Baltimore area restaurants that are open Christmas Day

When you just want something different for Christmas brunch or dinner. As in years before, I have put together a list of restaurants that are open on Christmas.  I don’t know about you, but all I want for Christmas is Dim Sum from Asian Court in the morning and for the first day of Hanukkah, which falls on Christmas Day, brisket and potato latkes for dinner from Regi’s American Bistro in Federal Hill. Guess what, both are available, as is Italian fare at Sotto Sopra Restaurant in Mt. Vernon or Indian cuisine at Akbar Palace in Randallstown.  Dare to be different and wear your PJ’s and you will get 20% off your tab at Blue Moon and Blue Moon Too in Fell’s Point / Federal Hill.  

Read the full listing and watch the slideshow at my post on Baltimore Post Examiner.

Ellicott City's Asian Court has moved - Dim Sum for Christmas

My go to Asian restaurant for Hong Kong Style Dim Sum, Asian Court, has just moved from its original digs in the Home Depot / Chatham Station Shopping Center just off Baltimore National Pike to Turf Valley Towne Square, 11105 Resort Road  in Ellicott City. 

A recent visit to the new digs on the weekend when dim sum is served from the carts from 11 am to 3 pm offered out too many temptations. Having dim sum with friends, both who have lived in China, is even more fun as metal steamers baskets stacked up upon each other as we delved into dim sum Nirvana. 

Local Chef Brian Cieslak on Food Network’s Chopped

A mere 24 years old and chef Brian Cieslak has worked at a number of the top kitchens in Baltimore; Fleet Street Kitchen, Bookmakers and Waterfront Kitchen.  Currently yu can find Chef Cieslak working at the highly regarded Preserve in Annapolis.

Cieslak has worked with Chef Chris Amendola for the last 4 ½ years who is known for his foraging skills and passed that passion on to Brian.

Cieslak’s episode of Chopped will air Thursday, December 15^th on the Food Network

Cha cha changes: B & O American Brasserie

They say timing is everything; well mine might just be a bit off sync in my review of the newly renovated B & O American Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco. Off sync or on sync, as I sit to write my take on a recent meal, The Baltimore Sun food reviewer Suzanne Loudermilk just published her review of the B & O American Brasserie and I concur with her 4 stars.  

Read the full story and watch the slideshow  in my Dara Cooks Baltimore Post Examiner column

The Milton Inn continues to impress

It all adds up! Take a historic 1740 fieldstone building, an inn for travelers for 100 years, one that was a school for boys for 50 years, a private residence and then in 1947, a restaurant, The Milton Inn.

People plan vacations around where they dine and The Milton Inn, which is located in Maryland’s Hunt Country, is just one of those unique establishments where everything from the award winning wines, the local Maryland edibles from the Chesapeake tributaries to rolling lush hills of county farms, rich décor and service make gatherings there so memorable.

On a recent visit to the Milton Inn, a media dinner for the press, we tasted dishes from their C. 1740 Lounge Small Plates menu (starting at $12 per plate) available in the C. 1740 lounge, mingled at a small cocktail reception and toured the restaurant taking in all the recent renovations.  The Milton Inn and Chef Boston’s vision of décor and cuisine always impresses. Being November the Milton Inn, refreshed from the extensive exterior and interior renovations was decked out to ring in the holiday season with panache.

Meatballs, Mustaches and Movember, Oh My!

November, designated Movember, is when men grow mustaches to heighten awareness of men’s health issues.  With that in mind, my charity pick and fun evening choice for this coming week is Eatmore (Meat) Balls for Movember. 

Mark your calendar, one of Baltimore’s leading Instagrammers @EatmoreBaltimore and Fell’s Point restaurant 8Ball Meatball  have combined forces to raise awareness of men’s health issues, supporting the Movember Foundation .

There will be no ta-ta’s talk during this evening, it’s about challenging men to be cognizant of their physical and mental health: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and suicide prevention plus a lot of balls (meatballs).  

Participants will enjoy a selection of appetizers, their choice of a complimentary draft beer or specialty cocktail, and Movember swag for a mere $20 donation.

• When: Wednesday, November 30^th from 5:30 to 8:30pm.
• Where: 8 Ball Meatball – 814 S Broadway – Baltimore MD 21231
• Purchase Tickets: http://bpt.me/2712611 $20 per person donation  

Prizes will be awarded for the best Movember mustaches! 

Gourmet holiday gift item picks

It was only a couple months ago that I attending Natural Products Expo East and fell in love with a number of unique, natural products that will make ideal gift giving for the that person in your life who just goes crazy for new flavors, tastes and textures.

Everyone has that friend or family member whose life centers around food and what their next bite might be. They eat, they drink and they Instagram every morsel that goes in their mouth.  It is with that in mind this curated list of new edible choices from the Natural Products Expo East has been created for holiday gifting, entertaining or if you are the gourmand, epicure who wants a superlative taste treat, for you as well.

Check out the complete story, my picks  and slideshow at Baltimore Post Examiner

Grand Opening of Fells Point Tavern Benefits the Living Classroom Foundation

Everyone is invited to the “official” grand opening of Fells Point Tavern on Friday, November 18^th which is split in two parts. A buffet and drink pre-event from 6 to 9 pm – purchase your ticket for $30 or come later, from 9 pm to 2 am, where one can sway, hum, or tap their toes to the live music, drink a cold brew or classic cocktail and peruse local vendors promoting their wares to benefit the Living Classroom Foundation.

Dining Dish's Facebook Live Interview with Chef John Shields - mark your calendar

LIVE VIDEOS SAVED - PART 1 AND PART 2 - We had some technical difficulties, henceforth, two videos.  Great time with an amazing chef.  Enjoy the videos.


Tomorrow, Thursday, November 3rd at approximate 12:15 pm Dining Dish will be streaming a live Facebook video interview with Chef, Cookbook Author and Television Personality John Shields from his restaurant Gertrudes and the Baltimore Museum of Art. No technical difficulties withstanding, it should be fun and informative.If you have specific questions you would like John to answer, please send them my way diningdish @ hotmail.com.

Be sure to go to the DiningDish Facebook Page www.facebook.com/DiningDish/ to catch the live interview, with your questions and say hello.  While you are at the DiningDish Facebook page, give it a "LIKE."

John Shields has been an ambassador not only for Chesapeake Bay seafood but all coastal seafood and an early, early supporter of sustainable, farm-to-table. Those of you in Baltimore see him regularly at the local farmers markets and enjoy the bounty at Gertrudes Restaurant whether lunch, brunch, dinner or your very special event.

John Shields's Chesapeake Bay Cooking 25th anniversary edition celebrates a year since being published - be sure to grab a copy for your cookbook library.

Eight Ball Meatball where scratch is a good thing

Fell’s Point, a historic Baltimore neighborhood where one can’t help tripping over a bar every other step and it has been that way for centuries. Sailors had to be in earshot of their ships anchored at the foot of the cobblestoned Broadway and Thames Streets.  One can imagine Anthony Bourdain spending a night hitting all the local bars, commiserating with locals and then looking for that perfect bite to round off his evening’s foray through the nautical neighborhood, possibly at Eight Ball Meatball.

Eight Ball Meatball has been open close to a year, an upgraded fast casual concept featuring, yes, you guessed it, made from scratch meatballs; the classic (beef, pork and veal), gluten free chicken, spicy pork, veggie and the daily special along with their daily salad, risotto and sauce. Pick a sauce; classic tomato, Parmesan cream, pesto, spicy meat or mushroom gravy, then how do you want it, in a bowl, as a sub or individual slider. Your meatballs are served as you like them on top of pasta or daily risotto, or a salad. You even have an option of putting an egg on it.  They are open for lunch, dinner and late night as well as Saturday and Sunday brunch specials.  Check out the slideshow for greater detail.

Amazing dining discounts from Spotluck

Washington DC and surrounding cities, Philadelphia, Annapolis already are taking advantage of the dining discount app for your phone, Spotluck. Just launched in Baltimore this week, there are additional dining discounts to be had by using the promotion code: DININGDISH now through Friday, October 28, 2016 afternoon in any of their cities that they cover.

Now  for the next 14 days for every download of Spotluck using DININGDISH as a promotion code I will donate to a $1 a download to No Kid Hungry.  The Spotluck application is FREE, and available for IPhone and droids available at their website www.spotluck.com

Chesapeake Farm to Table launching Chesapeake Farm to Home

It was early evening out at the Maryland State Line off 83 North where I met numerous local, sustainable farmers at Oak Spring Farm; all of them are part of the food hub www.ChesapeakeFarmtoTable.com. The evening titled Fall Harvest Feast had chefs, caterers and restaurateurs enjoying the bounty of Chesapeake Farm to Table food hub farmers, ranchers, beekeepers, and dairies. Restaurateurs and chefs had round name tags and the farmers were square, all in the desire to open dialog between the two. Even the seating for dinner had restaurateurs sitting across from the farmers to learn, share and commiserate.

Travel Channel’s Delicious Destination “Baltimore” starts to air Tuesday, October 18th

The ever so quirky and food curious Andrew Zimmern’s show Bizarre Foods Delicious Destinations was in Baltimore a couple months ago filming for a focused look at iconic Baltimore foods.  The episode will start airing on the Travel Channel starting Tuesday, October 18^th at 9 p.m. with encore performances Wednesday, October 19^th at 12 a.m., Sunday, October 23^rd at 4 p.m., Monday, October 24^th at 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 25^th 12:30 a.m. and Tuesday, November 8^th at 2 p.m. (times are East Coast)  and probably have a life of its own online.

Gala 15th Anniversary Opera Night at Sotto Sopra Restaurant

It was 15 years ago in October when the owner and chef Riccardo Bosio of Baltimore’s leading Northern Italian Restaurant, Sotto Sopra shared part of his Italian culture as well as his cuisine with a night filled with live opera performances and a multi-course dinner.  Bosio grew up in Bergamo, no far from Milan and shared his mother’s love of opera and that was a start of what is now a monthly event that has been a huge success at this Mt. Vernon restaurant for 15 years.

On Sunday, October 16^th Sotto Sopra celebrates kicking off the 15^th season with a gala evening, bringing back former performers for a one night event of three sopranos and their tenor.  On this opera night, as a celebration of 15^th years, they are welcoming back Kathleen Stapleton, the soprano who performed the first Opera Night and many Opera Nights thereafter.  Joining Kathleen, by special arrangement is Diane Abel, whose operatic renditions of your favorite songs and duets entertained so many of you. Last, but far from least, is our current soprano, the versatile Karen Myers Rhodovi who amazes all our guests with her stratospheric high notes.

Opposing the exquisite singing of these 3 soprano stalwarts will be their long running tenor, Paul McIlvaine, whose musical tones have been heard at Sotto Sopra’s Opera Nights continually throughout all the opera nights. Hear all four voices as the evening opens with the resounding songs from La Traviata.

The incomparable accompanist, Thomas Hetrick, will “tickle the ivories” to complement the vocalizing that tells the stories of loves, lives and sacrifice.

Each guest will receive a free CD as a remembrance of the Opera Night 15^th Anniversary

They expect a sellout crowd; tickets should be purchased early to guarantee your evening of music, songs and the cuisine that reflects the deft hand that is Italian.

PERFORMERS

Kathleen Stapleton, Soprano

Diane Abel, Soprano

Karen Myers Rhodovi, Soprano

Paul McIlvaine, Tenor

Tom Hetrick, Pianist

MENU

Lobster and Prosciutto Crostini

Tomato and Basil Risotto with Roasted Scallop and Goat Cheese

Pomegranate Sorbet

Pan Seared Halibut

with sautéed spinach and avocado sour cream aioli

Lavender Panna Cotta

 with fig and caramel

$58 Per Person

Includes multi course dinner and live entertainment

(excludes beverages, tax and gratuity)

FUTURE OPERA NIGHTS – Save the Dates

Sundays: Nov 13^th & December 11^th

*Credit card guaranteed tickets are required for Opera Night. Parties cancelling their tickets 48 hours prior and no shows to Opera Night will be billed $50 per person in their party. 

Sotto Sopra Restaurant – 405 N. Charles Street – Baltimore MD 21201 – 410 625 0534

www.sottosoprainc.com Facebook Twitter @sottosopra  Instagram @sottosoprarestaurant

Street and valet parking available