Restaurant Owners

Once, Baltimoreans could stop by the corner tavern and take away a container of their favorite brew, straight from the tap. The sound those pails made as they slid empty down the bar for refills is said to be how they got their name. Growlers, which in recent decades have taken the form of 2-liter brown-glass jugs, have been experiencing a resurgence among beer enthusiasts looking for their favorite microbrews or those who just want fresh draft beer at home. But many Maryland brewers and restaurant owners are prohibited from selling growlers and are pushing for a change in state law. Statewide restrictions limit the sale of growlers to brewpubs that make their own beer on the premises and sell food, excluding bars and most restaurants.

During 37 years as a feature writer, sometime editor and longtime restaurant critic at the Sun, I had many proud moments and even a few awards. But I don't think anything pleased me as much as being named The Sun 's Best Blogger by the City Paper in the fall of 2007. A few months before, my editor had told me I would be joining the digital age. I would write a food and restaurant blog, to be called Dining@Large. I wasn't sure I knew what a blog was. Being a restaurant critic was a fabulous job, but I'd done it for a long time.

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.

Several Howard County restaurant owners are lobbying for the right to sell refillable containers of beer and wine to dine-in customers, but the plan has raised concerns from the owners of a liquor store that the sales would result in irresponsible drinking. Corinne Gorzo, who co-owns Glenwood Wine and Spirits with her husband, John, spoke out against refillable containers to state lawmakers, voicing concern about potential sanitation and safety issues resulting from customers drinking to excess.

Carroll County restaurant owners say they haven't been kept informed about proposed liquor law changes and they told the County Commissioners yesterday that the industry deserves representation on the county liquor board."

Some Carroll County restaurant owners have banded together to fight a proposed amendment to the county's liquor regulations, which would impose additional restrictions on when restaurants can serve alcohol.Under the proposal, restaurants in Carroll County could begin serving alcohol one hour before meals are available and must stop serving liquor an hour after the kitchen closes.In a letter to the Board of License Commissioners, restaurant owners Monday said the proposed regulation would drive away late diners who might linger over a bottle of wine and customers who stop by for dessert and after-dinner drinks.

A proposed 1 percent meal tax to raise money to lure visitors to Baltimore appears dead, a casualty of considerable opposition among restaurant owners and a statewide restaurant group.Donald P. Hutchinson, president of the influential Greater Baltimore Committee, which had proposed the tax, told restaurateurs, bar owners and hoteliers yesterday that he would urge Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke to drop the idea for lack of support.That spells almost certain doom for the proposal: Mr. Schmoke said from the beginning he would move forward only if city restaurants demonstrated substantial support for the tax and a proposed "tourism district," comprising about 125 restaurants, where the tax would be levied.

As momentum builds for casino-style gambling in Maryland, a trade group representing restaurant owners has dropped its long-held opposition and now supports bringing slot machines into the state. Marcia Harris, the president of the Maryland Restaurant Association, said yesterday that the group reversed its position based on a survey of its members and a determination that revenue from slots may be the best way to balance the state budget. The association was one of only a few business groups to oppose Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s proposal this year to allow Wal-Mart-sized slots casinos at four horse racing tracks.

Several Howard County restaurant owners are lobbying for the right to sell refillable containers of beer and wine to dine-in customers, but the plan has raised concerns from the owners of a liquor store that the sales would result in irresponsible drinking. Corinne Gorzo, who co-owns Glenwood Wine and Spirits with her husband, John, spoke out against refillable containers to state lawmakers, voicing concern about potential sanitation and safety issues resulting from customers drinking to excess.

Carroll County will have its first summer restaurant week Aug. 21-28. Over two dozen participating restaurants will offer fixed-price menus for lunch, for dinner, or both,  priced at $5 increments beginning at $10.11. The idea for a Carroll County Restaurant Week is credited to restaurant owners Dante Liberatore (Liberatore's, Eldersburg) and Ken Lurie (Bud's at Silver Run) and the promotion is being co-produced by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and the Carroll County Department of Economic Development/Tourism Office.   

Legislation allowing restaurants to sell refillable containers used for draft beer, known as growlers, won broad support from local Howard County lawmakers who agreed Wednesday to move the local bill before the General Assembly. The Howard bill, along with another introduced in Baltimore City, would allow restaurants to apply for a license to sell growlers to dine-in customers. State laws currently limit growlers to breweries with an attached restaurant, but some restaurant owners have expressed interest in expanding the ability to sell growlers.

Once, Baltimoreans could stop by the corner tavern and take away a container of their favorite brew, straight from the tap. The sound those pails made as they slid empty down the bar for refills is said to be how they got their name. Growlers, which in recent decades have taken the form of 2-liter brown-glass jugs, have been experiencing a resurgence among beer enthusiasts looking for their favorite microbrews or those who just want fresh draft beer at home. But many Maryland brewers and restaurant owners are prohibited from selling growlers and are pushing for a change in state law. Statewide restrictions limit the sale of growlers to brewpubs that make their own beer on the premises and sell food, excluding bars and most restaurants.

One of Baltimore's most famous drinking establishments sat in a shimmering pool Monday afternoon, a red condemnation sign propped on the front window above a smiling jack-o-lantern. Across the street the owners and staff of Mount Washington Tavern stood staring at the shell, an informal receiving line for a steady stream of stunned patrons and neighbors who came to pay their respects. "We'll be back. We'll be back," tavern owner Rob Frisch promised each person. A two-alarm fire in the early morning hours changed the routine of hundreds of Baltimore area residents — teachers, firefighters, nurses, officer workers — whose after-work plans often included a stop at the Newbury Street restaurant and bar. "I feel like I'm homeless," said Gwen Harmon, an x-ray technician at Sinai Hospital and 13-year customer who arrived in her blue scrubs and wrapped Frisch in a hug. Not only was the tavern a magnet for locals, it was also an attraction for Preakness jockeys, trainers and horse owners — as well as for legions of lacrosse players.

Fox television's "Kitchen Nightmares," featuring celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his decidedly tough-love approach to restaurant rehab, will be filming at Hampden's Cafe Hon next week, the network confirmed Tuesday. The show's producers were unavailable for further comment. In a statement, Café Hon owner Denise Whiting said she'd be willing to speak after the program aired. "Kitchen Nightmares," in its fourth season on Fox, generally focuses on restaurants that are failing or in deep trouble, and affords the ceaselessly blunt Ramsay the chance to come in, do what needs to be done and - hopefully - save the business from plunging into the abyss.

  Some Baltimore are residents and business owners are feeling like they were sandbagged -- by the media, by the government agencies. That feeling, of having been needlessly duped into both provision-making and plan-canceling, was the talk of the social media on the morning after Irene's march through Delmarva. Not all of the talk was sour grapes, of course. Many updates and tweets expressed relief that the area had survived Irene mostly unscathed. And not everyone was so lucky -- power outages, flooded basements and fallen trees at best were disruptions, at worst hardships.

Carroll County will have its first summer restaurant week Aug. 21-28. Over two dozen participating restaurants will offer fixed-price menus for lunch, for dinner, or both,  priced at $5 increments beginning at $10.11. The idea for a Carroll County Restaurant Week is credited to restaurant owners Dante Liberatore (Liberatore's, Eldersburg) and Ken Lurie (Bud's at Silver Run) and the promotion is being co-produced by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and the Carroll County Department of Economic Development/Tourism Office.   

A bill to allow sidewalk cafes in Annapolis has the support of the Economic Matters Committee and is heading for a full vote by the city council.Downtown restaurant owners and merchants favor the measure, sponsored by Ward 8 Alderman Ellen O. Moyer. They say it will allow outdoor eating with fewer government restrictions.The bill is considered more favorable to restaurants than the one Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins proposed earlier this year. The mayor's bill would require restaurant owners to spend as much as $4,300 for separate liquor licenses and conditional use permits for outdoor dining.

The Annapolis City Council will consider tonight a proposal by the former owner of Harbour House restaurant to expand the Food Basket on Dock Street into a delicatessen.Aldermen will hear testimony for the application by George Phillips to expand his store into a 10-seat delicatessen that would offer sandwiches and other light fare from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to midnight Saturdays.The store, at Dock and Craig streets, sells food, gifts itemsand teas. The proposal also includes offering carryout meals.

Two weeks after Baltimore County police seized electronic gambling machines from a Dundalk bar co-owned by state Del. Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick, authorities filed gambling-related charges against four people. Daniel J. Minnick, the delegate's 85-year-old brother and an owner of Minnick's Restaurant, a bartender and two customers were charged with illegal gambling and wagering. Daniel Minnick, who served in the House of Delegates from 1967-1982, also faces four counts of possessing slot machines.

Both of my grandmothers made their own chicken noodle soup, and the results were spectacular. My Poultney Street grandma put a touch of whole tomato in hers. My Guilford Avenue grandmother made her own egg noodles and dried them over a radiator. After their deaths in the 1970s, I despaired of ever having good noodle soup again. About 30 years ago, I made a visit to Vince Rallo's restaurant. One spoonful of his chicken noodle soup, and I was back in a circa 1955 Baltimore kitchen, well-fed and happy.