EAT

Feb.14: Mother’s Pajama Brunch

Mothers Grille, 1113 S. Charles St. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. 410-244-8686. mothersgrille.com.

Ah, love is in the air, and so is the smell of breakfast this Sunday
with last night’s beer and this morning’s bacon wafting through the Federal
Hill air. Spend your Sunday Funday at Mother’s Grille with the boisterous bar’s
bi-annual pajama brunch. Come in your PJs—onesies highly encouraged—and get
half off your entire check, including some breakfast booze. With bacon, eggs
Bennys, and Bloody Marys, you’ll eat your heart out in no time.

DRINK

Feb. 12-14: Max’s Taphouse Belgian Beer Weekend

Max’s
Taphouse, 737 S. Broadway. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Free. 410-675-6297. maxs.com.

Our best advice to you is: Arrive early. Because as soon as Max’s opens
its doors tomorrow, lines will wrap down the street for the bonanza that is the
annual Belgian Beer Fest. Now in its 12th year, the corner bar will once again
teem with local beer lovers for an A-Game gathering of rare and virtually
impossible-to-find bottles from across the Atlantic. They’ll be tapping some
100-plus drafts, carrying more than 250 bottles, and, best of all, there will
be a full Belgian-inspired food menu, so expect waffles, frites, and brats to
accompany your bier.

SEE

Feb. 13: Gilded Lily Burlesque’s Tassels & Champagne

Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 7
& 10 p.m. $20-550. 410-276-1651. creativealliance.org.

Get in the mood
this weekend with the bawdy belles of Baltimore’s Gilded Lily Burlesque. This
year during their annual Valentine’s celebration, the titillating troupe
transports you to the red-hot rhythm-and-blues clubs of 1940s Chicago. That iconic
era will inspire the costumes, sets, and music of the evening. Think Muddy
Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Slim Harpo, Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley—to name a
few. So wear your best FDR-era garb, indulge in some bubbly, and let loose to
the moves of these hometown starlets with the rock-and-rolling sounds of Jonny
Grave and the Tombstones.

HEAR

Feb. 13: Valentine’s Day Dance Party: A Moveable Feast Benefit

Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. $10. 410-662-0069. theottobar.com.

For the third
year, spend your Valentine’s Eve at the Ottobar to benefit the great cause that
is Moveable Feast. Local musicians like electronic artist Dan Deacon, DJ James Nasty, futuristic R&B duo
Chiffon, and many more will show their support for the local effort to put
healthy food on the table for people in Maryland with AIDS, cancer, and other
life-threatening illnesses, already difficult in a city where 1 in 4 residents
lives in a food desert. Beyond that, it’s a perfect excuse to warm up on a
frigidly cold winter weekend.

DO

Feb. 12-14: Anti-Valentine’s Day

Mobtown’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Extravaganza: Mobtown Ballroom, 861 Washington Blvd. 8 p.m. Free. facebook.com. The Bitter Heart Club: Ware House 518, 518 N. Charles St. 9 p.m.-12 a.m. Free. 443-869-3381. drinkablegenius.com. Cupid is Stupid: Banditos Bar & Kitchen, 1118 S. Charles St. 12 p.m. Free. 443-835-1517. banditosbk.com. Galentine’s Day Dance Party: Sticky Rice, 1634 Aliceanna St. 10:30 p.m. Free. 443-682-8243. facebook.com. Galentine’s on Valentines: Church & Company, 3647 Falls Rd. 7 p.m. $7. 410-493-0441. churchandco.org.

Whether you hate Hallmark holidays, are a sentiment sourpuss, or find yourself single and ready to mingle, there are plenty of ways to buck the te amo trend this Valentine’s weekend. At Mobtown Ballroom, skip the packed bars and restaurants of Baltimore and instead bring a date or ride solo for a night of drinks and dancing in Pigtown. At the Bitter Heart Club, listen to angsty music like Alanis Morrisette and Joy Division, crush cocktails made with Charm City Meadworks, D.C.’s True Syrups, and try tiki-inspired concoctions like the “Tinder Special.” At Cupid is Stupid, drown your sorrows or imbibe with besties as the Fed Hill hangout will feature $5 bombs, tequila, beer, and discounted carafes of sangria and wine. At the Galentine’s Day Dance Party, gather your gals for all-night drink specials and music, while at Galentine’s on Valentine’s, you can head bang to all-female rock bands as they perform their indie dream-pop or dark punk sounds.

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EAT

Jan. 22-31: Baltimore Restaurant Week

Locations & times vary. $15-35. 410-244-1030. baltimorerestaurantweek.com.

This weekend’s weather might wreck all of your plans or any of the many events planned around the city (see you next time, Garth Brooks), but throughout the blizzard, Baltimore Restaurant Week shall prevail. Launching this Friday, you can get out of the house, avoid going all The Shining on your roommates, and grab a bargain bite at some of the city’s best restaurants. With lunch and dinner specials throughout the week, you can dine at fancy food havens like Aggio, Aromes, Cinghiale, and Petit Louis (see above), or old-school stalwarts like The Prime Rib, Tio Pepe, and Gertrude’s. Better yet, belly up to bars at hip haunts like Birroteca, Corner Charcuterie, Le Garage, and Brew House No. 16. But wherever you go, there’s a warm meal awaiting you, one likely better than any of the junk you stockpiled from the barren shelves of your apocalyptic Trader Joe’s.

DRINK

Jan. 23-24: Snow Day at Banditos

Banditos Bar & Kitchen, 1118 S. Charles St. Sat.-Sun. 10-2 a.m. $5-16. 443-835-1517. banditosbk.com.

When we were kids, snow days were the best, because we got to miss school and go sledding with all our friends all day. As adults, though, snow days are just as fun, because we get the perfect excuse to wear sweatpants and tie a few on—for “medicinal” purposes, of course. On Saturday and Sunday, grab your gang, throw on your snow boots, and make your way to Banditos, where they’ll be throwing a big snow-weekend bash in true Federal Hill fashion. Enjoy cold-weather specials like $16 beer buckets, $5 beers, and bottomless mimosas with your late-morning, Mexican street food brunch.

SEE

Jan. 24: Chesapeake Oysters: The Bay’s Foundation and Future

Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Hwy. 2 p.m. Free with museum admission of $12. 410-727-4808. thebmi.org.

By now, you probably know that Baltimore (and Baltimore) truly loves oysters. The little bay bivalves have been a native nutriment for centuries—once more popular than even our Old-Bay-encrusted crab—and after years of pollution, over harvesting, and near decimation, they’re finally making a comeback. This Sunday, weather permitting, hear Eastern Shore native, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum director of education, and author Kate Livie as she discusses the hallowed history of our Chesapeake Bay oysters, from the Colonial era to modern day, and delves into the science that will help lead them into the future. Her new book, Chesapeake Oysters: The Bay’s Foundation and Future, is a knowledgeable, beautifully written look at our very own waters, and it will be available for sale and signing throughout the event. Update: this event has been rescheduled for Sunday, February 7, at 2 p.m.

HEAR

Jan. 23: Wildhoney, Romantic States, Halfsour, Quitter etc.

The Crown, 1910 N. Charles St.
Sat. 9 p.m. $10. 410-625-4848. thecrownbaltimore.tumblr.com.

Wildhoney became famous last fall when the local indie-pop quintet made national news for its debut album, Sleep Through It. It wasn’t simply that the record was awesome, but rather it had accidentally been pressed onto what should have been vinyls of Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. Luckily, some surprised fans actually enjoyed the mistake, and now Wildhoney is shining in the midsts of its new EP, Your Face Sideways. This follow-up solidifies their sunny sound among the ranks of other C86-tinged bands—My Bloody Valentine, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Vivian Girls, Best Coast—with a perfect fusion of ’60s and ’80s pop. Hear the band’s lo-fi shoegaze and shimmery guitar this Saturday with other acts like local minimalist rockers Romantic States (who you might have recently caught at Windjammer or on tour with Beach House), local hardcore band Quitter, and Massachusetts’s own old-school pop-punkers Halfsour.

DO

Jan. 22-24: US Lacrosse Convention

Baltimore Convention Center, 1 W. Pratt St. Fri. 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-12 p.m. $10-190. 410-649-7000. uslacrosse.org.

What
can we say: Baltimore loves its lax.
Since America’s earliest days, lacrosse has been engrained across the
Mid-Atlantic, and since 2004, it has shared the “state sport” title with the ancient
equestrian activity of jousting (yes, jousting, like Medieval Times). This weekend, bros can rejoice and relish in all things lax at the US Lacrosse Convention and FanFest in downtown
Baltimore. Rivals from Maryland and Hopkins, Boys Latin and St. Paul’s,
McDonogh and Gilman, Calvert Hall and Loyola, can come together in their shared
love of this historic sport. Meet and greet some of the country’s greatest
players, nab autographs from Team USA, attend one of 150-plus educational
on-field demos and clinics, and meander through the FanFest expo hall, with
nearly 200 exhibitors, like UnderArmour and STX. Best of all, stick around for the
much-anticipated, nail-biting events of the Major League Lacrosse collegiate
draft.

If you run out of ideas, you can also try these.

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Keefer took off his toque on Sunday to pursue a new venture after only a year-and-a-half at the quirky fine-dining spot in Canton.

Keefer says the decision to move on did not come lightly.

“Fork & Wrench allowed me amazing opportunities and contributed to me having the ability to reach out and work toward every chef’s goal—ownership,” Keefer says. “I left with a heavy heart as they are my very close friends and have helped me immensely.”

The new venture will be a reunion of sorts, as Keefer (who also did a short stint at Birroteca), reteams with former employers (and owners of Federal Hill’s Banditos Tacos & Tequila) Andrew Dunlap and Sean White, for whom he worked at the short-lived 1542 Gastropub.

The new concept, tentatively titled “Allbird,” will be more casual and family-friendly in concept with Asian influences.

Allbird, says Keefer, will have a “very fun concept” and will be “very approachable.” He adds, “I always thought that high-end, super posh food was for me, then I realized that a very good part of that was only ego and my cooking had become more thought-invoked than felt. I want to enjoy what I cook and whom I cook for.” 

No word yet on who will be taking over the kitchen at Fork & Wrench. 

Read more about Cyrus Keefer and his collaborative relationship with other area chefs in our Band of Brothers story.

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