Alan Morstein of Regi's sends this report from the Waverly Farmers' Market. He also tells me he's soon heading for the Jersey Shore, so he won't be able to check out the market next Saturday. Any volunteers out there? Here's Alan. LV

The black-eye peas are at Waverly this morning. Not the group that will be in town in two weeks; we're talking the original black-eyed peas from the "Bean Man." Guaranteed to be a line in front of his stall today.

In addition, some beautiful heirloom tomatoes of all varieties, including heirloom Romas that the vendor has nicknamed Tony Romas. The first red peppers of the season made their debut.

Plenty of beautiful ripe vegetables and produce available on this beautiful Saturday morning.

For lima bean aficionados, you can expect them in the next few weeks.

Black-eyed pea salad. Photo by Ralph Lauer, my former colleague at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. (Howdy, Ralph!)

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Gertrude's is celebrating "Lobsterama 2010" every Thursday in August.

On Thursday evenings, the restaurant will serve two versions of the classic lobster dinner:

NEW ENGLAND MEAL $29.95

Simply steamed & served: 1-1/4 lb. Maine Lobster, Baked Potato, Coleslaw & Maryland Sweet White Corn on the Cob

MARYLAND-STYLE MEAL $35.95

Gussied up a bit: Lobster Stuffed with Crab Imperial, Baked Potato, Coleslaw & Maryland Sweet White Corn on the Cob

Gertrude's orders a limited number of lobsters for each night, so it recommends not only making a reservatio, but calling ahead to reserve a lobster.  The number is (410) 889-3399

Getty Images

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

There's been a dearth of shallow thoughts on Dining@Large lately, at least from STW guru John Lindner.

Apparently John has been off thinking deep thoughts in -- wait for it -- Sudan.

John will have to fill you in on what he was up to there. All I know is his trip had nothing to do with food. 

Here's what John just e-mailed me.

"Back from Sudan ... with no really compelling food stories. Maize, OK? And white rice, and a Kenyan hot sauce. Goat, sure. But nothing to write home or to Sandbox about.

"Little silvery dried fishes. And lots more maize."

John hopes to be back with a Shallow Thought Wednesday post next week.

A Sudanese policeman -- or is it John Linder? -- examines camels for sale at a weekly camel market on a desert plain 10 miles west of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. AP photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Volker Stewart, a partner in The Brewer's Art, sends news of a "First Wednesday" beer dinner planned for next week.

"Chef Dave Newman is having a lot of fun with beer pairing, and we will be pouring both draft and bottled product," Stewart writes.

Here's the menu:

Maryland Crab Cake: Popcorn Purée, Clamper's Crab Sauce, Local Corn Chow-Chow, Zodiac Ale

Local Watermelon and Feta Salad: Red Onion, Mint, Green Olive, Harissa Vinaigrette, Green Peppercorn Tripel

Seared Diver Sea Scallops: Duck Confit-Yukon Potato Hash, Quail Egg, White Truffle-Foie Gras Hollandaise, Ozzy

Beef Two Ways: Grilled Butter-poached Tenderloin, Shortrib Ravioli, Horseradish-Potato Mousseline, Creamed Spinach, Resurrection

Almond-Semolina Cake: Peach Jam, La Petroleuse

Price: $55 (does not include tax or tip)

Reservations by calling (410) 547-6925 or through OpenTable.

Brewer's Art Seared Diver Scallops. Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

A Dining@Large reader wanted to know Baltimore's top ten "Most Popular" restaurants, according to the newly released Zagat guide. (Earlier, I'd posted only the top five.)

I'll do better than that. I'll give you the whole Top 40.

But be prepared to be shocked. (Cheesecake Factory? P.F. Chang's? Really?) 

Here goes:

1. Woodberry Kitchen

2. Charleston

3. Volt

4. Cinghiale

5. Prime Rib

6. Helmand

7. Black Olive

8. Petit Louis

9. Pazo

10. Capital Grille

The list actually goes up to 40. Here's the rest:

11. Ruth's Chris

12. Five Guys

13. Cheesecake Factory

14. Tio Pepe

15. Miss Shirley's

16. Samos

17. Wine Market

18. Roy's

19. Linwoods

20. Ambassador Dining Room

21. Brewer's Art

22. Iron Bridge Wine Co.

23. Fogo De Chao

24. b

25. Salt (tied with restaurant above)

26. Atwater's

27. G&M

28. Annabel Lee Tavern

29. McCormick (tied with restaurant above)

30. Sabatino's

31. Antrim 1844

32. P.F. Chang's

33. Attman's Deli

34. Joss Cafe

35. Dogwood

36. Jalapenos

37. Mezze

38. Gertrude's

39. Cantler's Riverside

40. Tersiguel's (tied with restaurant above)

Sun file photo of P.F. Chang's ginger chicken and white rice

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

Woodberry Kitchen knocked Charleston off its "Most Popular" perch in the Zagat guide released Wednesday.

But did Woodberry really pull off that coup in the past year, as one would surmise from comparing the 2009 and 2010 guides? 

Or in the past two?

There's no telling, I learned from talking with Tim Zagat.

The publisher and founder of the dining guide explained that every edition of the guide does not represent a completely new survey of an area's restaurant scene. 

That's done about every other year. In the off years, the guide is merely "updated," with a staff of editors checking to see if restaurants listed the year before are still open, have the same address, phone number, that sort of thing.

The rankings don't get rejiggered much, if at all, in the off years.

"In the in-between years, there will be a lot that looks the same," Zagat said. "This year is a completely new year."

The Cider-Brined Pork Chop at Woodberry Kitchen. Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Some in the Sandbox seemed less than tempted when I wrote about the edible weed purslane. And that was before I posted this picture with a bug on it. I'm not trying to convert any purslane-haters out there, but you just might want to hear out Hanne Blank. The Baltimore author and accomplished cook, who sometimes puts on a Chinese street food brunch at Mill Valley Garden Center, gave a rousing defense of the weed when the subject came up on Baltimore Food Makers. She makes a convincing case, her use of the word "mucilaginous" notwithstanding. I pass along her comments here with her permission. Here's Hanne. LV

Purslane is a fantastic vegetable and I grow it on purpose each year in my garden, partly as weed control around/under my cucumber vines and partly because I love to eat it. I recommend it highly as a salad vegetable. It's great in green salads and added to slaws. It's also very nice in composed salads like Salade Nicoise, as its texture and taste marry well with oily/pungent things like olives and anchovies.

It is a traditional cooking vegetable in many parts of the world. There are two main ways that it is cooked. One is a very quick cooking over high heat. It can be dry-fried in a very very hot dry pan, in order to wilt it slightly, then dressed with something like a vinaigrette or with citrus juice. I stir-fry it in a number of ways, according to various Chinese regional techniques. It is well suited to recipes that call for saan choy (aka Vietnamese spinach or Malabar spinach or slippery vegetable). I find that it goes nicely with fermented black beans, and also with fish sauce -- the funky fermented pungency of these seasonings goes well with the slightly acidic taste and juicy texture of the purslane.

The other major way to cook it, worldwide, is to stew it. Mexican cooking is particularly good with the stewed version. Throughout Mexico you will find recipes for verdolagas -- that's Spanish for purslane. Stewed with meat and chiles and onions, as in the nearly universal Mexican dish puerco con verdolagas, it does become mucilaginous, but the effect is very like putting okra in a gumbo. (I have substituted purslane for okra in gumbo, actually, it works really well if you can't find good okra.) Verdolagas con salsa (green and red) is also a very popular dish and really tasty. I like verdolagas con salsa verde as a companion to lengua (tongue).

You'll also find purslane in many other world cuisines. The Turkish dish domatesli semizotu is a stewed tomato and purslane dish that I like a great deal. It's along the lines of the Greek green bean dish fasolakia, if you're familiar with that. The Greeks also cook purslane, sometimes with lemon and potato and sumac and thyme, which I personally think is quite inspired.

The only thing to bear in mind with purslane is that you either want it raw/barely cooked through, or else you wanna cook the hell out of it, probably with an acid along for the ride. Anything in between is likely to seem unpleasantly slimy to the American palate.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The new Zagat dining guide came out today, and there's been a shake-up in the Most Popular list.

Quite a change from a year ago, when EL wrote: "For whatever reason, this year's Top 40 Most Popular list is almost identical with last year's. (That wasn't true the year before.) You have to get down to No. 34, Lemongrass, before it changes, and that's only because last year's No. 34, Brasserie Tatin, closed. The top five are once again 1) Charleston, 2) Prime Rib, 3) Helmand, 4) Petit Louis Bistro, 5) Ruth's Chris."

This year, the top five are 1) Woodberry Kitchen, 2) Charleston, 3) Volt, 4) Cinghiale, 5) Prime Rib.

Top Food honors went to Charleston and Volt, and Top Service to Charleston, Volt and Prime Rib. In the Top Decor category, it was Charleston, Pazo, Scossa, Milton Inn and Antrim 1844.

Newly listed Baltimore-area restaurants were: B&O American Brasserie, Bluegrass, Bon Fresco in Columbia, Centro in South Baltimore, Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City, Grano at Chestnut (aka Big Grano) and Grano Pasta Bar (aka Little Grano), Mr. Rain's Funhoue, in the American Visionary Art Museum, Pairings Bistro in Bel Air, Pappas in Glen Burnie, Regions in Catonsville, Sam's Kid in Fells Point, Soup'r Natural in Monkton, Stanford Grill in Columbia, Tapas Adela in Fells Point, 13.5 Wine Bar in Hampden, Umi Sake in Cockeysville, Vino Rosina.

One new Annapolis restaurant, Level, made the guide, as did several from the Eastern shore: Ava Pizza in St. Michaels, Bartlett Pear Inn in Easton and The Barbecue Joint in Easton.

You can get the full survey at Zagat.com. Or you can buy the slender maroon-covered paper version for $14.95.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Molecular gastronomy met the ballpark masses in Frederick Tuesday night as former "Top Chef" contestant Bryan Voltaggio played stadium concessionaire during a Frederick Keys game at Harry Grove Baseball Stadium.

Voltaggio, who threw out a respectable first pitch with his 3-year-old son, Thacher, at his side on the mound, ran the concession to benefit the Keys' charitable foundation.

The Orioles farm team had first suggested that the owner of Frederick's Volt restaurant put on a $100-a-head, sit-down charity dinner for about 80 people. But Voltaggio wanted to go the concession route, which would give people a chance to have a taste of his cuisine for just a few bucks.

With entrees topping out at $10, the menu was financially accessible. Physical accessibility was another matter. The Volt concession stand was at third base. Within minutes of the gate's opening, the line stretched to first. People waited hours for food from a 2-year-old restaurant that had put Frederick on the culinary map -- Harrison Ford flew in just for dinner recently -- but had remained out of reach for many residents.

"We're going to see what all the fuss is about," said Anne Nelson, 34, a McDaniel College philosophy professor who at the bottom of the fourth inning, stood at the end of the line -- still snaking all the way back to first base. "I'm a vegetarian, so it's rarely worth it for me to spend $300 on dinner."

Attendance was 7,315 -- more than double a usual Tuesday night turnout, said Keys public relations director Adam Pohl, who said he hoped a Volt concession stand could be reprised annually. Bryan Voltaggio bobblehead dolls, given free to the first 1,000 fans, ran out half an hour after the gates opened.

Voltaggio's menu included playful takes on classic stadium chow.

"We tried to [combine] ballpark and some of the things we do at the restaurant," Voltaggio said.

Standing in for the standard mystery-meat ballpark frank was a succulent Border Springs Farm Lamb Hot Dog ($8), created with pasture-raised local meat that Voltaggio describes on the farm's website as having "great mineral characteristics that do not overshadow the mild grassiness in the finish." (I think the last time a ballpark frank had a grassy finish was when some kid dropped his on the field.)

While there were gourmet twists -- truffle oil on the $3 popcorn, for instance -- much of what set Voltaggio's offerings apart from modern stadium fare was the quality of his ingredients. You can find a pulled pork sandwich in any number of baseball stadiums. You surely won't find another made with Red Wattle Pork, the obscure, flavorful variety prized by chefs. Shrimp po' boys probably can be had, too, at least on the club level of Major League parks. But try finding one made with Marvesta shrimp, which is raised naturally, and in eco-friendly tanks, on the Eastern Shore.

One truly outside-the-park item was Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho "Dipping Dots" Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Petite Cilantro ($4). I'd had Voltaggio's savory "ice cream pearls" once before, as part of his whimsical version of chicken Parmesan. I wasn't crazy about the combination of cold dots with warm chicken in that dish, which I'd had at the restaurant. (I'm sure the warm-cold combo is all part of the molecular gastronomy fun, and I accept it as a personal failing that it did not do it for me, but it did not.) But in a shrimp ceviche, which I want to be cold, the dots bowled me over.

There were red dots and white, plus some sort of green foam that might have been avocado, or basil or lime. The chef was a tad too busy -- Voltaggio waded into the line and started handing out free food late in the game -- to discuss just what was in that creamy, citrusy, cilantro-y, shrimpy bowl. It was the first thing I tasted. I could have gone home satisfied had it been the last.

But it was not the last. Not by a long shot. 

Sun Food Editor Sarah Kelber and I came up with this dream assignment: We'd check out the Volt concession stand, blog about it and post a photo gallery of each menu item. Sarah writes the reality TV blog Reality Check and, unlike me, can take decent photographs.

The photos are online here.

Full disclosure: as with ordinary restaurant reviews, we paid for everything we ordered. But unlike a formal review, we were not incognito. We worked with stadium and Volt personnel to interview Voltaggio and, later, to place our unusually large, one-of-everything order. Otherwise, we'd still be in line.

We ended up with so much food that, after cutting off bits for a taste, we gave a good bit away. It was all tasty, but it was an absurd amount of food.

But I didn't part with a single tomato dipping dot. I just about licked that bowl clean. And we left not a crumb of a heavenly little slice of Key Lime Pie.

Sun photos by Sarah Kelber

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 1:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (31)
        

Just a reminder to anyone looking to get a taste of Volt at concession-stand prices, tonight's the night that chef Bryan Voltaggio runs a stand at Frederick's Harry Grove Stadium.

The gate opens at 6 p.m. The game -- the Frederick Keys play the Lynchburg Hillcats, just in case anybody out there cares about the baseball end of this event -- starts at 7 p.m.

Voltaggio's stadium menu looks promising.

Scott Suchman Photography

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

A colleague here at The Sun spotted this on Aldo’s menu for Baltimore Restaurant Week, which runs Aug. 13 to 22.

"Due to the high volume of guests served during Restaurant Week, we respectfully request, in consideration of other guests, that you please limit your seating time to 1 hour 30 minutes."

If nothing else, I guess that note says something about the popularity of Restaurant Week.

I asked Aldo's Sergio Vitale about the policy.

"We’ve never had to enforce that policy (and, frankly, I would feel uncomfortable doing so), but it’s a gentle reminder to guests that Restaurant Week tends to be very busy -- particularly on the weekends," he said. "We still follow our standard policy of not overbooking, etc, but it’s a balancing act with so much demand.

"Weeknights are really the best time to experience restaurant week -- it’s generally a much more relaxed pace and there is usually availability."

YOUR SELECTION OF FIRST COURSE

Tower of Flash-Fried Local Eggplant, Parmigiana-Style

Sashimi-Grade Saku Tuna Loin Carpaccio: Thinly-Sliced Center-Cut Tuna Loin, Spicy Sriracha Aioli, diced Red Onions, Jalapeño & Coriander (served chilled & raw)

Crespelle Gratinee: Spinach & Ricotta-filled Crepe, Besciamella Sauce, Parmigiano-Herb Crust Calabrese-Style Panzanella 

Italian Summer Salad: Local Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Tender Purslane Greens, & Sweet Bermuda Onions Over Crusty Bread with Sweet Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Italian White Wine Vinegar

YOUR SELECTION OF SECOND COURSE

Tagliata di Manzo: Seared Dry Aged Certified Angus Bistro Cut Steak A scattering of Rosemary Fleur de Sel (Sea Salt) and Sant'Agata D.O.P. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Mosto) Arugula Greens, Rosemary-Garlic Frites & Truffled Aioli 

Pan-Seared Monkfish, Cannellini Beans, Goathorn Pepper Tapenade

Stuffed Cavendish Quail (Springfield, Vermont) Polenta, Mild Fennel Sausage and Dried Cherry Stuffing, Yukon Gold Rösti

Chef’s Preparation Whole Wheat Pasta and Local Farmer’s Market Vegetables

YOUR SELECTION OF DESSERT

Buttermilk Panna Cotta: Rich Italian Vanilla Custard, Mixed Berry Coulis, Fresh Berries

Fiji Apple Tart: Served Warm with Tahitian Vanilla Gelato

AVAILABLE AT $35.10 PER PERSON (Exclusive of Beverages, Tax and Gratuity)

Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Yellow Bowl restaurant, one of the city's premier soul food destinations, goes on the auction block next month. 

The restaurant, in the 1200 block of Greenmount Avenue, came back from a devastating fire 10 years ago and had been a favorite of Kurt L. Schmoke, who tapped it to cater some City Hall events when he was mayor.

The restaurant closed several years ago because of the declining health of its owners and the family has decided to sell. Co-owner Eva Virginia Fullard died in 2008.

"The original Yellow Bowl opened in 1921, when it got its name and most of its business from the Yellow Cab Co. office that was then nearby on Preston Street,"  according to Fullard's obituary.

As the Johnston Square neighborhood changed during the 1960s from mostly white to mostly black, the Fullards changed their menu from Salisbury steaks, meatloaf and spaghetti and meatballs to ribs, chitterlings, fried chicken and collard greens.

A. J. Billig & Co. will conduct the auction at the restaurant site Aug. 18 at 2 p.m.

The restaurant occupied two two-story rowhouses adjacent to the redeveloped Johnston Square Apartments. The buildings, the restaurant fixtures and equipment will be sold to the highest bidder above $50,000.

Complete details and sale terms can be found at the auctioneer's website.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

After a vacation, and then two busy weeks back at work, my vegetable garden kind of got away from me.

The Pink Beauty and cherry tomatoes are doing great, but so are the weeds.

I felt bad about that until I read a recent discussion on the Google group Baltimore Food Makers. Someone was seeking the identity of the mystery vegetable that had arrived with her weekly CSA allotment. She sent along a photograph of the unknown greenery.

Purslane, a tasty and healthful weed good in salads, came the answer. 

Turns out that's my weed. Or one of them anyway.

I tried my first bite yesterday, a little wary that it might turn out to be a highly toxic purslane lookalike. I survived the nibble, and found it pleasantly crisp and peppery.

Which brings me to this week's list:

Top Ten free foods 

No. 1: Purslane

No. 2: Dandelion greens

No. 3: Mushrooms

You have to know what you're doing with this one or you'll wind up dead.

No. 4: Blackberries

My husband, kids, a niece and I had a memorable feast on wild blackberries we came across on a bike ride two summers ago. The fruit was so wonderful that I went out and bought two blackberry bushes the next spring. One of them hasn't done much, but the other has grown like crazy. I picked a good-sized bowlful of berries the other day and they're still coming. I know those blackberries aren't exactly free, since I paid for the bushes, but considering what the fruit cost in the market, they're a deal.

No. 5: Raspberries

My neighbor has a bush. We only have a few, but they're wonderful right off the bush. The ones in the supermarket package always seem to have mold.

No. 6: Apricots

Another neighbor had a  pair of apricot trees. Unfortunately, one of them died, and for some varieties of apricots, it takes two to tango. (More about tree sex here.) Now my best shot at free apricots is to go to the West Baltimore MARC station farmers' market just before noon on Saturdays and buy the fruit from the vendor. He usually throws in extras free because it's closing time and, sadly enough, there haven't been many customers all day.

No. 7: Figs

Yet another neighbor has a tree. The neighborhood fox gets in on the free fruit, too. We saw him get up on two legs one time to have a munch.

No. 8: Whole Foods/Trader Joe's trash bins

I couldn't do it, but the high-end Dumpster divers are out there. 

No. 9: Wild onions

They're all over the yard. Why not?

No. 10: Mixed drinks

I have an expert-mixologist neighbor who puts out a flag emblazoned with cocktail glasses whenever he's out on his side porch having happy hour, which is pretty often.

My purslane, I think. (Unlike George Costanza, I don't have a future as a hand model.) Photo by math-hubby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Two Boots, a New York-based, Cajun-influenced pizzeria, has just put a foot down in Baltimore.

The new Power Plant Live! restaurant celebrates its grand opening Tuesday.

"We're called Two Boots because Louisiana and Italy are both geographically similar to boots," said part-owner Leon Hartman.

The fusion extends beyond the Cajun-Italian cuisine. When I noted that Hartman sounded neither Italian nor Cajun, he said he was the product of "a West Virginia girl and Long Island Jew." His parents, indie filmmakers who love pizza, beer and New Orleans, founded Two Boots in New York City's East Village in 1987.

Two Boots has grown to eight New York locations, plus one in Connecticut and another coming to Los Angeles. Most of those sell just pizzas and salads, but the Power Plant location is a full-service restaurant with po' boys, pastas and jambalaya.

Each location has a signature pizza developed and served there, and only there. At Power Plant, it is The Old Bay Beast, which has crab, shrimp, andouille sausage, jalapenos and, of course, Old Bay.

Two Boots plans to open a second Baltimore location in the Fitzgerald apartment building, near Maryland Institute College of Art. The goal is to open by Thanksgiving.

Photo courtesy of Two Boots

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

Shallow Thought Wednesday guru John Lindner has branched out.

He has started doing lunch-hour restaurant reviews for The Sun's new Sunrise section, which runs on Mondays.

Today he checks out Water Street Tavern, 102 Water St., in downtown Baltimore.

John was pleasantly surprised to find crepes on the menu, but his meal left a lot to be desired.

Check out John's review.

Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.  

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

A colleague passed along this tidbit she spotted on Facebook last night:

"The empty storefront on Charles Street just south of the Washington Monument has a sign on it for Gordito's Cafe, 'Coming Soon ... Homestyle Mexican Food.'"

I hope to have more details later today.

Wichita Eagle photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Richard Gorelick checks out the Point in Fells and declares the restaurant "the most pleasant surprise this year."

By that, he means a place that could pass for an upscale burger joint instead serves the likes of "a scallop ceviche bathed in the bracingly tart juices of ruby red grapefruit, a brilliant bistro steak topped with a fried quail egg and a dreamy lemongrass-scented crème caramel."

Check out Richard's review in today's Sun.

Sun photo by Amy Davis

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Alan Morstein of Regi's has found something autumnal at the Waverly Farmer's Market today. But don't switch off the A.C. just yet. Here's Alan. LV

Leave it to those Maryland farmers to come up with new seasonal fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis.

Today market the first sighting of, yellow and purple peppers, butternut squash (a fall specialty, maybe it will now get cooler) and canary melons.

The melons are bright yellow in color, busting with flavor and a cross between cantaloupes and honeydews.

The "Bean Man" had some beautiful okra on display today, making for a great opportunity to whip up some crab gumbo.

No shortage this morning of customers, seasonal fruits, vegetables, breads, bakery and flowers to purchase.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Sports Illustrated's online arm, SI.com, profiled the all-you-can-eat option at Camden Yards and other Major League parks last week.

SI's piece happened to appear the very same day that Michelle Obama's childhood health and fitness campaign took the first lady to the ballpark.

Obama was at Oriole Park to encourage kids to exercise.

I don't think there's a workout out there that could make up for nine innings of chowing down.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Famous Dave's hosts a free rib-tasting event Saturday in the parking lot of its Bel Air location, which is scheduled to open next month.

I alert you to this opportunity despite the restaurant's decision to coin the word "snoutstanding."

"FAMOUSLY celebrate summer with SNOUTSTANDING taste!" begins the media release. "Wilbur the Pig and Famous Dave’s FAMOUS staff invite you to enjoy a sample of Famous Dave’s award-winning ribs at a free rib-tasting event. Ribs can be sampled in the parking lot of the new Famous Dave’s Bel Air location on Saturday, July 24th starting at 2:00 p.m. Cold beverages will also be served."

The restaurant is at 615- B Bel Air Rd.

The tasting is free, but the restaurant will collect donations to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I realize the headline here looks like the sort of cheap "search engine optimization" ploy that Gene Weingarten lamented recently in The Washington Post. But really, it's legit.

The Rumor Mill in Ellicott City will split its six-person chef staff into two teams for a competition tonight and Saturday night. Three of the chefs happen to be women, three men, so they've dubbed it "Battle of the Sexes Cookoff." 

"Guests will have the chance to 'sit at the judges' table' and choose which team puts out the best four-course menu and the best individual dish," says an e-mail from the restaurant.

The teams are identified as "Salt" and "Pepper." Here's the menu.

SALT

FIRST COURSE

Eggplant manicotti with a local summer vegetable ragu (vegetarian)

SECOND COURSE

Shrimp & bay scallop with lemon thyme buerre blanc over an asparagus checkerboard

THIRD COURSE

Garlic & rosemary-encrusted ribeye medallion topped with a red wine reduction. Served with pickled local radishes and slow-roasted tournéed potatoes

DESSERT

Classic genoise cake layered with Bavarian cream & local strawberries, topped with marzipan & frozen white chocolate air

PEPPER FIRST COURSE

Potato & leek soup with tournéed potatoes & basil oil (vegetarian)

SECOND COURSE

Soft-shell crab, avocado, & local cucumbers rolled in rice & nori, served with soy aioli & ginger

THIRD COURSE

Gunpowder Falls Trading Co. bison New York Strip, cooked sous-vide & served with blueberry sauce & corn pudding. Paired with Chesapeake Bay rockfish poached in olive oil & served with pear & daikon slaw

DESSERT

Brown sugar torte served with fried banana ice cream & rum whipped cream

PARTICIPATING CHEFS

Gabrielle Jenkins, Johnson & Wales University

John Katz, Johnson & Wales University

Caitlin Morrell, Baltimore International College

Thomas Rullo, Baltimore International College

Patricia Sener, Johnson & Wales University

Sebastien Trossbach, Baltimore International College

Guests are asked to fill out a ballot before they leave. Winners will be announced on the restaurant's website and Facebook page.

Cost depends on how many courses you decide to taste. (You must taste at least one "paired course duo" -- a course from each team -- to participate.)

Individual course: $8

Paired course duo: $14

Full four-course menu: $30

Any four courses: $30

Any six courses: $45

Any eight courses: $60

Prices do not include tax or tip. Reservations available online or by calling (410) 461-0041.

Sun photo by Christopher T. Assaf

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Turns out scaling a greasy obelisk, as plebes sometimes do in Annapolis, isn't the most difficult thing you can do with lard. Just finding lard can be a challenge in itself. Barbara Stratton, budding soap-and-tamale maker, shared this account with the Google group Baltimore Food Makers. I post it here with her permission. Here's Barbara. LV

Some of you old timers may recall that I orginally joined FM looking for natural lard for soap making and for trying my hand at homemade tamales.  Well, I'm still looking!  Here is the summary of my lard findings for anyone who is interested:

-if you want leaf lard (which is not rendered and so no good for soap making but supposedly the best for pastry) then you can get it at Truck Patch Farm's booth at the Sunday Farmer's Market.  I think they said $2.50/lb but don't quote me on that.  Order ahead if you want a significant quantity

-I tried walking into a Hispanic store in Fell's Point but the clerk looked at me like I was nuts and said they don't carry it

-I've tried calling the meat seller at the Amish Market in Shrewsbury but no go

-I tried the meat seller at the Amish Market in Laurel (seems to be the same company) but no go unless maybe they could try to special order it 

-Flying Pigs Farm in NY apparently could ship it to you but it is $4/ lb which is way too expensive for a soapmaking oil

-Springfield Farm in Sparks doesn't sell lard and didn't know where I could get some

-I called Dangerously Delicious Pies because there were references online to the fact that they use lard for pie crusts but they said they no longer do - they now use shortening

-I called Hatfields Meats and theirs is typical grocery store stuff (In case you didn't know, the stuff in the grocery store refrigerator  section, like Esskay brand, contains BHT and other goodies. The stuff that is shelf stable at Walmart is hydrogenated)

-Laurel Meat Market resells Esskay but can sell me fat back for $2.29/ lb in 10 lb increments to render my own (I've done it once)

-Mt. Airy Meatlocker re-sells Hatfields, they can sell me fat back for .80/lb with advance notice

-Dorsey Meats in Woodsboro, MD will make an order of lard for me in 30 lb pail increments for approx. $1.30/lb, pigs are not grassfed ...  No additives but I either have to pick it up there or meet their driver on the day he's in Fell's Point or order $150 worth and he will deliver it to my house.

The Dorsey guy says he needs a couple of weeks' notice.  Any folks interested in getting a lard order together?

Sun photo by Kim Hairston

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

The Dining@Large reader by that name suggested that I try The BBQ Joint in Easton on my way to  the Tawes crab-and-politics fest in Crisfield this week. What a great find.

From the fresh wood shavings on the floor to the Homer Simpson quote on the menu -- "Pork chops and bacon, my two favorite animals" -- the place is full of playful charm.

Chef-owner Andrew Evans. The BBQ Joint photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Dick's Last Resort has its grand opening at the Inner Harbor today. 

"The new Dick’s Last Resort in the Inner Harbor is hosting a ribbon-cutting (or more accurately, a fishing line-cutting) on Thursday morning to officially welcome itself to the neighborhood," says the e-mail from a Dick's PR rep. "To thank Baltimore for the warm welcome (literally, since they opened amidst that awful heat wave a few weeks back), all seafood buckets are 1/2 price for lunch on Thursday, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m."

I know Dick's is a guy's guy restaurant. (The menu features "A** Byte Burgers," "Lil Cluckers" chicken tenders, and a double chicken breast entree called the "Dolly Parton." Get it? Breasts? Dolly Parton? That Dick is such a card!)

But even given the good ol' boy shtick, I'm not sure I get that fishing line-cutting. Is it Dick's Last Resort or Dick's Sporting Goods?

Here's what the PR person said about that.

"It's more of a nod to being located in the Inner Harbor," she said via e-mail. "The idea is rather than a traditional ribbon, which is not really Dick's style, we're using a fishing line that will be decked out with 'stuff,' so it looks like Dick has been out trolling the waters and getting stuff caught on his fishing line."

Image by Dick's Last Resort

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Here's a note from my editor, Sarah Kelber. LV

In case you missed it, earlier this week, The Sun's features sections were honored by the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors as among the best in the country.

One of the sections we entered in the competition was the "100 Things Every Foodie Should Do in Baltimore" Taste section, and it was singled out by the judges.

We just wanted to say thank you to the D@L readers and commenters. We couldn't have done the story without your help. So thank you! (EL has already gotten her thank you, too!)

We appreciate so much the community you all have built here, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to tell you so.

Here's a link to the original list. For a refresher, check out the photo gallery of the list, too.

Sun file photo of one of the 100, the Berger cookie

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

John Walsh, executive chef at Chef's Expressions catering, will put on a farm-to-table wine dinner next month at the Gramercy Mansion in Stevenson.

"We created the menu for this dinner by painstakingly tasting 40 organic, biodynamic and sustainably produced wines from the around the world," I'm told. "The menu features seven wines, seven courses, and includes a wine reception. The produce, meat and seafood are all sourced locally from Maryland."

Here's a look at the menu:

Butler Passed Hors d’oeuvres

Maryland Lump Crab Cones with Truffled Sabayon
Local Eggplant Croutons
Sugar Baby Melons Soup Shooter with Lime Salt Rim
~J Cuvee 20 Sparkling Wine, Sonoma California~

Seated Dinner

Maryland Finest

Cherokee Purple Tomato Bruschetta
Marvesta Shrimp Poached in Springfield Farms Butter
Local Grown Israeli Basil
~2007 Jean Luc Colombo Les Abeilles Blanc, Cotes du Rhone France~

Mid Atlantic Seafood

Honey Drizzled Char-Grilled Atlantic Squid
Green Zebra Tomato Jam
Bacon Pastry Straw
~2009 Villa Creek White, Paso Robles California~

Intermezzo

Eastern Shore Watermelon Soup with “A” Frame Ventriche Chip
~2009 Chateau Coup de Roses Champ du Roy, Minervois France~

Chesapeake Bay Fowl

Brown Sugar and Cumin Rubbed Mallard Duck Breast
Orange Peel Mostardo
Maryland Raspberry and Arugula Salad
~2008 Paraiso Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands California~

Trey and Angela’s Pride

Gunpowder Bison Flank Steak

Lady Moon Farms Beet Salad
Shaved 3 year old Gouda
Beet Infusion
~2006 Querciabella Chianti Classico, Tuscany Italy~

Summa time Trio

Pulled Pork and Red Currant Jelly
Mushroom Confit, Corn Salad and a Chive Infusion
2006 Zenaida Cellars Zephyr, Paso Robles California

Dessert served in Lobby

Local Fruit Tarts, Cheesecake Lollipops, Chocolate Cherry Bavorois

The dinner takes place Aug. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $99.95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. (Parties of eight or more get a 10 percent discount if they use one credit card.)

For reservations, contact Katie at (410) 561-2433 or katiebittinger@chefsexpressions.com.

Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Celie's Waterfront Inn in Fells Point is putting on a couple rooftop wine-tastings this week.

On Friday at 6 p.m., it's Champagne, cheeses from Baltimore's Great Cheese, and chef Bill Crouse’s petites bouchées: Strawberry, Prosciutto and Basil Skewers; Grilled Swordfish Skewers, and Tomato, Goat Cheese and Bibb Lettuce Mini Wraps.

The cost is $40 per person. The event is limited to 20 people. Reservations at fellspointfoodie@gmail.com - Code: Champagne.

On Saturday at 6 p.m., it's a Chardonnay tasting. That will be paired with more Great Cheese offerings and Crouse’s petites bouchées: Grilled Peach and Mint; Smoked Trout Canapé; Teres Major and Gorgonzola Canapé.

Cost is $40 per person. The event is limited to 20 attendees. Reservations at fellspointfoodie@gmail.com - Code: Chardonnay

Breakfast fare at Celie's. Sun photo by Algerina Perna

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I promised to give the Sandbox more notice the next time Sotto Sopra planned one of its farmers' market cooking classes, so here it is, hot off my e-mail. 

On Sunday, chef Christian deLutis will walk a group from the restaurant over to the farmers' market under the JFX. Then, back at the restaurant, he'll show everybody how to work with whatever he's bought. And finally, everybody will sit down to eat what deLutis prepares.

Participants are advised to wear comfortable, washable clothes and rubber-soled shoes. They're also warned: "be prepared to help chef."

Cost is $65 per person. Class size is limited and reservations are required. Call (410) 625-0534 if you're interested.

The group meets at Sotto Sopra at 8:30 a.m. for coffee, tea and biscotti, and will leave promptly at 9 a.m. to walk to the market.

Chef Christian deLutis, back when he was making popcorn in duck fat and seasoning it with French sea salt, chopped black truffles and white truffle oil at Alizee. Now see what he can do with farmers' market ingredients at Sotto Sopra. Sun photo by Amy Davis

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Tomorrow I put on my columnist hat and head to Crisfield, where a bunch of politicians gather each July to schmooze and eat crabs.

I go to the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake every year and never eat a thing. Somehow the prospect of eating seafood on a hot parking lot, surrounded by a bunch of politicians, never appeals to me.

I'm just grateful there's a Panera between here and Crisfield. But there must be some interesting food stop along the way.

But is there something besides the political sweatfest -- hole-in-the wall with a great crab cake? terrific roadside stand? -- that might make this long haul worthwhile?

Sun file photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Here's an update on my backyard corn crop.

As I wrote last month, I am giving corn a try in my garden. I thought it was going well, but when I showed the plants to my father-in-law in late June, he pronounced them anemic and said they wouldn't amount to anything without chemical fertilizers.

Since then, I've lavished an entire $12 jug of compost "tea" on the plants. I've shelled out another $12 for an even fouler-smelling fish fertilizer called "Neptune's Harvest."

I even dug up one straggler, put the skin from my rockfish dinner beneath the roots, and replanted it. (Isn't that how Squanto helped the Pilgrims show up their in-law naysayers?)

After several weeks of this special, stinky treatment, some of the stalks are taller than I am. (I'm only 5-foot-3, so maybe that's not saying much.) Other stalks are chest high. A few are just knee high. About half have sprouted ears. They're skinny-looking ears, but I think they're coming along. I like to think of them as svelte, not anemic.

Photo by math-hubby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

A colleague just forwarded me a message from the people at Baltimore Pho, at 1116 Hollins St. Here goes. LV

To our loyal customers:

It is with bittersweet sentiment that we announce Baltimore Pho will be closing after close of business Saturday July 24.....and REOPENING as Cockey's Tavern at Hollins....merging the Hollins tradition with the Cockey family who has owned restaurants in Maryland since the 1840's.

The Hollins Market area has progressed so much in the time that we have been open, and now a capable, passionate, individual has stepped up to continue the legacy of a friendly, warm, affordable restaurant with excellent food.

We want to thank you so much for your loyal patronage and for the friendships that we have built with so many of you over the last 2 1/2 years. Our customers are what have made us what we are.

The new restaurant, Cockey's Tavern at Hollins, will be opening within several weeks, and we will keep you updated on its progress. We hope that you continue to support the area by checking out Cockey's and taking advantage of everything that it will have to offer. So we will see you this week for your "phinal" meal! :) Thank you again.

Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
        

Here's a little more information about plans for Milk & Honey Market, which I mentioned in a blog post earlier today.

The store, at Cathedral and Read streets, will carry local produce and meats, artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, gourmet groceries, fresh baked breads and fresh pastas. An in-store cafe will serve coffee drinks, smoothies and fresh-squeezed juices. There won't be a full-service kitchen, but the cafe will offer croissants, bagels and freshly made panini.

Groceries will take up about 60 percent of the store, with the rest of the 1,700-square-foot space devoted to the cafe.

The plan is for a mid- to late-September opening, said Dana Valery, one of the co-owners.

She described Milk & Honey as "a place to go when you miss the farmers' market."  

The store is a joint effort between two couples, Valery, until recently a stay-at-home mom and part-time yoga teacher; her husband, Ernst, who has a private equity firm focused on urban development; and Jim Campbell and Nancy Hooff, whom Valery described as "developer do-gooders" focused on urban infill, historic preservation and low-income projects.

A friend of theirs, who has a market by the same name in Philadelphia, will also have a small interest in the store. The Baltimore and Philly operations will be "sister stores," but not formally a chain, Valery said.

The Mount Vernon store will be open seven days a week. The hours have not been firmed up yet, but the idea is to be open for breakfast every day and to stay open late enough -- perhaps 8 p.m. -- to serve people on their way home from work during the week. It will probably close earlier, maybe 6 p.m., on weekends.

Local milk will be among the items for sale at Milk & Honey Market in Mount Vernon. Sun photo by Amy Davis

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

While in Mount Vernon yesterday, I happened to come across an empty storefront at Cathedral and Read streets with a "coming soon" sign out front.

What's coming is Milk & Honey Market, which will sell fresh local produce, meats and dairy, gourmet groceries, artisanal cheese and charcuterie, fresh baked breads and fresh pastas. It will also have a cafe area with coffee drinks, fresh-squeezed juices, smoothies and panini.

The future store --  I'll have more details on that in another blog post later this morning -- got me thinking about all those little out-of-the-way food stores that can be so fun to shop in.

Which brings me to this week's list:

Top Ten fun food stores

1. Mill Valley General Store

I love this no-frills outpost at 2800 Sisson Street, which has local meats, dairy and produce. Prices are cheaper than at lots of places for things like Gunpowder bison ($6 a pound) and Hen's Nest eggs ($3 for a dozen extra-large). The produce selection is quite limited, so I often find myself looking longingly at the fruits and veggies available only to the One Straw Farm CSA customers who pick up their weekly allotments there. But I've picked up juicy peaches in summer and interesting apples in the fall.

2. J. W. Treuth & Son's

3. Trinacria

This Paca Street Italian deli is always crowded. We go for the olives and olive oil, prosciutto bread, fresh mozzarella, mascarpone and goat cheese. You can get a big log of the goat for about what you'd pay for that teeny supermarket pyramid.

4. Di Pasquale's

Bigger than Trinacria, but farther from my home so I don't get there as often as I'd like.

5. Salumeria Italiana

This one is even farther from home -- waaay farther, in the North End of Boston, the Italian neighborhood where my great-grandparents settled as immigrants and my grandparents grew up. It is worth a trip to Bean Town. (Salumeria's website is down as I write, but you can read testimonials to the olive oils, balsamic vinegars, Parmesans, and prosciuttos.)  

6. Atwater's

Maybe this is cheating because Atwater's is really a bakery, but they stock local milk, cheeses and eggs. Throw in a loaf of their wonderful bread, and what more could you want?

The quirky name -- it really is "Yours" -- and selection of Indian spices aren't the only reasons to shop at this Catonsville store, at 730 Frederick Road. Owner Sudhir Shah is trying to make a comeback after a robber shot him in the head in November. He can use the business.

8. Halal Meats

9. David's Natural Market

A Columbia institution in the Wild Lake Village Center, David's caters to the town's original hippie "pioneers" as well as newcomer foodies.

10. Roots Market

It's been a while since I've made it out to this market, with locations in Clarksville and Olney. Now that I see online that they have Newman's O's for $3.99 -- compared to $4.29 at Giant, $4.39 at Whole Foods, and $4.79 at Safeway -- I think a trip is in order.

Produce at Mill Valley General Store. Sun photo by Amy Davis

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

So in church Sunday, they did that reading where Martha's in the kitchen, slaving away, while her sister, Mary, is lounging around listening to Jesus.

And when Martha finally says, "Hey, I could use a hand in here," their divine houseguest takes Mary's side.

What's with that?!!

Jesus tells Martha not to worry about housework. Sounds good, but if they all put their feet up, who's going to keep the pita and hummus coming?

If only Jesus had come through with another loaves-and-fishes miracle. "Have a seat, Martha. I've got dinner covered." Or rolled up the sleeves of that seamless robe and pitched in with the dishes.

But nooo. Anybody else find this annoying?

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

For those of you eagerly awaiting the 160,000-square-foot Wegmans grocery store that's supposed to come to Snowden River Parkway in Columbia, the company has issued an update -- via Twitter.

"Some off site road improvements are scheduled 2 begin this summer. Currently we're hoping 2 open in 2012. Thx 4 your patience!"

So reads the post, which came to my attention as a retweet from @HowChowBlog.

"What about local labor? Say 12 volunteers each weekend. We bring our own shovels. We'll work in teams. Could we get XMas 2011?" @HowChowBlog replied.

"Did we mention Money Mag's #2 place in America to live for 2010? With Wegmans = #1 in 2011" @HowChowBlog noted later.

My tipster, a former newspaper man, was bummed by yet another delay -- and a little surprised by the way it was announced. 

He wrote: "It's not the way companies announced news when I was a newspaper reporter ..." 

Sun file photo of Wegmans in Hunt Valley

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

How's this sound for Minor League baseball concession-stand grub? 

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho "Dipping Dots" Rock Shrimp Ceviche with Petite
Cilantro ($4); Coriander Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna "Nicoise Style" ($5); Summer Truffle Popcorn ($3).

And that's just the appetizer lineup when chef Bryan Voltaggio mans a concession stand at Harry Grove Baseball Stadium during a Frederick Keys game July 27. The Volt restaurant co-owner and "Top Chef" runner-up will also throw out the first pitch.

But here's the best part: the first 1,000 fans through the gate will receive a Bryan Voltaggio bobblehead. (Sorry I don't have a photo of that to share with you; organizers want to keep it under wraps until game day.)

You know you've arrived as a chef when you've been immortalized as a Bobblehead.

"It is quite the honor to be 'molded' in this way -- not quite an action figure but one that kids might just enjoy," Voltaggio said. "And in the spirit of Frederick, I am honored that our local baseball team would think to honor me and my work that has contributed to the community. As a Frederick native, I couldn't be more humbled over this distinction."

Here's the rest of the Volt concession menu for that night:

Entrees

Marvesta Shrimp "Po-Boy" Wrap, Old Bay Chips $6

Pulled Red Wattle Pork, Pickled Watermelon, Dill Potato Salad $6

Soft Shell Crab Sandwich, Pickled Fennel-Cucumber Slaw $10

Border Springs Farm Lamb Hot Dogs, Chow Chow, Sour Cream & Onion Chips
$8

Burger Cheddar, Bacon, Avocado, Arugula, Chips $8

Desserts

Key Lime Pie $3

Chocolate Covered Banana $3

Ice Cream Sandwiches $3

Peach Cobbler $3

Sides

Tomato And Cucumber Salad $2

Dill Potato Salad $2

Fennel-Cucumber Slaw $2

Kettle Chips $2 

The Keys will play the Lynchburg Hillcats that night, though that's waaay beside the point.

Tickets for the game can be purchased online at FrederickKeys.com or by calling 877.8.Go.Keys.  Gates open at 6:00 p.m. Game begins at 7:00 p.m.

Photy by SOTA dzine

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Suburban House, the Pikesville institution that burned down last summer, reopens in a new location today at 7 a.m.

Joseph Stowe, who owns the restaurant with Mark Horowitz, told me last night that all of the old favorites will be on the menu.

"Chicken in a pot, chopped liver, homemade  roast brisket, fresh roasted turkey," he said, quickly rattling some off. 

But there will be new features, too, including bagels baked on the premises. 

"We're taking deli to the next level -- chopped salad station, carving station," he said. The new location, in a former Fuddruckers at 1700 Reisterstown Road, seats 250 -- up from 175 at the old spot. 

Suburban House's matzo ball soup. Sun photo by Lloyd Fox

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Our faithful Waverly Market correspondent, Alan Morstein, sent his usual dispatch yesterday, but I managed to overlook it amidst all the Nigerian banking scams in my e-mail. So sorry for the delay. The market scene has Alan in the mood for canning -- and sipping. Here's Alan. LV

Some new items made their debut at Waverly today.

Sugar baby watermelons, yellow watermelons, purple peppers and home-grown heirloom tomatoes.

All the favorite summer fruits and vegetables were in plentiful supply.

Everyone was in a buying mode judging by the strong turn-out at 9:30. Prices have dropped on many items since the initial harvest, making canning something to think about.

Try to beat the heat. Maybe a mojito with some fresh market mint would help.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Richard Gorelick reviews Regions, the new restaurant from the folks behind Catonsville Gourmet, and finds a lot to like.

Tournedos Baltimore -- pepper-crusted fillets on fried green tomatoes, corn, crab-thyme sauce, whipped mashers and vegetable medley. Sun photo by Lloyd Fox

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Playboy magazine has put out a guide to America's greatest bars, and a local delicacy made its list of Best Late-Night Eats.

It's the deep-fried cheesesteak at Hot Tomatoes.

Don't let the Playboy context or the bar's name fool you. Hot Tomatoes, 717 South Broadway in Fells Point, is a pizza shop, not a strip joint.

The Playboy honor was news to Hot Tomatoes owner Mark Dayton, who was happy to fill me in on the sandwich.

"Basically, when I bought the place seven year ago, I didn’t have a grill or anything," he said. "I tried to figure out a way to make a cheesesteak.

"I cook the steak in the oven first, then take that and the cheese" -- American -- "and wrap it in pizza dough like a burrito, and put it into the deep fryer. And then it comes out and we throw it back into the oven to crisp it up and burn up any fat.

"I’ve had people describe it as a cheesesteak doughnut."

It costs $6.

And no, he doesn't know how many fat grams it contains. 

"I don’t think it’s any worse than a regular cheesesteak," he said. "It's not something you want to eat every day but they are good."

Photo courtesy of Hot Tomatoes

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The list of restaurants participating in Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week is out.

They'll offer special three-course prix fixe dinners for $35.10 (liquor, tax and gratuity not included). Many also will offer three-course prix fixe lunches for $20.10.

"Select restaurants are also offering additional value-added opportunities including wine flights and wine pairings to accompany the prix fixe meals," the website says.

On Aug. 12, the day before restaurant week starts, there's a chance to get a sneak peek at what will be on the menu at participating restaurants.

At the First Course - Appetizer Challenge, "restaurants will duke it out to determine who creates the tastiest appetizers around."

"Free samples of the appetizers will be handed out (while supplies last) so that the public can make their call on the best appetizer and select the People’s Choice winner. Awards will also be presented based on judges’ choice, and best use of locally sourced ingredients." 

That takes place at the Inner Harbor amphitheater from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sardines at Mezze, one of many participating restaurants. Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

I have it on good authority -- and not just Sean, though I appreciate his tip -- that the Hamilton restaurant has closed.

Parkside desserts. Sun photo by Elizabeth Malby

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

John-John Williams IV hit Artscape at his lunch hour and sampled some of the newer food options, including that fish-dog. Here's his take:

Funnel cake, pad Thai, kabobs, frozen tropical-themed drinks and lemonade.

Let’s face it. Food at festivals during the summer can be pretty predictable.

I set out this year to eat at some of the new vendors at Artscape, some of which just so happened to offer unusual twists on traditional treats.

First stop: "A Couple of Nuts," which is run by a husband and wife from Florida. The two Artscape newcomers have taken an old German family recipe for cinnamon-and-sugar roasted almonds and pecans. Their booth is on the Charles Street bridge just after Penn Station.

Five dollars will get a 4-ounce cone-shaped bag of your nut of choice. Their festival deal is a bag of each for $8 total. I preferred the pecans;  the meat of the nut was soft enough to contrast with the hard candy shell.

Josef’s Country Inn in Fallston served $6 flatbread pizza at its booth in the food court across the street from The Charles movie theater.

Their pizza was my favorite option by far. The whole-wheat crust meshed with the fresh basil, scallions, portabella mushrooms, vine-ripe tomatoes, and feta, mozzarella, and cheddar cheeses. It was definitely a worthy effort from the first time Artscape vendors.

The only complaint was that the bottom of the crust was slightly burned, but the rest of the ingredients made up for the hiccup.

I was also a fan of the healthy food concept of the stand. They offered Vitamin Water, iced green tea, and water. No sodas here. It was a refreshing change that worked -- especially in the scorching sun.

I decided to head next door and jump off the BMI (body mass index) deep end and eat a mac and cheese hotdog at Stuggy’s, a restaurant based in Fells Point.

I expected a foot-long kosher dog, on a potato roll, topped with macaroni and cheese. What I got was a foot-long kosher dog, on a potato roll, topped with macaroni and cheese, old bay and hot sauce. It didn’t wow me, but it did put me in a food coma.

After hoofing it down to the Target Family Art Park near the Meyerhoff, I was ready for my final tasting of the day -- the mythical-sounding fish dog from United Franks of America, a Fairfax, Va.-based vendor that was at Artscape for the first time.

The beer-battered cod-filet is shaped into a foot-long hot dog and served atop a fresh hoagie roll. Top it with a orange-hued, sweet and spicy tartar sauce called "Boom Boom Sauce," and I was ready to chow down. Unfortunately, the mound of bread dominated the sandwich. The fish was greasy and not very flavorful. The saving grace was the unusual sauce, which added a little kick to the glorified fish sandwich. It sells for $6. It’s a nice alternative if you don’t want meat. But be prepared to overdose on carbs if you try it.

(Photos by Kim Hairston, Baltimore Sun) 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

It's Artscape time and you know that that means. Food! Food! Food! (And, yes, some art.)

If you go, I'd like to hear what you think of the food. Post your mini-reviews on the blog and we'll use some of them in the paper Monday. 

I have a story in The Sun on what's new on the Artscape food scene.

After grouping vendors with healthful foods in a single "green food court" near the Charles Theatre the past two years, Artscape organizers decided to mix them in with the funnel cakes and fries this year so people don't have to schlep so far reach them.

There are about 60 food vendors, just five of them new. One of the newcomers has a deep-fried codfish hot dog. Another new concessionaire is Josef's Country Inn in Fallston, which is serving flatbread pizzas.

Let's hear what you think of those and other Artscape delicacies.

Sun file photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to respect the "Top Chef" cone of silence in this DVR, watch-it-when-I-get-around-to-it era, but best not to take chances lo these 36 hours after Wednesday's show aired on national television.

Whatever possibly still-unspeakable thing happened to Baltimore chef Timothy Dean on the episode, he talks about it in a story I wrote in today's Sun.

Spoiler alert: Don't read the "Top Chef" story, or the rest of this blog post, if you don't want to know.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Dean acknowledged that the bland turnips that got him ousted from the show were a disappointment. But he also said the cooking conditions -- out in a field, using hot plates and grills -- didn't help. 

"I personally think I should have cooked another day, but God bless everyone on the show and Bravo," Dean said.

Earlier in the episode, Dean failed to impress judges with a dish that should be a cinch for a Maryland chef: crabs. But Dean said the the judges -- the panel included guest judge Patrick O'Connell of the Inn at Little Washington -- seemed not to appreciate the straightforward way Marylanders like their crustaceans. (They favored Asian-inspired crab dishes over Dean's.)

"You know in this region, we don't do a lot with our crabs but put some seasoning on," Dean said. "I kept it really simple-and-clean flavors. … The Maryland crab is the star. We let it sing."

Dean said the show has given a boost to his Fells Point restaurant, Prime Steakhouse. He also said he plans to open another Prime location at Boulevard at the Capital Centre in Largo, in the 7,000-square-foot space that previously housed The Sideline, a now-shuttered restaurant owned by former Washington Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington.

Dean's lawyer, Jimmy A. Bell of Bowie, said that restaurant is slated to open in 90 days and will not be affected by the bankruptcy proceedings related to Dean's defunct Baltimore bistro and lounge.

"That's a whole separate entity," Bell said. "He's not doing anything Donald Trump isn't doing. When you start a business, you create separate entities."
 

Bravo photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

I'm about to give you a heads-up on a bake sale. But before every PTA in Greater Baltimore e-mails me, let me state for the record that I really can't blog about bake sales.

Except this one. Which is interesting because of who's doing the baking: Domino Sugar employees.

If they don't have a way with sweets, I don't know who would.

Workers at Domino's Baltimore plant will put on a bake sale next week to benefit Share Our Strength, a campaign to end childhood hunger.

The sale takes place Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on McKeldin Square in the Inner Harbor, on the corner of Light and East Pratt streets.

Domino will match contributions raised at the Baltimore bake sale dollar for dollar.

Sun file photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

OK, apparently people don't watch TV when it's on anymore, so let me preface this with a spoiler alert:

I am about to announce something that happened on 'Top Chef' 14 hours ago.

If you don't want to know, cease reading.

The bad news for Chef Timothy Dean: 

He was eliminated from "Top Chef" on last night's episode.

The REALLY bad news for Chef Dean:

He lost a quickfire making crabs, something any Maryland chef should be able to handle.

He had trouble with rockfish in the first episode.

Details on Sarah Kelber's Reality Check blog.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

There were some gripes last time I posted a long restaurant press release in its entirety. I got one recently that makes that Aldo's post-Preakness dinner account look sparer than a Twitter post. It's about a restaurant named bríque that opened over the Fourth of July weekend in Centreville. I offer the whole thing up to you, dear Sandbox, because I think it makes fun reading. Here goes. LV

bríque restaurant officially opened its doors over the holiday weekend, in Centreville, Maryland. The restaurant occupies the space previously known as Julia’s, a popular dining venue on the eastern shore for many years.

The menu will evolve every four to six weeks to ensure all ingredients used are at their seasonal peak, while providing ideal flavor components for each dish. The inspiration behind the menu items reflect [Executive Chef William] Dolan’s cooking experience alongside famous chef personalities, coupled with his own unique twist and cooking style.

“My food is all about the flavor. I eat with my stomach, not my eyes”, says Dolan.

The bríque Caesar salad for instance, includes golden puffed cheese rinds as opposed to traditional croutons, in order to provide a crunchy texture and unique flavor. The Pork Rillette Lemans, (available as a table starter) is one of Dolan’s personal favorite dishes to serve. He regularly prepares it for friends and family at dinner parties and for special occasions. The
Rillette is a French-inspired dish consisting of seasoned pork belly and shoulder confit. It is similar to a paté and will be served daily, but with subtle variations. The term Le Mans (also known as Sarthe) refers to the region of France where the dish was made famous.

“I was born to cook this dish”, says Dolan with a smile. He first learned to cook the Rillette from celebrity chef Jacques Pépin, and prefers to pair it with a crisp Sauvignon blanc.

In addition to Braised Short Ribs, Foie Gras and Sweetbreads, Dolan includes several noteworthy seafood dishes. The Crab Maison, is reminiscent of a deviled crab napoleon inspired by the flavors of New Orleans. The Seared Diver Scallops are served on a cauliflower puree and dusted with a combination of “secret ingredients,” according to Dolan. The Hamachi and Black Cod are both sustainable menu items, which is especially important to Dolan. Broiled Bay Bluefish is one of several locally sourced menu items, in addition to sweet corn picked up at the Centreville farmer’s market.

All desserts are prepared personally by Dolan and will change seasonally. “Many restaurants outsource desserts or have other in-house chefs prepare them, but Chef Dolan is equally as talented with desserts as he is with every other aspect of the menu," says Bill Fairbanks. The layered strawberry tort is reminiscent of a strawberry and cream mille fueille, which literally translates to “a thousand layers” in French. Additional dessert offerings include a sea salt dusted crème caramel, chocolate hazelnut crème brulée and a Riesling and vanilla poached pear.

A full and wine list is available on the restaurant’s website at http://www.capitalculinaire.com. Guests can make reservations online in addition to signing up to receive updates and invitations to special events such as wine tastings, guest chef appearances and seasonal tastings. bríque is currently open for dinner from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and plans to serve breakfast and lunch in the future.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The Baltimore Business Journal reports that the Brass Elephant will go on the block Aug. 3 at a  foreclosure auction.

I just got Randy Stahl, former chef and part owner of the restaurant, on the phone.

He said that the reported auction was news to him, but that he was out of town and had not recently talked to his partners.

"I don't know where they got that information," he said. "I'm unaware of it."

But Alex Cooper Auctioneers lists the Brass Elephant auction on its website.

You have to scroll down to Aug. 3 to find it.

Sun photo by Lloyd Fox

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A church group from Damascus in Montgomery County is looking for a good restaurant recommendation in Baltimore.

Here's the message that came my way:

"I am trying to find a nice restaurant for a group of seniors from Damascus United Methodist Church, located in Damascus Maryland, to eat lunch at after touring the B & O Train Museum on West Pratt street."

The note continues:

"Ideally there would be free parking, the menu would have a fairly broad offering, and the prices would be moderate. I am hopeful that you could recommend a couple of restaurants that would 'fit the bill.'"

Suggestions?

Sun photo by Amy Davis

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

A "heartbroken" Dining@Large reader tipped me off to news on the Helen's Garden Facebook page.

It seems the owners are retiring -- though not before next month.

"I want to let all of our wonderful customers whom we love that Helen's will be open until at least mid-August," reads the message. "Please don't let rumors sway you from coming in and enjoying! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me."

The message continues:

"Tonight, we have a FABULOUS Herb Baked Trout with Roasted Fennel and Tomatoes, Grilled Pork Chop ...with Shiraz Grapes and Gorgonzola Mashers and a couple of healthy, light pasta dishes."

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

Back when Sheila Dixon was still mayor and the Twitter feed FakeSheilaDixon was on a roll, there was a particularly amusing post that touched on a topic hotter than a pair of ill-gotten Jimmy Choos: office food politics.

"Someone should tell [Deputy Mayor] Andy Frank to cool it with the Indian leftovers in the microwave," FakeSheilaDixon wrote last fall.

I checked with the deputy mayor at the time to find out if he really was stinking up the second floor of City Hall with reheated tikka masala. Frank copped to eating Indian but said he'd never reheated it at the office, much less in the mayoral microwave.

The FakeTikkaMasala matter came to mind today when an editor floated the idea of a story about eating in the office.

There are issues beyond unwelcome aromas wafting from the next cubicle.

People feeling the need to slip out to their cars, for example, so they can eat junk food out of sight from disapproving colleagues. Or co-workers hogging the office fridge with their haul from the lunch-hour farmers' market.

Years ago, when I was at The Hartford Courant, there was a heated battle in one of the suburban bureaus over the contents of the vending machines. Some reporters wanted it stocked only with healthful offerings, while others insisted the chips and candy bars should remain. (I was in another bureau and can't remember which side won out, the nutrition Nazis who didn't trust their own willpower or the junk food junkies.)

If you have any sticky office-food issues -- sticky keyboards included -- I'm all ears. 

Sun file photo of the Indian food Andy Frank did not heat up in Mayor Sheila Dixon's microwave

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
        

Scittino's, a Catonsville pizzeria and Italian market, has started offering vegan cheese on its pizzas.

I'd like to think this is further proof that the area dining scene is getting more sophisticated, except that I'm not sure vegan cheese is all that tasty.

Even Josie Schroeter, one of the Scittino's owners proudly serving the vegan cheese pies, still prefers the real milk mozzarella, which remains on the menu.

"To me, personal taste, it's not the same," she said of the vegan stuff.

But Schroeter said her vegan customers have been more than happy with the Daiya non-dairy cheese option, which the pizzeria rolled out two or three weeks ago.

"It's going over very well," she said. "We're getting calls for it every week."

No dairy cows were inconvenienced by the making of this vegan pizza. AP photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Old Bay ice cream seems to have gone the way we all fear Maryland crabs could go. By which I mean extinct.

Last summer, an intern here at The Sun got one of those dream assignments meant to trick gullible youngsters into devoting their lives to journalism. She was asked to sample, and write about, offbeat local ice cream flavors. Among those she turned up was Moxley's Old Bay ice cream.

But since then, Moxley's has become Gifford's, where the wackiest flavor on the menu is Blueberry Pomegranate.

Not to worry. There are still plenty of oddball ice cream flavors out there to ward off that chocolate-vanilla-strawberry ennui.

In just the past three weeks, to accommodate a Food Network request, Dominion in Charles Village expanded its vegetable ice cream selection from four flavors to 11.

Which brings us to this week's list:

Top Ten unusual ice cream flavors

1: Cucumber (Dominion)

This is one of the flavors Dominion added after The Food Network asked to shoot an episode "Chefs vs. City" in the shop, at 3215 North Charles. The show had four chefs guessing which ice creams contained which veggies, something that isn't always obvious because the vegetable taste sometimes is masked by fruit, said Dominion owner Donna Calloway. The show wanted lots of vegetable flavors, so Dominion added to its original lineup of spinach, carrot, sweet potato and tomato. They've kept the new flavors on the menu and one of them, cucumber, has quickly become a best seller.

2. Beet (Dominion)

3. Sweet Corn (Dominion)

4. Red Cabbage (Dominion)

"Tastes like strawberry," Calloway says.

5. Garlic (Dominion)

I'm reserving judgment on this one, but Calloway assures me it's good. The two other new flavors at the shop are Butternut Squash and Jalapeno Pepper.

6. Tomato-Fennel "dipping dots" (Volt restaurant, Frederick)

I'm not sure I'm ready for savory ice cream, but if you are, Volt has it in itty-bitty bites as part of a playful take on chicken parm.

7. Granny Smith Apple Sorbet (Volt)

I loved this sorbet, which burst with pure apple flavor.

8.  Bac-Os (Mr. Yogato, Fells Point)

This is not an ice cream flavor, but a topping option at Mr. Yogato in Fells Point. Or it will be a topping option if manager Lindsey Shanklin gets them this weekend as planned. "They're vegan," she said. "Everybody can eat those." She thinks they'll be good on chocolate frozen yogurt. I'm skeptical, but you never know. Full disclosure: this place also offers balsamic vinegar (in the photo above) and olive oil as yogurt toppings, so eat at your own risk.

9: Peach-Tarragon Sorbet

I made this at home last night to use up some wonderful farm stand peaches that got mushed in the bottom of the bag. I got the idea from a Martha Stewart recipe for White Peach and Bay Leaf Sorbet, which suggested tarragon as an alternative to the bay leaf. It involved pureeing the peaches (mine were yellow) in the food processor and combining that with a simple syrup infused with the herb. I'll post the recipe if anyone wants it. The result was a very refreshing, licorice-y treat.

10. Honey-Lavender Ricotta Ice Cream

Another homemade favorite from an old Cooking Light recipe. You need to make your own ricotta or buy the fancy fresh kind at a place like Whole Foods. (The regular supermarket variety makes for a  grainy ice cream.) You'd never know it's a light ice cream -- unless you let it stay in the freezer more than a few hours; then it gets rock hard. But the stuff usually disappears right away.

Sun file photo of balsamic vinegar being added to a Mr. Yogato frozen yogurt

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

Someone just passed along news of an unusual restaurant fundraiser at SoBo Cafe. The unusual part is the fundraiser isn't for some sort of charity, but for the restaurant itself, which apparently needs more customers. I'm posting the entire appeal, made by an enthusiastic SoBo patron, because it says something about how passionate people can get about their neighborhood haunts. Here goes. LV

Save the SOBO Cafe!

Start Time:    Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:    Friday, July 16, 2010 at 2:00am
Location:    6-8 W. Cross Street, Federal Hill

Description:

SOBO Cafe needs your help!!!! I'm not sure if you've heard the rumors, but the poor economy is about strike down one of Federal Hills original and favorite restaurants. Many of you know the slightly eccentric & cooky owner Brent Ludke. As a born & bred South Baltimorean he was here as one of the first restaurants in the neighborhood, prospered as our little village revitalized, but now has fallen on hard times as the economy has declined.

Known for their large plates, world famous meat muffins, chicken pot pie, mac & cheese & spinach pie we also love it for what makes it uniquely Federal Hill. The chalk board menu with the great cartoon depictions of life in our town, the photo copied, hand written (often hard to read) table menus in the plastic slip. The irregularly changing local art on the walls. Even the occassional night when you had your heart set on a big mobtown steak only to find Brent hadn't shown up. You walked away frustrated, but only for a second as you laughed it off thinking, "Well, that's our Brent!"

This place is one of the places that make our neighborhood so great. It's not a chain where every thing is manufactured & they give you the best of service until you're finished when they ignore you so you'll leave and they can get another sitting at the table. SOBO is as casual as you can get, it doesn't matter what you wear or who you are, they're happy to see you & everyone gets treated just the same. As a foreigner to this town, this is the one attribute of Baltimore that really gives it it's charm!

While SOBO needs some immediate patronage to address some pressing bills, what we really need is for you to make a commitment to get down there on a regular basis. Just a couple of times a month will make all the difference. You'll get a great big meal at a great price & you'll keep one of the true characters of our town in business. You'll also do that little bit to stave off the declining value of your own home as for each little local business that closes it's doors, it depresses the value of our town that little bit more.

Don't let SOBO Cafe close. It'll be a sad day for Federal Hill if it does.

SoBo Cafe's Summer Ale and Mustard-Brined Pork Loin with Birch Beer Barbecue Sauce, Spuds and Veggies. Sun photo by Algerina Perna

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)
        

A new winery opens on the Eastern Shore this week.

Costa Ventosa Winery, which describes itself as a "fun-spirited winery," opens Friday in Whaleyville in Worcester County.

The winery will offer seven wines this year: a Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Merlot, Rose of Merlot, Vidal blanc and two red blends.

Starting this week, the winery will be open Fridays through Sundays, noon to 6 p.m.

This Friday, there will be a ribbon cutting and toast at 2 p.m. The grand opening that day also features catering by Wolfgang Puck (presumably provided by Puck's Washington restaurant, not served up by the celebrity chef himself, though the winery rep I reached just now wasn't sure).

Update: Just heard back from the winery on the subject of Wolfgang Puck.

"The Wolfgang Puck in the website invitation was a mistake. That restaurant will not  be catering the event."

Visitors are encouraged to check the winery's website for updates to the hours or to call before visiting.

The winery is at 9031 Whaleyville Road.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When life hands you lemons, you're supposed to make lemonade. I made pizza instead.

A few months ago, my pizza stone broke in two. I could still scooch the pieces together to make pizza in the oven, but it occurred to me yesterday, a day way too hot for cranking the oven to 500, that half of the split stone might fit on the backyard grill.

I'd never had much luck with grilled pizza before. The underside tended to burn before the top cooked. I'd heard of putting the pizza stone on the grill, but my stone was too big -- until it broke.

Could half a stone be better than one?

The half fit nicely on our Weber kettle grill. I made a small pizza, slid it onto the stone, put the grill lid on and kept and eye on it -- peeking through the holes in the lid. In 12 minutes, about the same time it takes to bake in the oven, it was done. The crust was nicely browned, the fresh mozzarella melted and caramelized in spots like a roasted marshmallow.

Then I proceeded to make three more small pizzas -- each of them burned on the bottom and at least slightly undercooked on top.

Clearly the stone got hotter after that first batch of pizza.

I'm done with grilled pizza for a while, perhaps forever. So's my family, who had to make do with salad and scraped-off pizza toppings. (The melted mozzarella, fresh sauce, sliced local, yellow tomatoes and backyard basil were quite good, even without crust, but still!)

But I'm still curious. If anyone out there knows how to do grilled pizza right, I'd like to hear about it. 

AP photo of grilled pizzas gone right

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

I don't usually like to mix my food with fundraisers, much less with fundraisers for awful diseases, but I can't turn down my faithful Waverly Farmers' Market correspondent, Alan Morstein of Regi's American Bistro.

Morstein, who recently put me onto the rooftop restaurant gardening trend, writes that the Federal Hill restaurant will donate 10 percent of all food and beverage sales on August 11 to the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge.

The restaurant will also collect contributions from guests during lunch and dinner that day.

Restaurateur, rooftop gardener and now, cancer fundraiser Alan Morstein. Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Alan Morstein of Regi's found something really unusual at Waverly Farmers' Market today: rain. Here's Alan. LV

"Let 'er rain" was the chant of the local farmers at Waverly Market this morning. Today was the first day of inclement weather during the spring and summer season at the market.

Loyal shoppers still made the trek for Maryland's best produce.

Today's market marked the first offering of green local tomatoes, great for frying. Local summer vegetables were available from most of the growers.

My next report from Waverly with be in late summer when the fall seasonal crops arrive.

Chicago Tribune photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Dogwood, which reopened for dinner in December, seems to be making a full comeback from last year's shutdown. 

"We're reopening for lunch in the dining room!" reads an e-mail from the Hampden restaurant.

"Galen has brought back all your favorites: The Rachel, the Chicken-Apple & Brie, and the Beef & Blue.

"Come join us for your favorite Dogwood sandwich, a refreshing all-natural smoothie, or a crisp summer salad with local lettuces."

The e-mail continues:

"Dogwood also has teamed up with two dynamite catering professionals: Jean Wade-Mayer and Emily Villarreal, who are helping us expand the capacity of our catering business.

"Lunch and catering are both integral to the success of our apprenticeship program, as they offer entry-level jobs to our employees in transition. Think about supporting The Dogwood and our trainees during the dog days of summer."

Sun photo by Lloyd Fox

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The sandbox has offered up lots of restaurant recommendations lately. I'm sure you'll really want to come through for this reader. He writes:

"Wondering if you can help me out; I will be coming to Baltimore on the night of July 22, in order to take my little guy, Ryan (he’s 5) to Hopkins for surgery the following morning.

"Since we’re not exactly in town for 'fun,' per se, I wanted to take him to dinner on the 22nd, so we can have a little daddy-and-son time."

He continues:

"We’re staying at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront over on Aliceanna. I don’t really want to bring him to Grille 700 there, and wanted to perhaps walk somewhere where Ryan and I can have a good dinner.

"He’s a great eater and a very well-mannered and well-behaved little boy. Would you have any suggestions as to a walkable venue for us to go?"

The reader is looking for something near the Marriott, but more kid-friendly than the hotel's Grille 700. Sun file photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
        

Sotto Sopra is walking a cooking class over to the farmers' market Sunday morning, then walking the group back to the restaurant, where chef Christian DeLutis will show everyone what to do with the day's finds.

"Meet us at Sotto Sopra starting at 8:30 a.m. for coffee, tea and biscotti and we will leave promptly at 9:00 a.m. to walk to the Farmers' Market under the expressway," says the promotion. "When we have finished class, all will sit down to enjoy the dishes created by Chef Delutis."

DeLutis, formerly of the Harbor Court Hotel, The Wine Market, Dogwood and Alizée, has joined Sotto Sopra as its culinary instructor.

The class, which has a rain date of July 25, is $65 per person. Class size is limited and you'll need a reservation. Call (410) 625-0534.

I wish I could tell you if the class is already booked; I just tried the number but it's too early to reach anyone. I apologize in advance if that's the case. I meant to get this information out earlier, but it slipped my mind over my vacation.

In any case, I think it sounds like a fun event. I especially like the idea that it starts with coffee and biscotti.

UPDATE: The class is sold out, but another is planned for July 25. 

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

I heard back late last night from the woman who'd been looking for an Ellicott City lunch spot for herself and several female relatives, one of them a vegetarian.

Here's how things worked out for the lunching ladies. 

"We had lunch at the Rumor Mill in Ellicott City today, and it was great! Thanks to your readers for all of their suggestions.

"The food & service were just what we wanted for today's relaxing lunch and visit with the family.

"My aunt found a good selection of vegetarian dishes, she ended up choosing one of the asian bowls with tofu and veggies. We ordered several small plates, and really enjoyed them, especially the crab dumplings, seared tuna, and warm asparagus & green bean salad.

"Thanks again!"

Rumor Mill's soft shell crab roll (foreground) and tuna tartare. Sun photo by Christopher T. Assaf

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A reader here at Dining@Large put me onto Clementine's pate, which chef and co-owner Winston Blick sometimes makes with dried blueberries.

The berries, macerated in a Boordy Vineyards berry wine, add a sweet note to Blick's silky pate.

But Blick said the chicken livers he uses don't need that much help to taste good.

He buys them from Rumbleway Farms in Cecil County. The chickens are grass-fed, and Blick says that makes the livers taste better because the iron in their diet comes from organic plant material.

If you're interested in Rumbleway, which has a farm store in Conawingo, there's a YouTube video on its farming practices as well as a website.

Robin Way tends to her chickens at Rumbleway Farm. Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Remember Peeps sushi?

That was nothing. 

Check out this crazy sushi.

 Photo courtesy of Serious Eats

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here's jl with this week's Shallow Thought Wednesday. Sorry it's late; that's my bad. -- SKK

Nothing stimulates the old amygdala like your spouse putting a hand on your shoulder, fixing you with significant eye contact and saying, “We need to talk.”

The addition of a hint of compassion in her gaze is the surest signal of doom. Possibly, an intervention’s afoot, or a tearful confession is about to be pried from you.

I’ve been pretty good for several years now: relatively obedient, follows through on tasks, cleans up after self, etc., etc. So, theoretically, I have nothing to fear. But one never knows that one is completely in the clear. Some bad habits are so ingrained as to seem not only good, but essential to life itself.

So when I got the hand, and the eye and the Dread Quartet, I blanched (praying the summer tan diminished the drama of a guilty tell) and shivered from a surge of adrenaline. I probably burnt a hundred calories in the fraction of a second it took to go from contented moral somnabulance to cornered beast.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

A Dining@Large reader writes to report the apparent demise of a Baltimore sandwich shop.

"I have been frequenting the Café Gourmet sandwich shop at One North Charles Street for about a year and was sad to find it closed 2 weeks ago," the reader writes. "The food wasn’t as good as Java Joe’s around the corner, but Café Gourmet was convenient and I definitely miss it!"

The reader hopes there are plans to put something else in that space. I'll try to find out when I get back from vacation, but if anyone out there has the scoop, please fill us in.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Charm City Food Tours has started offering tours in Fells Point, taking groups around for 3 1/2 hours of walking and eating.

Owned by a group that gives food tours in Washington, the Baltimore operation began about a month ago.

It is slated to expand soon to Federal Hill, Mount Vernon, Little Italy, Lexington Market and possibly Cross Street Market.

Here's how the Fells Point tour gets billed:

"Join us as we bring you through a town of narrow rowhouses, cobbled streets, and fantastic local cuisine, encapsulating three centuries' worth of charm. See what makes this former port town so unique and delicious."

Tour-takers in Fells Point get to have a drink at "the nation's only Grand Marnier club," taste a local sausage, sample a smoked crabcake, have something undetermined at The Black Olive, dine on local sausages, have "Baltimore's best burger," try an "indigenous cookie," and have more dessert at Meli.

"It's a fun way to see an area," said Jeff Swedarsky, owner of both D.C. Metro Food Tours and Charm City Food Tours. Participants in Baltimore and Washington tend to be about half locals, half tourists.

The tours run Wednesdays through Sundays, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 pm

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

If I were at another stage of life, and in another income tax bracket, I might be dining out every night of the week during my vacation.

Instead, my husband, kids and I are mostly eating in, at my parents' house on the Connecticut shore.

Not that I'm complaining.

My mom, a retired home economics teacher, is a great cook. And after a day at the beach, who wants to hustle tired kids off to a restaurant where they have to behave? Besides, the price is right.

Our vacation dining account will not be confused with anything you'd find in Conde Nast Traveler, but here goes.

Top Ten things I'm eating on vacation:

No. 1: Bakers on Broad olive roll

We often go to Connecticut by way of my in-laws in Pennsylvania. Ever since some baker from France decided to open a shop in Souderton, of all places, the bakery has been a regular stop on our trip. The kids get chocolate croissants or other pastries. I usually settle for a nibble of one of their treats, but this time, I got a roll that was loaded with spicy olives. I finished it before we got to the highway. We also got a loaf of olive bread for my parents. (We're moochers, but we try to make up for it in small ways.) We had to stash the loaf in the trunk so we wouldn't be tempted to tear into it along the way.

No. 2: Pizza from Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

I love thin-crust pizza, so this famous wood-fired oven pizzeria is a favorite stop on the way up to my parents' house. (One time our pie was cooked beyond pleasantly charred to downright burned, but usually it's great.) On this trip, southern Connecticut traffic was so freakishly good that we didn't stop. But I'm hoping to hit the place on the way home. 

No. 3: Mom's ricotta cheese pie

No. 4: Mom's sausage and peppers

She made it with lower-fat turkey sausage this time, which is probably a good thing since I ate it for lunch four days straight.

No. 5: Flanders Fish Market & Restaurant lobster roll

I haven't picked up my annual lobster roll yet, but I'm not going home without it! This version is made with butter, which is more to my liking than the mayo type.

No. 6: Lobster bisque

I'm getting a side of that with my lobster roll -- maybe for lunch today since it's actually too hot to go to the beach right now.

No. 7:  Math-hubby's blueberry pie

My husband likes to show off his pie-baking skills, and he always finds a welcome audience. I've never been a big blueberry pie fan -- I prefer apple above all else -- but just about anything tastes great in his all-butter crust.

No. 8: Roasted marshmallows

I know this is a sign of middle age, but I'm losing my taste for this super-sweet treat. One bite was enough for me. But I've enjoyed watching my kids inhale them.

No. 9: Lemon Chicken with Blueberry Onion Marmalade

I got this recipe from chef Jerry Edwards of Chef's Expressions Catering just before I went on vacation, for a story on blueberries that appears in today's Taste section. I made the dish for the extended family -- my parents, two of my sisters, their families and mine -- last night. They were skeptical when I told them they were having a blueberry sauce over chicken. Someone -- no names here -- even made a brief lobbying effort for jarred barbecue sauce. But I was undeterred. And in the end, they all liked it. We're already looking forward to using the leftovers for sandwiches on crusty baguettes.

No. 10: Frozen Margaritas

One of my sisters has kept us happy with her Margaritaville machine. 

Photo by Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Top Ten Tuesdays
        

A Dining@Large reader writes:

"I am looking for a restaurant in Ellicott City for lunch later this week. The ladies in my family are getting together -- grandmother, aunts, granddaughters -- and we would love a casual & maybe trendy location (one aunt is a vegetarian).

"I read about Tersiguel's, but can you suggest any other options, that might be slightly less formal?"

Let's help these ladies lunch. Suggestions?

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
        

Ever since I wrote that Gertrude's chef-owner John Shields was pining for a farmette where he could grow more produce for the restaurant, something funny has been happening.

People have been offering him free farmland.

First, a friend who hadn't realized the chef was an aspiring farmer called to say she had 10 acres up in Monkton she wasn't using.

Then a complete stranger just rode up to the restaurant on his Harley and asked to speak with Shields. The chef thought he was going to get hit up for a charity donation. Turns out, the man was doing the donating.

"I've got a half acre. It's 10 minutes from here," Shields recalled the man saying.  "He said, 'Maybe you could give me a couple vegetables. I’ll give you the water and everything.'"

Shields is already hoping to put in a fall vegetable garden on the half-acre plot. The 10 acres would require more planning and hands. "I'd have to get interns from all over the place," he said. 

But he already has a name for the place: Gertie's One Goat Farm and Produce Center.

And he'll eventually have the expertise. He was already planning to send two employees who've been tending a small garden at Gertrude's -- assistant manager Jon Carroll and pastry chef Doug Wetzel -- to California for a three-day workshop on biodynamic farming.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Apparently they're continuing to put out The Baltimore Sun without me. Hmph! My editor, Sarah Kelber, sends this request related to a story someone is writing for the Taste section. It has to do with that Maryland treat with the high frosting-to-cake ratio. Here's Sarah. LV

Last week, Health magazine named Smith Island Cake one of the “Nation’s 50 Fattiest Foods.”

With nine or 10 thin layers of cake alternated with chocolate icing, the official state dessert seems destined for fattiness (26 grams of fat in the recipe the magazine analyzed, to be precise).

But we never shy away from a challenge.

We’re looking for ways to give Smith Island Cake a slightly healthier twist. Sure, this will never be health food, but if you’ve tweaked the recipe with good results, we’d love to hear from you.

E-mail recipes to sarah.kelber@baltsun.com.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

You might think you know where this whole charcuterie trend came from.

The farm-to-table movement got more chefs buying directly from farmers, which often meant buying whole animals. That left chefs with lots of leftover animal parts. And voila, house-made sausage, pate, bacon, etc.

That's the way it happened for lots of chefs.

But Winston Blick of Clementine got a head start on waste-not-want-not culinary mantra.

It all began when he shot a groundhog.

Blick, who grew up hunting, was just a kid visiting his great aunt's farm when he took down the critter.

"I shot a groundhog and wasn't supposed to and guess what I had to eat for three days?" he said. "It was horrible. It was greasy. It was like a really big rat."

He said the "charcuterie movement," though far more palatable than his groundhog meals, is about the same thing: "Trying to educate people about what they eat and get them to eat all of it." 

Bill Murray considers a future in charcuterie in "Groundhog Day." Columbia Pictures

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

A tipster sends news of this Waverly Market faux pas.

"Bad form at waverly mkt!" she e-mailed me this morning. "Someone parked on top of free mulch being given away today."

Sun photo by Mulch Tipster

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Alan Morstein of Regi's sends this dispatch from the Waverly Market. Here's Alan. LV

If you have ketchup and mustard then you're ready for one-stop shopping at the Waverly Market.

For the big barbeque weekend, plenty of choices.

Just arrived today: big seedless watermelons from Easton, Maryland.

To complete the shopping list: green and red tomatoes, bi-color and Silver Queen corn, sweet onions, zucchini, squash, buffalo burgers and steaks, cantaloupes, gourmet breads, fresh baked cakes, pies, blueberries, peaches, cherries, plums and flowers.

Enjoy the weekend.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Pazo is doing its patriotic duty Saturday by slashing wine prices.

Just in time for the Fourth of July, the restaurant is offering wines from "the Americas" at half price.

The "All-American Cellar Raid" covers wines from the U.S. and its neighbors Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. 

Here are some examples of the deals:

Cabernet Sauvignon, Errazuriz "Don Maximiano" (Aconcagua, Chile) 2006 will set yo back $70 instead of $140.

Zinfandel, Benovia (Sonoma County, California) 2007 can be had for $45 instead of the usual $90.

Sorry I have no art. Vacation-related glitch. LV

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

My colleague Maryann James makes a fantastic chocolate cake with mocha mascarpone icing.

The other day, she found a way to work the Italian cream cheese into a salad, of all things.

She started with arugula, spinach and pears. Tossed that with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mixed toasted walnuts with some mascarpone, then threw a hefty blob of that onto the greens.

"[Bleep-ing] amazing," she pronounced it.

If Maryann's salad has you craving some of that cheese, let me let you in on this:

The best mascarpone deal around seems to be at Trinacria, the westside Italian deli. It's $5.99 for a 16-ounce tub. The 8-ounce container goes for about that price in a regular supermarket.

Photo by Mascarpone Queen

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Nearly 20 years ago, when I was a reporter at The Hartford Courant, a colleague of mine test drove a 1986 Camaro, then the most stolen car in America.

"It had the turning radius of an arthritic bison," David Jacobson wrote.

The hot sports car isn't the only thing that turns around like a big, old bison. So do bison breeding programs.

Bison meat has been selling so well in the Baltimore and Washington area that the people at Gunpowder Gunpowder Bison & Trading Co. in Monkton are wishing they could increase their herd size -- and quickly.

 But they can't rush Mother Nature.

"It's not like we can turn production around very fast to create more product," said Nathan Stambaugh, Gunpowder's director of sales and marketing. "We're trying to -- slowly -- but trying to do it the right way."

He said it will be six to eight months before the herd can grow even slightly.

"Right now, we're kind of holding steady, working on our breeding operation."

Touted as a more healthful than beef, as lean as turkey breast, bison meat has grown in popularity since Gunpowder began selling meat about six years ago. The company supplies 20 to 25 restaurants in Baltimore and Washington, and sells as several area farmers' markets.

In all, it is harvesting about 10 animals a week, yielding 450 to 500 pounds of meat.

All 200 pounds of burger meat Gunpowder took to the JFX farmers' market last Sunday sold out before 9 a.m. -- at $6.50 a pound.

"Business has picked up in the last six months," Stambaugh said. "We're actually are selling everything we can produce. We are selling out on a regular basis at the farmers' market."

I happened to pick up some Gunpowder bison for the first time last week at Mill Valley General Store in Remington. The burgers we made with it were flavorful and not dry -- a concern since the meat is said to be lower in fat than beef.

I can understand why there's a run on it.

Sun file photo of bison at Gunpowder

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Another new farmers' market has sprouted up, this one at the West Baltimore MARC train station.

I checked it out last Saturday, when it was open for its second week.

The market was very, very small. There were only two produce vendors, plus a guy selling some sort of prepared food and a booth with clothing and other non-food items.

But the two produce vendors that were there were well stocked. I picked up some onions, beets, blueberries and, my favorite this time of year, fresh apricots. Not stuff you might normally expect to find in a tough stretch of West Baltimore. (The market is in the 400 block of Smallwood Street between Franklin and Mulberry.)

Organizers are working to add more vendors.

But what the market really needs is more shoppers. I got there about 15 minutes before closing time and had the place to myself. Vendors said it had been like that all morning.

Let's hope that the place starts drawing crowds and that this effort to supply fresh produce to a part of the city with few good food options can succeed.

The market is open Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, through Nov. 20.

California Fresh Apricot Council photo

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Portalli's in Ellicott City is running what co-owner Lee Biars describes as "a fairly aggressive" 4th of July promotion.

Here's the deal:

The Italian restaurant, in the Main Street location where Jordan's Steakhouse used to be, is selling all gift cards at half price now through July 3.

So a $100 gift card will only set you back $50.

Cards can be redeemed at the restaurant, which got a favorable review from Richard Gorelick back in March, any time after July 5. (The place is closed on the 4th.)

Customers can purchase gift cards at Portalli's or by phone at (410) 720-2330.

Portalli's Seared Scallops over Risotto. Photo by Brendan Cavanaugh/P3 Imaging Inc.

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)