Aarrrgghh, I almost forgot
Next Friday I'm up for the 10 Spot feature. The editors took pity on me because they knew how much I would enjoy doing an extra Top 10, so they are reprinting one that appeared before Top 10 Tuesday became a regular feature in the print edition of the Taste section.
They do want, however, new comments, so you could do me a favor by reading the old Top 10 but putting your new comments, if any, here. On the other hand, you'll probably end up putting the new comments under the old list, so I better republish it here: ...
I deliberately didn't use Marconi's and Haussner's for my list of Top 10 Locations We Miss Terribly, because they're too obvious:
* Chester River Inn on Kent Island. Local culinary giant Mark Henry owned his own restaurant for awhile on the Eastern Shore between his successes at the Milton Inn and the Oregon Grille. You could get his wonderful food at very reasonable prices there.
* Danny's on North Charles Street below the train station. For years, this was considered Baltimore's most elegant restaurant. It had French food, tableside cooking of dishes like steak Diane, and yet just a touch of Hon in its waitresses. It was the first restaurant I reviewed for The Sun.
* Gabler's on the river in Aberdeen. Open from mid-April until September, Gabler's was basically one big screened-in porch with a kitchen attached. A great setting to eat steamed crabs.
* Hampton's in Harbor Court. I could never afford to eat here when The Sun wasn't paying, but it was nice to have one restaurant in town where the service was always four star.
* Jeannier's in Homewood. It was good, traditional French food, which you could get at other area restaurants, and the dining rooms had no style, but I loved having birthday dinners there and I loved the oeufs a la neige with spun sugar for dessert.
* M. Gettier in Fells Point. Michael Gettier was also at the Conservatory at Peabody Court, a fine restaurant that didn't last long, and a Towson location until he finally ended up where he is now, at Antrim 1844 in Taneytown; but I loved this restaurant for its cozy French dining room as well as his good cooking.
* Louie's the Bookstore and Cafe in Mount Vernon. I miss that Chestertown chicken. Why didn't I get that recipe?
* Metropolitan in Annapolis. This is the newest restaurant on this list. I enjoyed its rooftop dining, cutting-edge style, and artistry in the kitchen. I just learned it closed recently and has been replaced by Jerry's Seafood, so it's like the recent death of a friend.
* Pinebrook in Hampden. This was true hole-in-the-wall Chinese -- dingy, lots of linoleum and an iron gate when it was closed -- but it had the best dumplings in the world made by the owner. When he got too old to make them anymore, the place closed. My daughter always called it The Cheapest Chinese Restaurant in the World, and it was.
* Woman's Industrial Exchange downtown. I only survived 18 months on a political corruption grand jury because we could walk here for lunch and eat chicken salad, tomato aspic, homemade rolls and ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce.
Comments
Martick's.
Posted by: LiquorBoarding | November 27, 2009 6:34 PM
Hope this is helpful... I am not the "I," by the way...I can't even remember when I grabbed this from...
The Chestertown chicken recipe appeared in, I believe, the Baltimore Sun many years ago. In any case, I have a partial newspaper clipping of it in my recipe box (the last part, which was on a separate column, was lost some years ago). Here it is:
1 chicken, 1.5-2 lbs
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp curry
1 tbs chili power
juice of 4 lemons
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
8 tbs olive oil
Quarter the chicken or cut it up into individual pieces. Set aside. To make marinade, mix ginger, curry, chili power, lemon juice, cloves, onion and salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Add a little more if necessary for consistency. Pour marinade into a shallow baking pan and add chicken parts. Marinate 4 hours at
Posted by: BanKStreet | November 27, 2009 6:43 PM
the rest (such as it is):
and the rest is lost, but it basically involved baking for 30-40 minutes, as I recall. Enjoy!
Posted by: BankStreet | November 27, 2009 6:45 PM
The Brass Elephant (the pain is still fresh).
Posted by: Jim | November 27, 2009 7:12 PM
I also miss Jeannier's, but I'm having a bit of trouble remembering where else you could get "traditional French food" back then.
Captcha: eales corpse
Posted by: Hal Laurent | November 27, 2009 9:24 PM
Most of these go back decades, but for starters:
The Westwood. Good comfort food, but my absolute favorite thing there was the homemade butterscotch sauce! The only dessert I ever got was the Butterscotch Charlotte. Their pudding-y fudge sauce was also excellent.
Gampy's. My personal faves were the Monte Cristo or the individual beef Wellington.
Before Gampy's, it was Mount Vernon Cafe. No ambiance, but the comfort food was tasty. I was in BSO chorus and ususlly ate supper there before concerts.
The Chesapeake. Prime beef. Need I say more? This was our family's favorite celebration venue, and for my 21st birthday celebration, the maitre d' gave me a small token. Not necessary, but very thoughtful.
I can't remember its name, but there was an amazingly good deli in the Horizon House on Calvert St with THE BEST smoked fish platter I'd ever had.
Hersh's Orchard Inn. Yeah, great beef and seafood, but I REALLY loved the chicken pot pie. Made to order, and Robert topped it with puff pastry...mmmmmm!
Harvey House. Good German food, waitresses who mothered you and called you "hon," and the piano bar where you were encouraged to sing.
There are more, of course, but I'm happy if I've dinged a few readers' memories.
Posted by: Dottie | November 27, 2009 10:13 PM
The Atnenian on Eastern Ave..
Spanish Maison also Eastern Ave
Torrmelinos Cathederal Street
Homewood Deli on St Paul St.
The orginal Country Fare on Reisterstown Rd.
Peabody Beer Stube and Book Store Charles Street
Cafe de Paris Charles Street
Uncle Charlies Bistro Charles Street..
Excellent list. EL
Posted by: Hue | November 28, 2009 6:43 AM
Possible Top Ten List:
The Top 10 entrees or side dishes that Chef's love to put on their menu that no one wants to eat except the Chef.
Posted by: Alan M | November 28, 2009 9:29 AM
Excellent idea Alan. Ot would be very interesting to see THAT list!!
Posted by: MDtopdad | November 28, 2009 10:52 AM
Dottie, I miss the Orchard Inn too. It was our go-to spot for special occasions. I never had a bad meal there, the service was excellent and the prices were not bad.
Posted by: Joyce W. | November 28, 2009 11:28 AM
Carmens on 25th Street near St Paul I believe. Carmens closed around 1966, but my wife and I still miss it. John Dorsey reviewed it and said it was one of the best restaurants in Maryland. They served basically "Continental" cuisine. In the Spring their Shad and Shad roe was to die for.
On our first date, I took my wife here in 1963. She loved it so much she took another guy she was still dating, back the next night. A few weeks later when we both returned, the owner took me aside (she knew me from coming in since I was a little kid) and told me "she brought another man in after you were here the last time." My future wife had already confessed the error of her ways.
Posted by: Jack Ziegler | November 28, 2009 5:06 PM
Oh,I am going to go way back on these suggestions.
Arthur's Bakery on Eutaw St. for lunches,
Goeller's in Bowley's Quarters for their crab Imperial and cole slaw, I can still remember from my childhood; Berg's Dairy Farm in Perry Hall, Cafe de Artistes at the Mechanic and my persosnal favorite, The Tiki Room in the old Emerson Hotel
Posted by: MDtopdad | November 29, 2009 12:41 PM
not fancy, and barely remember it at all, but Randy Rock on Old Court and Liberty was where I wanted to go when the 'rents wanted to take me to Danny's. Aah, youth!
I know they had a soda fountain and those silver cup thingys with the paper inserts, and juke boxes in each booth. Who needed whales when they had cherry Cokes and diner food?
Posted by: Joyce W. | November 29, 2009 7:37 PM
First: Chestertown Chicken: I used to cook it at Louie's, and you need to marinate it at least 12 if not 24+ hours to let the flavor soak in.
The wonderful cheese restaurant at Harborplace. Ms. Desserts at harborplace. The good Italian restaurant at the Pratt Street Pavilion that has been replaced by a souped up pizza parlor.
The Soup Kitchen in the Light St pavillion
Many of the original restaurants and food stands in Harborplace were inventive and delicious, only to be replaced by second rate chains like the Cheesecake Factory.
The great cheese restaurant on Calvert Street with its own cheese cave, replaced by yet another pizza parlor.
Me Jun Lo's, just for the experience, and for Irene.
Stone Soup, the fun hippie restaurant on the 3600 block of Greenmount, that inspired one of john Dorsey's best written reviews.
Uncle Lee's in Waverly, the first Sichuan restaurant to hit the Baltimore area, where I first discovered double cooked pork.
Of the ones mentioned above, I miss Gabler's, Uncle Charlie's, Country Fare Inn, and Gampy's. Do you know why Uncle Charlie's was named so? The owners had bought all the chinaware from the University Club that was emblazoned with its initials, so they needed to create a name that started with U and C.
Posted by: Nick | November 29, 2009 11:42 PM
Nick, you must recall a different Harborplace than the one which opened here in Baltimore in 1980. Its original Italian restaurant was Pronto, which Rouse had to take over after a year or two (yes, it was that bad), and which was succeeded by a revolving door of mediocre Italian joints. The Black Pearl, for "upscale" seafood, closed in short order. City Lights managed to stay open for years, but for no apparent reason other than the view of the harbor. Phillips is just about the only remaining restaurant tenant -- 'nuff said.
Captcha: heavy can
Posted by: hmpstd | November 30, 2009 6:33 AM
Love's on 25th
Connelly's on Pratt
Country Fare
Fiori
Rudys
Dombroskis
she officer
Posted by: LEC | November 30, 2009 4:52 PM
Wow, LEC, Rudy's completely slipped my mind! I loved that place although it may have actually been louder than Petite Louie.
The cream of tomato crab soup was so good, I used to call them to find out when they were having it and planned going out from those days!
Posted by: Joyce W. | November 30, 2009 8:03 PM
The two places I was going to mention are already here: Peabody's Beer Stube and Connelly's. I will always miss both of those.
Posted by: Sarah | November 30, 2009 9:47 PM
I miss Karson's Inn, in spite of its not terribly desirable location on Holabird Ave.
Captcha: Eagle-Offy lamson
Posted by: Hal Laurent | November 30, 2009 10:27 PM
Nick, The china from Uncle Charlie's Bistro was monogrammed with UCB, which is why the restaurant was so named. I was told this by Harry Gladding, of Auto Dealership fame, one of the original owners
Posted by: MDtopdad | December 1, 2009 8:30 AM
The Westview Lounge---shrimp salad platter with shredded red cabbage, carrots and iceberg lettuce with horseradish dressing in a silver boat on the side.
Posted by: Mags | December 1, 2009 9:32 AM
Copeland's Tire and Snack Bar on Gay St. Used tires and hot dogs.
Captcha: Attorney resent
Posted by: RayRay | December 1, 2009 10:11 AM
MDtopdad, you dinged my heart with the Emerson. In the mid-60's, a co-worker and I went to lunch in the Tiki Room about once a month. The paneling, dark green barrel chairs and low tables screamed elegance to me. Oh yeah, and the food was good, too.
Captcha: $1.2-billion meatier ...than what, she wondered?
Posted by: Dottie | December 1, 2009 11:31 PM
RayRay--for real? I guess that's more appetizing than a combination sushi and bait shop.
Posted by: Dahlink | December 2, 2009 6:29 AM
lovesick Fla
nothing to say, just liked the captcha!
I'm lovesick Fla today, too. EL
Posted by: Joyce W. | December 2, 2009 8:04 AM
Same as Joyce, just liked this one.
"pandemic communications"...an out of control rumor mill?
Posted by: Trixie | December 2, 2009 9:31 AM
I wouldn't be too lovesick Fla today, we are getting absolutely hammered by rain and wind, with the occasional tornado popping up.
but its supposed to be gone (and headed your way) by this afternoon.
Toccata rumoring
Posted by: PCB Rob | December 2, 2009 9:51 AM
I think your rain has arrived Fl Rob.
Posted by: Joyce W. | December 2, 2009 2:30 PM
Illona's, the Italian restaurant that used to be on Eastern Ave straddling Greektown and Highlandtown. It was a family tradition to go there around the holidays for their delicious pasta and kitschy decorations.
Posted by: Ruby | December 2, 2009 4:29 PM
Warning: pure Captcha wonk
urinated Deaths
What is with this thread...? It's a Captcha goldmine up in here.
Posted by: El Generalissimo | December 2, 2009 10:54 PM
whats with the posting of captcha's? it's my internet pet peeve! hey, now there is a top ten list, shame it has nothing to do with food.
Posted by: barkeep77 | December 5, 2009 1:39 AM
The Brentwood - As a child, I loved when the roving drinkmaker would pretend to throw me a pass when he was shaking up a drink to serve at a nearby table.
The Golden Arm - I thought it was so exotic to to order escargot there when I was about 5 or 6.
Posted by: Tim | December 6, 2009 8:43 AM
Clint reminded me about Sisson's. I loved their complex blackening seasoning that wasn't too salty and the shrimp etouffee that was too hot for everyone else at the table. Their chef thoughtfully provided the recipe for their garlic mashed potatoes--still have it.
Posted by: Mary Roby | December 6, 2009 3:45 PM
Sisson's (mentioned above)
Mencken's Cultured Pearl
Posted by: Patrick | December 8, 2009 3:07 AM
Way late to this discussion, but I'll add in the German beer hall ambience and food of Baltimore Brewing Co. before the beer went downhill. I had German ex-pats detour long ways out of their way for that beer and food.
Captcha: dump-fining. Which some would say marked the place's final days as DeGroen's Grill.
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | December 8, 2009 3:00 PM