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Here's a fun piece by Nelle Somerville in the Stone Hill Farm blog about the intensive "coffee cupping" program at Woodberry Kitchen. Reading it made me 1) really appreciate the training that the Woodberry staff goes through, 2) be really thankful for the attention that Woodberry Kitchen puts into everything it does, and 3) poke my eyes out.
The folks at the Maryland-based Hot Sauce Daily have this very positive, and tempting, review of a chipotle-infused Vermont maple syrup.
Benito's, the Vermont-based company behind the product, also makes a version infused with habanero.
Oh, what wouldn't I do with some habanero-infused Vermont maple syrup!
Here's a recipe from Binny Cooks for Egg in a Hole, which some people call Toad in the Hole (or worse).
It's funny, I had just thinking of someone who made me a great version of this.
What food always makes you think of someone who'd made it for you?
Jesse Sandlin has packed up her knives and gone from Vino Rosina, in what the Top Chef alum described, on the record, anyway, as a mutual parting of the ways. The parting included a handshake.
Tuesday, January 24 was Sandlin's last night at the Harbor East restaurant, which opened last May.
Her concern now, other than landing a new stove, is how long Vino Rosina will continue to use her menu. "I'm hoping they change the menu as soon as possible," Sandlin told me.
Baltimore Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor
Here's the link to my review of Bistro Rx. I don't take notes at the table when I review; I depend instead on my own memory and sundry aids that have proven effective boosters to it over the years -- the printed menu, the at-table dialogue, and, on occasion, the post-hoc contributions of my tablemates.
The sooner I write the review, the better, of course. On the other hand, marinating is useful. It takes a few days for the creative solution to a review to present itself.
I got into trouble, though, with Bistro Rx. I knew how I felt about the meal, but particulars became elusive when I wanted them to write about. That's sloppy on my part, but it told me something about the food, too. I asked my friends who where there that night -- their memories, usually reliable, were fuzzy, too.
The hardest thing, over the years, for me to write about has been the indistinct.
I should have made notes after the meal. I owe it to you, and to the restaurant. Still, I stand by my review of Bistro Rx.
Baltimore Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor
John Lindner really liked the chicken pot pie at Sugarbee's Cafe and Grill, one of those downtown places where, to use a phrase that shows up not infrequently in the Comments, "real people eat."
Lindner flipped for the chicken pot pie, and whenever anyone says "chicken pot pie," I always think of the "Slow Donnie" episode from Just Shoot Me. It also makes me think of chicken pot pie. Did I tell you that I went to the same college as Laura San Giacamo?
I am a Facebook fan of a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City named XU*, which has posted a special menu for Tet, which begins, depending on the source either on February 3, or today, January 31.
I'm going to call around to see if anyone around here is doing a Tet menu, but here's what Xu is doing.
<xu, a discontinued Vietnamese monetary unit, is, of course, a legal Scrabble play>
Happiness and Prosperity
this The Year Of The Cat
Xu Restaurant Lounge will be open throughout the Tet Holiday. Open everyday of the week, Lunch Service 11.30-14.30 and Dinner Service 18.00-23.00.
During the week of Tet, 31 January - 6 February, Xu will offer a special Tet menu. Each dish has been chosen as a traditional food
eaten during the Tet Holiday.
TET TASTING PLATE 250,000
includes all of the below
BANH TET 75,000
round glutinous rice cake
THIT KHO TRUNG 175,000
braised coconut pork with egg
BITTER MELON SOUP 75,000
VIETNAMESE COLD CUT 100,000
nem chua, cha lua, gio thu
pickled sausage, pork sausage, pork trotter
Baltimore County's winter promotion ended on Friday, January 28, and the city's Restaurant Week officially concluded last night; however, many restaurants have announced extensions. Sunday, January 30; and Howard County's winter promotion finishes up tonight, January 31
Continue to post your restaurant week dining comments here, and I'll post a big wrap-up tomorrow.
Here's a list of area restaurants that run week-in, week-out weekly dining specials.
Here's Arthur Hirsch's story about the two-alarm fire that has taken out, at least for a while, the Charles Village Pub (the one in Towson).
And here's Baltimore Sun reporter Mary Carole McCauley's photo of makeshift flowers-and- shotglass memorial to the long-running favorite. And here's her update to the story.
Were you one of the regulars?
Tell us about it.
This February, Dine Downtown Baltimore is following up last October's oyster celebration with a Rockfish Celebration, February 17-28.
I have a love/don't love relationship with rockfish. I always think I'm going to like it better than I end up actually doing. This will be a good chance for me to find the rockfish I think I like.
(That's the rockfish at the Robert Morris Inn in this photograph, behind the you know what. )
Baltimore Sun photo/Kenneth K. Lam
Here's some more information about Annapolis Restaurant Week, which will go from Monday, February 21 to Saturday, February 27.
Thirty-six restaurants in Historic and greater Annapolis will be participating in the winter dining promotion, which offers $29.95 (dinner) and $15.95 (lunch) multi-course menus
Annapolis Dining Week is sponsored by the Annapolis Business Association.
The line-up includes the following restaurants. (Really, it's a good reason to see if all of these places have up-to-date listings in the Find Local database.)
Acme Bar & Grill, Annapolis Seafood Markets (carry-out only), Aqua Terra, Azure Restaurant at the Westin Annapolis, Breeze at Loews Annapolis, Buddy’s Crabs & Ribs, Café Normandie, Cantler’s Riverside Inn, Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen, Carrol’s Creek Café Chart House, Fado Irish Pub
Galway Bay, Harry Browne’s, Hell Point Seafood, John Barry Restaurant at the O’Callaghan Annapolis Hotel, Lemongrass, Level Small Plates Lounge, Luna Blu Ristorante Italiano, Lures Bar and Grille, The Melting Pot, Middleton Tavern, O’Brien’s Oyster Bar, O’Leary’s Seafood Restaurant, Paul’s Homewood Café
Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, Rams Head Tavern Annapolis, Reynolds Tavern, The Rockfish, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Sam’s on the Waterfront, Severn Inn, Treaty of Paris at the Maryland Inn, Tsunami, Wild Orchid Café, and Yellowfin Steak & Fish House.
Contact information for each of the participating restaurants can be found at annapolisrestaurantweek.com, where menus will be posted online as they become available.
Baltimore Sun photo/Kim Hairston
I just received this press release from the MD Direct Wine Shipping Advocates.
Take a look:
Carrying the most sponsors of any bills introduced this session, Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Jolene Ivey have submitted legislation to allow direct shipping of wine to Maryland residents.
The House legislation, introduced Friday, is sponsored by 83 delegates--including Speaker of the House Michael Busch, Economic Matters Committee chairman Dereck Davis, and vice-chair David Rudolph.
The Senate legislation carries 32 sponsors--a clear majority of the Senate.
The legislation is based on the most common practices of the states that allow direct shipping of wine nationwide.
The Office of the Comptroller's comprehensive "Direct Wine Shipping Study" surveyed 37 jurisdictions that currently allow direct shipping and polled Maryland alcohol licensees and consumers.
"With the Comptroller's direct shipping study conclusively debunking all of the myths around this issue, especially underage access, the bill is cleared for passage," said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association.
"Maryland consumers should be proud of the legislation introduced this week by Sen. Raskin and Del. Ivey," said John Hesse, Executive Director of Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws. "Responsible Maryland adults want to order domestic and imported wines from wineries and retailers just as they do other consumer products. This legislation as it stands will finally bring Maryland into the 21st Century."
"Adult consumers in 37 states and the District of Columbia already have the right to receive wines of their choice by direct shipment following the laws of their states," said Terri Cofer Beirne of the Wine Institute. "Wine Institute supports the thoughtful recommendation of Maryland's Comptroller to allow adults in Maryland the same privilege."
"The state's wineries fully support this bill and are anxious to start shipping their Maryland-made products to the thousands of winery visitors who ask for this service each year," Atticks said.
The bill is endorsed by the Maryland Wineries Association, Wine Merchants Association of Maryland, Wine Institute, Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws and the Maryland Farm Bureau.
Missed it again!!!!!
Duff Goldman was a guest this morining on rebroadcast of "The Price is Right," helping to introduce one of the two Showcases in the Showcase Showdown. The Showcase featuring Goldman included a Baltimore getaway (including a visit to Charm City Cakes), an Australian vacation and a Porsche Boxster.
For his appearance on the long-running game show, Goldman produced several cakes, including one in the shape of the beloved (by me) "Cliff Hangers" game.(Showcase guest presenters are an innovation I didn't know about.)
The contestant bidding on the Baltimore-plus showcase, sadly, overbid.
Here's a link to an Eater story, complete with video.
Earlier this week, the Dallas-based developers Rahim Kurji and Bidjaan Kassama announced plans to open 20 Wingstop stores in the Baltimore-Washington corridor over he next few years -- four stores are due this year, the developers say.Anyone been to a Wingstop?
There are Wingstops in Gaithersburg and Rockville, but I was wondering what all of you Texans living in Baltimore (and elsewhere) thought of the wings-and-fries only restaurants.
Founded in Richardson, TX, Wingstop specializes in cooked-to-order wings (nine flavors) and hand-cut fries. That's it. But take a look the website; it's a smart concept, and they must print money on Super Bowl Sunday. Troy Aikman is company's national spokesman.
My pals at Mortons -- the Steakhouse reminded me that today is national Chocolate Cake Day (origin unknown) and sent along this photograph of their Hot Chocolate Cake to illustrate this post with.
Who's got your favorite chocolate cake?
Mothers is open. We are having a snow party w/ DJ Kopec. We have a full menu & Fresh Fish for $10.
Joe Squared -- The restaurant and bar will still be open tonight for dinner and drinks!!! Don't let the snow stop you all.
Victoria Gastro Pub -- We are closing EARLY this evening at 9:00 pm due to the inclement weather. If this changes, we'll let you know...
The Falls -- We are still open and offering 1/2 Priced wine from our No Brainer List.
Rocket to Venus -- free rail drink or draft beer (for legal-age drinkers) as the restaurant's way of saying thanks.
Roy's -- Chef Opie says Roy's is open!
Talara -- We are open!
Crush and Demi -- Notice: As of now We Are Closed due to Snow. Stay tuned tomorrow morning to see when we re-open
Unanonymous Dallas Critic Wears a Name Tag to Food Event
link fixed now
Who has seen Dover Sole lately?
A reader writes:
Where can one get great Dover Sole. (Restaurant A) used to be a wonderful source but not recently. (Restaurant B) not very reliable.
We are looking for simple sauté with lemon butter caper sauce. Any suggestions ??
I know Tio Pepe has it, and the Black Olive and Oceanaire (one or more of which may or maybe not be Restaurant A or Restaurant B)
Let's help this reader out.
Eli reviews Pizza Hut's stuffed-crust pizza in Adventures of a Koodie
Mark Bittman's much admired column, The Minimilast, concludes its 13-year run today in the New York Times. Bitttman will be blogging, he says, and will also be contributing to the both Time's opinion pages, where he will address what he describes as "the continuing attack on good, sound eating and traditional farming in the United States" and to the Times Magazine, where he will contribute a regular recipe column.
And this entertaining post from Obamarama Foodorama concerning the president's reference to salmon regulations in last night's State of the Union address.
Read this Business story about some new Foreman Wolf plans. The restaurant group is in negotiations for a space in the same Roland Park shopping center where Petit Loius is.
The menu for the planned 100-seat restuarant, according to a press release, "will be family friendly, reasonably priced, with a wine list that will feature American and new world wines."
No name has been revealed, so help these people out -- what should Number 5 be called?
Come to think of it, wouldn't Brooksie be a great name for a restaurant?
My Table Talk column this week is an introduction to Brasserie Brightwell. This French "cafe and comptoir" opened just before Thanksgiving in Easton, and it's from the team behind the well-regarded 208 Talbot in St. Michaels -- executive chef Brendan Keegan and his brother-in-law Brian Fox, who is the general manager.
One thing or another -- a snowstorm, a Restaurant Week -- kept getting in the way of my writing about it, but the menu looks very good, and I've enjoyed my conversations with Keegan.
That raw bar looks amazing.
Have a look.
Baltimore Sun photo/Karl Merton Ferron
Laura Vozzella has this story in tomorrow's Taste section about things you can do with the "Smoking Gun," a new gizmo that the Voltaggio brothers have been promoting for Williams-Sonoma.
Want one?
Baltimore Sun photo/Kim Hairston
Here is the link to John Lindner's lunch review of Amicci's. Of course it started with the pane rotundo but where did it go from there?
Baltimore Sun photo/Kenneth K. Lam
I ended up deciding to save the Top 10 list I was working on for another time, when it can be incorporated into a larger Baltimore Sun project.
Brainstorming with my podmates, we hit on the idea of the Top 10 best people-watching restaurants in Baltimore.
I was thinking not so much of the places to watch the best-looking people (RA Sushi is apparently Hottie Central these days) but the places with the best table arrangements and sight-lines. The lower level of B&O Brasserie, for instance, is designed so that most people have a good view of the entrance and of each other.
Louie's Bookstore & Cafe, I think, was the best place Baltimore ever had for the pure sport of people-watching -- for one thing, if you were waiting for a table, you could always pretend you were looking at a book.
What restaurants do you go when you want to be be An Anthropologist in Baltimore?
Baltimore Sun photo/Lloyd Fox
From Obama Foodoroma:
1) A preview of next Monday's official announcement of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Expect a recommendation for more fewer lardons.
And from Eater.com
2) DiGiorno's unholy marriage of pizza, cookies and chicken
3) Flavor Flav opening a chicken restaurant in Iowa
Corkage is on the Baltimore City Council agenda tonight, in the form of a "Request for State Legislation" Basically, this means that the council can't go around changing the city's liquor laws, but a thumbs-up from them would be a positive sign for those who are working to have the corkage prohibition repealed on the state level
The agenda item looks like this:
Request for State Legislation - Repeal Corkage Ban in Maryland
FOR the purpose of respectfully requesting the Honorable Chairs and Members of
the Baltimore City Senate and House Delegations to the 2011 Session of the
Maryland General Assembly to introduce and obtain passage of legislation to
repeal the corkage ban on restaurants that have liquor licenses; and urging the
Governor to sign the legislation into law to allow licensees to compete on an equal
basis with BYOs and Washington, D.C. restaurants.
11-0246R
Sponsors:
Bill Henry
RESOLUTION
At the request of: Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws, c/o Adam Borden,
President
JUDICIARY AND LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE
Update: 6:40 p.m. -- the resolution is now in the hands of the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee (James B. Kraft, chair; Mary Pat Clarke, vice chair; Robert Curran, Bill Henry, Warren Branch).
Could this be the hummus we've been waiting for?
Owings Mills has a new Mediterranean joint. Open since January 12, Hummus Corner is owned and operated by Carla and Johnny Mattar (he's the chef), and Hummus Corner is their first go at a restaurant in this area.
I asked Johnny Mattar what I should tell you about his hummus. He told me that it starts with the chickpea. Mattar uses the largest size chickpea available, the hard to find 14-mm chickpea. Most of the chickpeas we see in stores are 8- or 9-mm chickpeas. He also uses a white sesame paste (I'm guessing it's not that stuff with the orange and brown label), and fresh lemon juice. That's for starters; the rest is in how he puts it together.
A native of Lebanon, Mattar has spent most of his professional life in Dubai, where he first managed and was later director of catering for the Lebanese restaurant in the five-star Grand Hyatt Dubai. Carla Mattar, a Maryland resident since 1991, is a Goucher alum (BA, Business and Economics) and the Mattars' relocated recently from Dubai to Baltimore to be closer to their families and to open their restaurant.
Also on the Mediterranean menu at Hummus Corner -- falafel, kebabs, fattoush and schwarma.
Hummus Corner opened. The counter-service restaurant is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. The phone number is (410) 363-6033, the address is 9201 Lakeside Blvd., the up-and-running website (yay!!) is www.hummuscorner.com.
I struggled with my review of AIDA Bistro & Wine Bar. I had been pulling for it.
I've enjoyed my conversations with Joe Barbera, the owner of Aida. In my book, he's one of the good guys. I get from him a sense of really wanting to please customers.
But I wanted more out of my review dinner there, and I had a rough time resolving in my head what it was I found lacking. But mostly I wanted AIDA to work with bolder strokes and bigger flavors.
I had trouble specifically, expressing what it was that disappointed me about the flash-fried calamari. It would have been helpful if I had said more about its presentation at Aida -- it comes in a paper cone which is inserted into one of those table-top aluminum paper-cone holders, with dipping sauce on the side -- but couldn't come up with a way of describing it any better or more quickly.
But, basically, I wanted the calamari to be something -- flash-fried and then glazed, coated with black peppers, tossed with pickled ginger or peppers, something to remember it by.
I used the word "decomposed" -- not incorrectly but perhaps not wisely -- to refer to a pear and Stilton salad that I wish had been fully integrated instead of arriving in parts. "Deconstructed" is the more familiar term here, and "decomposed" made a few readers react badly.
Baltimore Sun photo/Lloyd Fox
In Maryland, you may bring your own bottle of wine into an unlicensed (BYOB) establishment. You've likely done so.
State law prohibits you, however, from bringing your own bottle of wine into a restaurant with a liquor license. Proposed legislation in Maryland would permit this practice, known as "corkage," and individual restaurants would be allowed to set their own corkage policies.
You might not be aware of the corkage prohibition because: 1) it never occurred to you to bring your own wine into a restaurant that serves wine, or 2) you or someone you know has, in fact, done it; many restaurants either occasionally or routinely flout the prohibition for regular customers. It's a request typically made, not by the average consumer, but by a wine enthusiast who wishes to bring in a special bottle from a personal collection or by so-called "cellar groups" or wine aficionado clubs, in other words, the kind of desirable customer that some restaurant owners love to accommodate.
The corkage debate got heated for a few days last week. In one corner was the Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws (MBBWL), which favors corkage; in the other, the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM), which opposes legislation that would change the state's prohibition of corkage.
Things got started on Thursday when MBBWL issued a press release provocatively titled Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM) Industry Survey Supports Case for Corkage
MBBWL based this cheeky claim on the response to one RAM survey question: Despite that existing law on this issue has not really been well-publicized or strictly enforced, how do you normally respond when a customer asks the question? 30% of the respondents admitted to allowing the practice, if not routinely, at least for special occasions. For MBBWL, this indicated that corkage is practiced so widely that it amounted to tacit support for it in theory. 
(MBBWL did not win many friends with the press release's sudden reference to a December 2010 letter Volt's Bryan Voltaggio wrote to RAM asking for support of corkage. The letter arrived with an attachment listing 34 Supporting Restaurants, among them the Prime Rib, Chameleon Cafe, Brewer's Art, Clementine, Corks, Peter's Inn and Woodberry Kitchen. Voltaggio wasn't thrilled with how the letter had been used, and a few of the names on the Supporting Restaurants list were surprised to find themselves there at all -- they had at some point indicated support for Voltaggio's position letter but told me they had not been clearly advised how their support was going to be used. However, Voltaggio, along with the restaurant owners I spoke with, restated to me their strong support for corkage.)
But it mostly was MBBWL's interpretation of the RAM survey that smelled funny to RAM, which later the same day issued a press release saying that, based on its survey results, it "strongly opposes legislation that would allow restaurant customers to bring their own bottles of wine into licensed restaurants."
(Note: In the aftermath of the MBBWL press release, Melvin Thompson, RAM's senior vice president for government affairs, perhaps understandably, declined to release RAM's survey or its results to me, however, I have acquired what I believe to be a legitimate copy of them. I don't find the results of this survey, to which 107 restaurants replied, as conclusive as RAM did; others who have seen it may interpret the findings differently. No one, however, should accept my or anyone else's interpretation of a survey he can't see. But, for the record, 63% of the survey's respondents marked Oppose when asked, Do you support or oppose the general idea of allowing customers to bring their own bottles of wine into licensed restaurants.)
While there is currently little consumer demand for the practice, we believe that the publicity surrounding such a law change would encourage more customers to bring their own bottles. Our member restaurants fear that, as a result, the law change will decrease wine and beverage sales, create confusion about serving control and regulatory compliance, create potential customer relations issues for restaurants that choose to continue prohibiting the practice despite a law change, and lead to future law changes allowing customers to bring in other alcoholic beverages.
None of those fears makes sense to me, nor has anyone offered me a good argument against allowing corkage.
I'd like to hear them.
Taking the stated members' fears one at a time, then:
"...the law change will decrease wine and beverage sales..."
The restaurant owners that I spoke with dispute this and welcome a change. Because the legislation makes allowing corkage optional, it seems irrelevant to me what a restaurant opposed to the practice assumes about its effects.
It's possible that allowing customer to bring their own wine bottles into restaurants might have an effect on the profits of the state's wine distributors, but that's not properly the concern of anyone but a wine distributor.
"...create confusion about serving control and regulatory compliance..."
This concern asks us to imagine a Bizzaro-world State of Maryland in which liquor laws are otherwise straightforward, governed by common sense and free of the odor of mothballs and special interests. Assuming the new policy is confusing, surely one resource for helping the restaurants of Maryland understand and implement it would be the Restaurant Association of Maryland.
This much is true, though. In states where corkage is allowed but its implementation is set by individual restaurants, the particular matter of how much a corkage fee should be, if anything, along with other provisions of corkage, is something that diners disagree very strongly about with each other in the same enthusiastic, caustic and spirited way they disagree about any number of issues.
...will create potential customer relations issues for restaurants that choose to continue prohibiting the practice despite a law change...
If this were truly a legitimate concern that might affect the welfare of a restaurant, I'd like to hear
about it. My response, I think, would still be "tough." I don't see how a restaurant's not allowing corkage when its competitors do would create more of a disadvantage than myriad other policies that restaurant owners have to either defend or compromise on, ranging from allowing split checks, charging for splitting entrees or allowing guests to bring in their own birthday cakes.
Here's one D.C. wine store's guide to the different corkage policies in the District's restaurants. It was easy to find. As you'll see, some restaurants have higher corkage fees than others, some have limits on the number of bottles a customer can bring in and a very few disallow the practice entirely. It's not confusing.
....lead to future law changes allowing customers to bring in other alcoholic beverages...
....or bringing in livestock or multiple wives.
The issue may not be as cut and dried for you as it is for me. Feel free to explain here why you oppose the idea that a restaurant shouldn't be able to set its own policy regarding the practice.
I'm for corkage, and I'll state again that its particulars -- to charge or not to charge, how much and when, and how a restaurant will handle, say, an insistent customer who wants to bring in a wine that's on its own list -- should be governed by the same proprietary judgment and subject to the same kind of healthy consumer debate that characterizes a thousand other restaurant practices in which the State of Maryland takes no interest.
photos of iconic wines from a private collection to be auctioned at Sotheby's Auction House in London on January 26, 2011 by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Here is my Sunday review of freshly relocated AIDA Bistro & Wine Bar in Columbia. I'll be back on Monday morning with some reflections about this review and my dining experience at AIDA.
Baltimore Sun photo/Lloyd Fox
We all have our favorite foodie movie -- Babette's Feast, Big Night and Tampopo invariably show up on best-of lists. A subcategory, movies actually set in restaurants, would include, beside Big Night, titles like Waitress, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Ratatouille.
A new restaurflick is showing this weekend at Cinema Sundays at the Charles. Here's the synopsis from the website.
(Today's Special) tells the story of Samir (Aasif Mandvi, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)...a sous chef who dreams of becoming the head chef at an upscale Manhattan restaurant. When he is passed over for a promotion he impulsively quits and lets his co-worker Carrie know that he intends to go to Paris and apprentice under a master French chef. Dreams must be put aside though after his father Hakim has a heart attack and Samir is forced to take over Tandoori Palace, the nearly bankrupt family restaurant in Jackson Heights.
The movie also features the award-winning actress and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey.
The real reason to go, though -- the Q&A for the film will be led by the Baltimore Sun's own Sam Sessa.
The restaurant reviewer's dream is discovering a gem in an unexpected place. Romanos, family-run Italian/Greek restaurant in Glen Burnie potentially, is just obscure enough to have qualified as a "find" -- if, of course, it turned out to have actually been good.
Not that Glen Burnie is the edge of the world.
Here's Rob Kasper's review.
Baltimore Sun review/Kenneth K. Lam
Baltimore Restaurant Week starts tonight.
1) There's an online gallery just waiting for you to upload your winter Restaurant Week photos.
2) Here's the Sun's main event listing, which includes a link to the official Baltimore Restaurant Week website.
3) And here's the big, all-inclusive multi-media package of everything to the ongoing promotions in Baltimore City, Howard County, and Baltimore County.
LOOK AT THEM!!!
Baltimore Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor
John Kessler, the chief dining critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stirred up a hornet's nest with this Open Letter to Atlanta Chefs.
What would you put in an open letter to Baltimore chefs?
I wish I could have been there. The 501ers who went to last night's Starving Artist Happy Hour at Mr. Rain's Fun House said it was a good time. AK brought back the menu, which featured chef Bill Buszinksi's Filipino Fried Chicken Wings, along with poutine, black-eye pea cakes, rumaki and more.
Tell me all about it, especially the Filipino Fried Chicken Wings.
I have to say this. I wasn't intimately involved in arranging this event. I just made a few phone calls, and the Mr. Rain's staff took care of the rest. But it is an absolute pleasure to place a phone call to Mr. Rain's Fun House because whoever answers the phone is unerringly polite, cheerful and helpful.
Not everyone who answers the phone in a Baltimore restaurant conveys anything, except maybe annoyance.
At least one member of the Woodberry Kitchen waitstaff is either delusional or a blabbermouth, or both, but in any event the other night was freely telling customers about Woodberry's plans to open up a new casual restaurant down the road a piece. News to me.
It's vague, but if it's true, it's....
....very interesting.
I did make an inquiring call to Woodberry, but no one's returned it yet. Next time if I want to know something I guess I'll just make a reservation.
Did you resolve to learn how to cook, or to expand your cooking repertoire. Area restaurants are rolling out a roster of them.
RA Sushi in Harbor East is reviving its popular Sushi 101 class on Sunday, January 30 at 2 p.m. This class includes a brief history of sushi, a sushi-rolling lesson, as well as a (non-alcoholic) beverage, miso soup, edamame, two maki, two pieces of nigiri, and a sushi rolling mat to take home. You also get a complimentary lunch card for a next-visit use. Reservations are required. $32/$60 per couple.
Da Mimmo -- A three-class schedule begins on Sunday, February 20. The other classes are scheduled for Sunday, March 27, and Sunday, April 17. There is a discount for signing up for all three in advance, but the basic cost is $67 per person. The first class will teach students how to make Tuscan onion soup; Orange & fennel salad; Veal Spiedini alla Siciliana; and creme caramel. Call (410) 727-6876 for more information.
Donna's -- Donna Crivello's Wednesday-evening cooking classes, Cooking with Donna, are ongoing. On Wednesday, January 26, the topic is gluten-free Mediterranean; February 6 it's healthy pizza for parties.
If I forgot yours, please remind me, and of course, send some more my way, but I'm primarily interested in classes that take place in restaurant settings. richard.gorelick@baltsun.com
Some of you must know by now that Tom Looney and Annmarie Langton, the former co-owner and executive chef, respectively, of Helen's Garden in Canton, have rolled out their new food truck, the Gypsy Queen Cafe. I spoke with Looney in late December, when he was snarled in the city's red tape and haven't caught back up with him.
There's no Gypsy Queen website yet, another reason why I've been holding off. It does help to be able to link to something for you to look at. One is coming.
But there is a Twitter feed. Twitter, if you were ever wondering what its purpose was, is a super way to keep track of food trucks. Today, for instance, Gypsy Queen was parked at the corner of Fleet St. and Central Ave. That's right near Whole Foods and right where the #11 bus never shows up on time except probably it would if I was in line at the Gypsy Queen.
Meanwhile, I caught up with Mark Bogosh, one of the owners of Plug Ugly's Publick House, the restaurant moving into the old Helen's Garden space. Bogosh tells me that he's hoping to have the place open by St. Patrick's Day but was not about to make any promises.
Bogosh said that interior modeling to the space -- two adjoining row houses that the new owners are seeking to more fully integrate with each other -- is taking a long time but not necessarily longer than anticipated.
He and I have set up a mid-February phone chat to see how far things have progressed by then.
Don't forget, and please remember -- Mr. Rain's Fun House is inviting us all to a Winter Menu Preview tonight, Wednesday, January 19, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Please say you'll be there! And don't forget to respond to 443-524-7379.
Regarding this earlier post on Mimi Sheraton -- "bestavore" is already gaining traction. Check this out.
As of 6 p.m., there were only 59 hits on Google. The person who comes closest to guessing (over or under) how many Google hits "bestavore" will have at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning (January 19) wins, intransitively.
Guessing deadline -- 11:59 p.m. tonight, January 18.
At 9:00 a.m., there were 1.902 returns -- Mike A wins.
It's Alton Brown!
The date for this year's version is Saturday, March 19. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 21.
More information about Alton Brown in my Table Talk story.
The biggest change this year. Every ticket buyer has access to the post-show tastings event, which includes an open bar.
(The Hippodrome will be able to use lobby areas this time it wasn't logistically able to last year. The inaugural event, which was held at the Hippodrome in May 2010, featured Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain.)
The VIP ticket holders will enjoy their own personal Alton Brown cooking demonstration before the 8 show.
The one-ticket-price fits all (except the VIPS) this year is $96.
I'm a big fan of the gelato at Pitango Gelato in Fells Point. Now, the shop is introducing a new line of handmade Italian baked goods.
The bakery menu includes cantuccini, traditional Florentine biscotti; brutti ma buoni ("Ugly but Good"), a meringue cookie with premium imported hazelnuts; chocolate-cherry biscotti, made with fine imported cocoa; biscotti di meliga, traditional Italian cornmeal cookies; and double chocolate cookies made with top quality, organic couverture chocolate.
Pitango's pastry program is led by pastry chef Samantha Weigand, a veteran of some of DC's finest restaurants including Bistro Bis and Hook. Samantha is also a faculty member in the Pastry Arts Program at Maryland's L'Academie de Cuisine.
The pastries will only be available at the Fells Point store for now. The DC locations will get theirs later this year. Suckers.
photo Christopher Novashinksi, courtesy Pitango
I enjoyed this wonderful interview on Eater with Mimi Sheraton. I think you will, too.
(I was tipped off to this interview by the keeper of the pseudonymous Conrad Banks site, which is new to me but which I'm enjoying.)
Here's Sheraton on the locavore movement:
I'm not a total locavore. I'll say that. I consider myself a bestovore. Nevermind local if it is not the best. But if I were faced with a Pennsylvania peach or Georgia peach, I would take the Georgia peach every time and let them sort it out in Pennsylvania. I think the locavores should stay home, that they shouldn't fly back and forth, especially from California making big carbon footprints in the sky to speak to us about the importance of being local.
I have a plan that they should never travel farther than they can go without the use of outside power. They can skate, bike, sail, walk, horse ride. Otherwise they should stay home. Certain of them whom I won't mention probably cross the continent six to eight times a year. Locavores should stay in walking distance.
I spent some time looking over the posted menus on the website of Baltimore Restaurant Week, which begins this Friday.
Boring!!
Well, boring is not such a bad thing. Most restaurants are running selected specials, the tried and the true, from their regular menus, which is just what many diners are looking for.
And a deal is a deal. When it's a deal. Stay tuned to these pages for recaps and postings of the best and the worst Restaurant Week experiences.
Meanwhile, I managed to find 10 Restaurant Week menu items that made my heart leap, at least a little. Some of them look new to me, a few I've seen before.
In no particular order
Watertable -- I still haven't been to the restaurant in the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. Shame on me. I was impressed with the Restaurant Week menu, though. What got my attention was this entree: Pincanha -- Brazilian grilled steak with black beans and rice. It's be swell if it's the right cut.
Slainte -- Pub menus are particularly disappointing. But take a look at the appetizer list at this Fells Point pub -- poutine fries, green leek soup, and, especially tempting, mushroom gnudi (gnocchi), fried golden with brown butter and sage.
Mr. Rain's Fun House -- And not because the restaurant atop the American Visionary Art Museum is hosting the Dining@Large happy hour. Take a look at the menu for yourself. What caught my eye -- the braised rabbit in pearl onion, garlic and marjoram sauce, a dish created to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.
Pazo -- For their second course, participating diners here choose 4 from among 18 listed tapas. What made me hungriest -- the scallops a la planxa with celery root puree.
The Wine Market -- Nothing against bread pudding and chocolate cake and creme brulee but it sure was nice to see the occasional inventive dessert. I am saving room for the chocolate pretzel pave here, made with Dijon caramel, salted milk chocolate powder, oatmeal stout ice cream.
Chameleon Cafe -- It's back; don't miss it. The Beverly Hills' restaurant's Choucroute garnie --homemade sauerkraut, Krakos sausage, pork loin, smoked belly, cheeks, and Briedenbaugh potatoes.
B -- I could go for some bouillabaisse.
Gertrude's at the BMA -- The best Restaurant Week vegetarian entree (actually, it's vegan) I found I found is on John Shields' menu: Housemade garlic greens and sweet Italian "Sausage" ravioli With roasted herbed tomato sauce and frizzled leeks. Nicely done.
Blue Hill Tavern -- I'm game for the Natty Boh beer cheese soup made with Tillamook cheddar at this Canton restaurant.
Bluegrass Tavern -- I'm game for the rutabaga bisque, with black river blue cheese, and pomegranate syrup at this South Baltimore restaurant.
John Lindner reviews lunch at the Afghan restaurant Maiwand Kabob in Columbia.
I sure could go for a bolani right now.
Thank you for bearing with me and the spam, which is really so annoying.
I actually bought a little notebook thing so I could perform some of that spam maintenance, and even whip off the occasional post, when I'm away from the office. But i haven't managed to get it up and running.
I admit to have been in a bit of a posting slump since coming back from my vacation, but I'm back now, and ready to have some fun.
I'm working this morning on a Top 10 Tuesday post on the best menu items on Baltimore Restaurant Week menus.
While I'm doing that, please let us know if you made it out this weekend. Did anyone check out Baltimore County's Restaurant Week, which started last Friday? (Remember, Howard County's winter promotion starts tonight.) We've rounded up a lot of winter-promotion information here.
Share, too, any ideas you have for reinvigorating this blog, whether it has to do with my management of it or the difficulties you have in posting and reading comments. And I'll have Ricky Gervais prepare my response.
Baltimore County's winter restaurant promotion starts today. I've been looking over the fixed-price deals the participating restaurants are offering. The innovation here is all-inclusiveness. Restaurants were allowed to establish their fixed price, for lunch or for dinner, at one any one of six levels -- $10.11, $15.11, $20.11, $25.11, $30.11 or $35.11.
You can find them all collected on the Baltimore County Restaurant Week website, but you have to click on the links to discover the deal.
As Madonna said in Depaerately Seeking Susan, "...Fortunately for everyone, I'm here..."
So here's how it all breaks down, with the rule-breakers first.
Carson's Creekside Restaurant and Lounge in Middle River gets super extra credit for offering customers six different menu options. Their customers can choose among menus fixed at $10.11, $15.11, $20.11, $25.11, $30.11 or $35.11. Those options are available all day at Carson's Creekside, beginning at 11 a.m.
Suburban House is running a two-for-$35.11 deal
And depending on what you order as a main entree, the fixed price for your dinner at Friendly Farm is either $25.11 (Porterhouse steak), $20.11 (crab cake or fried shrimp) or $15.11 (fried chicken). There are separate deals for children ages 3-10 ($7.11) and 1 to 2 ($2.11; awwww!)
And dunce caps for CJ's Crabhouse & Grill, Greystone Grill and Captain Harvey's for not having posted their deals as of noon on Opening Day.
McAvoy's (L)
Pizza John's (L/D)
Razorback's Raw Bar & Grill (L)
Hard Yacht Cafe (L)
Liberatore's Bistro/Owings Mills (L)
Liberatore's Ristorante/Timonium (L)
Liberatore's Ristorante/Perry Hall (L)
Marli's Dockside Grill & Crabhouse (L)
Tark's Grill (L)
Basta Pasta (L)
Cafe Troia (L)
Fazzini's Italian Kitchen (L/D)
The Grill at Harryman House (L)
Hard Yacht Cafe (D)
Island View Watefront Cafe (D)
Linwoods (L)
McAvoy's (D)
Michael's Cafe (L)
Milton Inn (L)
Oregon Grille (L)
Patrick's Fine Food & Spirits (L)
River Watch Restaurant & Marina (D)
Liberatore's Bistro/Owings Mills (D)
Liberatore's Ristorante/Timonium (D)
Liberatore's Ristorante/Perry Hall (D)
Marli's Dockside Grill & Crabhouse (D)
Basta Pasta (D)
Razorback's Raw Bar & Grill (D)
River Watch Restaurant & Marina (D)
Joey Chiu's Greenspring Inn (D)
The Melting Pot (D)
Mia Carolina (D)
Tark's Grill (D)
Cafe Troia (D)
The Grill at Harryman House (D)
Linwoods (D)
Michael's Cafe (D)
Milton Inn (D)
Oregon Grille (D)
Patrick's Fine Food & Spirits (D)
Peppermill Restaurant (D)
Mr. Rain's Fun House is inviting us all to a Winter Menu Preview on Wednesday, January 19, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The impetus for this lovely invitation? This post on the Top 10 most wanted for 2011.
One of the most wanted was Korean Fried Chicken, an already established food craze in Los Angeles and New York that hasn't yet hit Baltimore.
Mr. Rain's chef, Bill Buszinski, saw the post and commented:
How about instead of following a trend, (Korean Fried Chicken) we start a new one - Filipino Fried Chicken, Adobo chicken deep fried with a classic batter.
Pick a day for a happy hour and I would be happy to make a batch for the Dining@Large crowd.
Done, and done.
The January 19 event at Mr. Rain's Fun House, open since 2009 atop the American Visionary Art Museum, will include a bar menu highlighting the Filipino Fried Chicken, new libations from the winter cocktail list and complimentary tastes from the restaurant's winter dinner menu.
The happy hour menu will also include Tuna Poke with Avocado & Sturgeon Caviar, Lumpia (Filipino-style spring rolls), Choptank sweets, rumaki, poutine, mussels in sambal & sparkling wine and black-eyed pea cakes with chow chow relish.
Everyone is invited, and a few Baltimore Sunlebrities are sure to be there!
More details to come, but go ahead and RSVP if you're planning to attend. Call 443-524-7379 to do that or for more information.
Baltimore Sun photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor
It's an honor.
Charleston executive chef, James Beard best chef nominee and Baltimore Celebrity Smackdown winner Cindy Wolf is presenting a seasonal, five-course tasting menu at New York City's James Beard House on Monday, January 24.
Tickets, which are very very limited, are available for $170 through the James Beard Foundation at (212) 627-2308.
Here is the menu, for window-tasters:
HORS D'OEUVRES
Lobster-Cake, Mustard Cream
Cornmeal Fried Oysters, Lemon Cayenne Mayonnaise
Beef Empanadas
Fingerling Potato Purée, Ossetra Caviar
Champagne, Pol Roger "White Foil" Brut NV
FIRST COURSE
Artichoke Soup, Fresh Black Truffle
Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Panizzi "Vigna Santa Margherita" (Tuscany) 2008
SECOND COURSE
Burgundy Snails, Butter-Poached Garlic & Bacon Puff Pastry Tart
Rioja, Bodegas La Emperatriz "Finca La Emperatriz - Reserve" 2004
THIRD COURSE
Pan-Roasted Wild Rockfish, Oyster Mushroom Fricassée, Lemon Beurre Blanc
Pouilly-Fuissé, J. & N. Saumaize "Les Vieilles Vignes" (Burgundy) 2006
FOURTH COURSE
Grilled Gunpowder Farm Buffalo Tenderloin, Creamy Polenta, Crispy Shallots, Red Wine Reduction
Château La Fleur Morange (St. Emilion) 2007
DESSERT
Napoleon of Blood Orange & Passion Fruit
The dates for Annapolis Restaurant Week have been announced.
America's Sailing Capital will run its winter restaurant promotion, sponsored by the Annapolis Business Association, from Monday, February 21 through Sunday, February 27. Participating restaurants (34 at last count) will offer three-course menus at fixed prices -- $29.95 for dinner, $15.95 for lunch.
Here is the Annapolis Restaurant Week website.
Anyone recognize the restaurant in the photo?
It is Aqua Terra -- well done, Patrick!
Baltimore Sun photo/Christopher T. Assaf
You know your Doritos coupon is a fake when...
The other day, someone from the Business Desk wandered over to ask if I had written or was planning to write anything about the convergence of winter restaurant promotions in the the Tri County area, and I was like, "yeah, I'm on it."
And, so then on the Baltimore Sun homepage this morning I notice that there's a story about the convergence of winter restaurant promotions in the BalBalHo area, and I'm like, "HEY, I said I was writing something!"
But it was the Table Talk story that I had written. And the gist of the story is the More the Merrier: What's all this Fuss about Winter-promotion Overload?!?
And, so of course, I managed to say in this story that Howard County Restaurant Weeks start first, followed by Baltimore County's Restaurant Week and Baltimore Restaurant Week, the city's version.
But that's not correct.
Baltimore County's winter restaurant promotion launches first, this Friday, January 14, and runs through Friday, January 28. The county's promotion allows restaurants to fix the cost for their multi-course menus at one of six amounts -- $10.11, $15.11, $20.11, $25.11, $30.11, $35.11.
Howard County Restaurant Weeks begin on Monday, January 17 and continue through Monday, January 31. Participating restaurants are allowed to fix the price of their multi-course menu anywhere from $10.11 to $40.11.
And then, Baltimore Restaurant Week starts on from Friday, January 21 and runs officially through Sunday, January 30, with a classic Restaurant Week structure: $35.11 for a fixed-price dinner/$20.11 for a fixed-price lunch.
I enjoyed very much reading Laura Vozzella's story in today's Taste section about the challenges chefs face when they commit to buying a whole animal -- "Once the primal cuts are gone," the story wonders, "what do they do with the other 100 pounds of pig?"
Explaining what they do with their whole pigs and cows -- chefs Patrick Morrow of Bluegrass and Winston Blick of Clementine.
Rob Kasper's Live review of the Dead End Saloon, because of early deadlines, is up online already.
Rob says, "The Dead End Saloon is a long way from a four-star restaurant. But it pours a good pint, makes a good burger and the staff smiles at you. For me that makes it a tavern worth visiting."
I found out, when reading Rob's review, that the Dead End Saloon added "Pelican Grille" to its name when it added a kitchen to its operations in the late 1990s.
The Pelican Grille?!?
Baltimore Sun photo/Amy Davis
The Contemporary Museum isn't calling its monthly café event a "pop-up café," but I will, just for kicks.
This Saturday, January 15, the Mount Vernon museum invites the public (who must pay $5) to another of its monthly Contemporary Cafe events, which focus on New View, its changing storefront installations.
This month's featured artist is Caroline Lathan–Stiefel, who will discuss her exhibition, "Towards the Reservoir."
I added in the promotional stenciling!!!
For this Saturday's edition, the Contemporary is partnering with good old Atwater's, which will be mesmerizing participants with an array of coffee from ,the world's major coffee producing areas: Jagong from Sumatra, Valle de Santuario from Peru, and Shakisso Washed from Ethiopia.
And you thought he was just an indispensable film programmer. Eric Allen Hatch, director of programming at the Maryland Film Festival, is also a vegetarian man about town. He posted the following on his facebook page. With his permission, I am posting it here.
What are your favorite vegetarian dishes around town?
Update -- a few of Eric's Facebook correspondents mentioned Yabba Pot, as did a commenter below. There was some back-and-forth over on that thread, with at least a few comments praising the new Yabba Pot ownership. But, for sure, there was a time when you would go to Yabba Pat and end up losing your mind because it was just sooooo slow, and slow in that inexplicable way that makes you scream inside your head, "WHAT IS GOING ON!?!" -- good to hear it's back in good form. -- RG
Here's Eric:
I put this together recently at a friend’s request and thought I’d open it up for suggestions and debate.
I’m not including a few awesome places in the burbs, most notably Great Sage, Mr. Chan’s, and Mango Grove, as well as restaurants w/ rotating seasonal veggie options such as Woodberry Kitchen; I wanted this to be a list of dependably great year-round options within the city limits.
R.I.P. to eternal favorites “I Got the Hook-Up Rastarant” and Silk Road Café.
1) Nam Kang – Dol bab. They’ll hold the beef and make it vegan (w/ tofu) or vegetarian (tofu and egg). Come with a group and enjoy the mountains of free appetizers.
2) Liquid Earth – The Liquid Earth club w/ hippy lippy smoothie. No other meal in town leaves me feeling as fresh and healthy afterwards
3) Mekong Delta – Vegetarian noodle soup; basically veggie pho and devastatingly delicious
4) Minato – Lunch bento box: shiitake w/ avocado roll, seaweed salad, hot tofu (hold the fish flakes)
5) Dukem – Vegetarian dinner special w/ Hakim beer; their largest veggie special is the most varied Ethiopian spread I’ve seen
6) Soup's On -- Eggplant/red pepper/arugula sandwich
7) Rocket to Venus – Banh mi sandwich w/ tofu
8) One World Cafe – Tempeh reuben
9) Red Emma's – Atzlan open-faced sandwich.10) Golden West Cafe – Aztec burrito.
11) Thai Restaurant – Masaman curry w/ tofu.
12) Carma's Cafe – Icelandic yogurt w/ granola.
EDIT: Lucky 13 -- how could I forget the veggie aushak and veggie matwo at The Helmand (not to mention that pumpkin appetizer)?
Baltimore Sun photo/Algerina Perna
Every week is Restaurant Week in Howard County.
That's what the tireless keeper of the HowChow blog, says. I asked HowChow to contribute a Top 10 Tuesday list on the eve of Howard County's upcoming dining promotion, Winter Restaurant Weeks, which begin on Monday, January 17th and run through Monday, January 31.
More information about the promotion, in which participating restaurants are offering fixed-price menus ranging from $10.11 to $40.11, is here.
Here is HowChow's HoCo Top 10 (kind of) for Howard County dining on and off the Restaurant Weeks circuit. The photograph, of a spread from Shin Chon Garden, is HowChow's, too.
Howard County offers great food. But when I think about food that you must leave Baltimore to enjoy, my first argument is Korean along Rte 40. The city's old Korean joints serve their role leavening Gorelick's list of Baltimore's Best 50, but come to Ellicott City to see what people are eating today. Korean customers inspire miles of restaurants with different styles and different menus -- from Shin Chon Garden's classy bulgogi to Lighthouse Tofu's casual soon doo boo to Honey Pig's hipster pork belly. This is an array of food that you can't get anywhere else in Maryland, and I wrote an outsider's primer last week because I still haven't explored half of it yet.
If you live within 10 minutes of Woodberry Kitchen or Tapas Teatro, I'm not going to say that you must drive to the suburbs for fine dining. But the Restaurant Weeks list lets Howard County folks splurge at places that can compete with much of Gorelick's list, and you urbanites might have foodie friends who had babies and moved to the 'burbs.
Come share a meal where they can save an hour's driving on the babysitter bill -- and get your new-Mom friend tipsy on exotic margaritas at Azul 17 in Columbia. Beyond that, think about the expanded Aida Bistro & Wine Bar in Columbia (with high-end Italian and its new on-tap wine bar) or consider the $30 menus offered by Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia and Portalli's in Ellicott City. And watch for Bistro Blanc in Glenelg to post its prix fixe menu because that kitchen pleased the prior Sun regime and wants to compete in the deep water of seasonal small plates with Woodberry and city spots.
But my real advice about Howard County is that any week can be restaurant week out here. I eat far more meals in ethnic joints than in places that tell you what type of orange juice they used to poach the snapper tonight. Although Korean is spectacularly unique, there are several cuisines -- including Indian, dim sum, sushi and authentic tacos -- that beat or meet anything in Baltimore. You can eat for a week even without special pricing:
I nested. I still intend to post about my dining adventures in the Keys; this weekend was about recovering from that.
I hiked Gunpowder's Lost Pond Trail -- that's something, right?
I think that I wasn't alone in taking things easy, but then again, I tend to be terribly narcissistic, assuming that everyone is feeling exactly as I am.
For all I know, it was bacchanal city for the rest of you.
So, what did you do?
If you haven't seen it, here's my review of Ikaros, which showed up at #41 on my list of Baltimore's Best Restaurants.
How, you may ask, was I able to construct that list without the benefit of having been to Ikaros in a few years?
That is a rhetorical question.
I loved my evening here. If it's been a while since your last visit, go, I urge you.
Baltimore Sun photo/Kim Hairston
John Lindner's lunch review of Mama's on the Half Shell is here. Mama's is the kind of place that not everyone thinks about as a lunch option. (Like, for instance, what about parking?)
John will tell you how well Mama's works, lunch-wise.
Baltimore Sun photo/Algerina Perna
On New Year's Day, new owners took over the Hollins Market property recently and briefly known as Cockey's Tavern. It was formerly Baltimore Pho and, years ago, Mencken's Cultured Pearl. The new name is Amour, and visitors will notice new lounge seating and some freshened-up décor.
Amour's principal owner, Daemon Hawkins, a graduate of the Hotel & Restaurant Management program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, is a fifteen-year veteran of the restaurant business -- "everything from fast food to casual and fine dining." Hawkins owned On the Roxx in Randallstown and continues to operate his own catering company, which will use Amour as a base for off-premise catering.
Hawkins told he's excited about being part of the neighborhood's ongoing revitalization. He's brought in Hollis Albert, who owned and ran Flip's at Clipper Mill for a few years on Union Avenue, to be Amour's general manager.
Amour, Albert told me, is sticking with a similar menu that Cockey's Tavern used -- crab cakes, jerk chicken, and chicken and waffles. Amour is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., later on weekends. The phone number remains the same -- 410-752-4814, and a new website will be showing up soon at amourbaltimore.com
First up, Baltimore County Restaurant Week -- it starts on Friday, January 14.
Then, Howard County's Winter Restaurant Weeks begin on Monday, January 17.
And Baltimore Restaurant Week begins on Friday, January 21.
Take a look here. We've put together all kinds of useful information to help you navigate through these winter restaurant promotions.
I'm going to work on gathering up some archival Restaurant Week threads for us to look at, too. I'll post them right here.
It's Lullville. The holidays are really, really over. Winter dining promotions are about to begin. Restaurants need some live bodies, I think.
What's everyone doing this weekend? Where are people watching the Ravens game?
Baltimore Sun photographer Barbara Haddock Taylor shot this 1999 QVC deal from her own tv screen. I'll have to ask her why. On the left is Ron Kauffman, now retired, selling his Chesapeake Bay Gourmet crab cakes.
A couple of füdi events coming your way.
First, the aquarium's Fresh Thoughts sustainable seafood dining series continues on Tuesday, January 25, with a dinner designed by Jason Ambrose, executive chef and owner of Salt in Upper Fells Point. The $89 per person event includes a cooking demonstration and a multi-course menu featuring Arctic char -- in a chowder, slow-roasted, and served as tartare with Asian pears and green onion pommes frites. Take a look.
And then, Raymond "Opie" Crooks, the newly installed chef partner at Roy's, is hosting a tapas-style dinner at the Harbor East restaurant on Sunday, January 30. The $59 per person dinner, open to only 16 people, will include comments by the chef. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a reception.
On the menu: grilled Szechuan-spiced pork ribs, roasted macadamia-crusted Mahi Mahi, and Kai-style braised short ribs. For more information about this event, call 407-659-0099.
Sorry for the bad dates in the original post!
Remember our discussion on the things we hate and love about restaurant websites?
A friend sent along a link to this clever site -- Never said about restaurant websites
You'll get the idea if you click on it.
My former trivia-night opponent and Scrabble victim, the graphic designer and native of Kansas City John Hathaway graciously agreed to contribute this piece on the relative culinary advantages of his hometown and adopted town.
Kind of like I said here, it's hard to really get riled up about the opposing team in this Sunday's game, much less the fine city they're representing. May the better team win.
Here's Hatha's Way:
Baltimore has crabs. I don’t like crabs.
I love the way they taste when they’re all rolled up in a ball with some breadcrumbs and Old Bay and mustard and everything else. I love the way they look when they’re served on a roll because it reminds me of how we eat our food in the Midwest.
Just don’t ask me to pull the little guys apart. It’s a brutal, mind-numbing task that yields too little food in return. Neither I nor the crab has any interest in being a part of this grizzly affair. And I’d rather not talk about how closely related crabs are to the vile insects we pay good money to have exterminators remove from our homes.
But…
In the end, it’s no comparison. Baltimore has a ton of great seafood (that isn’t crabs). KC has steak. But steak’s not seafood. If it was, I would love seafood.
Baltimore is a harbor town, and the beautiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean are just a few hours away. This is why Baltimore is so much better at seafood. Kansas and Missouri have land. Lots and lots (believe me) of land. Land that they grow stuff like plants and grains on. Land that they use to feed animals (big, hulking, meaty beasts) that eat all the stuff they grow on all that land. They’ve been doing this for a long time. They do it better because they don’t have a choice.
When your dinner options are beef, pork or beef, you learn how to get really good at cooking beef and pork and beef. Baltimore pit beef and BBQ are just fine. It’s almost darling. But in KC, it’s an art form. And every time I go back home, I look forward to getting a huge, properly prepared steak and some true BBQ. It’s bliss.
Baltimore has more to offer in terms of dining options. I love finding new places I’ve never heard of and new tastes I’ve never dreamt of. There is a true sense of creativity and adventure to the Baltimore culinary landscape, and it is always surprising.
But what KC lacks in creativity, they make up for in quality. Here’s something you may not know: Chinese and Japanese food, for example, is much better in KC than anything you’d find here. I think the difference is that in KC, there’s not a whole lot to do besides eat and drink (and go to Chiefs games). It’s also why Kansas and Missouri are always at the top of the list of the most obese states in the Union.
I may be taking the easy way out here, but I love the food in both cities equally. Of course, Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Company makes the best beer you’ll ever have, but that’s a topic for another day.
As for the game on Sunday, I already know who’s going to win…
More Ravens fun can be found in our Ravens Fun Package.
I was still on vacation when the news about the closing of Burke's hit.
For a little while, I was devoted to the open-face hot turkey sandwich w/french fries, but I hadn't been there for years years, except to pass through on my way into the comedy club upstairs.
I'd love to hear about your Burke's experiences and memories.
Baltimore Sun photo/Kenneth K. Lam
My Table Talk column on what to look forward to this year in area dining.
Laura Vozzella's piece in today's Taste section on the things that local chefs pack into their kids' lunch pails. The photo here shows Big Bad Wolf's House of Barbecue's Irene and Scott Smith with their children, Maya, Violet and Bella.
An article from yesterday's Washington Post about the successful efforts of a group of D.C. chefs to trim the fat, not from their menus but from their own selves.
And, YAY! a new Adventures of a Koodie review by Eli, who always gets to the heart of the matter in a way I can only sit back and admire.
Baltimore Sun photo/Algerina Perna
I'm finding it hard to hate Kansas City.
Mrs. Marv is from Kansas City!
The production company behind the new Food Network series Restaurant: Impossible (Season 1 debuts on January 19) is casting for Season 2 in the Baltimore area. Here's what they're looking for:
Is your restaurant at risk of closing? Are you in need of a boost in customers, good reviews and overall revenue? We are looking for passionate restaurateurs who have fallen on hard times. The restaurant's owners and managers must be willing to overhaul their menu, decor and theme to put them back on the path to success. The restaurant must be full service. Being family-run is definitely a plus. Restaurant owners must have strong, outgoing personalities.
There is a casting application here
Roland Keh and Scott Panian are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their popular Little Italy Restaurant Amicci's.
For a limited time, anyone who comes into Ammici's for dinner and says, "Happy Birthday Amicci's," will receive a free glass of sparkling wine and 20% off of his or her entire dinner check. Reservations are recommended, and the offer is good for dine-in only.
Through January 20, The Prime Rib is running a "15 for $15" special -- fifteen ounces of USDA Prime Rib for fifteen US dollars.
And here is a link to ongoing Wednesday dining specials around town.
Baltimore Sun photo/Kenneth K. Lam (Hm, the photo dates from 2003; probably time for a fresh review.)
Here are the things I and my podmates want. What about you? What's on your 2011 wish list.
Beer pairings -- There is a great untapped (pun intended) audience for thoughtfully offered food & beer pairings. I'm hoping more places get with it this year.
Dim Sum -- Not a day goes by without someone's buttonholing me about this. I'm willing to give Zhongshan another try, but I want the carts on wheels, too.
update: here's an inspiring HowChow review of Dim Sum at Red Pearl in Columbia
Dog-friendly restaurants -- I don't hang with a dog, but if I did, I'd want to be able to have him with me when I went out to dinner. I'd make sure he stayed close by and kept quiet, I promise.
Good music -- Baltimore Sticky Rice, a big hit with families by the way, is miles ahead of almost every other casual joint in town when it comes to consistently programming appropriate and enjoyable dinnertime music. Go listen.
Korean Fried Chicken -- It'd be cool if this crispy treat showed up as the house specialty at a great bar.
Macarons -- I am sick of reading about them; I want to eat them, at least until we all get sick of them. For a disambiguation of macaroons/macarons, please go here.
Quick construction -- I miss Donna's.
Ramen shops -- "GUYS, I'm not giving up on this one, I want a ramen shop." -- Don Quixote
Seafood shacks -- On the waterside, preferably, with picnic tables, fun places that serve up a fried specialty or two and ice-cold beer
Shabu Shabu -- This trendy style of hot-pot dining is spreading too slowly for some of its impatient fans who want Shabu Shabu here and now.
A reader was unhappy with a comment I made in a recent review.
I do think it's condescending. I think even if 9 out of 10 customers prefer the dressing on the side, it is still condescending."I just read your restaurant review of Taste Mediterranean Grille and wanted to know why on earth would you add the sentence..."And here was the evening's only off note - the dressing in served on the side, a condescending gesture that creates work for the diner."
Providing the dressing on the side is something (we) consider to be necessary in the dining experience. We don't like someone else deciding how much dressing should be on our salads. Seems to me the word "condescending" is a rather inappropriate word. I do not see how going to the trouble of adding an extra tiny receptacle for the dressing to your salad is patronizing."
I think that the salad should arrive at the table properly dressed. Not every salad in every restaurant, but a simple salad of mixed greens in a chef-driven, fine-dining establishment, yes. I understand the aversion to a soggy salad; a good restaurant doesn't serve a a soggy salad.
Certainly you can disagree, but that's where I'm coming from.
Baltimore Sun photo
I received an email from Cafe XS telling me about a "re-fresh" to their menu. What caught my eye? The "all new grilled cheeses, with a selection of cheeses and breads." I took a look, and it looks inviting The basic $4.25 sandwich starts with a choice of one or two cheeses.
Bread choices are sourdough, challah, rye, white, and wheat; the cheeses are American, white cheddar, smoked Gouda, Swiss, pepper jack, pepperoni cheddar or provolone. Add-ons include avocado, bacon, turkey, chicken, and ham.
Of course grilled cheese is nothing new. There is even that new Grilled Cheese & Co. in Catonsville. Corks in Federal Hill has a chic selection of grilled cheese sandwiches on its dinner menu.
But are there are other places that package grilled cheese into its own cute little menu section? Should we expect more customer-friendly gestures like this?
Here from the D@L archives, is a Top 10 list of grilled cheese sandwiches
Dear Sir, I am sure that you are a nice person and your mother loves you. You are also trying to do your best as a food editor. But I think you are a pinhead....
The typed letter, which was mailed and postmarked a while back, showed up belatedly in my inbox today. It goes on, and it is very forceful and funny, I think. It's less at my expense than at a restaurant that the letter-writer hates hates hates.
I want to make sure you saw these three recently published reviews.
Rob Kasper reviews Charmington's in Charles Village. (It says Remington on the review. The businesses on the other side of the 2600 Block of Howard are in Remington, but this side of Howard Street is Charles Village.)
The Charmington's crew are the folks from Bluehouse in Harbor East, which was a interior design store with a café attached. Charmington's is just a café.
John Lindner reviews a vegetarian lunch at One World Cafe in Tuscany Canterbury. He thinks that One World's food should appeal to appetites of every kind. I used to love the original down in Federal Hill.
My review of Charles North's Tapas Teatro appeared while I was still on vacation. I'm digging this place a whole lot these days. I won't be posting a Monday Morning Quarterback for this review. The only thing I may have mentioned was that the velocity which food appears at the table made focusing on individual plates a (pleasant) challenge.
Baltimore Sun photo/Colby Ware
McDonald's releases its new Fruit and Maple Oatmeal today.
"McDonald's wants to help make it easier and more inviting for our guests to eat more whole grains and fruits, and Fruit & Maple Oatmeal is an effective way to help our customers integrate these important food groups into their daily diets"
-- senior director of Nutrition Cindy Goody, Ph.D., MBA, R.D.
Someone willing to go get one?
UPDATE: It turns out that Baltimore/Washington was one of a few test markets for the oatmeal. It must have tested well. Today is the national roll-out.
I'm back. tanned, rested, and ready.
Where has everyone been dining? I want to hear about your New Year's Eve experiences.
I think I'll spend the next few hours reading email.
Here are two New York Times articles to get some conversations juices flowing.
New rules impose systems on sharing of tips
A diet for an invaded planet -- invasive species
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I subbed for a vacationing Rob Kasper for this week's Live review. My take on 
