Mt. Vernon : Development News

The owners of Pikesville's popular Mexican restaurant Mari Luna are bringing their food to city residents.

Mari Luna Mexican Bistro will open at 1225 Cathedral St. in Mount Vernon by mid-January. Located across from the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the spot was formerly home to Robert Oliver Seafood and Spike & Charlie's.

The 200-seat restaurant will feature a guacamole bar and sangria bar, says Paul Bartlett, a restaurant consultant working with the Luna family on the opening. It will also focus on entertainment and culture, featuring a Mariachi band.

Featuring the food of central Mexico, Mari Luna will be less formal and less dependent on the symphony crowd that have opened there in the past.

"We're envisioning it as a community gathering place for musicians before and after their gigs," Bartlett says. "It's a beautiful, elegant space. We look forward to being there for quite a while."

Jaime Luna and his family, who own Mari Luna Mexican Grill and Mari Luna Latin Grille, are investing about $100,000 to open the new restaurant, Bartlett says. The restaurant consultant has worked on behalf of Caf� Hon, Donna's, and Phillips Seafood Restaurants.

Bartlett says he and the Luna family like the area because it has gotten some new developments, including the recently opened Fitzgerald apartments.

"I've always loved the restaurant" space, Bartlett says. "It's a social neighborhood and fun gathering place."

The restaurant will employ about 40.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source Paul Bartlett, restaurant consultant

A Washington, D.C., restaurant owner has taken her Southern-style cuisine to Baltimore's Charles Street. CR Lounge opened its doors July 31 at 518 N. Charles Street, formerly IXIA. The restaurant, which serves shrimp and grits and other Southern-style cuisine, celebrates its grand opening August 7.

Owner Tegist "Teggy" Ayalew, who also operates Cr�me Caf� and Lounge on U Street in D.C, spent about $50,000 to furnish the 3,700-square-foot restaurant. The kitchen equipment was already in place and the landlord held onto the former restaurant's liquor license,  making the initial investment relatively small.

"This was a very good opportunity. I know it's a bad economy but I'm excited about what I can offer," she says.

Ayalew describes the look and feel of the restaurant as "upscale casual," with the average dish costing around $14.

Initially, CR Lounge will seat 75 downstairs. But the business owner will eventually open the second floor and seat a total of 190 guests. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday and serves Saturday and Sunday brunch. 


She will continue to operate the restaurant in Washington, D.C., and is even looking for another site for a second location in the nation's capital. However, her long-term plan is to make Baltimore her home.

"The people are very pleasant and welcoming. The neighborhood is very supportive," she says of Mount Vernon.

She also likes the historic buildings on Mount Vernon's Charles Street and says she "fell in love with it" on her first day in town.
"That area is culturally rich and we love the arts and music. We were very interested in being part of that."

The restaurant will display art from Ethiopia, where Ayalew was born. CR Lounge will employ 20 people.

Read more about what's happening in Mt. Vernon.

Source: Tegist Ayalew, CR Lounge
Writer: Julekha Dash

Dana Valery often wished she could pick up organic fruit, milk and eggs every few days from her neighborhood corner grocer the way Europeans do, rather than make the massive trip to the supermarket every couple of weeks. So she and her husband Ernst Valery are making that wish a reality with the opening of Milk and Honey Market. The Mount Vernon shop at 816 S. Cathedral Street will open Oct. 1.

The 1,700-square-foot store is an offshoot of West Philadelphia's Milk and Honey Market, owned by friends of the Baltimore husband-and-wife team. Philly owners Annie Baum-Stein and Mauro Daigle consulted on the design and concept of the Baltimore store.

The store will sell a mix of fresh produce, meats, breads and honey and feature a caf� serving espresso, lattes and fresh-fruit smoothies. Breads will come from Stone Mill Bakery in Lutherville. The couple is talking with a number of local farmers who will supply the produce and cheeses. Valery declined to name them because they are still in the discussion stage.

"We're shooting for high quality products that are fresh and local," Valery says.

The couple chose the neighborhood because it has a nice mix of businesses, residents and students who will hopefully want to shop at a store like theirs. It also lacks a Whole Foods Market or other competing store and is easy to walk around.

Valery says she's catering to folks like herself who often go away on the weekends and can't make it to the local farmers' market on the weekends.

Nancy Hooff and Jim Campbell, a Washington, D.C., couple who own a development company, are also part-owners in the business. 


Read more about what's happening in Mt. Vernon.

Source: Dana Valery, Milk and Honey Market
Writer: Julekha Dash

An artist-run gallery has moved into new space on the city's west side. Current Space opened its doors to the public at 421 N. Howard Street this month after nearly six years at 30 S. Calvert Street.

The new spot is conveniently located near the Light Rail, and restaurants in Mount Vernon, Current Co-director Monique Crabb says. "Downtown closed down at night. It's nice to be in an area where there's an audience around us."

It's also close to the Enoch Pratt Library and the artist warehouse the H&H building, the site of many art shows and music events.

"We're really excited about the location," Crabb says.

Current artists pay just utilities and property taxes �  about $6,000 a year � and is getting the space free of rent from the city. Downtown Partnership of Baltimore Inc. and the Baltimore Development Corporation helped the artists find the new space. The move highlights how the city is encouraging artists to move into areas with vacant buildings with the hopes that it will jumpstart development.

Eventually, the artists will have to move if a developer takes an interest in the area. "It's a win-win situation except we will be asked to leave," Crabb says.

Right now, the artists expect to stay in the space for at least a year and a half.

The gallery displays the work of photographers, printmakers and videographers whose work is not very commercial. Most of the work is not sellable, because the work includes videos and major installations.

"We don't target the audience looking to buy art work," Crabb says. "We wish we sold more stuff and make more money. It's more about including the artists' community but not so much in a commercial way."

Source: Monique Crabb, Current Space
Writer: Julekha Dash

Greg Brown has always been into eating healthful foods and working out. He eventually became a vegetarian, cooking meatless meals that became part of the catering company he formed in 2004.

Now, Brown and fhis ianc� Naijha Wright are taking the soy rib tips, collard greens seasoned with smoked tofu and soy curry chicken to a new restaurant called Land of Kush. The 1,200-square-foot business will open at 840 N. Eutaw Street Aug. 1.

The pair spent about $55,000 to start the 20-seat restaurant.

Brown began selling vegetarian food when a friend was searching for a caterer to serve meatless meals at Jazzy Summer Nights, the downtown music event formerly held on the first Thursday of each month.

Though it ended last year, the event gave Brown a small but loyal following of fans. He says he would often sell out of food there and at another summer event, Artscape.

Land of Kush will serve a mix of Southern soul-style cooking and ethnic foods, the tofu and soy mimicking Vietnamese, Indian and West Indian flavors. "I have friends from different cultural backgrounds and that's the kind of restaurant I want to open," Brown says. 

He chose the Mount Vernon neighborhood for his new restaurant because the area's diverse mix of residents."I like just walking in that area," Brown says.

The neighborhood is also home to Maryland General Hospital and various state office buildings, whose workers will hopefully patronize the Land of Kush, he says.

Brown expects area residents and students from the University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art to become customers, given the restaurant's low prices. Sandwiches will cost around $5 while dinner entrees will cost about $10.

Read more about what's happening in Mt. Vernon.


Source: Greg Brown, Land of Kush
Writer: Julekha Dash

You could call David Shapiro a lawyer by day and falafel guru by night. The attorney recently opened Shapiro's Caf� at 7 W. Preston St. The 2,000-square-foot caf� features an eclectic menu, including falafel, schwarma, tuna and chicken salad, and corned beef sandwiches.

Shapiro is partial to the Mount Vernon neighborhood because that is where he operates his law practice. It is also the site of his alma mater, the University of Baltimore, where he attended law school. Shapiro expects to draw students from there, as well as Maryland Institute College of Art, to his restaurant.

By next month, when the caf� is open during the evening, Shapiro expects to draw patrons who attend performances at the Lyric Opera House and at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Though the corned beef comes all the way from New York, Shaipro says that his goal is to get about half of his products from local sources. Already, he gets his coffee from Baltimore's Zeke's Coffee and Taharka Bros. Ice Cream.

Shapiro spent $90,000 to open the 2,000-square-foot store. Though he has practiced law for the last 22 years, Shapiro is no stranger to the food industry. He worked for a Jewish catering company when he was 14.

"That was my first experience working in a kitchen," Shapiro says.

And now, he says he is Mount Vernon to serve the neighborhood and people employed in the area. But he hasn't given up his day job.

Source: David Shapiro, Shapiro's Cafe
Writer: Julekha Dash

The Hotel Brexton, a 29-room boutique hotel in Mount Vernon has hired Paul Masai as its general manager and will open its doors to the public Feb. 12.

A native of Kenya, Masai was formerly the assistant manager at the Inn at the Colonnade. The Charles Village property and the Hotel Brexton are both is owned by Richard Naing. Masai has also held management positions at the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor and the Tremont Plaza Hotel.

After a nearly $5 million restoration, developer RWN Development Group is reviving the historic 129-year-old Mount Vernon hotel following years of disrepair and nearly two decades of vacancy. Hotel officials are counting on its proximity to universities and hospitals to draw business, Masai says.

The hotel is close to the University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art and not far from Mercy Medical Center. By the end of the month, the hotel will house a cafe and ice cream shop managed by Gifford's Ice Cream, a chain in the Greater Washington area that has a location in Pikesville. The cafe will serve breakfast and snacks and offer outdoor seating during warmer months.

Designed by Kann Partners and built by HOD Contractors, the property was built in 1881 as a residential hotel. Hotel designers have left many original details, including a circular staircase and a pentagon-shaped elevator. The hotel also includes a Wallis Simpson Suite in honor of the Duchess of Windsor, who lived in the Brexton as a child.

Rooms at the hotel will cost between $139 and $179.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Paul Masai, Hotel Brexton

Sometimes bad news for one neighborhood is good news for another. That was the case when Salamander Used Books' owner Michael Cantor announced that the store would be leaving Hampden. But the Hon neighborhoods loss is Mt. Vernon's gain as the shop once located on 36th Street , a.k.a. The Avenue, will take up residence in its new digs at 519 N. Charlest Street on Jan. 10.

Cantor says its nothing personal against Hampden, he just needed more space in which to do more things for his clientele."We're leaving for a bunch for reasons. We needed a larger store. And, Mt. Vernon is a real cultural hub with the Peabody and Walter's and things like that. We do a heavy business in art [books]," he explains.

Hampden has become a well-known destination for its restaurent scene and is "very gift-oriented now, so it's not as happening during the weekday" when Cantor depends on foot traffic to bring shoppers in his store.

"Mt. Vernon has a much higher density of people working during the day and a lunch crowd," he adds.

Business has been good in Hampden, but Cantor says he'd like to bring in additional inventory, showcase more books and also have space to host book signings and other events.

"I'd like to have space for book clubs and other community-related events and activities. Our space was just too tight here. I get asked all the time by local writers and poets if they can have readings or signings and I just don't have the space in Hampden. This new place should be large enough for that. It's about 40 percent larger in terms of the showroom area," Cantor says.

"We really looking forward to the change. We were very happy in Hampden, but feel that this really will be a place that might work out better for us. We're very sorry to leave. Hampden has been very good to us and hopefully Mt. Vernon will allow us to continue to grow in a positive direction."

Source: Michael Cantor, Salamander Used Books
Writer: Walaika Haskins

New Age Dine and Dance (NADDS) is just what Mt. Vernon needed, according to Ron Singer, owner. "Mt. Vernon is a great cultural and entertainment district and the one thing it lacked was a stage. We now have a stage, instruments, a movie theater, the whole shebang."

He believes that if he builds it, they will come. "I have a complete stage. Musicians don't even have to bring their instruments, we already have them on the stage."

Singer sees NADDS, located at 227 W. Chase Street, as a neighborhood destination offering great food and nightly entertainment.
"Mondays we have draped figure drawing and artists can come in and do their sketching. Tuesday we do indie film. Wednesday is comedy night and spoken word. That's our busiest night so far. It's really doing well. Thursday are open mike music. Fridays are DJ night. Saturday we have live music and Sunday is jazz night. We start with a buffet brunch at 11 a.m. and we have a gentleman playing music during that and then it just goes into jazz all night long."

When it comes to food, Singer says he's trying to appeal to both neighborhood residents as well as attendess of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera House.

"We have a raw bar. We have a very heavy seafood menu and then we have a prime rib special and everything down to a veggie burger and pub grub. We have a 6-page menu because we want to be able to offer college kids who don't have the income to spend a lot of money as well as someone who wants a calamari appetizer or cavier bruschetta something," he says.

A buider by trade, as soon as Singer learned that building housing Tyson's Place and Leon's of Baltimore (located at 870 Park Avenue) was available he jumped at the chance. "I had been looking for some place in Charles Village, Mt. Vernon and Locust Point. When I heard that this building was available and I came and looked at it, I knew in 10 minutes what I was going to do."

The two businesses, formerly connected by a single hallway, are joined by an open lounge area. Singer plans to add a rooftop deck and a second floor to Leon's where patrons will be able to play pool.

"Leon's is the oldest continuous gay bar in the country. We are making small changes, updating the bathroom and opening up the second floor, adding a shuffle board, a dart board to give the guys something to do and a place to talk. I'm really into preserving Leon's," he says.

Though Singer acknowledges that he's taken a little bit of flack over the NADDS acronym, he asks potential clients to stop in and give the restaurant a try. "Tell us what you want. We're really open to ideas and I think people will be very surprised at how good our food is. People should give us a try to see if we're what they're looking for."


Source: Ron Singer, owner
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Drive around Baltimore's Seton Hill and you'll see plenty of businesses, a few hairdressers, and of course Maryland General Hospital. What you won't find are many -- read: any -- non-fast food restaurants where residents and area workers can get a bite to eat and hangout for a while.

So, when Coconuts bit the dust earlier this year, Lisa Markiewicz, who owns the building, figured it was her chance to fill a vital gap in the neighborhood. "That area is surrounded by some great neighborhoods, but that particular spot there isn't anything within walking distance that offers decent food, an inexpensive wine list, a nice variety of flavored beers in a casual loungey setting. I think that it's long overdue for that area."

Markiewicz says she's always liked the area because of its arts and culture and that now she's adding to the neighborhood by offering affordable food for all comers - the Maryland General crowd, State Office Building employees and area residents. "I'm excited to cater to the neighborhood. I really am."

Waterstone Bar & Grille, located at 311 W. Madison Street, will officially open "by the end of the week." The restaurant, open at 3 p.m., will feature a small plate menu that will include lamb chops, seared Ahi Tuna, stuffed grape leaves, mini burgers, vegetarian dishes and salads. "We'll have a nice variety because we want to cater to all crowds," Markiewicz explains.

The restaurant, styled along the lines of a European bistro, will seat about 50 people. According to Markiewicz, Waterstone will have weekly specials including $5 small menu items on Mondays, chef specials on Tuesdays, 1/2 price wine bottles on Wednesdays, $5 Martini Night on Thursdays, and daily "Happiness" happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with $3 beers, $4 wines and martinis and a $5 menu. The weekends will feature live entertainment.

"Our tag line is 'eat.drink.lounge.Waterstone." We want you to come in eat, drink and lounge. We even have a small lounge area. I envision people coming in have wine and our cheese and fruit trays and relax after their day," she says.

Source: Lisa Markiewicz, owner
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Though the streets of Mt. Vernon offer a veritable cornucopia of dining options, the one thing the area has long lacked is a place students from nearby University of Baltimore and Maryland Institute College of Art could go grab a bite or check out the Orioles or Ravens and enjoy an ice cold brew.

Enter, Turp's Sports Bar and Restaurant, which replaced Neo Viccino at 1317 N. Charles Street. As Mount Vernon's newest and only sports bar, Turps offers a large menu of pub-style munchies and entrees, including burgers, subs, sandwiches, pasta, and pizza in a casual atmosphere.

"Right now, Turp's is just as a much a restaurant as it is a sports bar. It has delicious sports bar-type food, which we've labeled sports grub, but more importantly its abou the area. We have the University of Baltimore, which was a huge consideration for putting Turp's where it's at. There really wasn't a venue for students to go to hang out, see the game, hang out with friends in that type of sports oriented atmosphere," says Lee Morton, director of marketing and design at Jay's Restaurant Group

With Pennsylvania Station, just up Charles Street, unloading its trains packed with commuters and travelers as well as neighborhood residents eager for a bridge between the local carryout and more refined dining options, there was a gap for a sports bar in Mt. Vernon.

"We aren't some corner bar, but at the same time its casual. You don't have to worry about anything when you walk in," says Morton

One big draw for students and residents alike are Turp's 30 cent wing night.

Whether you're a business owner, community organization or just a neighborhood regular, if you have a business opening or that has recently opened tell us about. You could find your new business featured in our development news section.

The Baltimore-based Parks & People Foundation, is offering up to $1,000 for groups interested in greening their neighborhood. The monies, part of a partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation and the Cleaner Greener Baltimore Initiative, provides up to $1,000 in Neighborhood Greening Grants for those planning projects that will plant trees, create community gardens, clean up and restore vacant lots, clean up neighborhoods, create green schoolyards, improve water quality improve and provide environmental education activities. Grant funds may also be used for tools, plant material, equipment and other needed supplies.