Hospitality : Buzz

It turns out that Maryland crabs are loved by all, not just us folks who live in the Free State.

Readers of USA Today and 10Best travel website named crabs sold in Baltimore among the best iconic American foods. Maryland crabs were No. 2 on the list.

USA Today reports that Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship has beaten the heat, and returned to Baltimore Harbor this past week.
 
Royal Caribbean's Executive Vice President for Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, tells USA Today  “we're back, and we're ready to provide loyal service to Baltimore city."
 
The Grandeur makes its return to the Harbor after six weeks of intensive repairs, prompted by a serious on-board fire in May. 
 
Royal Caribbean's Grandeur return comes just in time.  Carnival Cruises, a rival cruise line, recently announced it will end all services in Baltimore in 2014, due to the city's new, stricter anti-pollution policies.
 
Read more about Royal Caribbean's return to Baltimore here.
 

“House of Cards” isn't the only show shooting in Maryland anymore, as this week filming in Maryland turns from the political to edible.

Food Network show “The Great Food Truck Race” filmed in Annapolis June 21, the Baltimore Sun writes. The multi-week, coast-to-coast challenge pits food truck vendors against one another to see who can sell the most tacos, burgers and other fare.

The Indian-Mexican inspired Tikka Tikka Taco, the Hawaiian-style Aloha Plate Truck and cheese-steak vendor Samboni Boys took part in the Annapolis challenge, the Sun reports.

The Annapolis episode will air Sept. 15. Read the full story here.

Restaurant owners Tony Foreman and Cindy Wolf are heading West for their latest venture. 

The duo behind Pazo, Petit Louis Bistro, Johnny's, Cinghiale and Charleston are opening a new, yet unnamed restaurant on Columbia's Lakefront, the Baltimore Sun reports. The restaurant will replace the shuttered Red Pearl, next to the popular Sushi Sono. 

The restaurant will likely open by the end of the year and hire 60 to 70, Tony Foreman tells the Sun. Its the first Howard County business for the Foreman Wolf Restaurant Group. 

Read the entire story here. 

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.

Harry Connick Jr. has come out with a new album, "Every Man Should Know," and is kicking off the concert tour to promote it in Baltimore. 

The crooner will perform June 19 at the Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric, located at the edge of Mount Vernon. Connick wrote the lyrics, music and arrangements for the new album, writes USA Today. 

"I've done just about every kind of record you could do," Connick tells USA Today. "I've never had a pop hit, which is a blessing — because I've never had to base anything I do on the last record."

You can read the entire story here. 

Rodney Henry, the owner of Dangerously Delicious Pies, was off to a strong start in the first episode of the "The Next Food Network Star."

Henry is one of 12 contestants, which included several restaurant owners and one former model, competing for the chance to host his own show on the network. Dangerously Delicious has stores in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown and Bobby Flay host the show. 

In the first challenge, the TV hopefuls had to create a 30-second pitch tape for Food Network executives. Later, individuals in a focus group voted whether they liked or disliked the contestants. The cooks then turned up the heat by making a dish with potatoes.

The audience loved Henry's pitch and a Food Network exec said he believed Henry is "the pie guy." Though his mini potato-and-crab pies didn't turn out as expected, the judges liked the taste. Henry, however, didn't make the top three performers in the first episode.

You can watch the entire episode here. 

Musicians from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra kicked off a six-day festival, Spring for Music, at Carnegie Hall last week. 

BSO Music Director Marin Alsop "began her bracing program with John Adams’s 'Shaker Loops,' the 1983 string-orchestra version of an earlier chamber piece for strings," the New York Times writes.

"The music is alive with oscillating melodic bits and rippling rhythmic figures, and this performance captured the bustling musical patterns and undulant waves of sound."

You can read the entire story here. 

Ah summer. It's the time to slap some meat – or tofu burgers — on the grill.

Forbes features a rundown of some of the best places to brush up on your grilling technique, including a class in Baltimore. "Despite how simple it looks, grilling isn’t the easiest of cooking methods," Forbes writes.

Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore BBQ 101 "is a fun way to kick off the summer barbecue season," Forbes writes. Executive Chef Oliver Beckert will demonstrate a variety of tailgating and barbecuing techniques at the $65 event. Read the entire story here. 

Celebrity chef Michael Mina is about to open an American gastropub in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

1842 Pub, which will feature craft beer, sausage, seafood and burgers, echoes his Baltimore restaurant Wit & Wisdom, writes Forbes.

"Mina may be the latest celebrity chef on the Vegas gastropub bandwagon, but he already has one under his belt in Baltimore: Wit & Wisdom at the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore," Forbes writes. 

"Wit & Wisdom might well be a preview of 1842, describing itself as a 'modern American tavern' that 'redefines the ordinary tavern and elevates it,' with a focus on the area’s abundant seafood," Forbes says. Read the entire story on the "Celebrity Chef Gastropub Craze" here. 

Crabs, scenic roads and Artscape are among the reasons travelers should visit Maryland this summer, according to Fodor's. The travel guide recently posted 5 Reasons to Go to Maryland this Summer. Visiting the Eastern Shore and celebrating American history on the Civil War Trail were the other two reasons. 

"Warmer weather means getting outside and enjoying the more than 3,100 miles of coastline along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, taking in the various outdoor street festivals, and cracking into some blue crabs," Fodor's writes. 

In addition to Artscape, Fodor's highlights two other festivals: the Maryland Renaissance Festival and the Maryland Craft Beer Festival in Frederick. Read the entire story here. 

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.

Now there's more proof that Baltimore is a good place for young professionals.

Apartment Guide places Baltimore No. 19 on its list of the top 20 U.S. cities for recent college graduates, USA Today reports.

Baltimore didn't fare as well as its neighbors New York and Washington, D.C., which came in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Philadelphia, Seattle and Minneapolis rounded out the top five. Baltimore was also recently named one of the best East Coast cities for young adults. 

Apartment Guide took into account the number of bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and other factors to come up with its listing. You can see the list and USA Today story here.

Entrepreneur magazine has named the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore the Best New Business Hotel in its 2013 Business Travel Awards.

"It juts into the Inner Harbor and shows off marina and downtown views with floor-to-ceiling windows in guest rooms and many of the meeting spaces," Entrepreneur writes. 

The $200 million Harbor East hotel opened in 2011, nearly a decade after it was first proposed.

The magazine asks Chris Reid, president of hotel operations for Four Seasons Americas, why the company chose Baltimore over a larger city.

"You're a much more important player, relative to the city," Reid tells Entrepreneur. "Your hotel becomes an important landmark. And if you think about some of the businesses that are in Baltimore, for example, there's vibrant economic activity there. We believe that will only grow from here."

Read the entire story here. 

Spring is when glorious private homes and gardens open up to the public, with the proceeds often going to a good cause. 

The New York Times listed a number of these house-and-garden tours from New York to San Francisco, including several in Maryland.

Sherwood Gardens in Guilford, "where an astonishing 80,000 tulips grow every spring," and a 1932 stucco home in Timonium that once belonged to quarterback Johnny Unitas are among the local sights.

Read the entire story here.