Restaurant

A new franchised chain of restaurants owned by the Danbar Corp. has opened The Canopy, a fast-service restaurant, in Peddler's Square on Liberty Road.Operators Dan and Barbara Carter, longtime Eldersburg residents, opened May 29. The restaurant specializes in open pit beef, ham and turkey, barbecued ribs and chicken, pork, beef and barbecue sandwiches, and homemade soups and salads."Most everyone dreams of owning one's own business," said Dan Carter. "Opening The Canopy in Eldersburg is step one in the fulfillmentof our dream."

Howard County police are investigating the armed robbery of a Jessup fast-food restaurant early Wednesday evening while customers stood in line to order their meals.About 6:50 p.m., a man entered the Roy Rogers in the 8700 block of Washington Blvd., approached the manager and displayed a handgun, police said.The man demanded money and was given an undisclosed amount of cash from the register. Police said other employees and customers were still in the restaurant at the time. No one was injured.

Night after night, touring the country for his one-man show, Chazz Palminteri searched for the perfect Italian meal, but 31 plates of linguine marinara gave way to 31 disappointments. Then, he walked into Aldo's , a mainstay of Baltimore's Little Italy, and found not only the pasta he'd been craving but the collaborators for his dream project. Two years later, and the Academy Award nominee is about to add a restaurant to a resume that includes "The Usual Suspects," "Bullets Over Broadway" and "A Bronx Tale," the 1989 one-man show that brought him fame, not to mention a lifelong friend and mentor in Robert De Niro.

For nearly 70 years, John C. Brooks swung wide the door at Marconi's, welcoming the famous and the little-known with modesty and hospitality.The thin, always erect Mr. Brooks became a familiar figure to generations of Baltimoreans. He started at Marconi's in 1926. He was a waiter, a maitre d' and manager. For two decades he owned the venerable restaurant.Mr. Brooks left work early Saturday afternoon, feeling slightly ill. Monday, he died of a stroke at his home on Wilkens Avenue at the age of 89."

CLAUDIA COFFEY hadn't slept for a whole week. She tied a white handkerchief to her wrist to dab the tears."This is really heartbreaking," she said as she checked coats for people at the Pimlico Restaurant, which closed last night after more than 40 years.Regular eaters know her as the living legend who created one of Pimlico's favorite dishes, the Coffey Salad. It's ''a Pimlico exclusive created by our own Claudia Coffey,'' said the menu. "A garden-fresh medley of lettuce, tomato and onion accented with anchovies, hard-boiled egg, garlic and freshly grated imported Parmesan."

The year began with Great Sage in Clarksville switching on New Year's Day from a vegetarian to all-vegan menu. And from that day on, hardly anything stayed settled for long in the area's dining scene. It was a big year for making transitions and changes. Some were voluntary, but others weren't, the victim of bad decisions, a sluggish economy and, in a few cases, a sudden disaster. Restaurants closed, sometimes suddenly, but every once in a while with enough time to give customers a chance to say good-bye.

Athletes and movie stars open restaurants, so why not car dealers? Harry Gladding managed it back in the 1970s with Uncle Charlie's Bistro in Mount Vernon. And Gladding didn't even star in his own television commercials. Times have changed, and in a market the size of Baltimore, a car dealer with a long-running ad campaign can evolve into a megawatt star. Jack Antwerpen, by most accounts, is a household name in Baltimore, like Formstone or Berger cookie. But when a restaurant owned by Antwerpen and his wife, Dolores, opens later this month n in St. Michaels, it won't be called Antwerpen's or Jack's.

On paper, McFaul's IronHorse Tavern has everything going for it: A charming location, an appealing menu with a focus on local flavors, friendly staff. That's a good start. But in practice, the restaurant needs some fine-tuning. Start with the name. Officially, it's called McFaul's IronHorse Tavern at Sanders Corner. Descriptive, but a mouthful. The name McFaul's represents the current ownership: Glen and Kristin McFaul are two of the restaurant's five owners. "IronHorse" is a nod to the old Northern Central Railroad tracks — the NCR Trail runs behind the building.

Dimitrios "Jimmy" Minadakis, whose Southeast Baltimore seafood house was open 365 days a year, died of throat cancer Saturday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Dundalk resident was 62. Born on the Greek island of Karpathos, he attended schools there, then joined the Greek merchant marine. He jumped ship and settled in Baltimore in 1967. His first business was the Chevrolet Inn, a Broening Highway bar and lunchroom named for the nearby General Motors plant. For the past 29 years, he owned and operated Jimmy's Famous Seafood Restaurant in the 6500 block of Holabird Ave. He created many of the restaurant's recipes and mixed the seasonings for steamed crabs.

The Colonnade is home to a new restaurant, once again. The Spice Company was set to open today in the space previously inhabited by Four West and the Polo Grill. The name of the eatery may be new, but those behind it are familiar to many in Baltimore's dining-out crowd. Keir Singh owns the successful Indian restaurant the Ambassador Dining Room and the popular Lebanese Carlyle Club - both in the same Johns Hopkins neighborhood as the Colonnade. His partners - John Yuhanick and son Todd Yuhanick - have helped open and promote a number of local restaurants over the years through their public-relations firm.