Wash. DC/Baltimore Retail and Restaurant Development

[TampaMike]

All articles and discussions about retail and restaurant development can happen here!

[jamie_hunt]

Where in the city of Baltimore can you buy a simple metal fork? 'Cause the outlet in the corner is lookin' at me funny ...

[dtzeigler]

I think it's restaurant week here in Baltimore

[Exrexnotex]

Restaurant week from Jan 28 - Feb 3 ! good deals throughout the city !

[Eerik]

Originally Posted by Exrexnotex

Restaurant week from Jan 28 - Feb 3 ! good deals throughout the city !

Restaurant week sucks: mobs of people, hence poor service, with overworked kitchens, resulting in bad food. It's fine to try a joint you've never visited before, but stay away from those establishments you favor: you'll certainly be disappointed.

For food conversation, such as suggestions and critiques, I normally go to www.Chowhound.com

[jamie_hunt]

Originally Posted by Eerik

Restaurant week sucks: mobs of people, hence poor service, with overworked kitchens, resulting in bad food. ...

Wonderfully succinct critique. Sounds like a good opportunity for my "waitron, there's a hair in my souffle" schtick. Free meals all around!

As a former prep cook and bartender I should have more mercy but, hey: guy's gotta eat.

[Archiconnoisseur]

Originally Posted by jamie_hunt

As a former prep cook and bartender I should have more mercy but, hey: guy's gotta eat.

It ain't the eatin' that worries me, but the digestin'.

[hpal3]

http://www.mammaluciarestaurants.com/

My favorite pizza joint! New location at Gateway Overlook in Columbia.
Or in Silver Spring at Blair Shops.

[PeterSmith]

BACVA launches campaign to tout Baltimore’s restaurants
ROBBIE WHELAN
Daily Record Business Writer
January 27, 2008 6:18 PM

Paris has its café culture; London’s “gastro-pubs” have lately been drawing hordes of hungry meat-eaters; and Baltimore — it’s the city of the blue crab, right?

Not if city officials have anything to say about it.

The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association has launched a $60,000 public relations campaign to try to reinvent the city as a diverse culinary destination for out-of-town foodies — not just a place to get a good crab cake.

With the rapid development of the Harbor East entertainment district and national attention garnered by chefs such as Cindy Wolf and Timothy Dean, city officials are set on showing tourists the tasty side of Baltimore.

On the weekend of Jan. 11, the city spent $10,000 to fly 10 journalists and their guests to Baltimore, put them up in a fancy hotel and rent a limousine to shuttle them between the city’s best and newest restaurants, including Lebanese Taverna, Cinghiale, Timothy Dean Bistro, Pazo, Lemongrass, and Rocket to Venus, as well as several older stalwarts, including Gertrude’s and Café Hon.

The goal of the Baltimore Culinary Tour, as the event was known, was to highlight Baltimore’s restaurant scene and generate articles in out-of-town publications.

The tour organizers also made a concerted effort to court gay and lesbian travelers by including writers and editors from popular gay-interest media outlets.

“What the city has done is very smart,” said Tony Foreman, husband of chef Cindy Wolf and co-owner of the Charleston, Pazo, Petit Louis Bistro and Cinghiale. “I’ve spent the last 12 years trying to get people to come to my hometown and dine.”

Foreman played host to the journalists for tasting of a dozen Italian wines at Cinghiale in Harbor East.

“The one thing that’s disheartening for an independent [restaurant] is when you see the crowds at the chain restaurants,” he said. “Do locals in New York go to chains? No. Do San Franciscans go to chains? No.”

But according to Michael Sansom, editor of Restaurant Hospitality magazine, it’s not an issue of chains. Baltimore can’t compete with bigger cities, he said, simply because it doesn’t have enough good chefs.

“[Baltimore] is hardly a New York or a San Francisco or Chicago, and its culinary scene is OK, but hardly worth boasting about,” he said. “How many nationally known chefs are there? Two or three? In Chicago, you could probably name 30 amazing chefs, pretty easily.”

Nancy Hinds, vice president for public affairs for BACVA, couldn’t disagree more.

“Baltimore’s restaurant scene is growing by leaps and bounds,” she said. “There used to be a time when you could only go to one or two good restaurants in Baltimore, and the landscape has really changed.”

Sam Rogers, another BACVA executive, said that the culinary tour was just “the opening salvo” in a long-term food marketing effort.

“This whole culinary push will become integrated with all the other promotional efforts in the city,” he said. “We have great hotel properties, wonderful Inner Harbor, two great art museums, coupled with the symphony, the theater, all of it together driving visitation to the city.”

The tour was timed to coincide with Baltimore Winter Restaurant Week, a $50,000 BACVA venture that begins Monday and provides discounted three-course meals at 84 local restaurants.

Many cities, including Washington and Philadelphia, have similar events in both summer and winter, but this year is Baltimore’s first cold-weather restaurant week promotion.

“These promotions attract diners to restaurants at times when business would otherwise be slow,” said Mike Evitts, of the Downtown Partnership, BACVA’s partnering sponsor for the event. “Having an exciting and happening restaurant scene is a sign of civic health.”

One of the journalists on the tour was Donna Hudelson, a night-time editor for the York Dispatch, a paper whose readership lives about an hour’s drive from Baltimore. But she said that although she enjoyed the tour, she isn’t sure she’ll write anything about the city’s food.

Brian Jewell, an arts writer for Boston’s Bay Windows, had never been to Baltimore before the tour. He said that the city exceeded all his expectations food-wise and that he plans to write a large piece about the city in a special March travel issue.

“They called it the ‘Taste of Baltimore’ tour, and I just got a taste of it,” he said. “I would like to see more of the city.”

[dtzeigler]

Baltimore really needs to look at what Philly did in bringing in new restaurants. The restaurants in Philly significantly improved Philly's image and in some cases had restaraunts launching in Philly first and then going to NYC

[TheGlobalizer]

Lots of good food in Bmore.

[PeterSmith]

Caught this little blurb from the Sun....


http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/ente.../reviews/blog/
Two new places to open this week

It looks as if Luca's Cafe will be opening tomorrow in Locust Point at 1230 E. Fort Ave. where Truman's bar was. This is the place that has a sort-of connection to Matthew's Pizza. One of the owners of Matthew's, Chris Maler, is also involved with Luca's; but he has a new partner, Lando Orsino.

Luca's thin-crusted pies will be very unlike Matthew's, and the place will have a lot more than pizzas. The menu will include sandwiches, salads, appetizers and entrees, ranging from Hungarian goulash ($11) to a crab cake platter ($26).

Orsino was a happy man when I talked to him this afternoon. The restaurant's liquor license had just come through.

Friday the Kali's Court restaurant group should finally be able to open Meli (one more permit is needed) at 1640 Thames St. in Fells Point. It will be a European cafe, bistro and patisserie; and the chef will be Rashad Edwards from Kali's and Mezze.

[StevenW]

Originally Posted by jamie_hunt

Where in the city of Baltimore can you buy a simple metal fork? 'Cause the outlet in the corner is lookin' at me funny ...

No bed, bath and beyond anywhere downtown? How about Williams and Sonoma?

[pfd103]

RA sushi is a great example of a place that Baltimore got before DC, Philly, NY, etc...I enjoyed it quite a bit (though is a bit pricey).

http://www.rasushi.com/

[Liam0711]

I heard some guy from the food network will be in town when they open up a new bakery...I think its called love cake or something...some good PR though.

[MarkR01]

Originally Posted by Liam0711

I heard some guy from the food network will be in town when they open up a new bakery...I think its called love cake or something...some good PR though.

Yeah, its called CakeLove (http://www.cakelove.com/)

It was started by a DC lawyer named Warren Brown, not the notorious criminal attorney in Baltimore.

My aunt is using it for her wedding, I tried some of a sample my mom brought home, it was pretty good; they also have baked goods to (cupcakes, cookies, etc.) to take away from their Can Company location.

[Archiconnoisseur]

Originally Posted by StevenW

No bed, bath and beyond anywhere downtown? How about Williams and Sonoma?

As any two year-old knows, this is the best way to deal with a provocative outlet.

[PeterSmith]

Outdoor seating is one way to really liven up a neighborhood. Hopefully, this trend continues.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/bal...1608400&page=1

Recipe for revenue: Restauranteurs look to outdoor seating, catering to spur sales
Baltimore Business Journal - by Julekha Dash Staff

Customers at Slainte's rooftop deck bar in Fells Point bought 31,000 Coronas last summer.

So the bar's owners hope to ring in more sales by adding 28 outdoor seats at Slainte and the adjacent Kooper's Tavern in the spring.

They aren't stopping there. For another $12,000, they plan to add more tables and chairs and a new sound system and lighting to accommodate live entertainment. And the bars' proprietors hope to corral more customers by adding catering services and wine dinners and sales.

The reason?

"It's a tough market right now," said Patrick J. Russell, one of the bars' owners. "Every time you turn on the news every money manager and politician says we're in a recession, and a lot of people believe what they hear." Sales at his bars were down 6 percent in January and February compared to last year.

Russell, along with many other bar and restaurant owners in Baltimore, wants to find new ways to grow his business, especially as the economy cools. He is among a growing number of restaurant owners who have applied recently for outdoor seating, off-premise catering or live entertainment -- and in some cases all three -- with the board of liquor license commissioners for Baltimore City.

Other owners tell a different story: Their business is booming and adding outdoor seats is a way they can match supply and demand. Still others hope outdoor seats can add more street life in areas that are undergoing a revitalization.

Though the Feb. 1 statewide smoking ban prompted several bar owners to add outdoor tables, it is not the main reason why Baltimore City's liquor board heard eight requests for outdoor seating in February or March. It typically hears one or two requests per month.

"As business people, we are all looking for ways to grow our business," said Nelson Carey, who owns Clipper Mill restaurant Woodberry Kitchen along with Spike Gjerde.

To stir up sales, some business owners are venturing into catering, live entertainment and outdoor seating all at once. Liquor board officials think that some restaurant owners want to save time and money by applying for several permits at once. As long as they are investing the time to get the necessary permits for outdoor seating, why not also obtain a permit for entertainment or catering, said Stephan W. Fogleman, chairman of the Baltimore board of liquor license commissioners.
The board anticipates hearing half a dozen catering application requests between February and April. Restaurant owners say catering is a way to boost an establishment's visibility.

For the owners of Little Havana on Key Highway, catering could bring an extra $75,000 a year, said co-owner Timothy Whitsted. The Baltimore City liquor board approved Little Havana's request Feb. 28.

By catering events, Whitsted said he hopes to let more people know about the restaurant's Cuban food, particularly as he plans to open a second Little Havana location in Annapolis.

Many restaurant owners do not need to hire additional staff or make a big investment by catering events, because they rely on the same staff and equipment as they do to run their restaurant.

"Almost every restaurant around town does catering," Whitsted said. "It's a way to run two businesses at once."

Finding ways to cut costs and add revenue is a concern among restaurant owners throughout the state, said Lauren Shipley, the Restaurant Association of Maryland's director of marketing. Restaurant owners are adding less expensive menu items like pasta and pushing drink and food specials.

But at other restaurants, businesses are trying to keep up with the demand and adding outdoor seats will help them bank more revenue. The 3-month-old Woodberry Kitchen has been busy every night since it opened, Carey said.

Adding 30 seats outside will increase its seating capacity by one-third. Carey also wants to add 16 outdoor seats at the Grand Cru, a wine bar in Belvedere Square that he manages. By doing so, the bar, which gets more business in the winter, could boost its summer sales, Carey said.

The owners of the Edge Bar & Lounge, located south of Charles Village, wanted to expand their business with outdoor tables because they are optimistic about efforts to revitalize their neighborhood.

Humanim Inc., a Columbia nonprofit that provides health services to the disabled, is moving 250 workers to the former American Brewery at 1701 Gay St. next year. That move, plus a $35 million renovation of the building led by Gotham Development, of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., is expected to breathe new life into the area, co-owner Joann Butler said. "That kind of money hasn't been pumped into the community in God knows how long," Butler said.

[StevenW]

I like eating outdoors sometimes.

[Ty Doggie]

As far as restaurants, Baltimore needs serious overhaul. Local venues are dying and we need to have some of them back.

RIP Hauslinger.