Make your reservations now – Cunningham’s opens November 22

The Bagby Restaurant Group has another hit on its hands; Cunningham’s in Towson, their first  endeavor outside of Baltimore City.  Located in the high rise building, Towson City Center, 1 Olympic Place where Joppa and York Roads almost converge on the round-about. 

After attending the media cocktail hour and the friends and family soft-opening  left no doubt in my mind that this will be the place “to see and be seen.” The décor, impeccable as is their TenTen and Fleet Street Kitchen restaurants. The food, which I would describe as home-style with an urban twist, offers raw and chilled seafood, wood-oven flatbreads, selection of dishes to be shared the likes of steak tartare to housemade charcuterie.  I enjoyed their pretzel encrusted fried oysters from their appetizer selections and the husband enjoyed the chicken pot pie.  The Dorchester county jumbo lump crab cakes followed what we consider traditional sides; cole slaw and fries but theirs had the variation with pickled celery root rémoulade accompanied with a copper Moscow mule filled with house cut fries.  During the media cocktail hour I got to sample their onion rings with kimchi aioli, the best onion rings EVER! How good, I ordered them the next night during the soft opening. Ooh, ooh – if you are a dessert person, get their ice cream sundae; vanilla ice cream, chocolate-cherry sauce, brownie bites, caramel corn, whipped cream, amarena cherry. 

Watch the slideshow and read the full story HERE.

Royale with Beer football team creates Locust Point pub crawl to benefit baby Olivia

Touch football team Royale with Beer, a play on Pulp Fiction’s name for McDonald’s Quarter Pounder on Cheese in France called a Royale with cheese, epitomizes working as team. When their teammate, Marcus Blair, learned his baby Oliva was ill, teammates rallied to create a fundraiser. That is what one calls teamwork.

Team member Marcus Blair and his wife Kelly,, have the American dream; a loving marriage, a new home and baby girl named Oliva. One and a half year old Olivia, recently diagnosed with leukemia has a very good chance at a full, normal life but she has a few years of treatment ahead of her. As you can imagine this puts a strain on that American dream; emotionally, physically and financially and that is why Royale with Beer has created fundraising bar crawl through Locust Point.

Get the full details here for the pub crawl and where you can donate HERE

Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen wins Capital Food Fight

photo courtesy of Capital Food Fight benefiting DC Central Kitchen

The 10^th Annual D. C. Central Kitchen premier fundraising event, Capital Food Fight  took place last night at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C. Since founding in 1989, DC Central Kitchen has prepared 25 million meals for our low-income and at-risk neighbors in Washington, DC. 

Read the full story HERE.

Number one gift item for the food photographer

In 2011, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking changed the way the culinary world looks at food. That epic, 2,400 page, five-volume work garnered the highest awards and opened our eyes to the natural science that underlies all cuisine, and revealed, through unprecedented and highly praised photography, the true art of food. Just released and available to the general public, The Photography of Modernist Cuisine.

The ultimate coffee-table book for food-lovers, photo buffs, and any-one who enjoys beautiful and surprising pictures, The Photography of Modernist Cuisine offers a stunning new view of food. Modernist Cuisine and Modernist Cuisine at Home won acclaim from critics and readers alike for their innovative and engaging photography. Now the creators of these award-winning books have combed through their library of more than 200,000 photographs and collected more than 150 of their best images—many of them new or previously unpublished—into a single volume that is the largest, most luxurious book yet published by The Cooking Lab.

 
 Check out the slideshow, the video and full story HERE.

Big man in Little Italy Tom Iacoboni dishes on his love of food and family

Gia Daniella - Cafe Gia and Tom Iacoboni

For a number of years I’ve been on the Tom Iacoboni’s email listserve on all things Italian.

The listserve started when Tom managed the mailing list for two Italian organizations and now has grown to more than 6,000 subscribers who receive his notifications on events, job opportunities and fundraisers. He chaired Little Italy’s Columbus Day parade for 10 years and is involved in numerous Italian organizations, including the Sons of Italy and the Italian-American Civic Club.

As I was preparing to meet him for my next "Lunch With" profile, I realized that I had only met Tom once, for a fleeting moment, years ago. As I crossed Eastern Avenue, I saw a trim, well-dressed gentleman with thick dark hair and average height standing outside and talking on his smart phone. The man, whom I assumed was Tom, gave me a big smile as I approached. 

So I leaned in and kissed him Italian style.....

 Read the third in my "Lunch With" series at BMoreMedia - full story and snapshots HERE

You can get fresh seafood, fresh everything at Grill 620 in Ellicott City

The recently opened Grille 620 in the newly developed Turf Valley Town Square boasts fresh, not frozen – they have no freezer. So the abbondanza of fresh seafood, especially the oysters, tuna, and octopus should be on your “must get items” although there are many other choices the likes of top-of-the-line Creekstone Farms beef and regional sourced produce.

The restaurant / bar opened its doors mid-October under the keen eye of the partners; Gabby Haddad, Ali Sadeghi and David Sadeghi who come to the table with years experience in the Ruth Chris Steak House organization.  The fourth partner is Super Bowl winning quarterback, Adaluis Thomas. Grille 620’s top toque is Fabio Mura who has a recent history with Ruth Chris Steak along with Chazz, A Bronx Original and La Famiglia.  

Check out how to cook scallops, slideshow and full story HERE.