Brunch

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Special Events Series, the Harford Community College Foundation will present a benefit gala, "Puttin' on the Ritz," next Sunday, beginning with a champagne brunch at noon in the Edgewood Hall Apprenticeship and Training Center on campus.At 3 p.m., the Palm Court Theatre Orchestra will perform dance band music from 1900 to the 1940s in the Chesapeake Theater. The colorful British troupe sings, dances, whistles, and it is known to display a "Monty Python type of humor."

In the review of Central Station in the Aug. 15 issue of Live, there were several errors.Lunch hours for the restaurant are 11: 30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Dinners hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday brunch is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.Lunch prices are $2.95 to $8.95 for appetizers and $4.95 to $8.50 for entrees. Dinner prices are $2.95 to $8.95 for appetizers and $4.95 to $22.50 for entrees. Brunch prices are $2.95 to $6.95 for appetizers and $4.95 to $12.95 for entrees.

The Maryland Homeowners Association is to install new officers Sept. 14 during a 10 a.m.-1 p.m. brunch meeting at the Golden Bull Grand Cafe, 7 Dalamar St. in Gaithersburg. The keynote speaker will be Isiah Leggett, a law professor at Howard University. Jean W. Roesser, secretary of the state Department of Aging, is scheduled to attend. For more information, call 301-654-9242.

Casey Jenkins is a charmer. All restaurant owners pay lip service to the concept of being in the business to make people happy, but the owner and chef of the new Darker Than Blue Cafe seems to mean it. His enthusiasm is infectious, even when he's just talking about his all you-can-eat brunch for $17.95. "People love it," he grins. Poor:]

John Shields hosts a Maryland Public Television Appreciation evening at Gertrude's Thursday night. The restaurant will donate 33 percent of its evening's sale to MPT. Reservations are advised. Also, beginning Nov. 10, Gertrude's will now open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m., one half hour earlier than it had been opening. Follow Baltimore Diner on Twitter @gorelickingood

BRUNCH is a mood, an event, a special time of the week, a nice place to be.Brunch is an occasion. Sometimes even a spectacle.But brunch needs to be relaxed, or it is a flop.Restaurants veer from their regular menus to put out many-splendored spreads that are, by their very nature, diverse -- breakfast, lunch, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, even dessert.Therefore, everything on a brunch buffet or menu is not for everyone. And every dish is not of equal quality.It seems, in fact, that restaurants offering brunch buffets often play to quantity rather than quality, but amid 30 or more items, almost anyone can find something to love.

Baltimore may be a diner town -- or at least Barry Levinson would have us believe it -- but sometimes all that clatter and grease can be exhausting. First Watch, a Florida-based breakfast and brunch chain, is offering a quieter and lighter alternative. The restaurant, which closes at 2:30 each afternoon, serves a simple menu of breakfast and lunch items, prepared with care and often with a focus on healthful eating. Fair or uneven: Poor:]

SUNDAY 1814 BATTLE OF NORTH POINT DEFENDERS' DAY: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., enjoy battle re-enactments, living history and family-friendly activities at Fort Howard Park, 7400 North Point Road. Go to battlenorthpoint.org. PAJAMA BRUNCH: Mother's Federal Hill Grille, 1113 S. Charles St., provides sleepyheads with a dream brunch - one that you can just roll out of bed and go to. Put on your comfy PJs (not lingerie or sweats, mind you) and enjoy 50 percent off food and drinks from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 410-244-8686.

Annapolis has a new French-inspired restaurant, Cafe la Mouffe, at 909 Bay Ridge Ave., (410) 263-2233. The cafe is in a handsome old house; its garage has become the bakery, which turns out bread, croissants and focaccia from an authentic French oven. Everything is made on the premises with all fresh ingredients, promises owner Joyce Gomoljak. Entrees range from $7 for half a chicken and salad to $12 for salmon with mango chutney and sweet potatoes.* Citronelle in the Latham Hotel will be open for Sunday brunch beginning Sept.

The Food Market opens Friday on the Avenue in Hampden. The new restaurant is the project of Chad Gauss, former executive chef at City Cafe, and Elan Kotz, a veteran of Aldo's in Little Italy. The 3,000 square-foot restaurant has seating for 90 in the dining room, a 12-seat bar and an open kitchen whose focus, Gauss has said, will be "basically blue-collar food in a white-collar execution. " The Food Market will be open for dinner seven days a week, serving a full menu until 1 a.m. An a la carte Brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday -- and Friday.