back from a week off makes the week off not seem worth leaving for. The worst is my e-mailbox yelling at me because I'm over my size limit.

No, I didn't eat too many fish fries in Florida.

My deadline, by the way, is the Thursday before the column appears in the paper unless there's important news to stick in at the last moment.

I figured the editors wouldn't want to reprint my Top 10 from last week either because it was so blog-centric, but it made it into the paper. Here's the link if you want to see how it was tweaked to work in print and what comments were selected.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Sometimes I have more things to tell you than I have time to post.

I was at the Ambassador last night for my annual Christmas dinner with friends. (I know we're a little behind, but with the Argentina and Florida trips and my mother-in-law's death, this was the first time we could schedule it.)

While I was there I asked owner Keir Singh for news about the Ambassador's sister restaurant, the Carlyle Club, which has  been closed for renovations since the end of January. (Paul R, I thought it would be better to post an answer to your question separately.) ...

Mr. Singh told me that there had been water damage from one of the apartments above the dining room, and the carpeting and ceiling had to be replaced. He wasn't sure when the repairs would be completed.

I asked if the Carlyle Club would still be a Lebanese restaurant when it reopens, and he indicated that was still under discussion, but probably not.

I didn't say "if and when it reopens" because I was a guest in his restaurant, not a reporter, when I talked to him. But with the closing of the third restaurant in the group, the Spice Company, I wouldn't be surprised if the owners decided to retrench in this economy.

I saw no indication that the Ambassador might close. The main dining room was pretty empty, but the beautifully decorated sunporch with two fireplaces was filled. Not bad for early in the week before Valentine's.

As for the nearby La Famiglia, the new Italian restaurant where Brasserie Tatin was, I thought I'd reprint the info Kevin gave us in a comment. Although he didn't tell us his relationship to the restaurant, he seems legit. Several people have e-mailed me asking for the phone number, so I'm guessing 411 doesn't have it yet:

You can find a temporary blog post with photos, hours, address and phone number [here]. New phone number is 443-759-8112. Thanks for your interest!

Finally, while I was on vacation, Sam broke the news about Juniors Wine Bar in Federal Hill being sold. It will become an Italian restaurant. I was waiting until I talked to the new owner myself to post something; but I wasn't able to get hold of him until this afternoon, and it's beginning to seem like old news. I finally tracked him down and we set a time to talk tomorrow morning.

And I haven't even told you what I learned about Sullivan's Steakhouse yet, which opened Monday in the Verizon Building downtown.

(Photo of Carlyle Club by Andre F. Chung/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Guest poster John Lindner, one of my philosophical gurus along with Ray Lewis, is swimming in deep waters here. But he still manages to pull a Shallow Thought Wednesday out of them. I labeled him my philosophical guru today because he sent me this sage advice when I told him how much I love studies: "Food scares and studies, the bread and butter of Monday news." Next up, peanut butter. EL

Some people believe girls are better than boys. They claim to have evidence.

I don't know what "better" means in this context and cannot consider the point as it's out of the depth of Shallow Thought Wednesday. So I forge on with this bit of important news: A new study has "found" that girls taste better than boys. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
        

Other Reviewer Richard sent me a list of other forgotten restaurants, one of which was the Spice Company in the Colonnade. He's right, which is probably one of the reasons it closed last Wednesday. (His other nominations were Copra and Robert Oliver.)

Chen has big plans for the Spice Company space. It will be a Euro-Asian restaurant, a "boutique bistro," and a wine bar. He plans a soft opening March 1, with a grand opening April 2.

Don't hold your breath; he says there's a lot of work to be done.

Alizee will have a sushi chef, and a specialty will be French-sushi fusion. (Hey, I just report this stuff.) Entrees will be priced from $18 to $65. When I asked what you would get for your $65, he said, "Something with foie gras."

What recession?

Alizee's problem will be the same as the Spice Company's, unless something changes: With no outdoor signage, it risks becoming another forgotten restaurant.

(John Makely/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (35)
        

Awhile back I posted an entry entitled Forgotten Restaurant of the Week. Sounds like the start of a regular feature, doesn't it? Well, 15 months later...

Anyway, a foodie co-worker had dinner at Crush in Belvedere Square last night and stopped by my desk to tell me about it. I haven't given it any consideration in making my Valentine's Day recommendations -- mostly because I had forgotten about it. But she had a good time, enjoyed the food and raved about the service. ...

Crush, for those who don't know it, is the restaurant that replaced Taste. One of the owners of Christopher Daniel in Timonium, Daniel Chaustit, left to open his own place late last summer. Crush isn't inexpensive, but if you pick and choose from the menu, it won't break the bank either.

My foodie friend said two of them split a salad, entree and dessert -- all of which the waitress put on separate plates for them -- and they weren't charged extra for the service.

I linked to Crush's Web site because it gives the address, phone number and hours, but it could do so much more. I always wonder why restaurants don't use their sites as a great marketing tool.

Anyway, I should make The Forgotten Restaurant a regular feature. Except that I won't remember to do it.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

I can't believe we've never had a chicken box discussion on Dining@Large. Surely we've covered every kind of local regional food.

Unfortunately, the current discussion is happening under a completely different post, so I want to highlight it here.

Thanks to Joyce W. for the definition:

a chicken box is two pieces of fried chicken (like a wing and breast or a leg and thigh), hot sauce and 2 pieces of white bread. And, yes, they always seem to come with a half and half.

And thanks to Lissa for the Wikipedia link. Now we need some suggestions for great places to get chicken boxes.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (51)
        

Roland just posted this under my Top 10 today:

Not to sound like a banker celebrating the bail out, but Valentine's Day is a very special day to celebrate my very special lady.  If you could pick a restaurant or two -- maybe recent additions to the scene -- where would you go for a what-the-heck-she's-worth-it dinner this year?

If you didn't find anything on my Most Romantic Restaurants Without Monetary Considerations list that I linked to, the obvious choice is Charleston. If you want a more recent addition to the scene, it would be its companion restaurant, Cinghiale.

The Prime Rib is always reliable unless you don't find a hunk of beef very romantic.  But I don't think you're going to be able to get a reservation at this late date unless you pick a different night.

(Kim Hairston/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Zevonista has implied that if I post the addresses and times of the Giant's Valentine's Date Night, all of you -- OK, maybe someone -- will flock to the event, camera in hand, to answer our questions:

* What is involved in date night bowling?

* What happens to the stuffed lobster tails after the cooking demonstration?

* What are the raffle prizes?

* Why are there kids involved in what's supposed to be a romantic date night?

Also, please bring me any leftover chocolate-covered strawberries. ...

WHAT:                Valentine’s Date Night

WHEN:                Friday, February 13, 2009

                           4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:              Giant Food

                           Store #100 - 11399 York Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030

                           Store #159 - 3757 Old Court Road, Pikesville, MD 21208

                           Store #155 - 7200 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

I've made up a Top 10 list of romantic restaurants before, but that was before the economy went down the tubes.

This time when I asked what readers wanted for a Top 10 in honor of Valentine's Day, the idea of affordable romantic restaurants seemed to spark the most interest.

Although I like to be geographically diverse, for some reason a lot of places that are both romantic and moderately priced happen to be located in Mount Vernon. No, the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association didn't pay me off. If you can come up with better selections, please post below -- but be careful. One restaurant that shall remain nameless would have made it on this list except the special Valentine's Day menu is four courses for $55, with wine an extra $25. That would be OK except it isn't serving its regular menu as an alternative.

One word of warning, some of these places are probably booked on the day itself by now, but you know me: I think it would be better to go out the day before or the day after anyway.

Here's my list: ...

* Annabel Lee Tavern in Canton. Dark and romantically mysterious setting. Good food and drink. Need I say more?

* b Bistro in Bolton Hill. This appeared on my original romantic restaurants list, as the Most Romantic, Budget Edition, so I could hardly leave it off this list.

* Cafe de Paris in Columbia. Romance with a French accent, mais oui. And the $30 prix fixe menu can't be beat.

* Eden's Lounge in Mount Vernon. It's primarily a sophisticated, upscale lounge, but the Ethiopian food is excellent if not the main event, and the price is right.

* Feast@4East in Mount Vernon. This quirky little place has some intriguing Valentine's Day specials like Velvety Lobster Bisque ($9), Sensuous Oysters Basque ($9), Buckwheat Blini with Crème Fraîche and Wild Salmon Roe ($10), and Melting Petite Filet Mignon ($18).

* Helmand in Mount Vernon. You knew it was going to be here, but really, how could I leave it off? Sure, the tables are close together; but the candlelight, handsome surroundings and suave service put it on most people's romantic list -- prices aside.

* Indigma in Mount Vernon. The setting is so pretty, and the lights are low. Some of the menu is expensive, but Indian food gives you so many delicious vegetarian options, there's plenty to choose from if you're watching your pennies.

* Meli in Fells Point. I have to say it: honey for your honey. (Sorry. Meli is the Greek word for honey.)  The lounge downstairs is most intimate. The regular menu will be served on Valentine's Day, and it's not expensive.

* Orchard Market & Cafe in Towson. This pretty little restaurant serves good, moderately priced Persian food like poached chicken in an orange-mango-saffron sauce. A bonus, if you're on a budget: It's BYOB.

* Tusk Lounge in Mount Vernon. Faithful readers of this blog know that the Brass Elephant's elegant bar will be serving a tapas menu for those who aren't feeling romantic. I say if money is a consideration, take your sweetie there anyway. What are they going to do? Turn you away?

(Downstairs at Meli by Chiaki Kawajiri/Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Midnight Sun Sam is working on a cheap Valentine's dates story for Thursday's paper, and I'm terrified he's going to get his hands on this little gem.

Giant Food is hosting a Valentine's Date Night Friday. "Our guests will be inspired for the perfect romantic evening," the press release says. ...

Here's a list of the activities:

* Date night bowling

* Cookie decorating for kids

* Cooking demonstrations featuring stuffed fresh lobster tails (Chef stores only)

* Games and prizes

* Raffle drawings throughout the night including Valentine’s night dinners and gifts and cakes 

* Product sampling throughout the store - chocolate-covered strawberries, ice cream floats, and much more

I'm right with them on the sampling of chocolate-covered strawberries and the raffle, but the "date night bowling" has me stumped. Bowling doesn't strike me as a romantic activity anywhere, and especially not in a supermarket.

If one of the Giants near me were participating, I'd probably mosey on over with my Digital Elph Friday night; but I don't quite have the energy to drive to Cockeysville, Pikesville or Columbia -- even to check out the date night bowling.

However, I'm hoping one of you will and report back here.

Volunteers?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Earlier we had a discussion about restaurateurs recognizing me because I've been doing this job so long.

I was told after this review had already gone to my editor that I had been recognized at Cafe Troia, and that's why the owner had waited on me. She was also waiting on the large party next to us, so I don't know if that was true.

If it was, what a mistake, as you'll see from my review, which appeared in yesterday's paper. 

(Kim Hairston/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

Yesterday I was told to go eat some chocolate. Funny you should say that. I actually fell for the sample routine yesterday and bought a Vosges Woolloomoloo Bar. I can't believe what a sucker I was.

One of the three stores where I was doing my coming-home-from-a-trip shop had bite-size blind samples of what I could tell were high-quality chocolate bars. I tried three different ones. The first two were -- I can think of no other way to describe them -- mildly unpleasant. ...

The third was so good in comparison, I bought a bar of it. I was in a rush, and it wasn't until I got home that I realized I had paid $7.99 for 3 ounces of chocolate.

I ask the salesperson who was putting out the samples what they were, and the three flavors were mushroom, green tea and hemp.

Guess which one I bought.

Actually, I've had Kirchmayr's chocolate with green tea and it's quite good. I don't know why this one didn't work for me. The bar I bought was milk chocolate with roasted and salted macadamia nuts, Indonesian coconut and hemp seeds.

Not to worry. The only buzz I got was the little voice that kept saying, "$7.99, $7.99" in my head.

There are actually directions on the back of the bar on how to enjoy an exotic candy bar using all five senses. I won't bore you with all five, but here's an example: "Break the bar in two pieces. Hear a crisp, ringing pop, which indicates a well-tempered bar of chocolate. You will hear the loudest snap with dark chocolate, a soft break with milk, and a faint whisper with white."

Unfortunately the "$7.99, $7.99" voice drowned out the snap when I tried it.

Anyway, this is the first chocolate bar I've ever had that suggests it will "provide softer skin, stronger nails and thicker hair. Shine inside and out." There is a disclaimer: "None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA."

I bet not.

I haven't eaten any of the chocolate yet. But maybe I wouldn't be being so snippy if I had.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

So here I am, home again. I've been in St. Petersburg (the Florida one) for the past week.

The reason you haven't heard anything about my trip was that I had nothing to gloat about. It was cold (down to the 30s for a couple of days) and very windy. More important for the purposes of this blog, the eating is not good where I was, officially St. Petersburg, but in a friend's condo very close to St. Pete Beach.

Maybe I should move there and open what the area desperately needs: a good local seafood restaurant that isn't a bar. In some ways, it's like Baltimore. I always say we may not have that one great seafood place but any good restaurant here has good seafood, so what does it matter? The difference is that St. Pete Beach doesn't have that good restaurant that has good seafood -- at least not that I've found. ...

The best I came up with on this visit was Patrick's Bayside Grill. It had all the charm I was looking for, small (maybe 15 tables), great low-key staff, an idiosyncratic menu. But look at that sign. Where at the beach here would you have a restaurant that advertises one thing on its sign -- crisp roast duck?

I did try the duck, which was the old-fashioned half, cooked well done. These days that preparation seems a bit dry to me, but I knew what to expect. The problem was that it was served with a delicate orange beurre blanc sauce. It was a lovely orange beurre blanc, but the duck needed a sauce with a lot more punch,  like the classic orange or other fruit sauce that usually goes with it.

Still, I liked the place a lot, so the next night I tried the black grouper piccata. Good, fresh fish, not overcooked, but (I'm not exaggerating much here) probably half a bottle of capers on top of it. The dish was a bit salty, to say the least. I wish I had tried the hog snapper with a tomato beurre blanc.

Next time.

The weirdest meal I had was on Super Bowl Sunday because almost all the restaurants were closed in the game's honor. This was at a place called Silas Steakhouse & Bayside Bar on St. Pete Beach. I won't bore you with the details except to say that between courses the place serves a "palate-cleansing sorbet" -- in a miniature ice cream cone, the old-fashioned kind that I think is called a cake cone. It looked really stupid. (I had a good grouper sandwich, though.)

I do have to give a nod to the Black Palm, a Latin restaurant in Pass-a-Grille, which I wrote about last year. It would be my first choice if I had to give you one recommendation for the area; but I was a little disappointed in my red snapper this year. It was tough. I'm not sure how you cook fish so it's tough without drying it out.

Oh, well. At least I've come back to good weather here. But let me warn you, if those temperatures plunge I'm taking off again. I've got a lot of unused vacation to burn, a cousin in West Palm Beach and a brother in Los Angeles.

When I finished writing this much I put the headline on the post, expecting to send it on its way. But my headline reminded me of a Top 10 idea that someone -- I think MD Canon -- suggested: best places to eat at the beach off-season.

I like the idea, although this Tuesday, of course, the Top 10 has to be romantic restaurants of some sort. And it looks like it's going to be romantic restaurants for this economy by popular acclaim. If you have any suggestions for either Romantic Restaurants for This Economy or Best Places to Eat at the Beach Off-Season, please post below.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

This is a good place to point out that this week because I was on vacation Good Editor Kate did a lot of the publishing of comments for me, so I didn't stay on top of them.

I mention that to point out that if you think I missed a great one, please post below, and to apologize for any unanswered questions. There are several in this comment. I wasn't ignoring you, I just didn't see them until I started to catch up.

Often, by the way, that's why I don't answer questions, unless I feel the discussion will be more interesting if someone else does. (And thanks to you who regularly step up to the plate.)

Anyway, I thought this comment by Elite Elephant Lover was worthy, especially because of the last sentence. I like short menus that focus on what the chef does best, but I haven't seen the same sort of thing done with a wine list in a fine-dining restaurant. ...

I choose restaurants as much by what they offer to drink as the food. Once you get to know a place I can see the house wine idea being useful if you like the wines offered and they match the food. Otherwise there is too much difference between wines to know what you are getting. A CA Chardonnay could be light and crisp or it could be overoaked. A French sauvignon blanc could be from Bordeaux, the Loire, or just be a vin de pays. Each of these would completely different in style and taste. EL, what was the price difference between the "house" wines and the other per glass selections? Were the producers and vintages of the "house" wines listed? Any description of the "house" wines? I read an interview with owner of a famous NY City restaurant and he stated if he was starting over again he would offer only a limited selection of "house" wines instead of building a huge and expensive cellar.

I wonder how customers would react? And I wonder what the owner's definition of "limited" was.

As for Elite Elephant Lover's questions, my review appears about three weeks after I visit a restaurant, so it's been awhile since I ate there. But as I remember, the house wines were priced at $5.50 a glass and $21 a bottle, both of which were less than anything else on the list. The producers were named but I don't think there were descriptions of them or of any of the bottles on the list.

If I'm wrong about any of this, please correct me below.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

I really don't want to turn Dining@Large into the Internet equivalent of Recipe Finder, but I got the following e-mail from a very polite reader whose family has been subscribing to the Sun for over 50 years, so I want to help him out:

I would dearly love to have the recipe for Marconi's signature chopped house salad. They are no longer in business, of course, and there is little hope of their resurfacing, so the secret should be open at this point. I am not a professional cook, just missing the salad for my family. ...

I looked for it in our computer archives, which go back to 1990, and I found two requests for the salad in two different Recipe Finder columns, but no one ever came up with the recipe. I hope it didn't disappear with the restaurant.

For those of you who don't remember Maison Marconi, it was one of those Baltimore institutions that finally closed in 2005.

Anyway, I'm putting the request out here, and if anyone has the recipe, please post below or e-mail it to me.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

Anybody want to take a crack at this? I can't think of any other reason but custom.

Dear Ms. Large;

Why is the tip determined by the price of the meal? If I order flank steak at $10.95 or prime rib at $20.95, the tip for the waiter would be higher in the second case, but the amount of the waiter's work would be the same.

C. Grene

I'm assuming this is the same Charles Grene who last January sent me a great one-liner from a restaurant review and then later sent me more.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Tipping
        

In his guest post today, Bucky touches on a subject that plagues me every time I take a road trip. I have packed lunches often enough, but I hate eating in the car, and there are only a few routes I take that have picnic tables in nice rest stops. Here's Bucky. EL

I was struggling to come up with a Bucky’s World topic for this week, primarily because of that pesky food-reference requirement under which all the guest-posters labor.  In another blog I frequent, on Tuesday I posted the annotated lyrics to “American Pie” (Tuesday being the 50th anniversary of the day the music died) that explained definitively who “the father, son and the holy ghost” that “caught the last train for the coast” were. ...

I briefly considered attempting to sneak that one past EL by asserting that “American Pie” made it suitable for Dining@Large.  But she’s smarter than I.  This I have learned from experience. 

Then Prof. McIntyre had a topic in “You Don’t Say” concerning CB radios, Elizabeth had a topic concerning Culver’s Butter Burgers and Denny’s held a nationwide promotion, giving away a free Grand Slam breakfast to anyone who wandered through their doors between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Voila!

I love driving vacations.  I believe that the journey is at least as important as the destination and often more interesting.  When Mrs. Bucky and I are vacationing on the mainland, we are about three times as likely to drive as we are to fly, even if the destination is a long way from home.

Mrs. Bucky hates fast food.  However, we still have to watch our time, so even if we can’t have fast food for lunch or dinner, we have to have a meal that is reasonably fast because, as I like to tell her, “We’re burnin’ daylight.”

Denny’s is one of our regular highway meal pit stops, as are the Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans, and, yes, Culver’s.  (We ate our 29th wedding anniversary dinner at a Culver’s in Sioux City, Iowa during a long Labor Day weekend road trip through the Midwest.)  We love Coco’s which used to have restaurants in Colorado but retreated to the far western U.S.  So when we’re driving and see a Coco’s, we’ll stop even if it isn’t mealtime.   Shoney’s is another “highway food” chain that once operated here but now is located mostly in the Southeast, I think.  We ate there a year ago when we drove to South Carolina to see the ocean; our favorite Shoney’s meal is their breakfast buffet. 

Oddly, I’ve never eaten a meal in a Howard Johnson’s.

Where do you eat when you are on a road trip and need to spend not-too-much time getting nourishment for the long drive ahead?  

(Photo credit: Uncle Larry/The Holly-Richardson-Valens memorial, in a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa)
 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)
        

One of the questions someone asked me in a recent interview was "What have been your most memorable meals (good or bad)?"

My response was, "There have been too many of both to enumerate."

But the truth is it probably wouldn't be a restaurant meal if I did come up with one most memorable one.

It would be something like the walleye my husband caught when we were canoe camping in La Verendrye. We hadn't brought much food with us, and we were slightly hungry all the time. (This was a long time ago.)

Or a meal my mother cooked for me. 

But if you care to tell us your most memorable restaurant meal, good or bad, please post below.

(Monica Lopossay/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)
        

Because I like pop culture, trends, language and all that good stuff, I get a Word of the Day sent to me from the Word Spy site. A few are food related.

Recently "fast-food zoning" and "Twinkie taxes" were featured. The issue of legislating health is an interesting one (one word: Prohibition), and we could spend a lot of time talking about it. But I also just like the sound of "Twinkie taxes."

Here are a couple of examples of the terms' use, as well as some other foodie-trendy words that I may do separate posts on at a later date if I get inspired: ... 

"In an effort to provide residents with more nutritious choices, the L.A. City Council adopted landmark legislation in July mandating a one-year moratorium on the building of new fast-food eateries in a 32-square-mile area. (Fast-food zoning exists in other cities but is based on aesthetic considerations, not health factors.)

"According to Jan Perry, a council member who co-sponsored the bill and whose district is part of South L.A., the idea is to freeze fast-food development so that sit-down restaurants and quality-food markets will build in the area. 'When every corner is taken up with fast food,' Perry says, 'there's no room for anyone else.'

—Steven Kurutz, "Fast-Food Zoning," The New York Times, December 14, 2008

"Among tax proposals Daniels suggested merit consideration are ... Extending the 5 percent state sales tax to so-called "snack food." Once labeled the "Twinkie tax," the proposal would apply to such items as candy, chewing gum, potato chips, pretzels, cookies, ice cream, coffee and tea.

—Mike Lawrence, "Tax alternatives sought," Chicago Sun-Times, June 29, 1987
 
Related Words:

drive-through cuisine

eater-tainment

fakeaway

fast-casual

fast-food cluster

groceraunt

one-handed food

 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Let's make Danielle, who is outraged at my recent Top 10 columns, and David, who has trouble with links, happy. Let's come up with a new list of romantic restaurants next Tuesday.

I'm trying to think of a new twist for the list, rather than just using the restaurants on the old list (although that's very tempting).

For instance, I could do Top 10 Romantic New Restaurants or Top 10 Romantic Restaurants for This Economy or Top 10 Romantic Restaurants Reviewed Since My Last List of Romantic Restaurants.

Or I could do something completely different.

Thoughts?

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (43)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

In today's Weekend section, Other Reviewer Richard Gorelick reviews Miss Shirley's downtown, the latest restaurant in the Crazy Man Group, which includes Alonso's, S'ghetti Eddie's, the Roland Park Miss Shirley's, the Roland Park Bagel Co. and Loco Hombre.

Whew. Have I left any of them out?

This is my version of Monday Morning Quarterbacking, only on the same day, so you can discuss the review, or tell us about your meal at Miss Shirley's downtown.

In other reviews news, Rob Kasper gets carryout from Zachi Cafe & Gourmet Market on Read street. I'm thinking this place would be walkable from the Sun for lunch if it didn't happen to be 14 degrees.

Anway, throw it into the mix of lunch places that were being discussed.

(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
        

...Midnight Sun Sam. (Hey, I'm on vacation.)

Anyway, he has the latest on the Clay Aiken sighting at Regi's and the ensuing shellfish controversy in this post.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

In today's Table Talk column I talk about the Northstar Bistro, a collaboration between the Black Olive's Dimitris Spiliades and Ellis Marsalis III. Yes, of that family.

The bistro is on the ground floor of the Douglass-Myers Maritime Museum. 

If you're interested, last week's Top 10 is reprinted in today's print edition, along with a few comments. ...

Oddly this Top 10 probably got the fewest comments I remember in many Tuesdays, although the list itself had plenty of page views, so people were interested in the topic. They just didn't have much to say about it.

(Doug Kapustin/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
        

Guest poster John Lindner, master of the shallow thought, is back! His post needs no further introduction. EL

Cheese curds would be the dairy equivalent of blowfish, except that with blowfish you stand a decent chance of survival.

It was in a Wausau, Wisc., gas station that I first discovered deep-fried cheese curds, the bridge too far of lactic gastronomy.

In a display case shared by crusted-over chicken parts, the gas station offered for sale, with bold, red-letter enthusiasm, cloudy, two-pound bags of the tur … curds. I presume one purchased a bag to take home to Connecticut to prove one had been to a strange, gastronomically hostile land … or to grease a squealing car door hinge.

But no. The locals buy them and (I'm told. Never witnessed it.) eat them.

I have tried non deep-fried cheese curds. They taste like underdeveloped Colby cheese and squeak like trapped voles as you chew them.

And now I learn some cheese curds are considered better than others.

I dare you to read all the comments.

For sure.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (53)
        

Someone asked me recently how I pick the restaurants I review, and the question surprised me. It seemed so obvious.

But really, I guess it isn't. Of course, new restaurants come first because they are news. Those are what readers want to hear about, even if they aren't planning to eat there.

We've had so many places open in recent years, I almost don't have time to get back to old favorites to see how they're doing. I imagine in this economy that's going to change once the restaurants that are in the pipeline now open.

After the new places, I look to restaurants that have made major changes -- renovations, bringing in a new chef, overhauling the menu. ...

If there are none of those, I return to established restaurants, which I've been getting back to every five or six years. Sometimes I think people enjoy reading about these even more than new places. 

It's all very different than when I started reviewing. The explosion of new restaurants in the last decade has been astounding. I've gotten spoiled. 

I also try for diversity, both geographical and in type of cuisine, although if two new, important restaurants open at the same time in the same area, or two new Italian trattorias open in Little Italy, I have no hesitation in reviewing them one after another.

My biggest problem, and I've said this before, is figuring out how not to step on the toes of the Sun's other reviewers. New restaurants are getting more and more casual (and old restaurants are reinventing themselves to be so), so I often venture into what would once have been the cheap eats territory. Many of the new places are bars with food, which Midnight Sun Sam might also be reviewing. I've even snatched carryout places out of Rob Kasper's hands, just because they happen to have a few tables.

I'm starting to ask myself, "Where are the white-tablecloth restaurants of yesteryear?"

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Jules sent me an e-mail recently asking about places to get lunch. We haven't talked about this much on Dining@Large because most of us eat near work if we're eating lunch out. We don't drive to a lunch spot unless we're meeting a friend, and that's a different situation than this.

But Jules is actually willing to travel to get a good, cheap lunch. He's in various parts of the city anyway because of his work, so he says he'd really like to hear what lunch places other people favor.

Here's his e-mail. ...

I read the blog every day and was trying to think of topics I don't remember seeing.

I would like to see a discussion about good, cheap places for lunch.

There have been great discussions about burgers, crab cakes, soups, fries, etc. but no single discussion that answers the following questions:  a. if you had to eat lunch out three or four times a week, where would you go for a good, cheap meal? b. Is there a place you enjoy eating lunch during the week because the atmosphere offers a welcome respite from the horrors, I mean, energetic atmosphere of your office?

For "cheap," I'm thinking maybe twelve bucks including soda, tea, or coffee and tip.  For a menu, that can include anything I've listed above, along with sandwiches and stews or other one-pot dishes. The reason that price is so low is that I could spend fifteen or twenty bucks once a week, but certainly not every day.

My own suggestions are as follows:  The Big Bad Wolf BBQ, although I usually get takeout; Pickles and Chips in the afternoon; and the Bel-Loc Diner.

What do you think?

(Photo of McCabe's by Barbara Haddock Taylor/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)
        

I've been to a couple of restaurants lately that have "house wines" on their wine lists. It's something I haven't seen for years, not since offering a large selection of wines by the glass began to take off.

The most recent was Marie Louise Bistro in Mount Vernon, which offers a French merlot and sauvignon blanc and a California chardonnay by either the bottle or glass -- but it also has 11 other wines by the glass. ...

The first restaurant I remember in Baltimore that didn't offer a house wine was Petit Louis Bistro in Roland Park. It probably helped start the trend. But it at least had some affordable wines by the glass. At some places these days you'll find most if not all glasses of wine hovering around $8 or $9.

Anyway, I came upon this blog entry from a chef on the subject, and I thought it was interesting. I think he's a little harsh about people who ask for the house white or red, though.

Maybe they're simply shocked at the markups on wine these days (they didn't used to be so steep) and don't want to buy into the practice. Maybe they feel like a good restaurant will have a decent house wine, and they don't feel strongly enough to pay through the nose for their glass or bottle of wine -- even if it will knock their socks off.

(Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Wine and Spirits
        

Bucky kindly sent me a list of the Dining@Large entries that have gotten the most comments. There's a weird kind of fascination to it, and I thought it would make a good Top 10 for me to do while on vacation. In other words, one I don't have to work on too hard.

Some are ones you would expect to get a lot of discussion, like Best Crab Houses. Others just blew me away, like the fact that RANCH DRESSING is in the No. 1 position. Now that's strange: ...

1) 10/24/08 – I (Heart) Ranch Dressing (165 comments)

2) 7/10/08 - Sandwich Musings (150)

3) 5/28/08 - Beef Fat Again Already (143)

4) 6/3/08 - Top Ten Crab Houses (137)

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

6) 11/18/08 – Top 10 Places To Get Fabulous French Fries (121)

7) 1/06/09 – Top 10 Restaurants the Baltimore Area Needs (115)

8) 1/9/09 – Pecan Someone Your own Size, Bucky (113)

9) 6/05/08 - Crab-tastic Fun From You Know Who (106)

10) 8/22/08  It’s that time again…the next Top 10 (101)

(Colby Ware/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

It started with this e-mail from Ed referring to an earlier post:

Elizabeth,

I disagree that we need In-N-Out Burger in Baltimore.  We’ve already had Jack in the Box and that tanked big time.  The King (capital K) of burger chains is Culver Butter Burgers.  Their burgers, home made custard, and home made root beer make In-N-Out just another vanilla burger chain.

Best regards, Ed

Well, the name alone was enough to pique my interest. I'd never heard of Culver Butter Burgers, but I was willing to be educated. However, I didn't like the slight to In-N-Out. ...

When I expressed my skepticism, Ed came back with this rejoinder:

Have you ever actually been to a Culver Butter Burger?  According to a poll by Restaurant Business, Culver’s was ranked number one by restaurant professionals. I’m not debating your opinion, but this is an amazing, fantastic concept and well-worth trying if you are ever in the Midwest.  I travel a lot to California and In-N-Out truly enjoys and perhaps even deserves cult status.  I invited a corporate executive of a California restaurant chain to join me for dinner one evening at a Culver’s Butter Burger in West Des Moines, Iowa, and he was blown away.  My wife doesn’t eat meat, and even she loved her Culver’s Butter Burger while we visited friends in Olathe, Kansas.

The big problem, Ed, is that I don't plan to visit Olathe, Kansas in my lifetime, I thought to myself. No offense. But I would love to know how you got your non-meat-eating wife to take that first bite.

I was a little more tactful in my next e-mail to him, and got this response:

Des Moines, Iowa is a wonderful city with a highly educated workforce.  Olathe is a suburb of Kansas City, not only famous for its barbecue and “brick” custard, but truly one of the most beautiful cities in the country.  Culver’s Butter Burgers were featured on one of the Food Network shows, and the commentator “hated” the burgers so much that he ate two.  My wife is a big fan of Food Network, and with my coaxing, she took one bite of my burger and had to order one for herself.  Thanks for your replies, and wishing you many more great dining experiences during 2009.

I couldn't come up with any good photos of Culver butter burgers to use as an illustration. However, I did find the picture above in our archives. I wonder if Governor Chet Culver is related to the Culver Butter Burgers owners.

(The Iowa State Capitol Holiday Tree is lit by Governor Chet Culver's children Clare and John via remote control during a ceremony inside the capitol building on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 in Des Moines, Iowa. Cold temperatures kept the ceremony indoors. AP Photo/The Des Moines Register, Mary Chind)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (71)
        

As you can tell from my review yesterday, I had a very good meal at the newish Restaurant Sabor in the Lutherville/Timonium area. In fact, it's better than the meal I had when owner/chef Roddy Domacasse was cooking at the now-closed Brasserie Tatin.

I guess it helps that he can do his own thing. I mean, you can't serve Puerto Rican lasagna in a French brasserie.

Anyway, if you've eaten there and want to tell us about your experience, or if you have some question about my review, or if you just want to complain about the weather, please post below.

(Lloyd Fox/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
        

As I understand it, Marcus Olson feels the pain of those who don't like Valentine's Day but might still want to eat out on Feb. 14.

Therefore the Brass Elephant's new chef has come up with a Love It, Hate It menu for the big day.

The romantic Love It menu will be served in the beautiful downstairs dining rooms. If you aren't with your sweetie that night, head for the Tusk Lounge, the upstairs bar, for the Hate It menu.

Here are the two menus. If the Hate It menu appeals to you more but you're in a serious relationship, dump your significant other for the evening and eat in the Tusk Lounge.

We foodies know what's important. ...

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)
        

It's an ill economy that blows nobody any good. Many places that participated in Winter Restaurant Week last week are extending their specially priced menus, including b Bistro, the Bicycle, the Black Olive, Capital Grille, Cinghiale, Ixia, Marie Louise Bistro, Meli, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Pazo, Petit Louis Bistro, the Prime Rib, Regi's, Tio Pepe, and the Wine Market, to mention a few. It seems to me that's more good places than did last year.

Check out the Restaurant Week Web site for more details, or call the restaurant you're interested in.

(Photo of b Bistro by Gene Sweeney Jr./Sun photographer) 

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
        

Did you happen to notice the following comment under an earlier post?

It is a PA chain based out of Pittsburgh but all Eat N Park restaurants will be closed during the super bowl.

Posted by: Bill | January 27, 2009 10:12 PM

I had never heard of Eat 'n Park before. I'm sure it's a very nice family restaurant, but I was bemused by the name. I wonder why you wouldn't call it Park 'n Eat? I mean, under what circumstances would you eat and then park? Or does it mean Eat or Park, that is, carry out or eat in?

Maybe Bill or some other Pennsylvanian can enlighten us.

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

Next Sunday I review Cafe Troia in Towson, one of the few fine-dining restaurants in the area.

Recently the Italian restaurant moved to bigger quarters across the street from the original location, and also expanded its menu. That was enough of an excuse for me to go back and see what I thought of the changes.

My review will appear in the Arts & Entertainment section of the Sunday Sun.

(Kim Hairston/Sun photographer)

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Review Preview