Lunch

Washington. -- When the government propounded its new Code of Ethics last week, we ink-stained wretches of the press were briefly disturbed. It appeared that under the new rules we no longer could take a bureaucrat to lunch. Freedom of the press was being abridged!Then we recalled that under the old rules we never took a bureaucrat to lunch. This is not because bureaucrats are too noble; it is because we are too cheap. On that comforting thought we collapsed into the easy chairs of the press gallery and gave the code a closer look.

Children in poor Baltimore neighborhoods can get free meals this summer through an extension of the National School Lunch Program, city officials said Wednesday. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the Summer Food Service Program, which is expected to feed more than 20,000 children a day, will be available five days a week to children younger than 18. The program will run from June 17 to Aug. 16 and serve both breakfast and lunch at schools, rec centers and churches. "I want to tell every parent who hears me: If you need support during the summer months, do not hesitate to go to BaltimoreHousing.org and find out where your young person can get a great meal," Rawlings-Blake said.

Signs of motherhood:She arrives for an interview with her 2 1/2 -year-old son's lunch splattered across her black shorts. She grows distracted when a stranger's child throws a tantrum nearby. She meticulously tidies up the table after lunch, carrying not just her own, but others' dirty cups and plates to a trash can.No doubt about it, Bess Armstrong -- the Baltimore-born actress now starring in the ABC sitcom "Married People" -- takes her role as a mother very seriously.Sitting in the courtyard of Cross Keys with her movie producer-husband John Fiedler, she has come home for a family christening and excitedly describes the anarchy in her parents' Ruxton house as she prepared to leave:"My son was doing a 51-piece puzzle on the floor of the kitchen.

Kite festival The Friends of Broadneck Park will host their second annual kite festival and community picnic from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 21, on the A Field at Broadneck Park on College Parkway in Annapolis. The event includes kite-flying specialists from the group Wings Over Washington. Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch and kites. Information: 240-481-8468 or friendsofbroadneckpark.com. Budget session A meeting on the Anne Arundel County budget hosted by the League of Women Voters will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at BayWoods of Annapolis, 7101 Bay Front Drive.

Annual event for kids will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 13 at Kings Contrivance, 7251 Eden Brook Drive. Tickets are $5 and include a craft, pizza lunch and dessert. Each child will also have a photo taken with Santa. Call 410-381-9600 for more information.

For the restaurants of Fells Point, the recent opening of the $100-million Thames Street Wharf Building on Harbor Point was effectively overnight delivery for 600 new Morgan Stanley mouths to feed lunch. Positioned strategically between the pubs and taverns of lower Fells Point and the more upscale offerings of Harbor East, this new building has no in-house eating facility of its own. There are dozens of easy walks from the building's front door, and one of the closest is RA Sushi Bar Restaurant (1390 Lancaster St., 410-522-3200)

Shoot your lunch. Not like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who now only eats what he kills. With a camera. Take a photograph of your lunch, or anything, and upload it to Picture This, Baltimore . For the second time, the Baltimore Sun is chronicling a day in the life of Baltimore. If you have a camera or a cell phone with a camera, we want to see what you see -- the places you go, the people you meet, whatever else you may encounter on one Tuesday in October. Upload your photos from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Instagram and more.  To upload via Twitter, send a tweet to @baltimoresun with the hashtag #picturethis.

Over lunch at the Capital Grille on Thursday, the two old friends enjoyed an upbeat, forward-looking conversation. Kurt L. Schmoke had the tuna steak salad, Sheila Dixon the salmon with vegetables. Schmoke, a former mayor, imparted an encouraging message to Dixon, the soon-to-be former mayor who announced Wednesday that she will resign as part of a plea with prosecutors to end her corruption case. "I just wanted to remind her there will be better days down the road," said Schmoke, who served as mayor from 1988 to 1999 and is now dean of the Howard University Law School.

There were more servers than customers at Werner's just before noon, and it was very quiet. But it wasn't for long. A half hour later, the luncheonette was almost full of downtown workers. When it closed in April 2011, after 61 years, it looked like the Werner's story had come to a close, and it left downtown Baltimore without a single eatery dating from before the 1960s. The luncheonette, which was opened by Werner Kloetzli Sr. in 1950, was loved for its chrome and maple Art Deco interior.

O'Malley is out to lunch! ("O'Malley: Taxes on the table in 2012," Aug. 21.) When will he ever take any responsibility for anything? It is always the Republicans' fault. Thank goodness he will be gone in three years. In your article, House Speaker Michael E. Busch says that the state has a backlog of $6 billion to $8 billion in school maintenance. OK, I do not deny that estimate, but he goes on to say that if the state were to fund these projects, it would create 25,000 jobs. That comes to $240,000 to $320,000 a job. Great work if you can find it. Only if we had moved forward with slots in 2003!

The Maryland Small Business Technology and Development Center, Central Region is sponsoring Lunch and Learn, Ten Easy Tips for Better Sales and Marketing, Wednesday, April 24, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, 9250 Bendix Road, North, in Columbia. Business coach Deborah Gallant, of Bold Business Works, will present ideas and techniques to boost the bottom line. Bring your own lunch. There is no cost but registration is required by Monday, April 22. To register, go to http://www.centralmdsbdc.org/trainings . For more information, call 410-837-4928

If you have been furloughed as a result of the government sequester, Beltway Plaza Mall has a suggestion on how to spend you time off. Starting today and running through April 29 th , the Greenbelt mall is offering furloughed workers the chance to see a movie and get lunch, fruit and a cookie - for free. You must present your furlough notice from your employer, which includes the name of the employer and dates of the furlough to the Academy 8 Theater box office to receive coupons for the freebies.

An occasional look at sports business stories from across the country ... Brendon Ayanbadejo knows there is no better time to speak than in the lead up to the Super Bowl. Thousands of reporters from every sort of outlet will be in New Orleans to cover the spectacle, and a good number of them will look to seize on something beyond the battle of the brothers Harbaugh, or Ray Lewis' last stand. How about gay marriage? Ayanbadejo is a long-time and unabashed advocate for gay rights . That's an unusual thing for a pro athlete to be in the most normal of times.

The Hollywood Diner reopened with a new operator in early November. The diner, which is owned by the city of Baltimore, is in great shape. The tile floors are shining and the chrome is gleaming. The diner, which was built on New York's Long Island, gained cinematic fame as the principal setting for Levinson's 1982 ensemble movie "Diner" about a group of Baltimore guys on the verge of adulthood. It was brought back to Baltimore after filming ended, and has had a turbulent history ever since.

Every now and then we'll offer a lunch-time gathering of news and links related to sports business: Let's start first with what is easily the most important sports business story you'll read this year. Patrick Hruby -- a rare writer equally adept at humor and narrative and analysis -- turned his attention to our government's penchant for giving handouts to sports owners for Sports on Earth . His point being that reducing these costs would go some of the way toward edging the country away from the fiscal cliff you may have heard about.

The Fat Larry's logo is a smiling, bald guy with glasses and a goatee. The logo is everywhere at Fat Larry's, a sub shop that opened in September in the Federal Hill space where Corks used to be. Fat Larry is on the outside windows, on the menu and on the wall behind the register. When we were waiting for our carryout order, Fat Larry himself walked right in the front door. So there really is a "Fat Larry. " He's Larry Davidov, the owner. A Philadelphia native, Davidov is serious about bringing authentic Philly cheese steaks to Baltimore.

Ruth's Chris Steak House is usually open only for dinner, but now through Christmas Eve, the restaurant is serving a holiday lunch menu on weekdays. It's a bit of a splurge, but what the heck, there's prosperity in the land. The menu includes a $15 steak sandwich, the $14 Ruth's prime burger, a $42.95 filet au poivre entree and, if it's been a really good year for the firm, a $44.95 New York strip. The lunch menu is being served Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at all locations of Ruth's Chris Steak House including the ones on Water Street , Eastern Avenue and Pikesville . There's more information about the holiday lunch on the Ruth's Chris website . Follow Baltimore Diner on Twitter @gorelickingood