If you can't make it up the JFX for lunch," Mary-Margaret Stepanian told me, "the girl is downtown and ready to serve you."
The "girl" is Miss Shirley's, which opened a second location recently in the Constellation Energy building (750 E. Pratt St., 410-528-5373, miss shirleys.com). Stepanian is vice president for PR and marketing for the Classic Catering People/Crazy Man Restaurants, which owns Miss Shirley's.
Jeff Hilbert is the new executive chef, trained by Brigitte Bledsoe, who headed the kitchen of the very popular first Miss Shirley's in Roland Park and now has the title of corporate chef. Both places feature a new autumn/winter menu, which is, Stepanian says, "all about comfort food." The menus do have a few interesting differences.
FOR THE RECORD - The address of the new Abbey Burger Bistro is incorrect in today's Table Talk column in the You & Taste section, which was printed earlier. The correct address is 1041 Marshall St.
THE BALTIMORE SUN REGRETS THE ERROR
The downtown location, for instance, offers a crab cake.
"Downtown business people like to have a crab cake," Stepanian says.
There's also a Crab Cristo, based on the Monte Cristo sandwich: a crab cake, Swiss cheese, and ham with - whew - a "creamy honey mustard citrus aioli."
At the new Miss Shirley's, the turkey burger has been replaced by a beef burger. Businessmen downtown, I guess, like their meat, while Ladies Who Lunch in Roland Park tend to go for the healthier alternative.
Prices range from $8.99 for an all-beef kosher hot dog wrapped in bacon (!) to $15.99 for a "bistro beef" sandwich. Crab dishes are market-priced. The elaborate breakfast dishes Miss Shirley's is famous for are available all day.
The new place seats about 125 and is decorated with comfortable furnishings and cheerful colors like sunshine, goldenrod, deep red and toast.
Right now the hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, but plans are afoot to keep the restaurant open on the weekends starting in April.
New bistro I wasn't sure another restaurant would open in my lifetime in the space where Gampy's was at 904 N. Charles St., but Marie Louise's Bistro finally has. The space has been completely redone, with drywall taken out and brick exposed. There's a mezzanine with a bar (and soon to be lounge), and on the first floor is a coffee bar.
The food is French, Italian and Mediterranean, with some local dishes thrown in for good measure. Dinner entrees run from $12.95 for a chicken breast with artichokes to $17.95 for beef tenderloin.
