Baltimore magazine - Dining Reviews

Dining Review: Cafe Hon

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:11:25 +0000

Cafe Hon rebounds after a PR faux pas and an intervention.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

Here’s the deal, Hon. The camera crews and TV host Gordon Ramsay packed their bags months ago after filming an episode of Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares at Cafe Hon. The show, centering around the Hampden restaurant and owner Denise Whiting, aired in late February to great fanfare (or, in some cases, perhaps, community warfare). It was painful to watch at times with the longtime staff speaking frankly about their boss with a word that rhymes with witch. But everyone was smiley and huggy at the end, or so it seemed.

Dining Review: Tavern on the Square

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:31:05 +0000

Canton restaurant looks to the wild side for its menu.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

Tavern on the Square was rocking the night we visited. The happy-hour crowd spilled over to the few outdoor tables. Inside, the banter was loud and the music even louder. Uh oh. We surmised quickly that we were not going to have a quiet meal. The narrow dining room was barely separated from the bar.

Dining Review: Phillips Seafood

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:36:03 +0000

Phillips Seafood reinvents itself after 30 years in Baltimore.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

Mention the name Phillips in Maryland and locals know exactly which family you’re referring to—the ones from the Eastern Shore, the folks who built up an international seafood business from a tiny crabhouse venture in Ocean City. Their holdings are now scattered around the world, but they have never forgotten their roots.

Dining Review: TEN TEN

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:29:32 +0000

A Bagby Bistro: Yes, Baltimore needs another one.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

When you first look at the menu at TEN TEN, you wonder if the chef has gone to creative-writing school. The food is described so beautifully and comprises so many interesting ingredients that you think it couldn’t possibly live up to its promises.

Sunchoke purée, duck cracklings, red-piquillo-pepper-chorizo sauce, fig-orange jam, brandied tangerines. Really?

And then you begin to taste the creative efforts of executive chef Mark Davis and pastry chef Nikki DeBrouse, and you soon realize there’s nothing imaginary about the food.

Dining Review: Waterfront Kitchen

Suzanne Loudermilk — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:47:20 +0000

A Fells Point restaurant offers a feast for the eyes and palate

By Suzanne Loudermilk

The view at Waterfront Kitchen is stunning. It may be the best vantage point along the harbor. Expansive windows showcase the water, boats, cityscape, and Baltimore’s iconic Domino Sugars and Tide Point signs. Even our waitress says that when she has a free moment, she relaxes by looking out at the postcard scene from the west Fells Point location.

Dining Review: Wit & Wisdom: A Tavern by Michael Mina

Suzanne Loudermilk — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:41:52 +0000

Baltimore’s newest hotel restaurant (mostly) shines bright

By Suzanne Loudermilk

With all the gushing going on about the new Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, it’s no wonder that expectations were high for its restaurant Wit & Wisdom: A Tavern by Michael Mina. Opening parties and dinners were held in mid-November, luring the glitterati with freebies and tours. People were awed by the swank, contemporary space that some have dubbed a “museum.”

Dining Review: Bond Street Social

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:56:03 +0000

A Fells Point restaurant provides a congenial setting for mingling over food.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

We were smitten from the beginning when a server brought warm mini-cornbread muffins with a dish of jalapeño butter “from the chef.” The kitchen was sharing a complimentary amuse-bouche. Soon, we were sharing, too.

Dining Review: Roy's

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:58:02 +0000

Roy's celebrates 10 years at Harbor East.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

"What?" "Huh!" "I can't hear you." That pretty much describes the noise level at Roy's Baltimore and a lot of our conversation during a recent dinner there. The cacophonous din is a sharp contrast to the soothing mango colors, soft golden lighting, and dreamy artwork of island flowers and palm trees in the restaurant's dining rooms. But if you're not there for a cozy tête-à-tête or to negotiate world peace, you can count on Roy's for a memorable meal that blends seasonal foods with the allure of Hawaiian cuisine and classical preparations.

Dining Review: Indigma

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:50:19 +0000

Indigma survives in a nearby Mt. Vernon location.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

What do you do if your successful restaurant is suddenly gutted by a raging fire? If you're chef/owner Tony Chemmanoor of Indigma, you take matters into your own hands and move across the street.

Dining Review: Grace Garden

Evan Serpick — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:17:02 +0000

Discover exotic, authentic cuisine in an unassuming strip mall.

By Evan Serpick

If you weren't looking for it, you would almost certainly pass Grace Garden without giving it a second thought. Situated in a strip mall in Odenton, adjacent to a chicken-wing joint, it looks like any of the countless Chinese takeout restaurants in the area. But if you were keen enough to notice the glowing reviews in the window, or the glorious aromas pouring out of the kitchen, you might discover some of the best Chinese food in the region.

Dining Review: Thames Street Oyster House

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:13:02 +0000

A new Fells Point restaurant serves up oysters and a taste of New England.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

For months, the tall windows and doors at 1728 Thames St. were plastered with thick brown paper. Construction trucks were out front, but curious passersby (including me) couldn't tell what was going on in the centuries-old Fells Point building.

Soon enough, there was a big sign announcing that a restaurant was opening. But construction dragged. It would still be many more weeks before diners got a glimpse of the inside of Thames Street Oyster House, the dream of owner Candace Beattie.

Dining Review: Vino Rosina

Suzanne Loudermilk — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:01:52 +0000

Vino Rosina hasn’t missed a beat with its new top chef.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

When a big-name executive chef leaves a restaurant less than a year after it opened, diners rightly wonder if the shakeup will change the vibe of the new place. After all, Jesse Sandlin brought her cooking verve, colorful tattoos, and Top Chef-status in great style to Vino Rosina in May 2010. All seemed well. But by early 2011, she was gone by "mutual beneficial agreement," according to owner Jim Lancaster.

Dining Review: Fair Hill Inn

Baltimore magazine — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:55:46 +0000

The Fair Hill Inn in Cecil County blossoms with its own produce—and more.

By Martha Thomas

Fair Hill Inn's farm-to-fork approach to a dish is simple: Fuss all you want around the edges, but don't mess with what's in the center of the plate. This isn't to say the food is plain. In fact, every dish boasts a handful of flourishes. But all the sauces, gastriques, and demi-glaces don't detract from the flavors of the main ingredient.

Dining Review: Chazz: A Bronx Original

Suzanne Loudermilk — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:04:02 +0000

Chazz Palminteri opens his first restaurant here

By Suzanne Loudermilk

For the month of June, Baltimore was star-struck. An actor came calling, and we rushed en masse to embrace him. We were thrilled that Chazz Palminteri had discovered us—and even more excited that he deemed us worthy of a restaurant.

Dining Review: The Olive Room

Baltimore magazine — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:03:40 +0000

The Black Olive’s owners open The Olive Room

By Bianca Sienra

When the Inn at The Black Olive—Stelios Spiliadis's long-awaited Fells Point eco-hotel—finally opened in March, buzz about its über-environmentally friendly construction (so advanced they call it "deep green") and its commodious Greek Agora Gourmet Market pretty much overwhelmed any talk about what sort of restaurant it would boast. That tells you how cutting edge this place is.