One small upside of the pandemic: COVID turbocharged consumption of alcohol, fueling an interest and demand for local products. As a result, there’s been an astonishing spread of Maryland wineries, breweries, and distilleries to choose from. We’ve plucked three suggestions for you to check out, but don’t hesitate to take a deeper dive into any of our regional producers; there’s never been a better time to go exploring.

Baltimore Spirits Company Epoch Reserve Maryland Rye Whiskey
($70, RNDC)

This early comer to Baltimore’s distilling renaissance has been around long enough to have aged some booze, and it’s time for us to rejoice. Not only have they resurrected the Maryland style of rye whiskey production, but they also now sell it in a reserve offering that’s over four years old. Cascading tones of baking spice and vanilla make for an engaging sipper, with that unmistakable spice signature of any good rye. Serve neat or with a bit of ice or, if you prefer to mix it, make the most amazing Manhattan ever.

Elder Pine Brewing Oak-Aged Marzen “Autumn Awaits”
($15 4-pack cans, Elder Pine)

Celebrate Oktoberfest with this amazing local offering. Gaithersburg newcomer Elder Pine has crafted a plush, malty gem of a lager with a slightly crisp undertone and aged it for three months in large oak vessels. The result is a silky, lushly textured brew with mellow malt character and a long, balanced finish. These folks are crafting beer at a very high level, and we can’t wait to hit the road and visit them at their gorgeous brewpub. The food is likely to be just as inviting as the brew.

Big Cork Cabernet Franc 2020
($25, Siema)

Western Maryland’s Big Cork Vineyards makes some of our state’s most attractive wines, and this Cabernet Franc is no exception. For this offering, they’ve collaborated with Six Wicket Vineyards and crafted a deeply flavorful Cabernet Franc with notes of cherry, prune, and tobacco. It’s a wine that prefers food, and its persistent earthy finish begs for a rich, savory, autumnal roast. Cabernet Franc has been a proven winner for many Virginia wineries, and if this bottle is any indication, it’s doing just fine in Maryland, too.

The Party is the People 

How to use your friends, in the best way possible,
to throw the most epic of holiday parties.

 

EDITED BY JANELLE ERLICHMAN DIAMOND

CREATIVE DIRECTION & STYLING BY JAMIE CAMPBELL BYNUM OF JUNIPER HOUSE STUDIO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE HOVE ANDERSEN

“I think the idea is that in our friends group, especially with old friends getting together for the holidays, we all bring something to the table. Because of recent events, the act of simply getting together is now a gift and a celebration.”

—Jamie Campbell Bynum, Juniper House Studio

The Hosts

Jamie Campbell Bynum and Drury Bynum

The Guests

Megan Isennock, Dan Martinez, Colin Marshall, Hilton Carter, and Fiona Vismans

How to Properly Guest

Dish: For a shared meal, bring your food in a ready-to-serve dish—no Tupperware, along with the proper serving utensils.

Flowers: If you bring your hosts flowers, have them already prepped in a vessel. No one wants to be snipping stems and searching for a vase as guests arrive.

Wine: Make sure the bottle is ready to go at the appropriate temperature.

Ice: Bring a bag of ice; you always need more ice.

Toast: Toast your host, then keep an eye on their glass and offer to refill it when it seems low.

Clean-up: Offer to help clean up. The host will most likely say no, but the thought is there.

“I’m going for simplicity. No sweeping tablescapes. More like something we’d do for ourselves, but a little more elevated, a little foraged, a little found, with a stylish splash of a floral designer.”

Black Tuesday

By The Baltimore Spirits Company

• 2 oz. Epoch Rye
• 1 oz. Amaro Averna
• 3 shakes Black Walnut Bitters

Stir and strain over ice in a rocks glass. Express an orange over the top of the drink, and drop the orange peel in for garnish.

The Duchess of Earl Grey

By The Baltimore Spirits Company

• 25 oz. (1 bottle) Shot Tower Gin
• 25 oz. Earl Grey tea (fresh brewed)
• 6.5 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup coconut palm sugar
• 8 limes
• Fresh nutmeg, grated for garnish

Peel the limes. Try just to get the peel and not the white pith. Put the peels in a bowl with all the sugar. Mash the peels into the sugar for about 5 minutes. Let the peels sit in the sugar for 30 minutes to an hour. Pour all the sugar with the peels into a container with all the other ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Strain the mixture to remove the peels. Serve from a punch bowl over ice and grate fresh nutmeg on top.

Bring Fresh Oysters to Your Next Party. It’s Food and a Show. 

Don’t be afraid: With a decent shucking knife and a kitchen towel or two, you can handle anything.

Buy great oysters: Oysters are sold alive and should be closed tight. A popped-open oyster is a dead oyster. We’re partial to Maryland-farmed ones, ourselves.

Keep ’em chill: Store them in your refrigerator by putting the net bag they come in inside of a bowl with a damp towel on top. Don’t put them in a sealed plastic bag.

Ice, ice, baby: Oysters don’t need extra ice in the fridge. But, when you take them out to shuck, put them on ice. Serve them on ice, too.

Garnish it: The toppings are part of the fun. Wedge a few lemons,
grab some good cocktail sauce, add a ramekin of horseradish, and try making a creative mignonette.

– Kathleen Tozzi, True Chesapeake Oyster Co.

“We wanted an approachable but elevated table and menu to show how to do this in a way that’s cool and high style, but doable.”

Hostess Gifts

Green/gold tray, Earl Gray tea candle, Ruxton Mercantile; Madhu chocolates, Good Neighbor; Bella Cucina aromatic salts, In Watermelon Sugar; Lord Jones gummies, Hedgerow; brie warmer, Ruxton Mercantile.

Mad About Magnums

A magnum bottle of wine, or party-size, as some would say, is just about the best thing you can bring to a gathering. At 1.5 liters, it’s the equivalent of two bottles of wine. Not only does the wine age better in magnum bottles, but pouring it in front of all your friends and family is cinematic. It is a true delight to share.

—Lane Harlan, Angels Ate Lemons 

How to Make the Perfect Party Playlist

I like a mix of old and new songs that makes me happy, like Devandra Banhart, Beach House, and Leon Bridges; stuff that feels nostalgic, like Vince Guaraldi’s “Charlie Brown Christmas”; anything by Etta James and Nat King Cole; and music that makes me want to hang out till the wee hours, like Frank Ocean, Solange, and Future Islands.

–Jamie Campbell Bynum, Juniper House Studio 

It’s no secret that Baltimore is to thank for many of the inventions that have influenced the modern world. Here, we round up four of the coolest creations that the city takes credit for—and some of the local businesses keeping the tradition alive today.

LINOTYPE

In 1884, German-born inventor and Baltimorean Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the linotype, a machine that quickly set complete lines of type and revolutionized printing forever. In the first decade of its use, American news- paper readership shot from 3.6 million to more than 33 million.

→ BRICKHOUSE BOOKS
Though we’re well past the days of the linotype, Maryland’s oldest continuously operating small press (since 1970) embraces modern technology to print batches of poetry, fiction, drama, and artistic nonfiction from a wide range of voices.

→ BLACK CLASSIC PRESS
In 1978, W. Paul Coates started a press company in his basement, and it remains as one of the oldest independently owned black publishers in the United States. The legacy printer publishes and reissues works from African-American thinkers such as Walter Mosley and W.E.B. Du Bois.

BIKES

Baltimore became the birthplace of the American bicycle in 1818, when a local piano maker named James Stewart created his own take on the European velocipede. Bicycles, which originally had pedals on the front wheel, have evolved from the velocipede to the high-wheel bikes of the 19th century to the modern version seen on city streets today.

→ BALTIMORE BICYCLE WORKS
This dedicated worker-owned bicycle shop in Station North offers attentive customer service, repairs, and a selection of reliable bikes and parts, hop- ing to bring the joy of biking back to its birthplace.

→ JOE’S BIKE SHOP
Joe Traill, owner of Joe’s Bike Shop, fell in love with bikes at a young age and worked as both a bike messenger and a repairman before becoming the owner of one of Baltimore’s favorite bike repair shops.

RYE WHISKEY

In the early 19th century, Baltimore earned national recognition for the inven- tion and distillation of this tasty liquor. The rye whiskey industry boomed until Prohibition brought production to a halt, but, luckily for local rye lovers, it has enjoyed a full-blown renaissance in the Old Line State thanks to area distilleries.

→ SAGAMORE SPIRIT
In 2017, Sagamore Spirit, co-founded by Under Armour mogul Kevin Plank, helped resurrect Maryland’s rye whiskey industry with its signature sipper proofed with limestone water from an area horse farm. The distillery’s headquarters in Port Covington hosts tours, workshops, and events dedicated to teaching visitors about the local history of the spirit as well as the practice of whiskey production.

→ BALTIMORE SPIRITS CO.
Housed in Medfield’s Union Collective and founded by three Baltimore natives in 2015, the Baltimore Spirits Company uses modern distillation techniques to create their own version of the old-world spirit. While the popular spot also distills liquors such as gin and brandy, the Epoch Rye has remained its calling card.

ICE CREAM FACTORY

In 1851, Baltimore milk dealer Jacob Fussell took over a dairy business that sold a frozen blend of milk, eggs, and sugar, and not long after, he opened the nation’s first ice cream factory. Fussell’s mass production of the sweet treat made making ice cream affordable and turned it into the phenomenon the world knows and loves.

→ THE CHARMERY
Since the Charmery opened its flagship store in Hampden in 2013, this beloved creamery has expanded to two addition- al locations and has its own factory in Union Collective. Known for out-of-the box flavors such as Old Bay Caramel and Cheese and Crackers, this fan-favorite brand is definitely keeping Baltimore’s ice cream legacy alive.

→ TAHARKA BROTHERS ICE CREAM

This socially conscious ice cream business uses its delicious flavors, now served out of Broadway Market, as well as tons of local restaurants and grocery stores, as a vehicle to bring people together to discuss social change in the city and beyond.

COMING SOON

Peter Chang Restaurant: Get pumped, “Changians.” Though details have yet to be announced, devoted fans of cult icon Peter Chang will be happy to hear that the chef’s family plans to open an Asian restaurant in the space that was previously Fork & Wrench in Canton. A former chef at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., Chang started his empire by opening strip-mall restaurants in towns throughout Virginia that weren’t particularly known for their Asian cuisine. While Baltimore boasts some stellar global eats, locals have long been waiting for an authentic Chinese food spot to open within city limits. Here’s hoping we’re next on Chang’s list of places to introduce to his Sichuan specialties—which include dry-fried eggplant, crispy pork belly, and Peking duck. 2322 Boston St.

OPEN

Lyfe Cafe: Experts say that late-January is typically the time when New Year’s resolutions start to go off course. But this new Towson eatery is making it easy for diners to prioritize healthy eating. Local nutritionist and personal trainer Penny Seabolt opened Lyfe Cafe inside The Shops at Kenilworth earlier this week, offering everything from protein shakes and wellness shots to vegan fare and meal-prep services. In addition to the lengthy list of breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes, the daily menu features a “Food for Mood” section with suggestions for specific health concerns. Need a B-12 boost? Try the veggie omelet with egg whites, spinach, and red pepper. For a healthy heart, Seabolt recommends the Summer Salad with grilled chicken, strawberries, and balsamic. The new eatery joins old standbys Atwater’s and Italian Gardens at the shopping destination, which also plans to welcome Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria next year. 800 Kenilworth Drive. Ste. 800, Towson. 410-842-1050

NEWS

The Elephant Building for Sale: Although co-owners Steven and Linda Rivelis and Mallory Staley assure that this fine-dining destination is in it for the long haul, they recently decided to put the historic building that houses the restaurant up for sale. In an open letter sent to diners via email earlier this week, the owners explained their struggles to secure a bank loan to pay back investors who helped fund the multi-million dollar renovation of the Mt. Vernon mansion. “Without even looking at our financials, nine banks told us that they will not make a loan for a restaurant, especially in Baltimore City,” the owners write. “Unfortunately, we have run out of time. After two years, our friends and family who loaned us the gap funds deserve to be paid back.” The iconic North Charles Street property is currently listed at $2.9 million. Although it will soon have a new landlord, The Elephant’s elegant dining rooms, craft cocktails, and worldly cuisine are here to stay. 924 N. Charles St. 443-447-7878

So Long, Esskay Hot Dogs: Don’t be surprised if you can’t find orange-and-black packages of Esskay hot dogs on your next trip to the grocery store. Virginia-based Smithfield Foods recently made the tough decision to discontinue the fan-favorite franks in an effort to reduce expenses and competition with its other products. As a result, Esskay will also soon disappear from Camden Yards. “The Orioles have always offered a variety of hot dogs, including Kosher options, at Camden Yards, and there are many brands that are expressing strong interest in bringing their product to the ballpark,” Orioles spokesman Greg Bader told The Sun this week. Though summertime cookouts will never taste quite the same, we’re confident that the team will soon find a new brand to spark the same kind of hometown pride. Perhaps the only good news to come of the Esskay loss is that officials say it will not have any effect on the famous Hot Dog Races at Camden Yards.

Baltimore Spirits Company Releases Limited Liquor Line: In the very first collaboration between Baltimore Spirits Company and its Union Collective neighbors Union Craft Brewing, the distillery has created a malty, chocolatey liqueur using fermented wort (extracted liquid) from the brewery’s seasonal Snow Pants Stout. Singularity #1 is the inaugural release in Baltimore Spirits Company’s new “E.B. Smith’s Singularities” line, which is named after co-founder Eli Breitburg-Smith. The liqueur will be available in the tasting room starting this weekend. Other Singularity releases, including a pear brandy, are expected to debut in the coming months. 1700 W. 41st St. Ste. 430. 443-687-9099

EPICUREAN EVENTS

1/25-26: Masarap Filipino Pop-Up at Fadensonnen
If you still haven’t gotten a chance to stop by Fadensonnen—the Old Goucher beer garden from husband-and-wife owners Lane Harlan and Matthew Pierce—this weekend is an ideal opportunity. Not only will the spot offer its local beers, wild ciders, and natural wines, but it will also host chef Rey Eugenio in the food truck out front. Authentic Filipino dishes on deck include a braised pork noodle bowl with fried garlic chips, grilled veggie skewers with Jasmine rice and kimchi cabbage, and a beef-and-potato bowl topped with fermented chili paste ketchup. 3 W. 23rd St. 5-9 p.m.

1/25-26: Harry Potter Pop-Up at Order & Chaos
Key Highway coffee spot Order & Chaos is collaborating with Hampden’s Full Circle Artisan Palace to host a Hogwarts-themed pop-up party this weekend. Fans can enjoy butterbeer lattes while sampling a selection of magical sweets crafted by Full Circle. Among them include doughnuts like the chocolate-glazed “Deathly Hallows,” espresso-sugar covered “Floo Powder,” and cinnamon dusted “Potter Spice.” 1410 Key Highway. 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

1/29: Johntay Bedingfield on Chopped
Head to La Food Marketa in Pikesville to watch the restaurant’s own chef Johntay Bedingfield compete on an episode of Food Network’s Chopped. The kitchen will be closing at 8:30 p.m., at which point diners and staff will gather at the bar for drinks and light snacks while cheering on the chef during the episode. 2620 Quarry Lake Drive, Pikesville. 8-10 p.m. 410-415-0606

SHUT

Cafe Andamiro: MICA students were saddened to hear that this cozy Midtown-Belvedere cafe will be shutting its doors for good this weekend. “We appreciate your business and support,” mother-and-daughter owners Ran Yun and Bomin Jeon posted to Facebook earlier this week. “Being able to share food, drinks, and moments with you was special to us.” Since opening in 2016, Cafe Andamiro—meaning “overflow in abundance” in Korean—has been known for its espressos and pastries, as well as Seoul-inspired specialties including noodle bowls, seasonal salads, avocado toasts, and pressed paninis. 241 W. Chase St. 443-453-9314