For Foodies : Development News

Cajun cuisine and barbeque will soon be on the menu at the Liberty Road corridor.

Baltimore chef and caterer Daniel Brandford is opening the Big Easy at the end of next month at 9820 Liberty Rd. in Randallstown.

The 4,500-square foot restaurant will serve dishes like blackened chicken and catfish, pulled pork, and beef brisket. One side of the menu will feature Cajun cuisine and the other side will contain barbeque items. Brandford says he will keep entrees under $15 in order to compete with T.G.I. Friday's and other chain restaurants.

"I love New Orleans cooking," Brandford says. "It's one of my favorite places to eat and experience new dishes."

The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner and on weekends, breakfast. Brandford hopes to draw area families and workers at the local car dealerships and the police station across the street.

He thought the area in Northwest Baltimore County was ideal for the 134-seat restaurant. Other nearby eateries are largely fast food chains or bars that serve food.

Brandford declined to say what he is spending to open the restaurant.

The Liberty Road area consists of a string of shopping centers, five of which underwent major renovations and streetscape improvements with new landscaping and lighting within the last eight years. The average household income is $60,000, according to the Baltimore County Office of Economic Development.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Daniel Brandford, the Big Easy

The owners of popular Remington restaurant and bar the Dizz have opened a second location in Hampden.

The Dizz Grandview opened Sept. 15 on the 15th floor of a high rise for senior citizens.

And next door to their original location at 300 W. 30th St., the restaurant now has more space to sell T-shirts blazoning the TV show starring neighborhood baker Duff Goldman.

The 76-seat restaurant currently serves lunch and dinner. By mid-October, it will begin serving breakfast � as well as alcohol, the Dizz Manager Elaine Stevens says. For now, the Hampden restaurant is BYOB. Stevens says she expects to get a liquor license next month.

Surrounded by glass, the restaurant at 3838 Roland Ave. offers diners a view of Baltimore City that will hopefully be its main attraction, Stevens says.

"The view is beautiful," she says. "That's what's going to sell the place. It's a nice little spot."

The restaurant's menu is the same as the Remington location. That includes steaks, seafood, sandwiches, and burgers.

The Dizz' owners (Stevens' brother and his wife) chose the location hoping to attract the young professionals in Hampden and the older residents in the building.

Stevens hopes to get customers from Remington on busy nights when the wait to snag a table at the original location can be as long as 90 minutes.

Folks who are waiting now have a place to buy "Ace of Cakes" paraphernalia, including T-shirts, mugs, and water bottles. The Dizz was selling more than 200 "Ace of Cakes" T-shirts � at $25 a pop � per month, prompting the owners to open a separate gift shop next door. The store will also sell jewelry, photography, and paintings by local artists who frequently dine at the Dizz. Sports fans can also get gear supporting the Baltimore Orioles and the Ravens.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Elaine Stevens, the Dizz

Hampden's main thoroughfare, the Avenue, will soon be home to a new caf� and art gallery.

The Arthouse will open the first week of November at 1115 W. 36 St. With seating for about 100, the two-story restaurant will feature an espresso bar and works from local artists, says Lou Catelli, who is helping to get the 2,000-square-foot restaurant up and running.

The restaurant could grow its own produce on site if the owners get zoning approval for a rooftop garden, Catelli says.

The owners, Joan Delina and Deb Smith, are applying for a new liquor license, which requires that they invest a minimum of $200,000 into a restaurant of that size.

The Arthouse will be open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., serving lunch and dinner.

The menu will be "eclectic," Catelli says, featuring local produce, free-range meats, and Maryland wines. Entrees will run about $15 and include seafood, meat, and vegetarian dishes.

Catelli has worked with several local restaurants including Sotto Caf� in downtown Baltimore and 13.5% wine bar in Hampden.

Catelli says "bohemian" Hampden seemed like the ideal spot for an art gallery and caf�.

"Hampden is the center of excitement," Catelli says. The area has got a mix of young professionals, students, and professors who patronize local shops, along with a tight-knit group of merchants.

"There's no other neighborhood that's happening like Hampden right now," he says.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source Lou Catelli, the Arthouse

Another fast food chain is headed to Baltimore � but don't expect fries with your sandwich.

Freshii, a franchise that sells made-to-order salads, wraps, soups and yogurt, will open a store at the Inner Harbor the first quarter of next year. Another Maryland store will open Dec. 1 at National Harbor in Prince George's County.

In total, franchise company Goel Management wants to open 20 Freshii stores in Maryland in the next three to four years, CEO Sumeet Goel says. So far, Goel has signed a letter of intent to open stores in Annapolis, Columbia and College Park. He plans to open two stores in Columbia and one in Ellicott City.

Started five years ago in Toronto, Freshii has been likened to Starbucks for its ambitious growth plans and Whole Foods for its eco-friendly practices. The company expects to have 52 locations open by the end of the year and 300 by 2015. Freshii relies on biodegradable materials. Customers can even bring in their own bowls.

The restaurant touts its healthful menu and offers three types of meals: high protein, low fat, and "balanced," with essential fats and slow-burning carbs. Meals cost, on average, $8 to $9.

Stores range from 200-square-foot kiosks to 2,000 square feet. The downtown Baltimore store will be about 1,500 square feet.
Each store costs between $50,000 and $200,000 to open.

Goel chose the Inner Harbor because the store will attract nearby office workers and tourists.

A Maryland native who lives in Pasadena, Goel also owns all of the Baja Fresh franchises in Baltimore. He says he believes the Baltimore market has attracted a more health conscious crowd.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Sumeet Goel, Freshii

A low calorie dessert franchise plans to sweeten the Baltimore region. 

Tasti D-Lite franchise owner Benjamin Pascal plans to open at least four stores in Maryland by spring. The first of these will open by the end of October at the Park Plaza shopping center in Severna Park. The center's anchor tenants include Dress Barn, Bill Bateman's Bistro and Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft.

The 2,100-square-foot store at 580 E. Ritchie Highway will double as the local headquarters for the headquarters for the Franklin, Tenn., chain. Pascal will use the space to train franchisees and house marketing and administrative staff.

Pascal is eyeing Towson, Baltimore City and Annapolis for the remaining stores. He has yet to secure the locations but says he is looking at standalone locations and strip malls, rather than enclosed mall spaces. Most stores average between 800 and 1,000 square feet. Each store requires about a $250,000 investment in franchise fees and real estate.

Pascal has awarded Tasti D-Lite franchises in Bel Air, Chevy Chase and Washington, D.C.

Eventually, Pascal would like to open at least 25 stores in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware over the next decade, with about 15 of these in Maryland.

Started in New York in 1987, Tasti D-Lite today has 50 stores in the U.S., South Korea and Mexico.

Tasti D-Lite sells frozen desserts composed entirely of skim milk. Though doesn't have enough milk fat to be called ice cream, but the consistency is similar to soft serve ice cream, Pascal says. Each four-ounce serving of the stuff contains  between 70 and 100 calories and about 5 grams of sugar.

The stores' 115 flavors include banana fudge, carrot cake, green tea, pomegranate and pumpkin cheesecake. The shops also sell smoothies and shakes.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Benjamin Pascal, Tasti D-Lite

Downtown Baltimore's newest restaurant, Kona Grill, is spending $3 million to open for business at 1 E. Pratt St.

The Baltimore location, to open Oct. 4, is only the second downtown venue for Kona Grill, which operates 24 restaurants in 15 states.

The other downtown restaurant is located in Stamford, Conn. Typically, the chain selects suburban malls rather than city spots, Kona CEO Marc Buehler says.

But the company likes the Inner Harbor's mix of office workers, tourists and conventioneers who will all hopefully take a bite out of the restaurant, Buehler says.

"We really think it's going to be a great site for us," Buehler says.

The nearly 7,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 189 inside an another 74 on its Pratt Street patio. The store will employ 120.

Last year, the Scottsdale, Ariz., company opened four restaurants in Richmond, Va.; Woodbridge, N.J.; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Tampa, Fla. And it plans to open two or three restaurants next year, Buehler says. It continues to eye the East Coast � from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia. Buehler couldn't be more specific, as a publicly traded company.

The restaurant serves sushi, grilled meats and seafood, pizzas and salads. Buehler describes the concept as "polished casual," ranking with the Cheesecake Factory or P.F. Chang's.

It gets business from 21-to 35-year-olds for its happy hour and late night bar business, while its lunch and dinner crowds range from 24 to 54 years of age.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Marc Buehler, Kona Grill

A new restaurant and beer bar is set to open just after Labor Day on Baltimore's west side, replacing the former Lucy's Irish Pub.

Alewife's owner Daniel Lanigan plans to serve new American cuisine, with an emphasis on Maryland food. Lanigan, who owns four beer bars and restaurants in Massachusetts, will offer 40 beers on tap and 100 bottled beers.

Though other restaurants at 21 N. Eutaw Street have had a somewhat short shelf life, Lanigan says he believes he has the recipe for success. Alewife will focus more on the food and shy away from the Irish cuisine that had been a staple in the restaurant's former incarnations.

"Irish cuisine is not known for being spectacular," Lanigan says.

The former Lucy's owner contacted Lanigan to see if he would be interested in the 6,000-square-foot restaurant. Lanigan says he is so far charmed by Baltimore.

"I love it. I think there's a lot of Baltimore pride here."

He is counting on theater patrons at the Hippodrome and Everyman Theatre � scheduled to move to the west side fall 2011 � to fill seats at the 300-seat restaurant. He also hopes to entice neighboring students and workers at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

"It's an underserved area," Lanigan says of the west side neighborhood. With 1,200 residents living within two blocks of the restaurant, there are a "lot of people who don't have anywhere to go."

The restaurant will offer valet parking and employ 50.

Source: Daniel Lanigan, Alewife
Writer: Julekha Dash

What does the state of Louisiana have in common with Italy? Both are sort of shaped like boots. That's why Phil Hartman decided to name his Italian-Cajun restaurant Two Boots.

Started 23 years ago in New York, Two Boots will open a store at the University of Baltimore campus in Bolton Hill by early December. It recently opened its 10th restaurant at downtown's Power Plant Live. Two Boots serves up its pizza and po' boys in Bridgeport, Conn., Los Angeles and seven New York City stores.

Dishes include jambalaya, blackened catfish po'boy and baked ziti. Pizzas pay homage to pop culture, thanks to Hartman's other career as a filmmaker and screenwriter. One pizza with marinated chicken and plum tomatoes is named Mr. Pink, after a character played by Steve Buscemi in "Reservoir Dogs."

Hartman expanded his business to Baltimore because of what he describes as a "lifelong crush" on the city where he lived and wrote for one year in 1982.

The 2,300-square-foot restaurant at University of Baltimore will be located in the Fitzgerald building, developed by the Bozzuto Group. The $77 million Fitzgerald houses a Barnes & Noble, which opened in June, and 275 apartments.

Hartman says he likes the Bolton Hill area because the location should attract students from University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art. It's also in the middle of an arts community, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra nearby. And traditionally, Too Boots has attracted a lot of artists by featuring local artwork on the walls.

The restaurant owner also likes the downtown Baltimore location because it attracts the business community.

Hartman declined to say how much he is spending to open the new restaurants.

Source: Phil Hartman, Two Boots
Writer: Julekha Dash

If you're a child of the 90s, the word Tatu might conjure up images of the Russian female duo with hits like "All the Things She Said." But soon, the word have Baltimore residents thinking of  sushi and sesame chicken. 

Cb5 Restaurant Group LLC., a Greenwich, Conn., restaurant consulting company is spending $750,000 to open Asian restaurant Tatu at Power Plant Live in early September. The site at 614 Water St. formerly housed Blue Sea Grill.

It will be the second location for the company along with the original Tatu in the Seminole Paradise Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
That property, like Power Plant Live, is developed by Baltimore's Cordish Cos. It's the 128th restaurant developed by Cb5, but the first one in Baltimore.

The 5,000-square-foot restaurant will serve Japanese, traditional Chinese and French-Chinese cuisine, says Cb5 Owner Jody Pennette. The average check will run between $23 and $55, giving diners on a budget some flexibility with their wallets. The 120-seat restaurant will employ 50.

The company liked the Power Plant Live entertainment district because it already has a loyal following. "It's nice to have a built-in audience when you start," says Pennette, who hopes Tatu will draw new people to the area.

Power Plant Live's businesses include concert venue Rams Head Live, Ruth's Chris Steak House, nightclub Mosaic and Italian/Cajun eatery Two Boots, a recent addition.

Cb5 executives were also eager to work with the Cordish Co. again on another project. "They have this great knack for entertainment zones," Pennette says.

And yes, that Russian duo is the inspiration for the name. Sort of.

The owners were originally going to name the restaurant Tattoo, since the menu features an Asian woman with a large dragon tattoo on her back.

But the name didn't seem quite Asian enough, Pennette says. Then one day he saw a video on TV by, yep, you guessed it, Tatu, and thought that spelling was a bit more exotic.


Source: Jody Pennette, Tatu
Writer: Julekha Dash

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

Philadelphia's best loved food export is making its way to Annapolis. Philly Flash will sell Philadelphia-style cheesesteaks at the Annapolis Towne Centre beginning in mid-to-late August. Donna and Joseph DeCesaris are investing $500,000 to open their second store.

The 65-seat restaurant will add 11 jobs to the local economy. The menu will also serve subs, wings and pizza.Cheesesteaks start at $6.00 and pizza costs about $9.

The first Philly Flash opened in October 2008 at 1901 West Street, in downtown Annapolis. Last year, What's Up Annapolis magazine declared Philly Flash the best cheesesteak venue in town.

Joseph DeCesaris' parents are originally from Philadelphia and her husband developed the special Philly Flash spice blend, a mix of salt, paprika, garlic, black and red pepper that is sprinkled on cheesesteaks and fries.

The store will be outfitted with a drag racing theme because Joseph DeCesaris' family operated Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun.

The couple chose Annapolis Towne Centre because they thought it was a good opportunity to get high visibility and foot traffic that co-tenants Target and Whole Foods Market attract, Donna DeCesaris says.

Located at 2505 Riva Road, Annapolis Towne Centre is a $500 million retail, office and residential complex that houses a Main Street-style town center. Developed by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., its other stores include Bed Bath & Beyond, Brio Tuscan Grill, Restoration Hardware and Sur La Table. The development has recently attracted new restaurants. Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar is set to open in September and Cadillac Ranch opened in June.

"It's a destination kind of place," DeCesaris says of Annapolis Towne Centre.

"It's a friendly town," Donna DeCesaris says of Annapolis, where her kids attended high school.


Source: Donna DeCesaris, Philly Flash
Writer: Julekha Dash

Charles Street's restaurant offerings will soon include fish tacos and one-and-a-half-pound burritos. Ken Diaz will open Gordito's Caf� at 336 N. Charles Street, replacing Milton's Grill, by October. A former restaurant consultant who has worked for Edo Sushi, Mari Luna Mexican Grill and Lebanese Taverna, Diaz is spending $250,000 of his own money to start the 85-seat eatery.

Gordito's offerings will include traditional Mexican dishes, including a gordita, a corn cake stuffed with meat, and a torta, a sandwich with thinly sliced steak or chicken. Flour and corn tortillas will be homemade.

Smaller items will cost between $6 and $10 while the king-size burrito that can feed two will cost $14.  Lunch and dinner entrees will average around $15.

Authentic Mexican drinks will be on the menu as well at the 2,500-square-foot restaurant. Those include Mexican Bloody Marys, a Mexican black and tan (beer and brand) and, of course, margaritas.

Using the tagline cocina, cultura, historia for his new concept, Diaz wants to give diners a taste of Mexican culture and history and not just its flavorful spices. Gordito's will feature Mexican bingo and Mariachi bands every week and display photos of Aztec warriors and cinema stars.

Though some restaurants are struggling now in a down economy, Diaz isn't worried. With no other Mexican restaurants in the downtown area, he has little competition and hopes that if you offer good food and service at a reasonable price, the people will come.

In fact, if things go well, Diaz hopes to open five to seven additional locations in Greater Baltimore within a few years.
 
Diaz chose the Downtown area because he admired the neighborhood's eclectic mix of people and historic architecture. His own building includes an entire wall with exposed brick.

"I fell in love with the space," he says.

To read more about downtown, go here.


Source: Ken Diaz, Gordito's
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

Following their retirement, business partners Irene Baum and Kathy Fleming got the itch to start a new venture, but they didn't want to get into something too time consuming or demanding.

So the pair came up with the perfect business: ice cream.

Baum and Fleming opened Screwballs Frozen Delights in Locust Point over Memorial Day weekend. The spot at 1400 Towson St. sells 30 flavors of snowballs and 13 flavors of hand-dipped ultra-premium ice cream, or ice cream with at least 17 percent milkfat.

The ice cream, which is free of growth hormones, comes from Moorenko's Ice Cream Caf� in Silver Spring. Their flavors include salted caramel with pralines, orange chocolate chip, cotton candy gummy bear and cookie dough.

Screwballs, outfitted like a 1950s-style ice cream parlor, also sells milk shakes, floats and banana splits. Baum could not say how much the partners spent to open the business, located on the first floor of a 1,220-square-foot rowhouse.
 
"We found a lovely spot in Locust Point that's perfect or an ice cream parlor," says Baum, a former division manager of a tobacco company.

The shop owners were not interested in, say, starting a full-service restaurant that would require around-the-clock hours and supervising a number of employees.

"We wanted something that just the two of us could handle on our own," Baum says. "It gives us flexibility on time, " says Baum, who plans to close the shop three months during winter.

Though Baum lives in Anne Arundel County's Glen Burnie, she decided Locust Point would be the best fit for the business.

"It's a very close-knit community with lots of kids and families," Baum says. "We've gotten great feedback and support from the neighbors. I grew up in the city and this reminds me of the city I grew up in where everyone knew everyone else."

And how did the business owners come up with the name? It's a joke between Baum and Fleming.
"We used to call each other screwballs. We're just two goofy people," Baum says.

To read more about Locust Point, click here.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source; Irene Baum, Screwballs