Elizabeth Large

Where do I go to find out [a restaurant's] sanitation rating? I'm from a state where ratings are posted at the door, leaving nothing to chance. - Timisha Porcher I love California's system, where restaurants get a letter grade from the health department, which they have to post prominently in front. Baltimore's system is more pass-fail. The city health department doesn't give ratings, but it does, of course, inspect places. The information on a particular restaurant is available to the public; you have to go to the department in person to get it. Have a question about dining out in the Baltimore area?

Richard Gorelick, a freelance writer known for his witty and insightful prose style, has been named The Baltimore Sun's new restaurant critic. When Gorelick joins the paper Monday, his duties will include reviewing the area's impressive array of restaurants and operating the Sun's successful food blog. Dining at Large was started by former restaurant critic Elizabeth Large, who retired in February after 37 years on the beat. "Richard will do a great job," Large said. "His reviews are very knowledgeable and fun to read.

The Palmer HouseThe Palmer House, 108 N. Eutaw St., 410-752-8969. Tired of homogenized, cookie-cutter restaurants? Then head on over to Eutaw Street, two doors south of Lexington Market and five blocks north of Oriole Park to "The Original Palmer House." The walls are jammed with photos: Everyone from Babe Ruth to Blair Lee and then some. There's a card reader in residence, should you want a look into the future while you wait for dinner. The menu offers pasta, plenty of seafood, sandwiches and an interesting array of vegetables, such as kale and cooked cabbage.

In 1973 a brash young critic had dinner at Danny's, the most acclaimed restaurant in Baltimore. She ate steak Diane flambe and escalopes de veau a la francaise, and wrote that the restaurant "never quite lives up to its pretensions." It was the start of a most amazing career -- mine, as a restaurant critic of The Baltimore Sun. After almost 37 years on the job, I'm retiring with this column. A couple of weeks ago, I had my last meal on The Sun, a large bowl of pho dac biet with round steak, flank, brisket, beef tendon and tripe at Pho Dat Thanh in Towson.

We've all seen enough cute photos of kids with Santa Claus. We're looking for the outtakes -- the pictures showing little Billy squirming off Santa's lap or Suzy crying. Send us the photos you didn't give the grandparents for Christmas, and we'll publish the best of them in the Modern Life section on Sunday, Dec. 17. Address them to Elizabeth Large, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278. You can also e-mail them to elizabeth.large@baltsun.com. Each photo should be accompanied by your name, your child's name and age, the date of the photo and your daytime phone number.

Wrong numberIn last week's item on Weber's, I reversed two digits of the phone number. It should have read 410-276-0800. My apologies.Table Talk welcomes interesting tidbits of restaurant news. Please send suggestions to Elizabeth Large, Table Talk, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278; fax to 410-783-2519; or e-mail to elizabeth.largaltsun.com.@

There is a relatively new restaurant at 1717 Eastern Ave., which once housed one of my favorites, The Spanish Meson. What is the name of the new one and are there any reviews? I would like to take a friend there for her birthday. - Barbara Phillips The restaurant is Timothy Dean Bistro, a fine addition to Fells Point. You can read my review at baltimoresun.com. Do you ever find that a particular dislike of a food or dish interferes with your reviews? If you hated cheese, for example, and the house specialty was a cheese dish, I would think it would be problematic writing a fair review.

More ChampagneFirst it was Champagne Tony's in Federal Hill. Then it was Champagne Tony's in the Belvedere. Now Champagne Tony a.k.a. Pauli Santi has left the Belvedere to open a new bar and grill, Santi's (3321 Eastern Blvd., [410] 391-2725). The restaurant, which should open by the end of the month, will feature homestyle cooking plus imaginative Italian dishes. Prices will range from $5 to $14.Meanwhile Champagne Tony's in the Belvedere has a new chef, Sean Haase, who comes from the Wild Mushroom in Canton.

Cuba libre!Baltimore's first upscale Cuban restaurant is finally open, as of yesterday. Neighbors were concerned Little Havana, 1325A Key Highway, would be a mega-bar disguised as a restaurant, and that held things up. But owners Tim Whisted and Richard von Lange convinced them otherwise, so now you can eat grilled swordfish with mango and blueberries or peppercorn-coated pork tenderloin with 10-bean salsa in the chic, colorful dining room. And don't miss the bar itself, a work of art made of antique pressed-tin tiles.

The Ground RoundThe Ground Round, 8810 Waltham Woods Road, (410) 668-9062. The Ground Round touts itself as a place "where kids can relax . . . and grown-ups can have fun." Few would quarrel. Children are definitely welcome; the youngsters' menu offers eight typical dishes and there's complimentary popcorn for those who can't wait another minute. The regular menu offers a big selection of sandwiches, salads, soups, burgers, chicken, steak and seafood. $ 1/2 -- moderately inexpensive (Last visited 5/92.

Those restaurants traditionally thought of as most romantic are also the ones most likely to be crowded, with rushed servers and an overworked kitchen. Not romantic. My advice if you have to go out on Valentine's Eve (Saturday) or Day (Sunday) is to make an offbeat choice. There might not be quite the atmosphere; but you probably won't spend as much, and no one will mind if you linger, gazing longingly into each other's eyes. I have, however, included a couple of destination places in case you do feel like spending a little money.

If Elizabeth Large isn't hungry for dessert after dinner, very soon she will not order it. The longtime Baltimore Sun restaurant critic plans to retire and start dining out like a civilian. "It will be nice to be able to order exactly what I want and not order more than I want because I need to test it," said Large, who announced Tuesday that she will retire at the end of the month, nearly 37 years after her first restaurant review. In that span, Large has seen exotic cuisine, small plates and big names come to a restaurant scene once dominated by crab fluffs and sour beef and dumplings.

Because I don't eat out during Restaurant Week, I decided to make up a list of blog commenter recommendations for my Top 10 Places for Restaurant Week that appeared on Dining@Large (baltimoresun.com/diningatlarge) on Jan. 12. Most of them are pretty obvious - a good restaurant is a good restaurant - but a couple you might not have thought of. Here's an alphabetical list of restaurants where commenters think you'll get the most bang for your buck during Winter Restaurant Week, Jan. 22-Feb.

From Harborplace to cyberspaceWondering where Books for Cooks went when it closed in Harborplace? Try your computer. The new online cookbook store offers some 10,000 books about food in more than 140 categories. Located at www.books-for-cooks.com, the store accepts credit cards, checks and money orders.Her specialty's the icing on a cakeDebbie Morris isn't exactly Baker to the Stars yet, but she has created cakes for the likes of Kirstie Alley, Cal Ripken and the cast of "Homicide." Customers have brought in drawings by their kids, and she's duplicated them on cakes.