Ronnie Brooks, Yanna Foster and Victoria Coleman make up the gospel group Immeasurable. As of last week, they are also the owners of a new soul food restaurant, Immeasurable Chicken & Waffle (1700 W. Pratt St., 888-801-2863).
I asked the group's assistant, Michelle Guess, why a gospel group would open a restaurant.
"They wanted a place the community could have a good, nonalcoholic time," she said. "They wanted to bring back something positive to Baltimore."
Chicken and waffles are a good place to start, but the menu doesn't stop there. You can get your chicken fried, barbecued or jerked, with corn, greens, beans, sweet potatoes, potato salad, mac and cheese, or macaroni salad. Sandwiches and subs are also available.
The signature dish is the Immeasurable Chicken Supreme, an "enormous" grilled chicken breast and waffle smothered in gravy. Of course, after that you'll have room for a slice of cake (lemon, pound or chocolate) or sweet potato pie.
Guess promises Immeasurable doesn't look like your usual chicken and waffle place. It has an "edgy, contemporary feel," with both regular and high-top tables, booths, a lounge for coffee, plasma TVs and free wi-fi. The colors are red, white and gold. The building's second floor will be home to a Christian club soon.
Immeasurable Chicken & Waffle is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Italian in Ellicott City : I've written quite a bit about the closing of Jordan's Steakhouse in Ellicott City in this column. Now it looks like the space at 8085 Main St will be a new Italian restaurant called Portalli's.
Lee Biars, managing partner of Diamondback Tavern in Ellicott City, said the owners of Diamondback have joined with new investors to open the restaurant sometime in mid- to late November, assuming the necessary licenses come through on time (always a chancy assumption).
"Portalli" is a family name (on his mother's side) of one of the new owners, Evan Brown. He'll be leaving as general manager of the Greystone Grill to go to the new place. The executive chef will be Keith Holsey, also at Greystone. Holsey was a sous chef at Jordan's before that.
The menu is still being developed, but dinner entrees should cost somewhere between $10 and $25.
