Gourmet

Taco Bell is going gourmet. The Irvine, Calif.- based fast food chain plans to roll out its new Cantina Bell menu to nearly all 5,600 locations on July 5, according to a story in Nation's Restaurant News. The menu was created by chef Lorena Garcia, who was a judge on "America's Next Great Restaurant" on NBC last year and is slated to appear on "Top Chef Masters" on Bravo, the chain said. "Lorena worked incredibly hard as a member of our team to make this happen, starting with 26 recipes and eventually we ended up with eight," Brian Niccol, chief marketing and innovation officer, said in a statement.

Paolo Romeo believes that food is art. The chef-owner of Artful Gourmet, which has been an Owings Mills mainstay for just over a decade, isn't wildly avant-garde in the kitchen. He doesn't take chances on creative dishes. But Romeo does take an artist's care with his capable interpretations of Italian food and global favorites. And the restaurant's adoption of the food-is-art theme adds charm to a menu stocked with familiar fare. His conservative approach, which focuses on well-worn classics like lamb chops and simple pastas, appears to be a hit with locals, who keep the restaurant busy.

301 S. Water St., 410-244-1885. Open 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m Mondays-Fridays, closed weekends Rosina Gourmet is a bright spot in a corner of old, dark Baltimore. The official address is 300 E. Lombard St., but the most visible entrance is just off the corner of Water and South streets. Apparently it is possible to wend your way to Rosina Gourmet from the Lombard Street entrance, but only denizens of the building know the route. In the quirks of this ancient part of the city, South Street starts off as Guilford and changes names once it crosses Baltimore Street.

Charles Kelley stands in Baltimore's historic Lexington Market, chowing down on a Faidley's overstuffed crab cake sandwich. It doesn't bother the 37-year-old North Carolina man that the market doesn't have gourmet coffee, wine or cheese shops. He's OK with the faded signs and the dirty floor. As jumbo lump crab meat spills out of his sandwich, Kelley is in a state of bliss. "I've had crab cake sandwiches all over," he says, "and this is the best. " While devotees such as Kelley, who come from long distances for the renowned seafood at the 231-year-old market, are content with their surroundings, city officials are hoping to attract a broader audience.

Here's a hamburger recipe from Top Chef Ariane Duarte, using Finlandia cheese, "Guests love to feel pampered and one way you can do that is to replicate the restaurant experience at home. I like to offer my guests a host of burger toppings, but make them special by introducing high-quality ingredients to the menu.” 1 ¼ pounds lean ground beef 1 ¼ cup chopped onion 3 tablespoons ketchup 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish 2 teaspoons prepared mustard Salt & pepper to taste Suggested Finlandia Cheese : Swiss, Muenster or Gouda 4 sesame seed buns or hard rolls Combine lean ground beef with onion, ketchup, horseradish, mustard, salt and pepper.  Gently mix with hands until all ingredients are just blended.  Shape into 4 patties about ½ inch thick.

3346 Paper Mill Road, Jacksonville. Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. (410) 628-8806.The Hunt Manor Gourmet in Jacksonville is enough to make you want to move to the country -- or at least go there for food. It's all things for all people: 40-seat (soon to be 60-seat) cafe, gourmet carryout, ice cream parlor, bakery, New-York-style deli and sandwich shop. Formerly the Manor Tavern Gourmet Deli, it changed names and owners two months ago. The food is as sophisticated as any of the in-town gourmet shops, but the place is not intimidating.

The art of cooking is about the journey and the destination, to tweak a famous quote about life that downplays the latter. And it's also about who's guiding you along the way. So when David and Michelle Byrnes discovered one of their favorite chefs was offering private cooking classes in his Columbia home, the Sykesville couple immediately contacted Ben Tehranian to set up a session. And they weren't the only ones to seek him out in recent months: Two couples co-hosting their children's small wedding at home decided they wanted him to teach them to prepare the food for the reception, and six girlfriends chose a class as a unique theme for a bachelorette party.

Baltimore's newest food truck is debuting today. It's a gourmet food truck named GrrChe. The basic menu includes "plain and simple" sandwiches on white or wheat. Specialty sandwiches include the Lobster Grill and the Crab Delight. GrrChe also will be selling gourmet breakfast sandwiches and desserts. The truck's website is here . The Facebook page is here . The Twitter page is here .  

When I asked my husband what he thought of his decidedly un-gourmet-looking club sandwich, surrounded by potato chips with a dill pickle on top, he gave it quite an endorsement. "It's the best club sandwich I've ever eaten," he said.I had a bite. And then another. And then another. I had to admit the combination of gently smoked turkey with crisp bacon, watercress, chopped tomato and chutney mayonnaise was addictively good, even if it was sweeter than I expected.We were eating at Peerce's Gourmet.

Grace W. Smith, a homemaker and gourmet cook, died of respiratory failure Monday at a convalescent home in Salinas, Calif. The former Roland Park resident was 96. Grace Waldman was born in St. Louis and was raised in Oakland, Calif. She learned to play the violin as a child, and she performed on the radio during the 1920s. In 1929, she married Walter K. Smith, a Shell Oil Co. chemist who died in 1979. Before moving to Elkridge Estates in Roland Park in 1979, she lived for 26 years in Plainfield, N.J. While in Baltimore, Mrs. Smith was an active communicant of St. Stephen's Traditional Episcopal Church in Timonium.

Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches will open its first shop in Harford County this week in the Constant Friendship Shopping Center in Abingdon. The shop is slated to open Tuesday, March 5. The company specializes in fresh, quality products and high-speed execution, according to its corporate website. Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich Shops was founded in 1983 by 19-year-old Jimmy John Liautaud in a converted garage in Charleston, Ill. Since its inception, the company has grown to more than 1,500 corporate and franchised locations throughout the United States.

The art of cooking is about the journey and the destination, to tweak a famous quote about life that downplays the latter. And it's also about who's guiding you along the way. So when David and Michelle Byrnes discovered one of their favorite chefs was offering private cooking classes in his Columbia home, the Sykesville couple immediately contacted Ben Tehranian to set up a session. And they weren't the only ones to seek him out in recent months: Two couples co-hosting their children's small wedding at home decided they wanted him to teach them to prepare the food for the reception, and six girlfriends chose a class as a unique theme for a bachelorette party.

Everyman Theatre has enlisted a food truck to provide dinner for its patrons at its new home. When the professional Equity theater reopens in its new home on West Fayette Street, Charm City Gourmet will be parked outside the theater for several hours before each performance. Patrons will be able to order from the truck and eat their food outside, but Charm City Gourmet will also be providing table service inside the theater's lobby. The truck, a side project of Shapiro's Cafe , serves a full cafe menu that includes New England lobster rolls, falafel and Israeli salads.

We were lucky; our drive into St. Michaels was, somehow, sans traffic, despite the fact that it was Friday evening and we surely were not alone in our desire to escape the city for a relaxing getaway on the Eastern Shore. As we drove through the downtown, stopping to let families cross the street for a dinner cracking shellfish at the Crab Claw, we looked for the turnoff for the Inn at Perry Cabin, our destination for the weekend. Beneath an umbrella of large linden trees lining the driveway, we eagerly anticipated seeing the results of the inn's four-month, $2.7 million renovation.

Craving a summer treat that's icy, sweet, and a bit exotic? Then make gourmet ice pops your go-to cooler for the sunny season. Ice pops aren't exactly new - remember the juice and Kool-Aid bars Mom would freeze in tiny paper cups? - but these cold confections on a stick are getting a zippy culinary makeover. Artificial grape and cherry flavors were once the standard-bearers. Today's ice pop varieties are bursting with fresh fruit, veggies, herbs, spices, and even spirits that evoke happy hour.

Donzel Clayton "Clay" Wildey, a former human resources director who became a co-owner of The Nut Farm and Creamery at Green Spring Station in Brooklandville, died June 13 of pneumonia at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The longtime Rodgers Forge resident was 64. The son of a Methodist minister and a homemaker, Mr. Wildey — who never used his first name, according to his wife of 43 years, the former Marjorie Cole — was born in Lewes, Del. Eventually, his family settled in Timonium, and Mr. Wildey graduated in 1965 from Dulaney High School.

Rosealma R. Paul, a homemaker and gourmet cook, died of cancer Thursday at Oak Crest Village in Parkville. She was 80. She was born and raised Rosealma Owens in Reardan, Wash., and worked during World War II in the mailroom of Boeing Co. She was married in 1948 to Donald R. Roderick, an FBI agent, and lived in Buffalo, N.Y., Augusta, Ga., and Savannah, Ga., before moving to Silver Spring in the 1950s. Her husband was later chief of the National Crime Information Center in Washington. After her husband's death in 1991, she moved to Chestertown, and in 1993 married Chuck Paul, who died several years later.

n the '80s, we traded soggy Chinese carryout and greasy barbecued ribs for take-home roasted leg of lamb encrusted with pesto and pasta salad with sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.Now, in the '90s, gourmet takeout can be almost anything we want it it be -- from top-quality versions of simple fare like meatloaf and bread pudding to low-fat, low-calorie meals prepared with diet as well as taste in mind.These days it's easier than ever before to get the same quality prepared foods at home that we have learned to expect from our restaurant mania of the past decade.

Taco Bell is going gourmet. The Irvine, Calif.- based fast food chain plans to roll out its new Cantina Bell menu to nearly all 5,600 locations on July 5, according to a story in Nation's Restaurant News. The menu was created by chef Lorena Garcia, who was a judge on "America's Next Great Restaurant" on NBC last year and is slated to appear on "Top Chef Masters" on Bravo, the chain said. "Lorena worked incredibly hard as a member of our team to make this happen, starting with 26 recipes and eventually we ended up with eight," Brian Niccol, chief marketing and innovation officer, said in a statement.

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