Croustille Café authentic French bakery opening in Pikesville

If all goes well with construction, permits, inspections, etc., Croustille Café is scheduled to open in the Pikesville Shopping Center by year’s end.  The 3,800 square foot authentic French bakery will be occupying a portion of the former space held by Rite Aid.  The shopping center is located on Pikesville’s main thoroughfare, Reisterstown Road. 

Paris, France is where baker/owner Moshe Mimoun mastered his craft and is bringing his in-house freshly baked breads (can you say baguettes?), Danish, fruit-filled brioche, turnovers, strudel, biscotti, madeleines, tarts and French-styled cookies to his café.  Personally, I’m looking forward to his Gaufres waffles -Flemish waffles, or Gaufres à la Flamande, which are a specialty of northern France and portions of western Belgium. 

The café portion of Croustille will serve breakfast and lunch with a focus on bagels, custom-made salads, sandwiches and in-house made ice cream.

“That section of Reisterstown Road is extremely pedestrian friendly with many businesses and residents located within walking distance, and we envision our bakery and café becoming a central gathering spot for both local residents and businesspeople,” explained Mimoun. “To facilitate lingering, a section of the bakery and café will contain a lounge area to encourage groups of people to gather, socialize and conduct business. There will be booths and also high-top tables to address the needs of different audiences. We believe young people in particular will gravitate to our environment.” 

       

Mimoun and his family operated several bakeries and supermarkets in France and he intends to instill these traditional cooking and baking principles in this new concept. 

Croustille in French translates to “crunchy” – did I mention real French baguettes, sure I did, but it is worth mentioning again.   

Bienvenue Croustille Café

True Chesapeake Oyster Co. Restaurant opens in Whitehall Mill

There is so much good to say about the True Chesapeake Oyster Co.: their location, décor, partnerships, drinks, food and dare I say oysters! 

Oysters are at the crux and heart of this restaurant; they are at the center of this friendship/partnership of oyster farmer Patrick Hudson of True Chesapeake Oyster Co. from St. Jerome Creek in Southern Maryland, award-winning Executive Chef Zack Mills, and Nick Schauman – founder of The Local Oyster.  True Chesapeake Oyster Co. is the first Maryland oyster farm to open a restaurant. Bring in another award-winner, Chelsea Gregoire, the general manager and beverage director to round out an already outstanding hospitality team.  Everyone mentioned above is a story unto themselves and deserves more than this mere mention.  

Read the full story at Dara Cooks at Baltimore Post Examiner

BRD opens 2nd location in Federal Hill

Slightly different than the Trashmen’s song 1963  Bird is the Word, this BRD is becoming the word in Baltimore with their creative fried chicken sandwiches (sandos in BRD language ), wings and BRD bites. BRD is committed to sourcing the highest quality chicken; they use boneless chicken thighs that never received hormones, antibiotics and are fried in 100% peanut oil.

Read the full story at Dara Cooks at Baltimore Post Examiner 

Gypsy's Truckstaurant cruises into Hampden Woodberry

I bet you are asking what is a truckstaurant?  In essence, it is a former industrial garage, converted into a restaurant and bar with the kitchen being outside in what seems to be a large car carrier. And who better than the winner of numerous tri-state food truck cook-offs than Chef Anne Langton of Gypsy Queen Café to bring her casual cuisine to this unique space. Now add, Chef Tom Looney, her former partner from Helen’s Garden in Canton and you have another big time winner.  Looney’s Bar Liquorice has just garnered Baltimore’s Best Cocktail Bar by the Baltimore Business Journal. Of course, one can find the same creativity at the bar at the truckstaurant.  Now that is not to say that Looney’s creativity is limited to cocktails – his culinary creations are probably 50% of what is on the menu.  Continue reading at Baltimore Post Examiner Dara Cooks. 

Got the late night "hangries?" Taco Noche!

Northern Mexico inspired tacos, chips and dips, burritos and more are now available at Taco Noche at the Rotunda patio.  Their kiosk is open from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. every day. Patrons can go to the walk-up window for carryout or use delivery services, UberEats and Grub Hub. Taco Noche is a perfect little spot if you have been out late and want a bite of authentic Mexican food - the perfect “street food.”  

Taco Noche ‘s Chef Audiel  Vera also holds the title of executive chef at The Avenue Kitchen and Bar in Hampden.  Chef Vera reminisces, “It was not until I moved to Houston, Texas, where I first discovered the northern flavors of Mexico. Flour tortillas, shredded lettuce, fresh Pico de Gallo, cream on tacos, queso fundido, all that great food. It was a game changer in my opinion.  All these flavors really caught my attention and opened my pallet to different Mexican flavors that I never knew before.  A lot of people may think this is Tex Mex but it's not. These are flavors that were always there in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Tijuana. 

For you chili heads, their salsas run the gamut on the Scoville chart from Tomatillo with fire roasted Serrano chiles, tomatillos, roasted garlic, onions, cilantro and lime to Scorpion Sting with fire-roasted Habanero chilies blended with vinegar, spices and tomatoes.

Taco Noche

The Rotunda Patio

711 West 40^th Street

Baltimore MD 21211

Facebook: @taconocherotunda

Instagram: @taconoche

New restaurant in Owings Mills: Stanford Kitchen is a winner

The made-from scratch offerings from the new Stanford Kitchen at the Boulevard College Center are hitting the right notes.  What was the former Stone Cove Restaurant, located in close proximity to Stevenson University; the Blueridge Restaurant Group has hit the bull’s-eye with the redesigned space, service and American classic dining options.

My companion, who had previously eaten in Stanford Kitchen, and I dined early. When we arrived, the bar was filled with businessmen, the garage-styled doors were rolled back to the al fresco dining patio and there were a few parties seated in the main open-kitchen dining room.  By the time we finished having dinner, the dining room and al fresco patio were full of patrons.  The restaurant has in a short time, accrued a loyal and repeat following. In fact, they have a loyalty reward program for those who dine at any of the Blueridge Restaurant Group Restaurants; Stanford Grill, Stanford Kitchen, and Copper Canyon Grill.

Read the full story in Baltimore Post Examiner: Dara Cooks Blog

Poké Fish Sushi opens in Owings Mills

Valley Village Shopping Center at 9163 Reisterstown Road has a new tenant, Poké Fish Sushi.  An Asian inspired,  fast-casual restaurant is open for lunch and dinner offering Hawaiian inspired poké and Japanese cuisine.  Poké Fish Sushi replaces Teriyaki Madness at the same location. 

The differentiating menu item is the restaurant’s signature Poke’ bowl that enables customers to participate in a six-step process to build their perfect meal. It starts with a choice of the base (sushi rice, brown rice, mixed greens and kale noodle; Poke’ Burrito; or Poke’ salad). Next comes the choice of protein with options including (Ahi tuna, salmon, shrimp, chicken and crabmeat among others.) Customers then chose the perfect sauces and flavorings, followed by crunches (peanuts, almonds, Macadamia nuts) and mix-ins (vegetables, fruits and seeds).

Poké Fish Sushi

Valley Village Shopping Center

9163 Reisterstown Road

Owings Mills, MD  21117

www.pokefishsushiom.com 

(410) 902-8889

There is a new restaurant in Little Italy: Atelier de Culinaire

) Stratford University – School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality has officially opened their own restaurant, Atelier de Culinaire, in Baltimore’s Little Italy at 806 Stiles Street and is running a grand opening special for $25, plus tax & gratuity, for a three course dinner including a non-alcoholic beverage.  All additional items are at listed menu prices.   The grand opening special will run through Friday, August 3^rd – be sure to mention the soft opening special when making your reservations and upon your arrival.   Atelier de Culinaire will serve the public Wednesdays through Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.  They will be adding a Sunday Champagne Brunch as of August 12^th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Read the full story at Baltimore Post Examiner - Dara Cooks

More than just poke

When you can’t get to Hawaii but crave a taste of these Pacific Islands, you don’t have to travel that far. Just make a reservation at Uncle’s Hawaiian Grindz. Chef Kalmana Chee, a native of the North Shore of O’ahu, has brought the Hawaiian flavors he grew up with to his Fallston, Maryland restaurant, Uncle’s Hawaiian Grindz.

Watch the slideshow and read the full story at Dara Cooks Blog at Baltimore Post Examiner

Fleet Street Kitchen morphs into Italian concept: Tagliata

As fall was taking hold we heard that the Bagby Restaurant Group had turned over two of their restaurant concepts at 1010 and 1012 Fleet Street to Atlas Restaurant Group: Ten Ten and Fleet Street Kitchen. Fleet Street Kitchen closed the beginning of the year with a focus on the redesign of the restaurant and a new dining concept.

Read the full story at my Baltimore Post Examiner blog Dara Cooks

Pikesville welcomes La Food Marketa: Flavors of the Americas

The spinoff of Hampden’s successful The Food Market, La Food Marketa opens its doors, Thursday, September 8^th for dinner at Quarry Lake off Greenspring Avenue featuring the flavors of the Americas.  Chef owner Chad Gauss states, “The menu will include smaller plates  chiquita and “pequeño - items like cilantro tuna, buffalo chicken taquitos, roasted lamb ribs, secret nachos (complete with squeeze bottle cheese) and larger grande dishes like Corona shrimp, beef tenderloin tostada, “la meatloaf” - veal, beef, peppers, onion, mesquite rice, roasted salsa verde - and veggie burger enchiladas and more. Guests can build tacos using everything from lamb barbacoa to tequila beef short ribs to ahi tuna and crispy fish.” Chad adds, “And, yes, we’ll also serve simply grilled meats and fish - and of course, we’ll have a bangin’ burger.”

La Food Marketa’s head chef is longtime Food Market employee, John Bedingfield. Chad says of John, “He started at the bottom, learning the ropes in the kitchen at The Food Market. We have a similar style and it makes perfect sense to incorporate him to lead the effort here.”

Tying in the flavors of the Americas, their full bar  is offering margaritas, mojitos and sangrias by the glass and the pitcher, a full cocktail menu and beers. Opening drafts include Union Craft Brewing Duckpin, Dogfish Namaste, National Bohemian and Dos Equis. Two signature cocktails give a nod to the restaurant’s location: The Pikesville Colada - Cruzan white rum, mango puree, agave nectar, chipotle syrup, lime and The Greenspringer - reposado tequila, lime, cilantro, avocado, cayenne & salt rim. Those who do not imbibe will not be left out, non-alcoholic drinks include Stubborn fountain sodas, Mexican sodas, Jarritos sodas - tamarind, lime, fruit punch, grapefruit - as well as coffee, tea and soft drinks.

Reservations can be made via OpenTable or call the restaurant 410 415-0606

La Food Marketa –Quarry Lake at Greenspring – 2620 Quarry Lake Drive – Baltimore, MD  21209 www.lafoodmarketa.com

14th Silver Diner opens in Frederick

The Maryland owned Silver Diner chain has opened their 14^th diner in Frederick Maryland.  All shiny and new, the Silver Diner will have all the bells, whistle and replica 1956 Seeburg jukeboxes. Updated since starting 27 years ago, the diner offers a number of items that are locally sourced, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menu items. Unlike some Silver Diner locations, the bar at the Frederick location will be expanded with handcrafted cocktails, local beers and wines and spiked shakes.    

This latest Silver Diner is located 5120 Buckeystown Pike, located at the Westview Promenade, has a whopping 230 seats.  If you are heading to the Frederick Wine Festival, Saturday, August 6^th, might be a great time to pop in and grab a bite going to or from the festival.

Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant opens in Annapolis

Nation’s Restaurant News in 2014 labeled Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurants a ‘Breakout Brand’ and ‘Hot Concept’ – a fast casual concept that is first and foremost a winery then a restaurant and artisanal retail market.  The winery is based in Illinois, the grapes from California, Oregon and Washington and the winery/restaurants are in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, home state of Illinois and now the first Maryland location in the Annapolis Towne Centre.

The Annapolis Cooper’s Hawk restaurant is on the second floor with numerous areas to dine al fresco or partake of your food and wine in the climate controlled dining rooms.  The Napa-style tasting room and retail market is ground level with sauces, pastas, and freshly made confections: chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, cheesecake pops and other assorted chocolate temptations. 

What is different about the menu at a Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant is that the food doesn’t dictate the wine, the wine, The Cooper’s Hawk wines, are at the beginning of the recipe/menu development. You can order by the glass, bottle and the Winemaker’s Barrel Reserve from a decanter and you are encouraged to taste before you order a glass so you aren’t concerned about trying something new.  Not sure what wine goes with what dish, there is a suggested wine for each dish.

Read the full story, watch the video and slideshow at Examiner.com / Dining

Chef Melanie Molinaro to open Stall 11 in Remington's R. House

Executive Chef Melanie Molinaro, known to Baltimoreans for being top toque at Robin Haas’s restaurants ; The  Nickel Taphouse, Birroteca and Encantada. One of the few women chefs in the region, Molinaro has built a name for herself especially at the seasonal inspired, locally-sourced, vegetarian driven Encantada.  She has now partnered with Urban Pastoral. A high-tech hydroponic growing facility in East Baltimore to open the 2^nd announced food stall on the first floor of the 50,000-square-foot historic automobile showroom and garage in Remington – Seawall Development’s $12 million food and drink emporium, R. House. 

Watch the video and read the full story on Examiner.com / Dining

Keccos Woodfire Kitchen to open in Reisterstown

Reisterstown, Maryland and Carroll County residents can look forward to a new restaurant located in Reisterstown Crossing on Westminster Pike.  The former owner of Glydon’s Mezzanotte Bistro, Tony Scotto DiFrega, is coming back to his old neighborhood with an Italian inspired restaurant featuring brick oven pizzas.  Kecco’s Woodfire Kitchen will be a full service, sit down restaurant.

Tony Scotto DiFrega named the restaurant after his son, and brings diverse experience in restaurant ownership and management to this new venture. He recently sold an Italian restaurant in the Elkridge section of Howard County to open Keccos Woodfire Kitchen.

“I live extremely close to the location and I understand the community and what they want from a restaurant experience,” explained Tony Scott DiFrega. “There are many families that look for reasonably-priced and high-quality meals, and we intend to service this audience in a comfortable and warm environment. The number of businesses in the area is also growing, so we see an opportunity for strong lunchtime traffic as well.”   

Look for the opening mid-summer. 

Keccos Woodfire Kitchen – 114 Westminster Pike – Reisterstown, MD 

Successful Mother's Grille Restaurant opens 3rd location in Timonium

Dave Rather, founder of Mother’s Grilles - Federal Hill and Pasadena, had a packed house this week when he opened his 3^rd bar and grille in a former Applebee’s location on Padonia Road.  Mother’s, an established  bar and restaurant,  started out in 1997 in Federal Hill, which was and is still perceived to be a sports bar that serves food, but not plain bar food, from scratch made food (95% made in house).

Rather and his brother Adam, the Executive Chef for Mother’s have regular customers who patronized Mother’s back in 1997 and have gotten married, had children and now living in the suburbs. That is the impetus to their expansion with the 2^nd location in Pasadena and this new Mother’s North Grille in the Timonium/Hunt Valley corridor. Those of you in the Howard County area can look forward to your own Mother’s with an opening date in 2017.

Read the full story and watch the slideshow at Examiner.com / Dining

8 Ball Meatball - Get your meatball on and more

Photo courtesy of 8 Ball Meatball - Meatball sub with salad

Yes, there are meatballs and I’ll get to that in a minute. There are starters like charcuterie, fried pickles, bruschetta of the day and rotating specials.  Salads, yes – house salad, seasonal salad and roasted veggies.  Starches, check – mashed potatoes, creamy, cheesy polenta, a daily risotto, white beans and kale and spaghetti or rigatoni.  Put an egg on it, available for a small surcharge. Your sweet tooth isn’t ignored – churros with dipping sauce and ice cream by the scoop.  

Burger King was on to something a long time ago with the concept of “having it your way.” As fast food chains like McDonalds and others like them are scrambling to get their customers back, fast casual concept restaurants that let you choose your ingredients, creating a meal to your personal preferences  are the rage.  Enter Baltimore’s latest fast casual concept, 8 Ball Meatball that is opening this Sunday, February 21st in Fells Point at the old Tapas Adela location, 814 South Broadway. 

Owner, local Paul Weitz, “There are a ton of great restaurant options in Fells Point, but we hope to bring something unique to the table (pun intended). This is a town that appreciates solid, high-quality food and we are very optimistic our customizable meatball selections will hit the spot.”

Open for lunch daily at 11 a.m. and until midnight from Sunday, through Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday – perfect for the bar patrons in the waterfront neighborhood. 

As the 8 Ball Meatball website says, anything can be made into a meatball. The restaurant will offer four types of meatballs daily — classic, gluten-free herb chicken, spicy pork and vegetarian — and five sauces, classic tomato, Parmesan cream, spicy pork, pesto and mushroom gravy. A fifth rotating "special ball" and sauce will also be available each night.  Customers can order their meatball selection to be served in a bowl, as a sub or sliders with their choice of side dishes.

Oh, don’t let me forget that guests can imbibe with a beer, wine or a craft cocktail.

8 Ball Meatball – 814 South Broadway – Baltimore, MD 21231 – 443-759-5315 www.8ballmeatball.com  Facebook  Twitter and Instagram @8ballmeatball

Asian restaurant Red Goji is now open in Baltimore county

The restaurant is named after the bright orange-red berry from a shrub in China that has a sweet tart taste. Not only is the goji berry the namesake of this restaurant you will find the slightly sweet tart berry in one of the house specialties, Red Goji chicken --- stir fried chicken with goji berries, mushrooms and scallions in a sweet oyster sauce.  The menu boasts a whole Peking duck, dinner for two with the appropriate scallions, hoisin sauce and pancakes.  

If I hadn’t been going to Goldberg’s Bagels in Club Center I wouldn’t have even known there was a new Asian restaurant. The shopping center sits recessed off Reisterstown Road in the heart of Pikesville’s commercial district.  A number of you might remember it as Olive & Sesame.  Open now for a couple months, Red Goji is Asian – offering a selection of Japanese, Chinese and Thai dishes.

For those who love sushi, nigiri and/or sashimi, Red Goji can accommodate you ala carte or choose the lunch or dinner choices.  

Pad Thai, lettuce wraps and Tom Yum soup give a nod to the Thai influences that are served up at Red Goji. 

Red Goji Restaurant – Club Center – 1500 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD  21208 443 450-5993 Closed on Mondays. Eat in or carry out.  There is no website and no social media. There is plenty of free parking available.  

Glen Burnies gets a modern Indian Restaurant: Bombay Blues Bistro

 

Glen Burnie seems to be the ethnic dining wasteland, filled with chain restaurants, but finally, one sees growth of independent restaurants, most recently Bombay Blues Bistro located on the corner of LaFontaine Bleue and across the parking lot from the courthouse on Ritchie Highway.  A growing interest and thirst for ethnic flavors continues to grow and with that in mind, Chefs Sivaraman Balamurugan, Abraham Varghese and Restaurateur Senthil Rajamani were lured from Washington, DC by the owner of the building Tom Stuehler, owner of LaFontaine Bleue Catering  and former owner of Truffles Catering.  Stuehler, who has studied under renowned spiritualist, author and doctor – Deepak Chopra, and traveled to India, became enamored with all things Indian, especially their flavors and was the impetus for this restaurant.

Baltimore's first Sweetgreen opens today in Harbor East

The proceeds, 100% of them from the grand opening today of the Baltimore location in Harbor East , November 16  will be going to their sweetgreen in schools Baltimore partner, Living Classrooms Foundation.

Sweetgreen  a simple but profound concept of creating a destination for tasty food that is good for you and sourced locally was a brainchild of three Georgetown University graduates back in 2007.  In fact the first of the 33 national locations of Sweetgreen is still in the old Little Tavern location on M Street in Georgetown.   

Transparency is one of the key components at Sweetgreen, both literally and figuratively.  You can see in the kitchen, a blackboard touts the local suppliers and a neon sign brightly states the seasonality of the menu; fall, spring, summer, winter – in fact, it changes 5 times a year. Their menus on the website, www.sweetgreen.com, are reflective of their regions I. E. California versus Washington DC.  

Watch the video and slideshow and read the full story at Examiner.com / dining