I would go there based alone on that beautiful picture of the soup and sandwich. From what I have read and heard from others, The Red Canoe sounds like it is run by people who genuinely want to serve and please their customers (not a shill, I've never even been there!).

Okay, everyone, STAY AWAY from Red Canoe! Seriously! Cuz I go there a lot, and I don't want it getting crowded...

Seriously, I've talked this place up before in various places, and I really really love it. A couple mornings ago we stopped in & I had a delicious breakfast burrito. My constant favorite, though, is the cheddar spinach muffin with a bowl of the tomato bisque - I'm sure I've mentioned that here before.

I'M TOTALLY GOING TO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT RED CANOE SO IT'S PACKED EVVVVVVVVVERYDAY. SORRY SEAN!

What does it take to get four stars? The review was...well...orgasmic is the word that comes to mind. So what would get the extra half star?

Um, Bucky, maybe a nice massage thrown in for free?

@ Anon:

NOOOOOOOO!!!

I met Red Canoe's owner at the Lauraville Farmer's Market on Tuesday, and intend to go tomorrow. A word of warning from the "horse's mouth": Monday is "Babies Day."

By the way, the Lauraville Farmer's Market is very small right now; only a few each of food and crafts vendors. I'm sure the market will grow as the summer progresses and word catches on. The food vendors have wares that I've never seen anywhere else. Infused Spreads by E2 makes fruit/herb preserves and butters. I bought a lovely strawberry/mint preserve. Eula's Cuisine makes legume soups and salsas. I bought a very tasty lentil/split pea/spinach soup. Red Canoe sold wraps and sandwiches. A produce vendor sells veggies grown on a student-operated community garden. At this point, it's pretty dear ($2 for a bunch of 3 tiny beets, for example), but I hope prices will decrease as the amount and variety of produce increases. I'll keep going to the market and will report on its progress, if y'all like.

I had something else to do, so I conned GrandBoy and his mother into going to the Hamilton Market as my advance team. They got there at about 4:30 and stayed a few minutes until the rains came. (It opened at 4) My daughter felt that it was, primarily, a craft market. She didn't see any produce at all and certainly no strawberries. She was also creeped out by the ambience of the deserted gas station. GrandBoy felt that the time would have been better spent riding his bike.

Bucky,

Yes, it would. I think I would have to have had the same reaction across the board as I did to those muffins!!

Also, 4 stars would create unreasonable expectations, I think, so I'm loath to give it (them?).

Richard

Babies Day? Wow.

Thanks for the warning, Dottie!

Dottie, where exactly is the new Lauraville Farmers Market located? I definitely intend to try Red Canoe, it sounds like a great little place for lunch. I also like the fact that they have some outdoor seating on their deck in the back especially with the warm summer weather. The fact that one of the owners is from the Franche-Comte doesn't hurt either.

There are actually quite a few tables in the back - a couple on the deck and more in the garden area below (under a large canopy tent for shade) - very very pleasant.

The Hamilton Lauraville market is at 4500 Harford Road in an old gas station lot across from Safeway. The gas station has been sitting abandoned for decades. It's odd that someone was creeped out by the ambience there, as the community did a pretty good job of cuteifying the place - pictures are here:

http://hamiltonlauravillemainstreet.blogspot.com/

Frankly, I find the ambience there much more pleasant than the underpass-surrounded-by-urine ambience of the downtown farmer's market...

It's true that at this point it's not a full-fledged farmer's market - there really isn't much in the way of veggies, etc. Some plants for sale, and a free plant exchange, but mostly prepared foods and crafts (also my friend a licensed massage therapist doing chair massages!). It's definitely still in its infancy. As the Sun's Jacques Kelly notes,

"For a first-ever try, a vacant lot was full of happy people and a handful of vendors. No rhubarb here, however. This market is in its early stage. The neighborhood seemed excited, even joyous, about the event. Now, if the farmers show, there'll be turnips and strawberries on some Grindon Avenue dining room table. I have every confidence."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kelly06jun06,0,2343201.column

There are actually quite a few tables in the back - a couple on the deck and more in the garden area below (under a large canopy tent for shade) - very very pleasant.

The Hamilton Lauraville market is at 4500 Harford Road in an old gas station lot across from Safeway. The gas station has been sitting abandoned for decades. It's odd that someone was creeped out by the ambience there, as the community did a pretty good job of cuteifying the place - pictures are here:

http://hamiltonlauravillemainstreet.blogspot.com/

Frankly, I find the ambience there much more pleasant than the underpass-surrounded-by-urine ambience of the downtown farmer's market...

It's true that at this point it's not a full-fledged farmer's market - there really isn't much in the way of veggies, etc. Some plants for sale, and a free plant exchange, but mostly prepared foods and crafts (also my friend a licensed massage therapist doing chair massages!). It's definitely still in its infancy. As the Sun's Jacques Kelly notes,

"For a first-ever try, a vacant lot was full of happy people and a handful of vendors. No rhubarb here, however. This market is in its early stage. The neighborhood seemed excited, even joyous, about the event. Now, if the farmers show, there'll be turnips and strawberries on some Grindon Avenue dining room table. I have every confidence."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kelly06jun06,0,2343201.column

Sorry for the huge double-post...