A culinary compendium of restaurant, food, and beverage news and trends from the Chesapeake region
What’s on Tap
Severna Park has a new neighborhood spot for casual drinks and elevated food. The Social opened in mid-January on Ritchie Highway, welcoming in patrons for bar service at 4 p.m. and dinner service at 5 p.m. Get this—they have two house cocktails on tap. Don’t mind if we do! 139 Ritchie Highway, Suite A | thesocialsp.com
The owners of downtown Annapolis’ Preserve, Jeremy and Michelle Hoffmann, have another restaurant in the works: Garten, a new take on a German beer garden. They plan to serve wine and beer, along with elevated German cuisine in the former space of Cafe Bretton. 849 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, Severna Park | facebook.com/garteneats
Speaking of what’s coming, there’s something in the works for the space that used to house Union Jacks, near the Annapolis Towne Center. Vibe will be a 10,000-square-foot multi-use concert and venue space that will also feature two large cocktail bars and a full catering kitchen. As of press time, there wasn’t any word yet on an opening date. 2072 Somerville Road, Annapolis | facebook.com/vibe-102458378884901
Feeling hangry? Stop by Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken, a fast-casual restaurant over in the Festival at Riva where Cheeburger Cheeburger used to be. They serve up Nashville hot chicken sandwiches at five different spice levels, along with chicken fingers and bites, chicken and waffles, Korean chicken nuggets, loaded fries and salad (if you’re into that sort of thing). 2329 Forest Drive, Annapolis | hangryjoes.com
Over on the other side of the Bay, plans are in the works for Dock House Restaurant in Chester in a brand-new 6,000-square-foot building being built adjacent to the water. Jody Schulz, owner of Boatels and operator of Fisherman’s Inn and Fisherman’s Crab Deck, is one of three operators, along with Justin Kiernan and Ron Kirstien from the Jetty Restaurant and Dock Bar. They hope for a May opening.
A World of Flavors
Over here, we’re all about enjoying food and drinks for all their worth. It’s worth acknowledging, however, that we should consider the nutritional value of food every once in a while. March happens to be National Nutrition Month, a holiday from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and this year’s theme is one we can get behind: Celebrate a World of Flavors.
Over the years, various global cuisines have been touted as “the next big thing,” but that’s not giving them enough credit. These cuisines are full-blown cultures, full of traditions, history, and incredible flavors. With that in mind, here are three global cuisines full of flavors that you should try out:
Indian-Chinese. You’ve had Indian. You’ve had Chinese. But there’s a whole different cuisine, Indo-Chinese, that you may not have encountered. It combines the warm, spicy flavors with traditional Chinese ingredients, such as soy sauce, to create something entirely different and unexpected. Try These Dishes: Chicken (or Vegetable) Manchurian, Hakka Noodles
Peruvian. Cuisine from this South American country is a collision of indigenous populations, such as the Inca, and ingredients brought from colonists and immigrants coming from Europe, Asia, and Africa. It’s often marked by local foods, particularly potatoes—which were first cultivated in the soaring Andes mountain range—and native aji chiles. Try These Dishes: Lomo Saltado, Papa a la Huancaina
Portuguese. Perhaps overshadowed by its larger, culinary dominant neighbors like Spain and France, Portuguese food has a rich history, yet it’s woefully underrepresented outside the borders. Portugal was an influential part of the spice trade, and its food still makes great use of those spices, including the small, fiery piri piri chili peppers. Try These Dishes: Cozido á Portuguesa, Feijoada
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, so let’s talk about the elephant in the room: green beer. While it might seem like the domain of fraternities and dive bars, you might be surprised that green beer actually has some longevity in the U.S. It was first mentioned in a 1914 article about a St. Patrick’s Day party in The Evening Independent out of St. Petersburg, Florida: “Everything possible was green or decorated with that color, and all through the banquet, Irish songs were sung and green beer was served. No, it wasn’t a green glass, but real beer in a regular colorless glass, but the amber hue was gone from the brew and a deep green was there instead.”
The article goes on to explain that green beer was the “discovery” of coroner’s physician Dr. Thomas Curtin. “All the doctor would tell inquisitive people was that the effect is brought about by one drop of wash blue in a certain quantity of beer.” How mysterious, how vague!
These days, all you need for a green brewski is a light beer and some blue food coloring (yes, blue, not green—it mixed with the light yellowish hue of beer to create a nice shamrock color). But, really, when you live in the vicinity of North America’s only Guinness brewery (Guinness Open Gate | 5001 Washington Blvd, Halethorpe | guinessbrewerybaltimore.com), there’s no real reason to be celebrating St. Pat’s with anything other than traditional Irish beer.
Have culinary news to share? Send an email to Kelsey Casselbury at kcasselbury@whatsupmag.com.
