ANNAPOLIS -- Governor Ehrlich -- right. Try that once more: Governor Ehrlich.
Forgive David Hartung if this takes getting used to, as the last time he and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. hung out the kid's name was Bobby and the town was Arbutus and the protocols somewhat less -- well, there were none. Much of a lifetime later, their divergent paths have crossed at Government House in Annapolis, where Ehrlich and his family now live and where Hartung works as a sous-chef.
"It's a funny situation. It's a small world. You never know who you're going to meet," says Hartung.
In the presence of others, if not one-on-one with the governor, certain proprieties have to be observed, he says.
"It's really tough calling him `Governor Ehrlich,' " says Hartung. "It's so weird to see him coming in the front door -- `Hey, it's Bobby.' "
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Hartung and Ehrlich should wind up in these august surroundings. They hadn't seen each other in more than 30 years before that day in early December when Hartung strolled out of the Government House kitchen with a plate of cookies for the first lady, Kendel Ehrlich. There was old Bobby, er, Governor Ehrlich.
"I was just fighting back tears," says Hartung. "I'm very proud of him."
"I just couldn't believe it," says Ehrlich, who did not find out Hartung was on the kitchen staff until shortly after he had won the election. "He had been my best friend growing up in the apartments on Maiden Choice Lane."
Hartung made it to Government House some months ahead of his childhood buddy, having taken the job last May. He'll spend the immediate future of his working life tending to Ehrlich's culinary demands, which so far appear to be entirely reasonable.
"They're just regular eaters," says Hartung. "They eat healthy."
The Ehrlichs and their toddling son, Drew, only moved in at the end of January, so it's hard for Hartung and his fellow sous-chef, John Leszczynski, to say how the pattern of menus and mealtimes will take shape. At the moment, it's clear the Ehrlichs are not as particular about organic ingredients as Ehrlich's Democratic predecessor, Parris N. Glendening, but neither is it time to lay in a heavy supply of french fries, Krispy Kremes and burgers.
A couple of weeks ago, Maryland's first Republican governor since Spiro T. Agnew invited Hartung and Leszczynski up to his private dining room to talk about food. Seems the governor watches his fat intake the way his supporters anticipate he'll mind the state budget.
