Panera Bread

FOOD snobs often turn up their noses at the prospect of going to a chain restaurant, dismissing such a place as nothing more than a food factory for hungry hoi polloi. In doing so, they're failing to acknowledge the beauty of a decent chain, and that is the consistent comfort zone it creates. For example, you're alone, you're in a strange place and you're hungry. In such a situation, the restaurant you're familiar with looks mighty appealing. A good chain to get familiar with is Panera Bread, a St. Louis company that used to be affiliated with Au Bon Pain.

A good deed can be as simple as giving a few coins or donating used clothing. But Gaithersburg resident Brett Meyers has taken the role of good Samaritan one step further, feeding families by turning waste into nourishment. Meyers, who has spent most of his career in the food industry, founded the organization Nourish Now in May 2011, feeding the hungry with unused fresh food from restaurants and caterers. "I worked at Panera Bread and other delis where a lot of food would get wasted at the end of each night," Meyers said.

The soup options at Panera Bread can be tricky - some are low in fat but can pack more than half a day's worth of sodium or more in the 12-ounce size. The best choice overall the day we visited seemed to be the creamy tomato (if we left off the included croutons). Compared with the broccoli cheddar, the tomato version saved us 80 calories, 3 grams saturated fat and 100 milligrams sodium. Nutritional data from panerabread.com Kate Shatzkin Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup Per serving (12 ounces)

Meet Donna Wasserman and the self-proclaimed "Y Ladies" (and some male participants, too) who meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at the Towson YMCA for cardio dancing. The class, divided into eight-week sessions, matches choreographed routines with a wide variety of music - Irish, country, hip-hop, big band, classical, R&B and more - for a low- or high-impact workout. Cardio dancing has been offered by the YMCA for more than 30 years, and some of the regulars have been jumping and twirling together for just as long, dancing their way through hip and shoulder replacements, marriages and remarriages, and the losses of loved ones.

Lotte Plaza is coming to Catonsville. The Columbia-based chain of Asian and international markets has signed a lease for a 46,000 square foot store in the One West Shopping Center on Baltimore National Pike. The space, formerly occupied by Toys R Us, will undergo a multimillion dollar remodel and renovation funded jointly by Lotte Plaza and the Owings Mills-based Fedder Company, which owns the property. Founded in 1989 in Silver Spring, Lotte Plaza operates stores in seven states including Maryland, California and Georgia.

Lotte Plaza, an Asian market, will open a store this summer in the One Mile West Shopping Center in Catonsville in a former Toys "R" Us space, the shopping center owner said Tuesday. The market signed a lease for 46,000 square feet, which will undergo a multimillion-dollar remodeling paid for by the retailer and the landlord, said Robert G. Pollokoff, president of The Fedder Co., which owns the Baltimore National Pike center. Other retailers include Panera Bread and Pier 1 Imports.

The line at Panera Bread snakes out the door. There are no open tables at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Customers are pulling on the doors trying to get into Quiznos Sub, and it hasn't opened yet. The Hunt Valley shopping spot that some locals used to call "Death Valley Mall" because of its dark, empty storefronts is hopping. Even though construction of Hunt Valley Towne Centre is months away from completion, nearby workers and eager shoppers are dodging the orange cones and weaving around the piles of concrete blocks to patronize the businesses that are open.

New fast-casual eateries are sprouting downtown, including Pita Pit, coming to Baltimore's west side in September, and Krazi Kebob, one of several new tenants in at Harborplace and The Gallery at the Inner Harbor. Pita Pit will open next month in a street-level space at 400 West Baltimore Street, a project developed by Balti West LLC and managed by David S. Brown Enterprises LTD that has a Panera Bread Company, PNC Bank, Samuelson's Jewelers and State Employees Credit Union. The restaurant will employ about 20 full- and part-time workers.

Any restaurant that bakes its own bread deserves notice. In this case, it's the new Cafe Boulevard at 548 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Severna Park. The food is casual, mostly sandwiches, salads and homemade soups, with a few hot entrees like quiche, turkey divan and boeuf bourgignon. Just about everything is made on the premises and priced under $10. Cafe Boulevard is open Tuesday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and early supper. There's also a coffee and smoothie bar. More than martinis Sure, you can go to the hip, new Sonar in Canton for a cosmopolitan or a dirty martini, but the bar and lounge at 3000 O'Donnell St. also offers specialty coffee drinks and desserts from Sweet Indulgence.

Meet Donna Wasserman and the self-proclaimed "Y Ladies" (and some male participants, too) who meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at the Towson YMCA for cardio dancing. The class, divided into eight-week sessions, matches choreographed routines with a wide variety of music - Irish, country, hip-hop, big band, classical, R&B and more - for a low- or high-impact workout. Cardio dancing has been offered by the YMCA for more than 30 years, and some of the regulars have been jumping and twirling together for just as long, dancing their way through hip and shoulder replacements, marriages and remarriages, and the losses of loved ones.

New fast-casual eateries are sprouting downtown, including Pita Pit, coming to Baltimore's west side in September, and Krazi Kebob, one of several new tenants in at Harborplace and The Gallery at the Inner Harbor. Pita Pit will open next month in a street-level space at 400 West Baltimore Street, a project developed by Balti West LLC and managed by David S. Brown Enterprises LTD that has a Panera Bread Company, PNC Bank, Samuelson's Jewelers and State Employees Credit Union. The restaurant will employ about 20 full- and part-time workers.

Lotte Plaza, an Asian market, will open a store this summer in the One Mile West Shopping Center in Catonsville in a former Toys "R" Us space, the shopping center owner said Tuesday. The market signed a lease for 46,000 square feet, which will undergo a multimillion-dollar remodeling paid for by the retailer and the landlord, said Robert G. Pollokoff, president of The Fedder Co., which owns the Baltimore National Pike center. Other retailers include Panera Bread and Pier 1 Imports.

Lotte Plaza is coming to Catonsville. The Columbia-based chain of Asian and international markets has signed a lease for a 46,000 square foot store in the One West Shopping Center on Baltimore National Pike. The space, formerly occupied by Toys R Us, will undergo a multimillion dollar remodel and renovation funded jointly by Lotte Plaza and the Owings Mills-based Fedder Company, which owns the property. Founded in 1989 in Silver Spring, Lotte Plaza operates stores in seven states including Maryland, California and Georgia.

With a lengthy post-hurricane power outage threatening her child-rearing plans, Michele Gunderson turned to a local hardware store for dry ice to protect her reserve of frozen breast milk. "I've got three kids, I'm a stay-at-home mom. I can't warm bottles," said Gunderson, who had her 1-year-old strapped to her front Wednesday afternoon and was being trailed by two little girls, ages 5 and 7. "This is a nightmare. " Gunderson's nearly five-gallon "freezer stash of frozen breast milk" was threatened by a looming fifth day without power.

The soup options at Panera Bread can be tricky - some are low in fat but can pack more than half a day's worth of sodium or more in the 12-ounce size. The best choice overall the day we visited seemed to be the creamy tomato (if we left off the included croutons). Compared with the broccoli cheddar, the tomato version saved us 80 calories, 3 grams saturated fat and 100 milligrams sodium. Nutritional data from panerabread.com Kate Shatzkin Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup Per serving (12 ounces)

Something strange has been going on at the former Hunt Valley Mall lately. Shoppers are coming to lounge on benches in the afternoon sun or eat lunch at outdoor cafes. Couples are choosing Hunt Valley over White Marsh or Towson to catch a movie. People are shopping there, they say, because they like the selection of stores, not just because it's close and convenient. The mall, for the first time in years, is almost fully leased. After years of failed attempts at revival, the once depressed mall - now renamed Hunt Valley Towne Centre - has gotten a makeover and is seeing new life as an open-air "Main Street"-style complex.

Thank heaven the low-carb craze is on the wane and we can get back to the guilt-free consumption of (OK, whole-grain) breads. And The Panera Bread Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2004, $18.95) is the place to renew our relationship with a staple that we have abused, misunderstood, ignored and distained. Produced by the folks who brought us the chain of bakery-cafes, this cookbook includes recipes for soups, salads and appetizers, as well as an array of sandwiches. But more than that, it is a step-by-step course in how to make many of their breads in your own kitchen in three hours - much less than the days-long fermentation processes its own bakers use. The cookbook opens with a tribute to the ancient storytelling traditions of breads, in our culture as well as others, written by Peter Reinhart, who teaches bread-making, much like a priest might teach religion, at Johnson and Wales University.

A good deed can be as simple as giving a few coins or donating used clothing. But Gaithersburg resident Brett Meyers has taken the role of good Samaritan one step further, feeding families by turning waste into nourishment. Meyers, who has spent most of his career in the food industry, founded the organization Nourish Now in May 2011, feeding the hungry with unused fresh food from restaurants and caterers. "I worked at Panera Bread and other delis where a lot of food would get wasted at the end of each night," Meyers said.

Thank heaven the low-carb craze is on the wane and we can get back to the guilt-free consumption of (OK, whole-grain) breads. And The Panera Bread Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2004, $18.95) is the place to renew our relationship with a staple that we have abused, misunderstood, ignored and distained. Produced by the folks who brought us the chain of bakery-cafes, this cookbook includes recipes for soups, salads and appetizers, as well as an array of sandwiches. But more than that, it is a step-by-step course in how to make many of their breads in your own kitchen in three hours - much less than the days-long fermentation processes its own bakers use. The cookbook opens with a tribute to the ancient storytelling traditions of breads, in our culture as well as others, written by Peter Reinhart, who teaches bread-making, much like a priest might teach religion, at Johnson and Wales University.

The line at Panera Bread snakes out the door. There are no open tables at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Customers are pulling on the doors trying to get into Quiznos Sub, and it hasn't opened yet. The Hunt Valley shopping spot that some locals used to call "Death Valley Mall" because of its dark, empty storefronts is hopping. Even though construction of Hunt Valley Towne Centre is months away from completion, nearby workers and eager shoppers are dodging the orange cones and weaving around the piles of concrete blocks to patronize the businesses that are open.