Fork

Spoons in Federal Hill is glamming it up. The menu has expanded, and a new (old) face is in the kitchen. Champagne Tony is back in town. The Federal Hill cafe, which opened in 1999, has shifted gears slightly. Spoons will still operate as a classic coffeehouse during the day, serving breakfast and sandwiches, the kind of place where folks curl up with a laptop for hours. Laura Lippman will still be able to come in to pound out a Tess Monoghan procedural. But at night, Spoons gets a little more romantic, a little Lady and the Trampish, maybe.

Some dozen Baltimore restaurants will be adding soft-shell crab specials to their menus for Baltimore's fifth annual Soft-Shell Crab Celebration. The restaurant promotion, sponsored by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, will run May 24 through June 2. The participating restaurants include Alexander's Tavern , The Black Olive , Diamond Tavern, Grille 700 , J. Paul's , Kona Grill , Miss Shirley's , Pabu , The Oceanaire , Phillips Seafood , Regi's American Bistro , Roy's , Ryleigh's Oyster, Ten Ten , Townhouse Kitchen & Bar and Vino Rosina . On the eve of the 10-day celebration, Downtown Partnership and Vino Rosina will host a five-course soft-shell crab tasting featuring chef Jesse Sandlin's contemporary interpretations of classic recipes.

A new restaurant named Fork & Wrench will open soon in the Canton location where Good Love, and more recently, Pur, used to be. An industry insider who has been inside told me that Fork & Wrench is like nothing he's ever seen in Baltimore. Co-owner Andy Gruver doesn't deny it. "I don't see any place like this around here," he said. He and Jason Sanchez, formerly of Good Love, have spent the last two years hand-crafting the interior themselves. Gruver called on some of his film industry friends, mostly set designers, to help out with the interior.

A truly ironic position by our County Executive Kevin Kamenetz who proclaims the environmental positives of trees (Towson Times, May 1, "Kamenetz plans to increase county forest county canopy") yet makes the decision to destroy 10 acres of hardwood trees in Mays Chapel Park in order to build an elementary school there. This man is a true snake oil salesman, who is willing to destroy the infrastructure of one community to benefit his political agenda in another. Obviously common decency is lacking.

After returning from a trip to London and Prague, I have a question: How and when did we (Americans) develop a different way of using our knives and forks? I think the European way seems much more efficient. For readers less well-traveled than you, let us distinguish between the American and European styles of eating. A right-handed person eating in the European manner holds the knife in her right hand, the fork in her left. With the tines of the fork facing down, she pins the food to her plate and uses her knife to cut. Then, still using the fork in her left hand, she conveys the food to her mouth, the tines still facing downward.

WHITE man speak with forked tongue," observed several generations of Hollywood Indians, all of whom seemed to know what they were talking about even though present-day moralizers would probably convict them of political incorrectness in the first degree.To this day, the words come back to me whenever I contemplate the history of American racial relationships. All unwhite Americans would surely be better equipped for survival if they had grown up in homes with that Hollywood-Indian wisdom framed in needlepoint over the velveteen settee.

The crowds have found Fork & Wrench, a white-hot new spot on Boston Street. They're enjoying the smartly constructed launch menu from executive chef Sajin Renae, formerly of Vino Rosina. It's a model first menu, small enough for a new kitchen to manage but with a good balance of the everyday and the edgy — hanger steaks and seared tuna Nicoise on one hand, rabbit pie and seared Magret duck breast on the other. But folks are also piling in to bask in the beauty. Fork & Wrench is a knockout.

At the Fork & Wrench, the new bar/restaurant in Canton, spirits are laid out in an antique general-store display case. The beer flows from a custom-made, steampunk-esque tap. Old-time woodworking tools hang throughout the bar for effect, and cute knickknacks abound - a raised shelf filled with secondhand books here, old matchboxes tucked away there. There are porcelain dolls and misshapen canteens and vintage photographs. It all looks very pretty, but it also looks very tired.

An argument at an Annapolis Thanksgiving dinner ended with a 27-year-old woman stabbing her half brother in the neck with a serving fork, police said. Police said the stabbing took place in the 1100 block of Madison St. Shenika Allsup, 27, and Deonte Antionio Wallace, 23, had been arguing. When the spat escalated, she used the fork as a weapon, according to a police report. An officer who responded found Wallace in the parking lot of an apartment building, clutching his neck and wearing a bloodied white T-shirt, the report shows.

It took almost 56 years, but I've finally mastered my table manners, and in the process learned something about the curious and controversial history of the fork. And all it took was two hours of bearing up under Carol Haislip's patrician gaze as she waved the silver instrument of torture with the twisted prong known as a "butter pick" through the air, perilously close to my throat. Possibly, the danger was all in my mind. It's true that I lack the higher, lower and intermediate social graces - I am a child of the lawless '70s, after all. And it's equally true that I had never fully grasped silverware's potential for inflicting bodily harm until I attended "Fish Forks and Finger Bowls," a seminar that teaches table manners to adults.

Cyrus Keefer is leaving Birroteca to take over the kitchen at Fork & Wrench. He will replace Sajin Renae, who will be moving to New York City. Everyone involved with the two hot restaurants sounded happy. Fork & Wrench's co-owner Andy Gruver was happy. "We're excited for both things. We had 50 or 60 guys apply for the job, including a guy from Belgium, Gruver said. "Cyrus wanted to be in a spot where he can be creative. And Sajin is moving to New York. We're really excited for her. " Keefer was happy.

It took almost 56 years, but I've finally mastered my table manners, and in the process learned something about the curious and controversial history of the fork. And all it took was two hours of bearing up under Carol Haislip's patrician gaze as she waved the silver instrument of torture with the twisted prong known as a "butter pick" through the air, perilously close to my throat. Possibly, the danger was all in my mind. It's true that I lack the higher, lower and intermediate social graces - I am a child of the lawless '70s, after all. And it's equally true that I had never fully grasped silverware's potential for inflicting bodily harm until I attended "Fish Forks and Finger Bowls," a seminar that teaches table manners to adults.

Drivers who buy their car insurance through the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, the state's auto insurer of last resort, seem always to be the door mats of the State House, but that comparison might be too generous. Rugs get a little respect every once in a while. For years, we have groused that MAIF customers — and there are about 36,000 of them on any given day — are legally fleeced by premium finance companies. Under state law, MAIF must collect insurance premiums in advance, but since most customers don't have the money for a year's worth of coverage (on average, at a cost of about $1,800)

Police have reopened the 12900 block of Fork Road in Baldwin Tuesday morning after a several-hour closure caused by a car accident that brought down utility wires. Baltimore County Police Corporal John Wachter said Verizon repair crews are working between Cherry Hill Road and Abels Avenue, but traffic can now pass through. The motorist was driving on Fork Road at about 5:50 a.m. when he struck a utility pole, Wachter said. The motorist was not taken to the hospital, he said. No other cars were involved in the crash, Wachter said.

An argument at an Annapolis Thanksgiving dinner ended with a 27-year-old woman stabbing her half brother in the neck with a serving fork, police said. Police said the stabbing took place in the 1100 block of Madison St. Shenika Allsup, 27, and Deonte Antionio Wallace, 23, had been arguing. When the spat escalated, she used the fork as a weapon, according to a police report. An officer who responded found Wallace in the parking lot of an apartment building, clutching his neck and wearing a bloodied white T-shirt, the report shows.

The crowds have found Fork & Wrench, a white-hot new spot on Boston Street. They're enjoying the smartly constructed launch menu from executive chef Sajin Renae, formerly of Vino Rosina. It's a model first menu, small enough for a new kitchen to manage but with a good balance of the everyday and the edgy — hanger steaks and seared tuna Nicoise on one hand, rabbit pie and seared Magret duck breast on the other. But folks are also piling in to bask in the beauty. Fork & Wrench is a knockout.

Two people accused of stabbing a Columbia man with a fork were cleared of criminal charges yesterday because the alleged victim would not cooperate with county prosecutors.Prosecutors dropped charges of assault with intent to maim that had been filed against Cynthia Hopewell, 26, and Steve Jarrott, 39. The Columbia residents were scheduled for trials in Howard Circuit Court yesterday.Charges against a third man, Kevin Dale Coleman, 34, of Columbia are expected to be dropped at an Aug. 14 hearing.

Today's etiquette topic is: Proper Table (burp) Manners.I have here a letter from Jean Gerdes, who teaches family and consumer science to sixth-graders at the Donegal Middle School in Marietta, Pa. She states:"I would like to ask your help in teaching my students the importance of good manners. I have found that if they can see how good manners might help them in their future, they are more motivated to learn and practice them. It would be a great help if you could write a brief letter about what is involved in your profession and how manners, particularly table manners, impact your career."

At the Fork & Wrench, the new bar/restaurant in Canton, spirits are laid out in an antique general-store display case. The beer flows from a custom-made, steampunk-esque tap. Old-time woodworking tools hang throughout the bar for effect, and cute knickknacks abound - a raised shelf filled with secondhand books here, old matchboxes tucked away there. There are porcelain dolls and misshapen canteens and vintage photographs. It all looks very pretty, but it also looks very tired.

It's time to brush up on your Prohibition-era swagger, Baltimore. 1920s-era everything has made a comeback in recent years, from fashion to TV and now the Baltimore bar scene. The Fork & Wrench, new to Canton, is high on speakeasy style. Picture lush tapestry-lined bar tables, intimate, low lights and swing and blues wailing from the speakers. The cocktail menu is reflective of the age of jazz: flirty, rich, smooth and daring. But if you're looking for an extensive drink list, go elsewhere.