Restaurant Association

The Restaurant Association of Maryland announced the finalists for its 2012 awards. Winners will be announced at the association's annual gala on April 16 at Martin's West. The public gets to vote for their favorite nominees in seven categories including favorite new restaurant, chef of the year and two new categories - craft brew program and food truck. Voting is underway here . Here are the nominees. Favorite Restaurant Baldwin Station, Sykesville Box Hill Pizzeria, Bel Air Houlihan's, Columbia Passage to India, Bethesda Peter's Inn, Baltimore The Red Star Bar & Grill, Baltimore Maryland's Favorite New Restaurant The Americana, Baltimore Corner BYOB, Hampden De Lazy Lizard, Ocean City Fishnet, College Park Havana Road Cuban Café, Towson   Chef of the Year Daniel Wecker, The Elkridge Furnace Inn Jeff Smith, The Chameleon Café Jim Barrett, Azure John Hufnagel, The Grille at Peerce's Patrick Fanning, The High Spot   Craft Brew Program of the Year The Brewer's Art, Baltimore Franklins Restaurant, Brewery & General Store, Hyattsville Frisco Tap House & Brewery, Columbia Max's Taphouse, Baltimore SoBo's Wine Beerstro, Salisbury Freddie's Lobster & Clams, Bethesda   Favorite Bar and/or Tavern Buffalo Wild Wings, Statewide Johnny Rads, Baltimore Pusser's Caribbean Grille, Annapolis Quarry House Tavern, Silver Spring Shenanigan's Irish...

The Restaurant Association of Maryland announced the finalists for its 2012 awards. Winners will be announced at the association's annual gala on April 16 at Martin's West. The public gets to vote for their favorite nominees in seven categories including favorite new restaurant, chef of the year and two new categories - craft brew program and food truck. Voting is underway here . Here are the nominees. Favorite Restaurant Baldwin Station, Sykesville Box Hill Pizzeria, Bel Air Houlihan's, Columbia Passage to India, Bethesda Peter's Inn, Baltimore The Red Star Bar & Grill, Baltimore Maryland's Favorite New Restaurant The Americana, Baltimore Corner BYOB, Hampden De Lazy Lizard, Ocean City Fishnet, College Park Havana Road Cuban Café, Towson   Chef of the Year Daniel Wecker, The Elkridge Furnace Inn Jeff Smith, The Chameleon Café Jim Barrett, Azure John Hufnagel, The Grille at Peerce's Patrick Fanning, The High Spot   Craft Brew Program of the Year The Brewer's Art, Baltimore Franklins Restaurant, Brewery & General Store, Hyattsville Frisco Tap House & Brewery, Columbia Max's Taphouse, Baltimore SoBo's Wine Beerstro, Salisbury Freddie's Lobster & Clams, Bethesda   Favorite Bar and/or Tavern Buffalo Wild Wings, Statewide Johnny Rads, Baltimore Pusser's Caribbean Grille, Annapolis Quarry House Tavern, Silver Spring Shenanigan's Irish...

Richard McClure got his start in the restaurant business 30 years ago as a busboy at a Howard Johnson in Annapolis. Next month the 46-year-old general manager of Carrol's Creek Restaurant will become the president of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, with more than 2,300 members.Mr. McClure has served in the association for seven years and held every elected office. He also was a representative to the Maryland Tourism Development Board, a delegate to the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and a board member of the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau.

The Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM) Education Foundation wants to put you an Audi. The top prize in the 12th annual car raffle fundraiser is an 2012 Audi A3 from Valley Motor, with $10,000 and $5,000 as second and third prize, respectively.  "This year's car raffle is a WIN-WIN for everyone involved," said Michael Birchenall, chairman of the RAM Education Foundation board of directors.    Everyone purchasing a $300 raffle...

On Thursday, local officials and restaurateurs will be slurping up raw oysters, sinking their teeth into pastas and sampling fine Italian pastries at the Restaurant Association of Maryland's new Columbia headquarters. Though they moved into the building in June, Thursday is the grand opening of a new center of operations that association officials say will mean more services and education for its members and the public. "Our goal is to turn this facility into the town hall of the hospitality industry," said Marcia S. Harris, association president and CEO. The association chose Columbia because it is easily accessible from all over the state.

Marcia S. Harris, president and chief executive officer of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, died Friday at Johns Hopkins Hospital of complications related to pneumonia. The Columbia resident was 67. Marcia Silk was born and raised in Memphis, Tenn., where she graduated from St. Agnes Academy for Girls in 1958. She married Edward A. Harris, her high school sweetheart, that year. While her husband attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, she worked as administrative assistant of the psycho-biology laboratories at George Peabody College, also in Nashville.

Hartgen heads restaurant association Paul Hartgen has joined the Restaurant Association of Maryland as president and chief executive officer. He held the same posts with the Nevada Restaurant Association and the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, and he held a variety of managerial positions with Ashworth by the Sea Hotel in Hampton, N.H. He is past president of the International Society of Restaurant Association Executives and an...

PREPARE SOME Maryland seafood, serve it with locally grown vegetables and toast the meal with a glass of wine from one of the state's several vineyards, and what do you have? You've got "Maryland's in Season" a month-long promotion touting state-grown seafood, produce and wine.The promotion is being sponsored by The Restaurant Association of Maryland, the Association of Maryland Wineries and the Maryland Department of Agriculture."By the end of the program, diners will realize how much of the food they order comes from right here in Maryland" said Marcia Harris, executive vice president for the restaurant association.

Edward J. Vinnicombe Jr., a longtime executive with McCormick & Co. Inc. who later opened a bicycle sales and rental and gift shop on the Eastern Shore, died Saturday of a brain blood clot at Pines Nursing Home in Easton. He was 87.Mr. Vinnicombe started work at McCormick in 1945 and retired in 1975.He was in charge of the company's Bulk & Institutional Division for 19 years, helping to stock McCormick products in hotels, restaurants and clubs across the country and make it a multimillion-dollar operation.

An article in Monday's Howard edition of the Sun noted that lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano is working to repeal Howard County's anti-smoking law. He has been hired by Clyde's restaurant in Columbia and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. Tobacco interests, for which Bereano has lobbied on other issues, have not hired him to fight the Howard County law.Pub Date: 1/08/97

Consumer advocates pleaded with lawmakers Monday to let customers bring their own bottles of wine to restaurants in Baltimore City and three other counties, saying the state's high-end eateries want to extend the option to their clienteles. But opponents of the legislation, including the Restaurant Association of Maryland and the liquor lobby, argued Monday before the House Economic Matters Committee that the arrangement would eat into restaurant profits and generate uncertainty about liability when consumers drink too much.

Tracy Hall and her husband, Josh, used to love a decadent dinner out - cocktails and appetizers, wine with dinner and dessert. But for their five-year anniversary in June, what would have typically been a culinary blowout, the Canton couple ended up at a neighborhood tavern, trying to keep their bill under $70. With only one salary to support the family of three and layoffs happening everywhere, the Halls are holding tight to their wallets....

Young professionals club announces Oct. schedule The Young Anne Arundel Professionals, a social club primarily for single professionals to make new friends and share camaraderie, has announced its programs for October. Activities include networking events at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday at Red Hot & Blue, 200 Old Mill Bottom Road, Annapolis; 8:15 a.m., Saturday at Garry's Grill, 7704 Quarterfield Road, Glen Burnie; 6:30 p.m., Oct. 28 at Chevys Fresh Mex, Arundel Mills Mall, to walk the Mall; 6:30 p.m., Oct. 30 at China Buffett, 554-A Ritchie Highway, Severna Park.

Hartgen heads restaurant association Paul Hartgen has joined the Restaurant Association of Maryland as president and chief executive officer. He held the same posts with the Nevada Restaurant Association and the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, and he held a variety of managerial positions with Ashworth by the Sea Hotel in Hampton, N.H. He is past president of the International Society of Restaurant Association Executives and an...

There have been whispers that the very popular Miss Shirley's Cafe in Roland Park was planning to have a second location downtown, and now they're confirmed. Sometime late this summer, the new Miss Shirley's will open adjacent to the lobby of the 750 E. Pratt St. office building. The target date is mid- to late August. There will be seating for 90 and a carryout window. At first, Miss Shirley's will stick to what made the first location such a success, offering elaborate breakfast and lunch items (from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays)

Awards *The Greater Baltimore Committee announced the presentation its Walter Sondheim Public Service Award to Eddie and Sylvia Brown for their contributions of more than $17 million over 14 years, mostly in support of education and the arts in Baltimore. The GBC also named Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown as recipient of its Regional Visionary Award for his work with the base realignment and closure agenda for the Baltimore region. Contracts *OPTIMUS Corp., based in Rockville, received a five-year blanket purchase contract to provide up to $100 million in information technology services to the National Information Technology Center and the National Information Systems Center of the National Park Service.

Restaurant expo gets high marks in poll of exhibitors The Restaurant Association of Maryland's 2002 Mid-Atlantic Food, Beverage and Lodging Expo, held Oct. 23-24, was given top marks by its exhibitors in a poll and questionnaire given by members of the association's board of directors at the event's close. Ninety-three percent of exhibitors surveyed said they planned to return to the expo next year; 88 percent said the Mid-Atlantic Expo was better than comparable events; and 81 percent said they thought more buyers attended than in previous years.