Innovative Chefs Look to Broaden Charm City's Palate

Many of Baltimore's restaurants still focus on what the city traditionally does best: crabs. And while celebrated chefs like Cindy Wolf, Spike Gjerde, and John Shields have carved their own interesting niches, Baltimore is still largely known for its old standbys. Recently, however, a new crop of innovative chefs has begun infiltrating the city, encouraged by local foodies and ready to shake up the local culinary scene.

As Baltimore nightlife and entertainment writer "Downtown Diane" Macklin puts it, "Today's Baltimore chefs are more innovative than ever. Taking an idea and making it his or her own is what separates the great chefs in town."

Demi

Chef Tae Strain of Demi wants to do just that. He came to Baltimore from New York's Public House, and he sees a growing Baltimore food community that's embracing and encouraging innovation and risk taking along the way.

Demi shares a space with Crush, the contemporary establishment in North Baltimore's Belvedere Square. Strain notes that where Crush focuses on American flavors that have garnered loyal clientele, Demi is invested in global influences. Demi's space in the lower level of Crush offers an open kitchen with front-row seats to Strain's culinary team.  

Demi considers its small plates to be light entrees, and diners can expect a lot of pork belly, a chef favorite. Strain's commitment to reinterpretation allows Demi to carve out an identity unique not only from Crush, but from other restaurants in town, as well.

Centro

Tapas restaurants often have an early expiration date in Baltimore - a city that doesn't tolerate paying a lot to eat a little - but Chef George Dailey is betting against that trend with Centro.

"The truth is, you can count with your fingers how many tapas restaurants are in the city," Dailey says. "Yes, there are a lot of restaurants that serve small plates but cannot call themselves a true tapas restaurant. [Centro] is different because we offer the true tapas experience," Dailey says.

Dailey's Spanish and Latin American heritage helps him create authentic tapas like his mother cooked when he was growing up in Venezuela. To properly order at Centro, adopt a thick Spanish accent - Cachapa, a sweet corn pancake; sobrasada mallorquina, spreadable chorizo sausage; and arepas, a Venezuelan corn masa, aren't exactly words that roll easily off the tongue.

Dailey, who saw previous success with On The Hill in Bolton Hill, understands that these dishes can intimidate. With that in mind, Centro's $3 tapas nights and happy hours are designed to allow patrons to get acquainted with the menu while enjoying fresh seafood from sustainable sources along with organic produce and meat.

Feast @ 4 East

That dedication to sustainability is more and more becoming a common practice. Feast @ 4 East's kitchen, tucked away in a brownstone at 4 East Madison in Mt. Vernon, is run by local loyalist Sandy Lawler. When asked how she combats the idea that sustainable food is a trend, she dismisses the notion.

"The only challenge is the competition of year-round availability. An occasional treat of a strawberry out of season is one thing, but its flavor will never compare with a locally grown one in season," she says.

Lawler's best-selling dish, local rockfish, is served with lemon-caper butter or a tarragon-chive drizzle. The trickier sell is Chesapeake stingray, which overruns the Bay, eating oysters and crabs without predators. It's abundantly available but often tough to convince diners to try.

The Point

Lawler isn't the only one with a hard message. Convincing a patron to try edgier fare at a more upscale establishment like Feast can be easier than selling duck confit on shaved fennel salad at a corner pub, which is just what The Point's head chef, Jacob Raitt, is attempting.  

The Point, situated on the well-worn corner of Thames and Ann streets in Fells Point (in the former Miss Irene's), embraces culinary surprise with unique flavors and presentation. Raitt doesn't aim to reinvent the wheel, only to have The Point's upscale pub fare mentioned alongside the likes of Baltimore's most respected restaurants. Raitt has an edge, having worked under the likes of Chef Marc Dixon at Bistro Blanc and Chef Jason Ambrose at Salt.

"I have taken from [the chefs I've worked with] a devotion to fresh food and creative innovation." Raitt says, "II take an approach to food without vanity, and with a humility that makes our customers feel comfortable even with ingredients and techniques they may not be familiar with."

To entice patrons, Raitt keeps dish descriptions simple. While the pot roast only lists three ingredients, Raitt employs a painstaking process that involves braising the beef and glazing and roasting vegetables to create depth of flavor that cannot be replicated with bases or pre-processed sauces. He admits to an arduous approach, but once a unique dish - like beef tongue and bone marrow - is tasted, it's almost always well-received.

Slainte

Down Thames Street, Slainte is fighting a similar battle. The restaurant was always known for having good pub food, but wanted to fully embrace the gastro pub concept. Chef Bill Crouse -- a former executive chef at Sotto Sopra who holds degrees in cooking, baking, and nutrition -- has the credentials needed to make Slainte a name in upscale pub fare.

In Crouse's kitchen - like Dailey's and Lawler's - local fare is essential. Patrons can enjoy a traditional Shepard's pie or corned beef sandwich, but they're also encouraged to try mushroom gnudi, a fried gnocchi served with brown butter and sage sauce.

"I'm just feeding people a good meal. The word of mouth will become more powerful than anything I could dream up," Crouse says.

While each of these trendsetters is happy to serve up traditional fare, they're also looking to challenge Baltimore's taste buds by introducing surprising new approaches.

Downtown Diane hopes more folks will notice and take a chance on creative dishes in Baltimore. "If you taste food that a chef's made his or her own, you know that every time you go to that restaurant, you can count on taste and creativity. It's what makes dining in Charm City so exciting."


Renee Libby Beck made Baltimore her home after a short-lived post-collegiate venture in Florida. By day, she is the Public Relations Coordinator for Medifast, Inc. In her minimal spare time, Renee serves as the Baltimore Food Examiner and writes for other local blogs and publications. After an amazing meal, she can't stop salivating over it and often tries to recreate it - with minimal success.


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Photos by Arianne Teeple:

- Dishes created by Chef and Owner George Dailey at Centro Tapas Bar
- Chef and Owner George Dailey of Centro Tapas Bar
- A dish created by Chef Tae Strain at Demi
- Chef Tae Strain of Demi
- A dish created by Chef Sandy Lawler at Feast @ 4 East
- Chef Sandy Lawler of Feast @ 4 East
- A dish created by Chef Bill Crouse at Slainte
- Chef Bill Crouse of Slainte