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National Geographic Traveler spends 48 hours in Baltimore

National Geographic Traveler Tuesday, June 11, 2013

National Geographic Traveler recently highlighted Baltimore’s best destinations in its June/July issue in a piece called “48 Hours: Baltimore, Maryland.”

NatGeo explored Mount Vernon, Hampden, Highlandtown, Locust Point, Little Italy and the Inner Harbor in its two-day itinerary.

It begins in Mount Vernon, noting the contributions of the “Gilded Age Industrialists" behind free institutions like the Walters Art Museum and the Peabody Library.

The article also explores the diversity of Highlandtown, “old-world bakeries” such as Vaccaro’s and crab cakes in Fells Point.

Read the entire story here.

Details magazine says Artifact Coffee's mushroom burger is a must-try sandwich

Details Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Details magazine says that Woodberry's Artifact Coffee is one of the best spots to get a vegetarian sandwich.

In a section highlighting vegetarian trends, Details describes Artifact's mushroom burger as a "must-try" meat-free meal.

"James Beard winner Spike Gjerde's mushroom patty at Artifact Coffee in Baltimore is bound with tofu and oats on a benne seed bun with sauteed onions and greens," Details writes.

The magazine highlights a number of other vegetarian dishes, in cities from New York to San Francisco to Chicago.

It's the latest accolade for Artifact. Food blog the Daily Meal recently named it one of the best coffee shops in America. Chef and Owner Gjerde also owns Woodberry Kitchen and is one of the partners behind a massive food incubator, commerical kitchen and community classroom under development, called the Food Hub.

Food blog says Woodberry's Artifact is one of the best coffee shops in America

The Daily Meal Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Woodberry's Artifact Coffee is one of the best places to get your java jolt, according to food and drink blog the Daily Meal.

The Spike Gjerde-owned venture comes in at No. 15 on its list of Best Coffee Shops in America. The Daily Meal raves about Artifact's " 'barn chic,' farm-to-table vibe" and its BYOB dinner service. (Read about Artifact's plans to serve beer and wine).

The blog editors asked shop owners and baristas to pick their favorite coffee joints based on quality of food and coffee, atmosphere and customer service to come up with its list of 33 shops and chains.

Coffee shops in Portland, Ore., and New York took the No. 3 and No. 2 spots. Ultimo Coffee in Philadelphia came in at No. 1.

OpenTable diners name Food Market and Ouzo Bay top 'hot spots'

OpenTable Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Two Baltimore restaurants earned a spot on OpenTable's Top 100 Hot Spots: Harbor East's Ouzo Bay and The Food Market in Hampden.

If you have been to either, you probably know that they're both pretty busy, even if you pop in at 9 p.m. on a weekday. Specializing in fresh seafood, Greek restaurant Ouzo Bay opened last year. The Food Market opened on The Avenue almost a year ago.

OpenTable compiled the list based on more than 5 million restaurant reviews for more than 15,000 restaurants throughout the U.S.

You can see the list here.

Want to avoid Baltimore parking tickets? There's an app for that.

Atlantic Cities Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Ever wish you could know how likely it is that you'll get a ticket if you skip paying the meter while you grab a cup of coffee?

Now you can, thanks to a Baltimore developer. Hampden resident Shea Frederick has developed an app called SpotAgent that can assess the likelihood of getting a parking ticket at certain times and locations, writes Atlantic Cities.

"The city’s data includes the date, time and a rough address (as well as license plate info) for every parking ticket handed out in the city in the past year," writes Atlantic Cities. "And new tickets typically appear in the database within just a few hours of landing on a windshield.

SpotAgent is available for the iPhone and Android devices.

Gordon Ramsey Visits a Reinvented Cafe Hon

Baltimore Sun Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Denise Whiting and her restaurant Cafe Hon are once again the darlings of the Hampden neighborhood, according to a recent episode of Gordon Ramsey's "Kitchen Nightmares."

Ramsey revisits Cafe Hon a year after his first visit to find a bustling restaurant, humble owner and good food.

"The food was better, they said, the staff seemed happier -- the first piece portrayed them as primed for a full-scale revolt -- and the community seemed ready to let bygones be bygones, especially once Whiting made good on her promise to let go of the trademark," writes Chris Kaltenbach in the Baltimore Sun.

Whiting, of course, faced a public relations nightmare after trademarking the word "Hon." She then later abandoned the trademark and her decision was broadcast on MIX 106.5 and on "Kitchen Nightmares."

Baltimore Restaurant Owners to Star in Reality TV Show

Citypeek.com Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The owners of Hampden's Alchemy restaurant are starring in a new reality television show, according to tourism and hospitality website Citypeek.com.

Baltimore-based RLTV is featuring the couple on a show called "What's Next," scheduled to air in the spring.

"The foodie show uses the small 75 seat venue ALCHEMY's partners Sommelier/Pastry-Bread-Sweets Debi Bell-Matassa and Executive Chef Michael Matassa to cover and tackle issues like: how do you run a business, how do you manage to work side by side your spouse," Citypeek.com writes.

Founded by John Erickson, cable channel RLTV caters to the 50 + crowd in its programming.

New York Times: Woodberry Kitchen Stocks Up for the Winter

New York Times Thursday, December 06, 2012

How do restaurants serve up the freshest produce in the winter? They can, store and preserve, says the New York Times, which prominently features Woodberry Kitchen in its feature on how restaurants are saving up for the winter.

"At Woodberry Kitchen, the chef Spike Gjerde collaborates with local growers to stock an abundant pantry, serving diners at his 162-seat restaurant," the Times writes.

" 'We got in the kitchen and froze 10 cases of tomatoes and roasted, peeled and seeded 10 cases of peppers,'” Gjerde tells the Times.

The story also mentions Carroll County's Black Ankle Vineyards, which supplies grapes to Woodberry.

You can read the entire story here.

Forbes Names Hampden One of the Hippest Neigbhorhoods

Forbes Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Whoever thought that a neighborhood in Baltimore would be featured alongside Williamsburg, New York City, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, and Chicago's tony Wicker Park?

Forbes has done the favor to Hampden, ranking it No. 15 on its list of hippest hoods.

"Bars, restaurants and independent coffee houses co-mingle with two-story rowhouses harking back to the neighborhood's days of mills and factories," Forbes writes of this "retro cool" neighborhood.

Silver Lake took the top spot, followed by San Francisco's Mission District and Brooklyn's Williamsburg.

San Francisco's Nextdoor.com helped Forbes compile the data, assessing each neighborhoods walkability, number of food trucks, locally owned eateries, art galleries and other hipness factors. You can see the entire list here.

John Lennon's Son Shops in Hampden

Baltimore Fishbowl Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sean Lennon, the son of late music legend John Legend, recently paid a visit to a Hampden store Charlotte Elliott.

Lennon was accompanied by his model/actress/musician girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, writes Baltimore Fishbowl.

"The pair showed interest in an antique rug, on which [Owner Charlotte] Hays Murray’s father Fred Hays, her co-owner, offered the young man a great deal," Fishbowl writes. "His girlfriend picked up a cookbook penned by Vincent Price."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Huffington Post Gulps Charm City's Cafe Culture

Huffington Post Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Baltimore's coffee shops has gotten some press from the Huffington Post. The website features a slideshow of local spots to get a java jolt, including Hampden's Spro, Mount Vernon's Koffee Therapy and the Four Seasons Baltimore's Lamill Coffee.

"What is different about Baltimore's coffee renaissance is that it has percolated less through the corporate culture of selling high-end brews to rich people than through home town pride," the Huffington Post writes. "The thinking seems to be that this is the sort of economic development that can keep talented people in a city suffering from brain drain."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Woodberry Kitchen a Favorite Among Washingtonians

Washington Post Tuesday, March 20, 2012

It's no secret that Woodberry Kitchen is one of the most popular restaurants in Baltimore.

But it turns out that the city's original farm-to-table restaurants is a hit among Washingtonians.

"The third time I was asked whether I had been to Woodberry Kitchen, the Baltimore restaurant where chef-restaurateur Spike Gjerde walks the talk of locally sourced cooking, I took note," David Hagedorn writes. "All this buzz from Washingtonians, a people who launch into lengthy negotiations just to cross the Potomac for dinner, had to mean something."

Baltimore Fishbowl took note of the Washington Post article, decrying the fact that Charm City residents now have to "fight with the Washington crowd for a table at the hip Woodberry eatery."

But at least owners Spike and Amy Gjerde are expanding their culinary empire with a new cafe and fast-casual restaurant.

"Kitchen Nightmares" Airs Cafe Hon Episode

Voice of Baltimore Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Baltimoreans finally got to see the long-awaited "Kitchen Nightmares" episode featuring Cafe Hon Owner Denise Whiting and her controversial move of claiming ownership of the word "Hon."

And it was as dramatic as expected.

Whiting was stuck with a public relations nightmare after the trademark. Critics said she was trying to profit from a word that has become synonymous with Charm City itself.

It was all documented on the show hosted by British chef Gordon Ramsay, who convinced Whiting to give up her trademark.

"In the show’s final segment, Television Chef Gordon Ramsay and his 'team' of culinary experts literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, transforming the iconic 36th St. restaurant and 'persuading' its insufferable proprietor Denise Whiting to give up her claim to ownership of the trademark 'Hon,'" writes Alan Z. Forman in his Voice of Baltimore news site. You can read the rest of his summary and analysis of the show here.

Woodberry Kitchen's Spike Gjerde Featured in GQ

GQ Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Baltimoreans all know that Woodberry Kitchen is the city's original and most popular farm-to-table restaurant. Well it seems that word has gotten out to the editors of GQ magazine.

Woodberry Co-owner Spike Gjerde was recently featured in the magazine's food and travel section. Gjerde talks about his favorite spots in Baltimore, which include Hampden's Spro coffee shop, Wit and Wisdom restaurant in the Four Seasons Baltimore and the Thames Street Oyster House in Fells Point. You can read the rest of his picks here.

It certainly won't be the last we hear of Gjerde. The restaurateur is opening a coffee shop of his own and a fast-casual eatery this spring.

Cafe Hon Owner Drops Trademark

ABC 2 News Tuesday, November 15, 2011

When the public got word that Café Hon owner Denise Whiting had trademarked the word "Hon," the Hampen business owner faced a backlash that affected sales of her restaurant.

But she told several media outlets that she is dropping her trademark of the term of the uniquely Baltimore term of endearment.

She also apologized for stirring up such controversy.

Thanks, Hon.

You can read more about it here.

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