Last week was not a good week for fine dining along Charles Street in the Mount Vernon area.
First came the news that Ixia was closing, which it did on June 26. Then the building that houses the Brass Elephant - once known as the most beautiful restaurant in Baltimore - was put up for sale. The Brass Elephant remains open.
In an ideal world, said Randy Stahl, one of the owners, the building would be sold but not the business. The restaurant and catering company would become a tenant, make improvements like putting in an elevator and a first-floor bathroom, and would try to hold on until the economy improves.
But if someone wanted to buy the building, the restaurant, the catering business and the liquor license?
"For the right price," Stahl said, "it's available."
Finally, we learned that Neo Viccino will be closing July 3 and reopening as a sports bar.
Neo Viccino wasn't literally fine dining, but it didn't just serve bar food either, and concertgoers enjoyed its imaginative bistro fare before a performance.
Buffalo wings, anyone?
The most immediate permanent loss, though, is Ixia. When it closed its doors Friday, Baltimore lost something rare and strange. Dinner at Ixia was dining out as performance art. You walked in and felt you were on a stage set - the lofty ceilings, dark blue walls, gold-leaf columns, filmy curtains and dramatic pop art paintings.
Luckily, the New American cuisine created by executive chef Kevin Miller lived up to the setting and more. When I last reviewed it four years ago, I gave our meal 3 1/2 stars.
"If you like your food as theater," I said in my review, "Miller delivers a bravura performance."
Given that the atmosphere was every bit as important as the food and service, it's not surprising that the spokesman for Ixia was David Briskie, an interior designer and close friend of the owner, Un Kim.
I asked him if the recession was why Ixia closed. Ixia was very expensive - and not quite in the right neighborhood to be that expensive.
"In part," he said. "But we did what we wanted to do here. It's time to move on. We decided to close not for any one particular reason."
I asked where Miller would be going; Briskie said the chef hasn't made any decision yet. However, Brendan Dorr, the beverage director and frequent bartender at Ixia, has been hired as head bartender at the B&O American Brasserie, scheduled to open later this summer.
