Like the old ’60s song goes, “You got soul, everybody knows that it’s all right.”
Eight years after Darker Than Blue Grille on Greenmount Avenue closed its doors, the beloved soul food eatery has reopened at a new location on North Charles Street in Mount Vernon.
Executive chef/owner Casey Jenkins, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has created a restaurant that offers such delicious, soulful menu options as blackened Louisiana catfish, chicken and waffles and slow-roasted baby back ribs. (Visit darkerthanbluegrille.com)
(BTW, Darker Than Blue will be among the participants of Baltimore Restaurant Week, which kicks off on Friday, Jan. 28, and continues through Sunday, Feb. 6. Check out baltimorerestaurantweek.com.)
Meanwhile, the traditional Greek restaurant Yeeros (that’s the correct way to pronounce the Greek dish gyros) has opened at 17 E. Cross St. in Federal Hill, where Pop Tacos used to be.
Yeeros’ menu offers authentic Greek fare including tzatziki, hummus, spanakopita, gyros, souvlaki and falafel, as well as baklava, kataifi and Greek yogurt. Both carryout and delivery service are available. (Visit youryeeros.com)
Opa!
And then there’s husband-and-wife team Lisa and Ivor Pryce, who’ve opened Lisa’s on Preston, in the spot formerly occupied by Joanne’s Grille in midtown Belvedere.
The restaurant offers a mixture of both traditional Caribbean dishes and American fare, owing to the fact that Ivor is a native of Jamaica while Lisa was born her in Charm City.
Menu items include jerk chicken, fried plantains, oxtails, coconut fried shrimp and curry goat, as well as mac-and-cheese, shrimp and grits, chicken Alfredo and red velvet cake. (Visit msha.ke/lisasonpreston)
Honorable Mentsches
During this ever-changing pandemic, Baltimore-area restaurants are doing everything within their power to stay afloat. That includes coming up with new menus and a slew of novel ideas, some of them with a lot of heart.
Case in point: Chef Nancy Longo at Pierpoint Restaurant in Fells Point now offers COVID food-aid/nurture meals for those stuck at home and living under quarantine. If you, a friend or a family member tests positive for the virus, you can make that person’s day a little brighter with comfort food from Pierpoint, including roast chicken, lots of different kinds of soups, sherbet (for sore throats), mashed potatoes, bread and pasta. (Call 410-675-2080 for delivery or pickup.)
Another case in point: The recent debacle of hundreds of snowbound motorists stuck on a 50-mile stretch of I-95 between D.C and Richmond, Va., without food or water for more than 24 hours. Stuck behind a Schmidt Baking Co. truck, Ellicott City native Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, decided on a whim to make a call to H&S Bakery in Fells Point.
They got through to Chuck Paterakis, co-owner of H&S and retail distributor of Schmidt Baking, who asked them to approach the truck and give the phone to the driver. Then, the driver and these Good Samaritans, at the direction of Paterakis, distributed free potato rolls and wheat loaves to other hungry drivers.
I’ve often said that Baltimore’s food industry people are THE most generous individuals you’ll ever find, and this is just one more example of that kindness. Kudos to H&S and all those involved in this touching story.
Flying The COOP
A popular restaurant and live entertainment venue, The COOP American Bistro on York Road in Lutherville/Timonium, has closed.
A message from the owners was posted on their Facebook page: “Despite all our efforts, passion, and the great joy we had bringing fabulous live music [local and national] to Baltimore County, we just could not make enough money to justify our time and efforts. We now have to move on to our next gig!”
The property was sold to the breakfast chain Eggspectation and is Eggspected to open soon.
The owners of The Queen’s Truckstaurant restaurant in Hampden and Gypsy Queen Food Truck have retired, and the business is currently for sale. (Where will we get our crab cones now?)
Lastly, Larder, the Old Goucher neighborhood restaurant, has closed, but keep an eye out for pop-ups. A message on their Instagram states, “After nearly two years of pushing through this pandemic, we have decided to close our doors at 3 W. 23rd Street. In the new year, we’ll continue to offer workshops, pop-ups, and small scale catering as a nomadic entity that we are calling Larder At Home. Keep an eye on IG and sign up for our mailing list [link in bio] to stay connected.”
Randi Rom is president of RJ Rom & Associates. She is a freelance columnist and writer who represents some of the region’s top restaurants and food-related events. Contact her at randirom@comcast.net.
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