Crab Imperial

Every city needs a restaurant like Haussner's.Devotees feel passionate about it, and not just because of the food."If they change one iota, if they move one painting, it will be a disaster," local restaurant consultant Diane Neas said when she heard about the closing.Of all Baltimore's eating places, Haussner's best embodies the city's past. Step into the large main dining room, with its fabled art collection, dark-paneled walls, spotless white table linens and waitresses known for their longevity, and you step into another era.It was an era when you went to a restaurant to have a great time.

Today: An Argentine-bred mare raced exclusively in New York will be the likely choice over four locally raced geldings in the $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap.Carta de Amor, riding a four-race winning streak at Aqueduct, will make a rare appearance away from the Big Apple while assuming the role of favorite in the 44th running.Trained by Juan Serey and owned by John Rotella, Carta de Amor beat five male opponents in the Gray Lag Handicap while carrying 113 pounds over a muddy strip.She'll be accompanied by regular rider Vladimir Diaz for the 1 3/16-mile event and pick up two pounds.

A good fish place is hard to find, especially one that offers selection and quality in the middle of winter.So it's worth heading for Busch's Chesapeake Inn, tucked on Busch's Frontage Road off U.S. 50 on the way to the Bay Bridge. The only deterrent may be the price, which is a little steep for most post-holiday pockets.The original restaurant was little more than a large shack, measuring 20 feet by 20 feet and without electricity or plumbing when it opened in 1946. The inn, then known as "Busch's Dri-Vin," offered only a few options: hamburgers, hot dogs and crab cakes.

The restaurant seems to have been there forever, but it's really only 61 years since Snyder's Willow Grove opened its doors along Hammonds Ferry Road.Even its name speaks to another era -- and a lost bucolic setting near the banks of the Patapsco.Fast-forward toward the end of the millennium, and you find a large, boxy building on the edge of an exit ramp from a bustling beltway that could just as well house a mail-processing operation or an assembly line.But inside the doors, past the lounge and banquet rooms, you'll find quite another story -- an almost elegant dining room with green and white decor, heavy white tablecloths, and a long, classic menu leaning toward surf and turf options.

At seaside tavernas in the Greek islands, it's not uncommon to pick out exactly what you'd like prepared for dinner from a display of whole raw fish.You can have the same experience at the Greek Islands restaurant in Highlandtown - at least on weekends. Michael Katsaros and his sons, George and Emanuel, have fish from Greece and the Mediterranean region flown in from a New York distributor every Friday. Since we visited midweek, we didn't have the option of choosing from the raw-fish display.

Eldridge Milton Walker, whose catering firm was known for its lavish repasts that featured such Tidewater area gourmet specialties as Diamondback Terrapin and crab imperial, died Sunday from complications of diabetes at Union Memorial Hospital.The Northeast Baltimore resident was 66.For more than three decades until retiring and closing the business in 1991, he operated Gorsuch Caterers, whose slogan was, "For Fine Foods and Service that makes yours the Special Occasion."Mr. Walker was a familiar figure at area social gatherings, ranging from political fund-raisers to North Baltimore debutante parties and private dinners.

More than the watering hole of the ChesapeakeMy family and I moved to Annapolis two years ago from Montgomery County. We did so precisely because Annapolis is a special place. We chose the historic district because it is a collection of human-sized neighborhoods in the center of a small, bustling city.I have not been involved in the pushing and shoving that seems to be dominating Annapolis at the moment. I have been trying, however, to understand and have found it difficult.I fail to see how increasing the number of bars and nightclubs and extending their hours can possibly be seen as progress.

Not many places are prettier this time of year than Ladew, near Monkton, one of the country's best-known topiary gardens. The good news is that the food at the Cafe at Ladew Gardens, recently taken over by Jane Fallon Caterers, is worthy of the surroundings.I'm not talking about the immediate surroundings. The cafe is located in what once must have been Harvey Smith Ladew's stables. They've been converted into a pleasant eating space with a low, whitewashed beamed ceiling and stone floor.

Timbuktu, 1726 Dorsey Road, Hanover, (410) 796-0733. Open Mondays to Saturdays for lunch and dinner, Sundays for dinner only. Major credit cards. No-smoking area: yes. Wheelchair-accessible: yes. Prices: appetizers, $6.95-$7.95; entrees, $8.95-$28.95. No, it's not the town on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. It's a big, sprawling restaurant near BWI Airport, where the most exotic food on the menu is probably the manicotti.And surely the owners didn't name their restaurant Timbuktu to suggest that it's hard to get to. (According to the menu, the main access to the city in the Republic of Mali is by camel.

THE LANDINGWhere: 123rd Street, bay side, (410) 250-0400Hours: Dinner served 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. dailyCredit cards: Accepts all major credit cardsWe had misgivings about the Landing when we walked into the restaurant. It was crowded with families, toddlers and squirming infants in the dining room, and we braced ourselves for a noisy and hurried meal.We needn't have been alarmed. Our visit turned out to be pleasant and relaxing.The restaurant staff expertly manages diners -- big and small -- and the room configuration divides the dining area into small sections that provide some privacy.

Kolpers is that roadhouse restaurant you see, and wonder about, whenever you're biking, hiking or driving the back way into Hampden or Woodberry. It turns out that's the backside view of Kolpers, from which it looks like a small-town party palace. Approached from the front, though, Kolpers looks more like a place you'd go for a quiet sit-down dinner. This makes Kolpers a mullet restaurant ("business in the front, party in the back"), and a little bit frustrating, too. There is a bar world here and a dining world, and they feel disconnected, although they don't have to be. The bar, even early on a weeknight, feels like a friendly hangout for regulars, with folks around the bar enjoying light fare - quesadillas, burgers and ribs.

My rule of thumb in ordering at the new Riptide by the Bay in Fells Point is this: If it goes with beer, go for it. That means, for instance, you will be perfectly happy with the steamed crabs. They are homegrown, cooked to order with a seasoning mix that involves a lot of Old Bay but also some other ingredients like extra red pepper. Ours were meaty and not waterlogged. Come to think of it, Riptide may be Fells Point's only crab house. Obrycki's and Mo's are nearby, but they aren't in Fells Point proper.

Martha Nielson of Trenton, N.J., was hoping someone would have the recipe for a Crab Imperial dish similar to the one she and her husband used to enjoy on their trips to Maryland. It was served at Busch's restaurant in Cape St. Claire. The restaurant closed several years ago and though she has tried many recipes for Crab Imperial, none has come close to the light and fluffy one with a cheesy topping that was served at Busch's. Unfortunately, we did not receive any responses from our readers for a Crab Imperial with a cheese topping.

Mary Ann Hofmeister, a homemaker who enjoyed gardening, died of renal failure July 26 at Brighton Gardens in Towson. The former Lutherville resident was 87. Born Mary Ann Costen in Princess Anne, she attended Somerset County schools. She moved to Baltimore in the late 1930s and met her future husband, Charles Albert Hofmeister, a Bethlehem Steel metallurgical engineer. They married in 1942 and lived in Sparrows Point until moving to Lutherville in 1955. She retired to Salisbury in the l980s and lived there until this year, when she and her husband moved to Towson.

Food ** 1/2 (2 1/2 STARS) Service *** (3 STARS) Atmosphere *** (3 STARS) The Crackpot in Bel Air, a sibling to the Baltimore institution of the same name, looks like it belongs in a marina. You expect to see the water from the windows. Of course, what you actually see is a parking lot and a Target, but the illusion is good. When the owners of the original Crackpot decided to expand after 28 years, they spared no expense. This is a crab house deluxe, with two kitchens, an interior waterfall and fishpond, and its own seafood market.

You walk up to the display case, where you examine all sorts of fresh fish and seafood. You make your pick. You choose how you'd like it cooked - broiled, fried or grilled - and, perhaps, what kind of sauce you'd like with it. You choose two side dishes. Ten minutes later, your meal is delivered to you. Are you at one of Baltimore's finest seafood restaurants? You could be. But you could also be at Parkville's newest seafood place, Conrad's Crabs & Seafood Market. Obviously, not your usual seafood market.

If you've driven around Padonia and York roads lately, you may have noticed a new face on the corner. Rib 'N Reef has taken the spot vacated last November by Gibby's. John Bartsocas, who bought the space with his nephews George Tragas and Pete Vavaroutsosos, says while you won't find steamed crabs on the menu, there's plenty of other seafood to choose from. And then some. The menu is extensive. Let's start with the appetizers. They include crab imperial ($11.95); ahi tuna wrapped in nori and panko, flash-fried and served with a warm sake dipping sauce ($9.95)

FOOD *** ( 3 STARS) SERVICE *** (3 STARS) ATMOSPHERE ** (2 STARS) Let's face it. Haussner's is a hard act to follow. Not so much because of the food. In its last years, I never heard people say the food was why they ate there. But Haussner's was one of the few restaurants that could be legitimately described as a Baltimore landmark. It was wonderfully fun to be sitting at one of the white-clothed tables, even if your fish was overcooked or the famous strawberry pie didn't have much taste.

August may be the time for folks to go away. This year, it seems it's also the time for some local restaurants to disappear. The popular Owings Mills bistro Due closed recently. However, its food can still be found in its sister restaurant, Linwood's, right next door. One of Linwood's managers, Rachel Zundell, says the Due menu was rolled into that of Linwood's. The Due space is being turned into a catering venue. Linwood's Restaurant, 410-356-3030, is at 25 Crossroads Drive. Lunch is served 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Sometimes the big chain restaurants -- the ones with the loud commercials on television and the paste-on-a-smile themes -- remind of a gaudy cubic zirconium ring. They're so bright, with their oversized portions, colorful menus and "Hi, I'm Suzy" service, but they're not the real thing. And then there's Brewers Hill, a small, imperfect diamond among local restaurants. It is a real Baltimore restaurant, not part of a chain, and in its own way it s just right. Given the choice between a giant fake hunk of glitter and a small diamond, I think most of us would choose the diamond.