No reservations...ouch, indeed.

Never made it there, although stories about the unevenness of the food didn't place it high on my list. Still, always a shame.

It was a wonderful place, in its prime. I am happy to have memories of those days, and also glad that we got to the Tusk Lounge just once or twice. I hope they are successful in finding a new owner and a new direction.

Sad news...

... but on another front (a tangent on the comings and going of Baltimore restaurants), has anyone heard the rumor that the owners of Kali's Court, Meli, etc., will be opening a restaurant in the old Admmiral's Cup at the foot of Broadway? That propery has been vacant for too long and, regardless of what folk think about creeping Kali-ism in Fells Point, I look forward to such a focal point of the neighborhood being brought back to life.

BankStreet,

I've heard that rumor. I blogged about it back in May:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/midnight_sun/blog/2009/05/pub_dog_will_not_open_in_fells.html

I spoke to someone that was in the cup recently. I would not expect the place to be open anytime soon, the place is in pretty bad shape.

I hope Kai's does something new / innovative or just plain good at the 'Cup's spot. I was looking forward to Pub Dog / Dog Pub taking over the spot, but Kali's Group outbid them.

That spot needs something better than Shuckers.

I would've loved to have seen The Thirsty Dog in Fells.

It's interesting that they say they had no reservations for this week, because I have a friend who said she was part of a group of 40+ (a new faculty orientation dinner for one of our local academic institutions) who were supposed to go there tonight. So perhaps by "no reservations" they really meant "not enough to be worth it." I hope they called those folks and didn't let them find out from the paper.

Wow. I would think 40 would be worth it this time of year. Let us know the rest of the story. EL

agh.
"Kai's" = Kali's
21224 = bad typer

It's so sad that another of the old guard is shut. Somehow I don't think they will reopen.

I used to go there for special occasions back in the 90's. One of the first times I was there I was being treated to a fancy lunch by my boss. I was in my early 20s and was rather nervous. But I still remember ordering the shrimp bisque (or whichever name it went by). It was quite wonderful.

I commented in a similar way over on the article, but we had a wonderful dinner there on New Year's Eve this past year. Our need for a reservation was last minute, and we normally don't even go out on NYE to dinner, choosing instead to make a nice dinner at a friend's house. But, the Brass Elephant accomodated us last minute, and even gave us the nice table in the front window, which was great fun. Our food was actually quite good that night, and a couple of funny things happened to us that night that have become part of our lore now. (Nothing bad, just funny little things and jokes that happened with our server) Anyway, I am glad that I now have that memory in my heart since I had not been to the Brass Elephant since I was a child. Hopefully it will reopen and reinvent.

By the way, for anyone that is a Laura Lippman, Tess Monaghan fan...wonder where Tess will eat now since the Tusk was one of her favorites, right?

Dawn, I was thinking of that. Maybe we need to do a top 10 places Tess eats that are still open?

The lack of reservations is depressing. I can't even imagine how I'd feel in my business if I saw that situation.

To what extent do folks think that the lack of reservations is due to people not eating out as much (ie the economy), or maybe people are eating elsewhere? I'm not trying to be negative toward the BE. Just speaking for myself, I always considered it a little old-fashioned. I would try someplace shiny and new first before it would have occurred to me to eat at the BE.

Re: the group of 40, she did say that they were now going to the Prime Rib. I don't know how much notice whomever organized the reservations was given, if any, about the closure. But she seemed surprised when she mentioned this, so I am guessing they probably found out this morning at best. (And it goes without saying that it's good in a bad way that they could get last minute reservations for that number at the Prime Rib.)

I'll ask her about it tomorrow and see if she has the rest of the story.

They ended up coming to Brewer's Art, and yes it was a last minute organization and took some extra work to put together, but we were happy to accomodate them.

I can't really speak much more on behalf of the restaurant or Brass Elephant, but as I was walking home I did see a sign on the Brass Elephant's doors directing people to the new location.

New location?

new location of their party

Ah, got it.