It’s late January, the opening day of Carlos Raba’s first solo restaurant, Nana, and the award-winning chef stands in the kitchen, channeling his nervous energy into the preparation of tacos.

In a mixture of English and Spanish, he calls out to his crew, who are busily making orders of tortas, quesadillas, and dogos—Sinaloa-style bacon-wrapped hot dogs paired with caramelized onions and avocado sauce. Behind him, a large rotisserie oven turns slowly, an abacus of golden chickens.

As he moves deftly around the restaurant—checking on the rotating birds, handing plates of tacos to customers, darting downstairs to take inventory of the supplies, and chatting with his staff—Raba’s energy and attention to detail are as apparent as his culinary skills.

What is also apparent is the joy he brings to the proceedings—it’s in his frequent smile, behind his voice, and in the food which is simple and comforting, the kind of fare he grew up with. It’s a far cry from Clavel, the hip Mexican restaurant in Remington that brought Raba to Baltimore and gave him a culinary career.

Located along York Road in Stoneleigh, Nana, named for Raba’s great-grandmother, is a bright, sunny space in a 1924 building that originally housed a pharmacy. It has wide windows, pale wood counters, and yellow chairs built around a big, central kitchen that showcases the rotisserie, a flat-top range and fryer, and a trompo spinning the roasting pork for the al pastor.

A warm pot of beans sits at one corner of the counter, a formation of Raba’s grandfather’s favorite habanero hot sauce at the other. A black-and-white photo of his great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins hanging on the wall is given the place of honor opposite the busy kitchen.

Raba is from Sinaloa, Mexico, and his journey to this Baltimore neighborhood street corner has been a circuitous and unusually dramatic one, an immigration story that involved politics, martial arts, murder—and the healing power of food.

Raba, 40, was born in Mexico City, where his parents lived at the time. His mother was a prominent journalist, his father a successful businessman who was murdered in a home invasion in 1983, two months before Raba was born. After the murder, his mother, Luz Aida Salomón, took Carlos and his older brother, Enrique, to her hometown of Culiacán in Sinaloa to live with his extended family of great-grandparents, grandparents, his mother’s four sisters, uncles, and cousins. Raba grew up in a compound of family houses, a happy childhood built around cooking, his uncles’ restaurants, and trips to local taquerías.

He was often cared for by his grandmother and his aunts while his mother worked. (“You would hear the typewriter all the time,” he says.) But Raba’s mother was a political journalist whose investigations into corruption, and the persecution she faced, eventually led her to seek asylum in the U.S. “They used to break into the house, and I was kidnapped a few times by the police,” says Raba of those days.

With the help of the human rights nonprofit Amnesty International, 16-year-old Raba, his mother, and brother relocated first to D.C., very briefly to Detroit—where they found themselves in a homeless shelter—then to Maryland. His mother, who was struggling with mental-health issues, eventually returned to Mexico, while Raba and his brother stayed in Maryland, where they lived for a time with the lawyer who helped relocate them, and where Raba went to high school and started working.

Over the next few years, he hustled to make ends meet, working on commission at Nordstrom and Safeway, then as a manager at Whole Foods and Giant. “I was a butcher, I was a cheesemonger, I was a store manager, a district manager, a trainer, I put out fires,” says Raba.

Meanwhile, Raba became interested in martial arts, specifically Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which provided a valuable, necessary outlet and re-engineered his outlook toward both his past and his future. In 2009, he met Claudia Carias, a D.C. native from a Guatemalan-Panamanian family, and they married and had a son, Lucas. His brother married and had kids, too, and the two brothers would regularly travel to Sinaloa to visit their extended family, including their mother, who now lives there in a retirement home.

Lane Harlan, who had opened the Remington bar W.C. Harlan with her husband, also became part of that extended family, as Harlan’s sister, Tiffany, married Raba’s brother, Enrique. Eventually, over family dinners in Culiacán, Harlan told Raba about her idea of opening a mezcaleria, and the two started thinking about opening a restaurant together. Not only were they family, but their interests fit perfectly together, pairing as well as, yes, mezcal does with tacos. They would call their restaurant Clavel, which means carnation in Spanish and is yet another hat tip to Raba’s flower-loving great-grandmother.

“We would have family gatherings and Carlos was always the one on the grill,” says Harlan. “He’s an incredible cook. [Both he and his brother] come from a family of people who embrace cooking; you can really tell these are family recipes.” When Clavel opened, “the menu started off with all of the recipes that we just ate together.”

By 2022, the cooking at the beloved Remington taquería would earn Raba a James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic nomination. The national attention expanded the chef’s growing fan base, and Baltimoreans’ hunger for more of his cooking added momentum to Raba’s quest for his own restaurant.

Back in Nana’s kitchen, Raba monitors his roasting chickens. He’s wearing an Orioles cap and a thick black canvas apron over a T-shirt; his arms are covered with tattoos, including a detailed mauve octopus that winds down from under one sleeve.

“As I get older, food makes more sense to me,” he says. “[There are] flavor profiles that I didn’t see before.”

The great-grandmother for whom Nana is named taught Raba’s grandmother how to make the flour tortillas that are now the foundation of the taquería’s menu, and she in turn taught Raba’s aunts and Raba himself. His grandmother is also responsible for Nana’s roasted cauliflower tacos. “My grandmother was a big cauliflower person,” says Raba.

Though Nana also offers its own house-made corn tortillas, it’s the flour tortillas, a Sinaloan staple that they press and griddle and sell by the dozen, that are the house specialty. “My hands were the ones that always were making flour tortillas,” says Raba.

While Raba borrows many recipes from his family—the tortillas are his great-grandmother’s; Clavel’s barbacoa and cochinita pibil are from Raba’s aunts; the carne asada traces to his uncles’ restaurants—the rotisserie chickens are very much his own.

Brined for 24 hours, then dried for another 24, each two-and-a-half-pound chicken is trussed, then impaled on the metal rods of the French-built rotisserie like some medieval experiment. Marinated in two iterations—smokey al pastor and an herby-garlicky version—they’re then roasted until burnished, crisped, and impossibly flavorful, the rich schmaltz from the chickens in turn flavoring a tray of potatoes roasting in the bottom of the machine. The chickens are sold whole, by the half or quarter, and also deconstructed, chopped, and loaded onto tortillas with salsa, onions, and cilantro.

“The chicken is me,” says Raba. “I love chicken tacos.”

Nana’s open kitchen is cheery, light-filled—and immaculate, the plancha cleaned so pristinely after use that Raba presses his apron on it in the mornings. It took Raba two and a half years to open Nana, thanks to the challenges of rebuilding a location that had stood empty for years (“We had to take out trash from the 1960s”), pandemic delays, inspections, hiring, training, menu development, and the like.

With Nana, Raba wanted a neighborhood taquería, a safe place where families and kids could come for affordable food and community.

“I’m trying to think of this as a legacy,” he says, “because I never met my father. It’s very important for me to have my kids and the people around me, and to show them my passion, and what I do with my passion, and how I handle it.”

How Raba handles his own history is evident in how he runs his kitchens—with both authority and compassion—and also how he runs his other primary project, the jiu-jitsu gym Guardian Baltimore, housed a few doors away from Clavel. Raba, who is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, opened Guardian in 2018 as a nonprofit gym for adults and kids as part of a program founded by a longtime friend in Oakland, California.

Children from 4-17 train for free, and some of the adults who come to work out also bring their kids along to watch and spend time, as the gym is purposely engineered to be a safe, family-friendly space. When he’s not in the kitchen, Raba trades his apron for a black gi, the kimono-like uniform worn by practitioners of the sport.

The same combination of focus and fire that Raba employs in his kitchens is evident on a Saturday morning at Guardian, as he gives pointers to others sitting barefoot and cross-legged on the charcoal mats, laughing and chatting before the group breaks into pairs. Soon Raba is spinning and lunging in a series of intricate training moves, his black hair slicked with sweat.

“Cooking is my culture; jiu-jitsu is a passion,” says Raba.

It’s a passion that extends to his family, as his brother is a frequent participant and his wife is the nonprofit’s managing director. Their children, nine-year-old Lucas and seven-year-old Camila, take classes at Guardian twice a week, though Claudia prefers yoga to jiu-jitsu and practices in the nonprofit’s upstairs studio. Lucas was all of seven months old when his parents relocated from Takoma Park to Baltimore to open Clavel—moving into an apartment above the space that would become the restaurant.

“[We lived there] before it opened, when it opened, and when I was pregnant with my second,” says Claudia of the Remington apartment. After two years of living above a popular bar and taquería, the young family moved, first to a house near Patterson Park and then to another less than a mile from Nana.

“Everyone knows everybody,” Claudia says of the neighborhood, where she now works at the same Montessori school that her kids attend. “It’s just incredible to see everything that’s led up to here,” she says. “I’m really excited to see where this takes him, in terms of the city and the world.”

“Our families got forged together,” says Harlan, “and that’s how Clavel came to be. It wouldn’t have happened any other way.”

As for Nana, says Harlan, “It was a natural progression. It’s this thing where you create a beautiful thing, and then you learn a lot and you’re capable of doing more, and why wouldn’t you want to?”

Clavel has been open nine years now, she notes, Raba’s kids are older, and Guardian has gotten up and running.

“He spaced it out really well,” Harlan says. “At Nana, he’s going to be able to express himself in a way that’s outside the parameters of Clavel.”

“AS I GET OLDER, FOOD MAKES MORE SENSE TO ME. [THERE ARE] FLAVOR PROFILES THAT I DIDN’T SEE BEFORE.”

Nana is intentionally at the opposite end of the culinary spectrum as Clavel: There are no beautifully set tables, no award-winning cocktail program, no late-night bar scene. It’s a family spot, designed for quick, wholesome food and take-away dinners to feed waiting households. Across the street from the Charmery ice-cream shop and a block away from Stoneleigh Lanes—one of the last duckpin bowling alleys in the state—Raba’s taquería is as much like a community center as it is a restaurant.

Many of the staff of 20 are Clavel alums, and there’s a camaraderie in the kitchen that’s deeper than the few months the place has been open, which is also by design.

José Machorro, who runs Nana’s line, is all of 19. He came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 14 and has been cooking in restaurants ever since. Josh Weinstock, Nana’s manager, came to Nana from jiu-jitsu, and holds a black belt. All the tips at Nana are shared; there’s a 12-percent “taquero service fee” added to all bills.

“Being a taquero is a craft,” says Raba “It’s something that cannot disappear. Food is based on memories. Even though I was kicked out of my country by violence, I am very proud to be a Mexican.”

The word community comes up a lot in conversations with Raba. “Helping them is helping myself. I’m building a stronger community,” he says of his crew, both at the restaurant and in the gym.

Before Nana opened, he was popping up a lot around town—first in a tent outside Ekiben’s Fort Avenue location for an event with Steve Chu; and then in December, at a Ravens’ tailgating party in the M&T Bank Stadium parking lot, serving chile-spiked goat birria hat he cooked on the stoves at the yet-to-open Nana. (The goat was a play on G.O.A.T. and the remarkable career of the Ravens’ retired safety Ed Reed.)

“When we were kids, I’d live vicariously through him,” says Enrique of his younger brother, whom he remembers pushing in a laundry basket down a circular marble staircase when they were children in Mexico. Enrique, who was leaning against a parked car watching his brother grill tortillas outside of Ekiben, lives in College Park and has worked for the Department of Transportation for nearly two decades. “He was fearless. Energy-wise, he’s always been like that. His intensity shows, in jiu-jitsu and in the kitchen.”

“I was a very angry person,” says Raba of his younger years. “You have to calm yourself, have an awareness of feelings and emotions, for mental strength. Jiu-jitsu helped me. It gave me friends and family.”

That intersection of friends, colleagues, students, and family is evident in all the spaces Raba has built for himself. “Baltimore gives chances and opportunities that other cities don’t, which is important,” says Raba, expertly plating a few more tacos, then surveying his crowded, light-filled dining room. “Making a community. What’s more important than investing in your own city?”

When Carlos Raba was forced to close Guardian Baltimore on March 13, 2020, the Clavel co-owner-chef was devastated.

Just a few weeks before the pandemic shut down the city, the new community gym nonprofit, which offers free Brazilian Jiu-jitsu classes to kids, had finally gotten off the ground after years of planning.

“I felt defeated,” says Raba. “I ended up with this beautiful space and started to see the kids and their excitement. When it shut down, the only thing I had was empty walls with no energy. I cried.”

Fast forward to this spring, Raba and his pint-sized practitioners are back in bloom. (He also trains adults who, along with donations, help sustain the gym.) It’s been a particularly emotional year for him, as after 23 years of living in America, he also became a U.S. citizen in March, exactly one year to the date after having to reinvent his restaurant next door due to COVID-19.

When Raba first discovered the martial art, it was nothing short of life-changing. “Playing sports kept me out of trouble in high school,” says the former wrestler and football player. “But after high school, I was missing something. I had so much energy, and when I was grumpy or angry, I’d drink with friends, because we had nothing to do. Until one said, ‘Have you heard about Brazilian Jiu-jitsu?’”

Raba, who now holds a black belt in his practice, has continued to train ever since. Three years ago, he came up with the idea for Guardian, based on a sister dojo in Oakland, California, started by a friend from Bethesda. “What we have in Baltimore is kids with nothing to do but hang out on street corners,” he says. “I wanted to give them a passion that has helped me.”

“I HAVE A KID FROM GILMAN ROLLING WITH A KID FROM EAST BALTIMORE.”

Raba, who was raised in Sinaloa, Mexico, before coming to the U.S. at the age of 16, grew up with his own share of struggles. His mother, an accomplished journalist, fled Mexico with the help of Amnesty International in 2000 after Raba’s father was murdered during a home invasion. Raba and his older brother were offered political asylum, too, although life in America, where they soon found themselves in a Detroit shelter and, later, homeless in Washington, D.C., wasn’t exactly easy either. Thanks to a chance meeting, they were taken in by a young lawyer who worked at an immigration law center in Georgetown, and they stayed with her for several years.

“Without even knowing us, she put us in her car and took us to her home in Takoma Park,” he recalls.

The lesson of giving back—something Raba had also seen as a child in Mexico—is one he’s never forgotten.

“My grandfather was a doctor who gave free consultations to lower-income families,” he says. “My grandmother was a nurse who adopted kids. It’s natural for me to want to help.”

At Guardian, kids ages 4 to 17 can train for free, and Raba gives a free “gi,” or uniform, to every student who enrolls.

“The program is for anyone,” he stresses, being particularly proud of the gym’s diversity. “I have a kid from Gilman rolling with a kid from East Baltimore. Both have struggles, but very different struggles. Both can learn from each other about life.”

In the coming months, Raba hopes to offer not only a safe haven for his current roster of 20-some kids to train and do homework, but a space that will expand their world in other ways. He’s thinking about forming a poetry or photography club, or running a barista class with his friend Kris Fulton, the owner of nearby Sophomore Coffee. He’s also considering offering an incentive to keep kids coming to the mat.

“If you come and you’re consistent, you’re going to get a burrito a week,” says Raba, whose taqueria is mere steps away from Guardian. “The burrito might be the thing that gets you in the door, but I’m hoping they’ll get hooked on Jiu-jitsu.”

Like many area restaurateurs, Clavel co-owners Lane Harlan and Carlos Raba have recently reinvented the business model at their James Beard-nominated taqueria with carryout and curbside pickup due to the COVID crisis. They’ve even gone so far as to give their grab-and-go business a new name, Pisa & Corre, which was inspired by the convenience stores in Raba’s hometown of Sinaloa, Mexico.

“I used to go to a little drive-thru market in my little city in Mexico and it was called Pisa y Corre, which translates to the Stop and Run,” Raba says. “You could go buy beer and groceries and drive through. So I said, ‘Why don’t we do tacos kits?’ People need a meal that not only is affordable, but filling.”

In keeping with this idea, the team also decided to start serving burritos. “You can eat half one day and half another,” Raba adds. “They have a lot of flavor, they are as good the next day, and they make people smile. With Pisa & Corre, we’ve created a totally different business. We are innovators fighting for Baltimore and our community, and making the best of it with what we can.”

It seems as though you’re doing really well with your new carryout model and selling out each week. How’s it going?
Lane Harlan: The first week was traumatic. We were open for brunch with a skeleton crew the day before—we knew it was coming. On March 16, when Governor Hogan closed restaurants and bars, we literally spent 24 hours brainstorming this new business model that we call Pisa & Corre. We didn’t have a website built yet, we put a menu online and people could call in their orders, but you can only process as fast as the speed of answering the phone and confirming payment and then people were showing up without having ordered.

We thought our online website would fix everything, but it created new obstacles. It allowed everyone to order at the same time, which created a backlog and people were having to wait two-and-a-half hours. That single day ended up being the most amount of sales we’ve ever done, and that was with less than 10 people working. We had to apologize to a lot of people that first night. When things have gotten mixed up, we’ve offered refunds, and most people declined to take them.

So, what is working for you?
LH: What is working is that we’ve increased our prices by 20 percent in order to send weekly money to our non-working staff—and not one customer has complained. The tip pool is distributed evenly to nearly everyone, including the working staff on the days that they aren’t working. We laid off people who chose to be laid off so they could apply for unemployment. [Some are opting] out of the tip pool to provide for the people who need it the most—if you’re benefiting from the stimulus, you might not need the tip pool money.

No one should profit during this crisis. Individuals and the businesses themselves shouldn’t be profiting. The people in need are our number-one concern, and we will be endlessly creative about how to keep these people paying their bills and keep milk in their fridge. The speed of the government is slow, and people don’t have time to wait for money to feed their families.

“We are innovators fighting for Baltimore and our community and making the best of it with what we can.”

I noticed you’ve been selling T-shirts, too.
LH: People are buying merchandise like never before—they know it’s going to a tip pool. I went to a local screen printer and spent money on hundreds of shirts and sold out. People truly care and keep buying them.

So, are you making the math work in terms of being able to make ends meet?
LH: The numbers are working because we have higher averages for what people are spending and buying in bulk, and we have less staff. For example, we’re selling six margaritas in bulk at a time. It’s an amazing hustle that doesn’t feel super sustainable. We can afford our payroll and people are being paid right now at least what they were making before, but we don’t know how long this is sustainable. We are in serious survival mode.

How else are you supporting your staff?
LH: We just hosted a back of house meeting with a translator with Maryland CASA. We want to help them get resources, learn how to get unemployment, or get help if there’s a home situation with abuse because children are at home. The flow of information is incredibly important. They deserve the same flow of information as the front of the house.

Any tips on getting carryout? I’ve seen the sold-out signs.
Carlos Raba: The best times to pick up are between noon and 4 p.m. when it’s slow. You can order a burrito at noon and heat it later. It will be perfectly fine. We sell out because there are so many tickets waiting. It’s not that we don’t have the food, but we can’t process more than 150 tickets.

“Why do sushi chefs have tip jars but the people who work in the front of the house make hundreds of dollars in cash? How can we bring those people in the back making tortillas and chopping to the front?”

How are you unwinding?
LH: My first day off since March 15 was March 29. We went on a hike and didn’t work at all. I bought a trampoline to jump on every morning.

CR: I do Jiu-Jitsu in my basement and exercise with my wife, Claudia, and spend the time outside doing stuff we didn’t have time to do. I’m embracing time with my kids and I’m able to put my kids to bed at 9 and then have a margarita with Claudia.

Lane, how are you sustaining your other businesses, Fadensonnen and W.C. Harlan that you co-own with your husband, Matthew?
LH: W.C. Harlan and Fadensonnen are closed. We opened up our wine storage room and created a bottle shop called Angels Ate Lemons. We’re doing wine deliveries within a three-mile radius and offering curbside pickup on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Right now, I’m moving inventory and liquidizing—it’s keeping the manager at W.C. Harlan on salary.

“You don’t have to be wealthy to survive a crisis—if you have the support of numbers of people in your community, then you will weather the storm.”

What will you take with you that will stick once this is over?
LH: The divide between back and front of the house is going to shrink. We are making moves to level the playing field and change the perception. I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 15, but I try not to be a product of that environment. It took me a long time to question why people working in a kitchen make so much less than people making cocktails. Why do sushi chefs have tip jars but the people who work in the front of the house make hundreds of dollars in cash? How can we bring those people in the back making tortillas and chopping to the front? It’s not the publics job to recognize these truths, it’s my job to make these changes and hope that it trickles down to other restaurants.

CR: It has opened our eyes to the issues in the back and the front of the house. Maybe you have a dishwasher you thought was legal and then all of a sudden, he tells you he isn’t and can’t apply for unemployment. There are probably millions of examples of that in our industry. How can we make it fair? What do people deserve? We are going to start to push our politicians and government. We need to open their eyes about what it’s like to run a small business.

What lessons have you learned from this?
LH: We’ve worked it out in a way that was smart and risky, but we have a dedicated following. Whatever we’ve done in the past is coming back to us right now—it’s a lesson for restaurants who are not involved in the community. It’s a wake up call—if you just stand for profit alone and don’t give that back, you don’t have that safety net. And it’s not coming back to you. You don’t have to be wealthy to survive a crisis—if you have the support of numbers of people in your community, then you will weather the storm.

OPEN

Taharka Bros. Ice Cream: Tonight, the team from this homegrown sweet shop will celebrate the grand opening of their new R. House location with a lineup of guest scoopers—including 92Q radio personality Pork Chop, rapper and “Secretary of Shade” commentator DDm, and our own New York Times best-selling author D. Watkins. Taharka, which also operates a stall at Broadway Market in Fells Point, will take over the Remington food hall space that formerly housed Little Baby’s Ice Cream, which closed all of its shops last month. “We could not be more excited about this new location, especially given that we make the ice cream at our factory in Hampden so close by,” founder Sean Smeeton said in a statement. “R. House offers a unique venue and a chance for us to host events that help promote a positive image for Baltimore.”

Though Taharka has become known for its scrumptious scoops (Honey Graham, Key Lime Pie, and Coffee Oreo are among its standout flavors), the local business is equally celebrated for its socially conscious philosophy. Since rolling out its hot pink “Change Maker Mobile” in 2015, Taharka has used its ice cream as a vehicle for change—employing Baltimore City youth, hosting events to raise awareness for social justice issues, and creating innovative flavors that pay homage to community leaders.

Sizka: The old firehouse at the intersection of O’Donnell Street and South Linwood Avenue in Canton has a whole new look. The property that was most recently Firehouse Coffee Co. has transformed into this new Japanese fusion restaurant. Now in soft-opening mode, the refreshed space features a black-and-white aesthetic, wooden floors, and a long sushi bar. The menu—from team behind Niwana Restaurant in Charles Village—offers tons of colorful sushi rolls, omakase (chef’s choice) meals, and entrees including salmon teriyaki and barbecue-marinated short ribs.

NEWS

Acropolis Restaurant: Dinner service on Christmas Eve will be the last to savor the stuffed grape leaves, whole branzino, and lamb souvlaki platters at this 33-year-old Greektown staple. Owner George Avgerinos—who inherited the business from his father, the late Dimitrios “Jimmy” Avgerinos—announced last week that the family had sold the restaurant and would be closing for good after the holiday. “This type of business becomes your life,” he wrote in a message posted to Facebook. “And Acropolis and all of you have been such a huge part of ours. We take this step, not to lose a legacy, but to continue it with our loved ones and families.” In keeping with that sentiment, Averinos added that the family is continuing its catering services and he hinted at a possible new location in the future. (Read more about the family business in our upcoming February issue.)

EPICUREAN EVENTS

12/19: Christmas in Mexico
Don’t be surprised if you see a line snaked around the block at The Charmery’s flagship location in Hampden tonight. Master creamer David Alima has once again collaborated with his pal Carlos Raba of Clavel to serve festive fried ice cream to the masses. This year’s treat, “Adornos Navideños,” will top fried scoops of The Charmery’s Pure Vanilla flavor with raspberry sauce and a leche drizzle to resemble an edible ornament. A portion of all the evening’s proceeds will be donated to Guardian Baltimore—Raba’s yet-to-open jiu-jitsu youth center in Remington.

12/23: Navidad en Baltimore
In yet another holiday-themed collaboration, the teams from Fells Point favorites Ekiben and Cocina Luchadoras are coming together to host this epic pop-up next week. Swing by Ekiben on your lunch break to start the holiday feast early with Chinese red-braised short rib tamales, soups, and other Chinese-Mexican fusion fare—which, judging by previous collabs, we can only expect will sell out quickly.

As Carlos Raba enters Sophomore Coffee in Old Goucher for his second cup of the day—by his own admission, he runs on the stuff—the baristas behind the counter greet him with a hearty welcome. It’s a salute reserved for regulars, and in this area, the Clavel executive chef is a fixture. Just as Raba is about to exit, he recognizes someone sitting on a stool by the cozy shop’s window and stops to say hello.

It’s this type of man-of-the-people, infectious energy that Raba hopes will carry over to his newest project, Guardian Gym—a jiu-jitsu, yoga, and kickboxing center opening later this year in a warehouse space just around the corner from Clavel in Remington.

Showcasing Raba’s investment in the youth of the community, the gym will provide students a place to go after school or to simply get out of the house. In addition to the free kids jiu-jitsu classes, the center will offer snacks, a yoga studio upstairs, and a gathering space to hang out and watch TV. Raba’s hope is that the youth will grow, learn, and develop lasting relationships.

“I’ve always been very passionate and caring about people,” Raba says. “I want to have my own tribe and create a positive and safe place for kids in and out of the Baltimore community. This is who I am.”

Jiu-jitsu as a practice can be pricey, but Raba has a business plan to ensure that cost isn’t a prohibitor. Guardian will offer classes to adults ranging from $90 to $120, as well as membership donations. This money will be used to cover the kids’ classes, and assist with general upkeep and equipment.

Raba compares the dedication and focus required to explain his concept to what is required in jiu-jitsu. He’s been practicing for eight years, and says that the discipline has the ability to get its participants out of their own heads. It’s even helped Raba contend with past struggles with anger and confidence.

He got the idea from a friend in Oakland, who quit his job at Twitter to start the original Guardian Gym—though its only affiliation with Baltimore is a shared name. Raba has developed the concept for the past two years, and things came to fruition when local property owner Robert Harrington of R.E. Harrington Plumbing helped him secure the warehouse.

Jiu-jitsu as a martial art is not something that is learned easily, and with his new venture, Raba hopes to make a long term investment in the kids who commit to the practice. He’ll be the foremost instructor, and hopes to bring in four others, including some of his own jiu-jitsu counterparts. Given his busy schedule, the fact that the gym is merely 100 steps away is extremely convenient for Raba.

“It works out that it’s close,” he says. “I want to bring my bubble closer. I’m trying to be in a place of peace, combine my passions, and show the community what we are about.”

In essence, the gym will be a place that provides children across Baltimore a space and the means to learn a practice that inherently requires discipline and dedication.

“If a kid is exposed to an environment where they are pressured and in danger, they don’t know how to react to it,” Raba says. “That’s where fights happen. If you’re training kids, they’re going to learn how to breathe and defend themselves. The only thing that I want from the kids is a commitment.”

If all goes according to plan, Guardian Gym will be a melting pot—a place that will, as Raba puts it, “show how diverse Baltimore is.”

He hopes to start with 75 kids—a goal that he plans to meet by tenaciously knocking on doors throughout the neighborhood and encouraging parents to get their kids to the gym. It’s an ambitious mark, but anyone who has come in contact with Raba knows that when he puts his mind to something, it’s a safe bet it’s going to happen.

“I want my own kids to grow up and see that their dad wasn’t all about making money, but that he was about helping other kids,” Raba says. “That’s the only reason why I do what I do—why I sat down for hours just thinking, standing in front of a warehouse that was full of trash and rats and envisioning what I wanted to do with the gym. I want to try to change these kids’ lives.”

OPEN

Raw & Refined: It’s going to be a great summer for dockside dining in Canton. On the heels of the news that the team behind Barcocina and Bond Street Social have taken over the Boathouse Canton, there’s also been a revival in the former home of Button adjacent to Swim Club. Officially opening this weekend, the nautical-themed seafood spot highlights a gallery of local artwork and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the waterfront patio. The worldly menu was inspired by Chef Patrick Morrow and owner Dominic Lascola, who wanted the food to have Latin American and Caribbean influences.

“Everyone labels Baltimore as a seafood town, but everything is overtly crab-centric,” Lascola said in a statement. “We saw this as an opportunity to elevate what Baltimore is known for but feature new and creative flavors within the genre.” Dishes will include wood-fired mahi mahi, tuna tartare cannoli with ancho chili sauce, an open-faced Cubano, elote-inspired grilled oysters infused with chili lime butter and cotija, and a play on a Uruguayan chivito sandwich with steak, ham, egg, and olives. Of course, the spot will also be a go-to for summer sips like fruity Crushes and rum Old Fashioneds. 2723 Lighthouse Point.

Taco Bravo: We’ve seen a number of Tex-Mex spots sprout up in Baltimore County throughout the past few months, but the latest taqueria in the Padonia Village Shopping Center has a more authentic slant. The new Timonium hangout from the owners of Taco Daddy Cantina in Frederick and Gaithersburg opened earlier this week, highlighting white fish ceviche, corn tortillas filled with carnitas and lamb barbacoa, Estrella Jalisco Mexican beer, and smoky mezcal margaritas. Interior touches like hung greenery and bull-riding decor cement the theme. 31 E. Padonia Rd. Ste E. 443-689-7979

NEWS

Ekiben Vending at Smorgasburg in Washington, D.C.: Fells Point’s own steamed bun superheroes are spreading the love to the District this summer. Ekiben is one of 30 food vendors that will set up shop at the recurring Smorgasburg market at the Tingey Plaza in Navy Yard. The outdoor food extravaganza has gained tons of traction since it launched in New York and Los Angeles, and it’s starting its first season in D.C. off right with regional purveyors peddling everything from bao buns and boba to skewers and spiral-cut hot dogs. The market kicks off on June 15 and will continue every Saturday until October.

First Two Stalls Open at Cross Street Market: The day that South Baltimore locals have been waiting months for is finally here. Veteran vendors Fenwick’s Choice Meats and Steve’s Lunch have both officially reopened inside the renovated Cross Street Market. Twenty additional concepts—including a newly announced Royal Farms fried chicken stall—are expected to roll out through the summer. For now, diners can stroll through the revitalized space to check out the upgrades while grabbing some classic diner fare at Steve’s Lunch, or picking up specialty cuts from Fenwick’s. 1065 S. Charles St.

Chef Carlos Raba Featured in Men’s Journal: Don’t be surprised to see a familiar face while flipping through the June issue of this national lifestyle publication. Chef Carlos Raba of Clavel was featured in a piece that discusses some of his favorite things, which include hibiscus flowers, Frosted Flakes, and—unsurprisingly—ceviche and mezcal. “Grateful for my culture and to be able to represent my family, my interests, and my life with everyone,” the Sinaloan-born chef wrote on Instagram. Cheers to Raba on the grrrreat recognition.

EPICUREAN EVENTS

5/30: Evening of Traditional Beverages
Homewood Museum’s annual event delving into the history of local spirits is back for its 23rd year—this time with a focus on Maryland rum. Gather inside Mudd Hall’s atrium on the Johns Hopkins University campus to sample rums from distilleries including Blackwater, Lost Ark, Lyon, Old Line, and Tobacco Barn in Southern Maryland—which ages its barrels on the hull of the U.S.S. Constellation. Plus, there will be light bites from Woodberry Kitchen, live calypso music, and a talk about the trajectory and impact of Maryland rum by historian Kyle Dalton. 3400 N. Charles St. 6-8 p.m. $40-50. 410-516-5589

SHUT

Tiki Barge: Memorial Day Weekend marks the official return of many harborside bars around town, but this outdoor drinking destination won’t be one of them. Owner Dan Naor recently confirmed to The Sun that the Inner Harbor barge, which includes its own bar and swimming pool, is not reopening this summer. Since its debut in 2010, the floating marina bar became known as an oasis to sip tiki drinks while taking in panoramic views of the city. However, soon after opening, it was met with complaints from HarborView residents about noise, illegal parking, and other disruptive behavior. There’s no word yet on whether Tiki Barge will make a comeback in the future, but the property is listed for sale at a price of $1 million and we’ve heard rumors of a possible local buyer. 500 Harborview Drive

When Clavel’s head bartender Dre Barnhill heard the news that the Remington mezcaleria had been nominated for a James Beard Award this morning, he was almost speechless. The beverage team is one of only 20 throughout the nation to be named a semifinalist in the category of Outstanding Bar Program, with other nominees spanning from the sophisticated Columbia Room in Washington, D.C. to the tiki-inspired Lost Lake in Chicago.

“My reaction? Oh, man, this is so cool,” Barnhill told us, still seeming to be in a slight daze. “There are such talented people on the list. I love some of those bars.”

Co-owner Lane Harlan was also admittedly shocked: “I don’t even know how this works,” she said. “I messaged the entire bar team. Half of them were awake, the other half were not, but I told them that they are amazing and that I’m so proud.”

Although this is Clavel’s first-ever nomination for the prestigious awards, it isn’t the only Baltimore name that appears on this year’s list of semifinalists. Chef Cindy Wolf, executive chef/owner of Charleston in Harbor East, also received her 12th nomination for Best Chef: Mid Atlantic. This time around, Wolf is up against contenders including chef Jon Sybert of D.C.’s Tail Up Goat and chef Matthew Kern of Heirloom in Lewes, Delaware.

While Wolf—who often quips that she’s the Susan Lucci of the category—has yet to bring home the medal, she remains humbled to be recognized for her unique take on Lowcountry cuisine at Charleston.

“Every time I am up for the award, all I can think is that I want to get up on that stage so I can honor and thank my Dad,” she says, “and all the people I work with who are also my family. Hopefully I’ll get to wear those new red jeweled shoes again that I found for Duff [Goldman’s] wedding.”

Clavel co-owners Harlan and chef Carlos Raba are also humbled by the acknowledgement, both emphasizing how proud they are of their staff.

“Our team works their butts off in the bar,” Raba says. “They have workshops for hours planning beers and cocktails. We never expected this, but it reflects the hard work that they do and the passion for the team—it’s such an honor.”

Since opening in 2015, Clavel has not only gained a reputation for having some of the most authentic Mexican cuisine around, but it’s also become known as the restaurant that put mezcal on the map in Baltimore. The group is so dedicated to the spirit, in fact, that they take routine trips to Mexico each year to meet with farmers and become more familiar with the intricacies of the agave plant.

“Our goal is to make things that are inspired by our journeys and these collections of memories that we have together,” Barnhill says. “Clavel just seems to have this certain kind of magnetism that draws people in.”

All of the on-site research is showcased in Clavel’s new expanded mezcaleria, where Barnhill and his team offer one-hour tasting sessions from their library that is categorized by species of agave plants.

“We don’t do what we do to get an award, that’s so alien to us,” Harlan says. “What drives us is that we push each other and do the best we can. That’s our world, and it’s pretty rad for that to be acknowledged.”

Harlan also mentions that working together creatively is a huge part of the restaurant’s success.

“We do everything collectively,” she says. “From day one that has been the number one driving factor. We’re continually evolving, holding each other accountable, embracing experimentation, and sharing ideas. We all accept criticism and take it as a challenge to be better.”

Finalists in each category will be announced on Wednesday, March 27, and this year’s James Beard Awards Gala will take place in Chicago on Monday, May 6. No matter the outcome (here’s hoping both Wolf and the crew at Clavel medal this year), the nominations are already a huge win for the Baltimore restaurant scene at large.

“When we started people said that it would be impossible to have a good place in the middle of nowhere,” Raba says. “And now to be recognized not only for the hard work that we do, but nationally, it’s amazing.”

OPEN

Milk & Honey Market: It’s been two years since Milk & Honey Market closed its original location in Mt. Vernon, and now, the spot has finally made a comeback in Station North. Located on the ground floor of the artsy Nelson Kohl apartment building near Penn Station, the cafe offers a menu of warm and cold coffee drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, and pastries. The new space is bright and inviting, with white walls, modern light fixtures, comfy couches, and lots of interior greenery. On the heels of the Station North opening, owners Ernst and Dana Valery are also planning to expand with a second location in Pigtown. The forthcoming cafe will be housed in the new Bath House Square project in development on Washington Boulevard. 20 E. Lanvale St. 667-309-3506

Farm to Face: Regulars of the Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar no longer have to wait around until Sunday mornings to get their hands on a seasonal falafel wrap from this longtime vendor. Farm to Face owner Miranda Betts recently moved into her own brick-and-mortar space on Harford Road in Hamilton. The former home of Zeke’s Coffee, which relocated to larger digs up the street last year, is now a permanent shop for Betts to serve her organic falafel in wraps. The crispy chickpea balls are topped with seasonal fruits and veggies (think everything from beets and strawberries to apples and arugula) and signature sauces before being tucked into traditional or leafy lettuce wraps. 4607 Harford Rd. 443-438-5559

Haven Street Ballroom: The owners of the modern-industrial event venue Main Street Ballroom in Ellicott City have launched a second space on North Haven Street in Highlandtown. Sandwiched between Urban Axes and Monument City Brewing Company, the airy space features white walls and high ceilings on the inside, and a bright exterior mural with pops of pink and yellow—which was designed by frequent Monument City collaborator White Coffee Lettering—on the outside. The venue is now booking events being held after May 1, 2019. 1 N. Haven St.

COMING SOON

Döner Brös: After spending a year roaming around on their Oktoberfest-inspired food truck, Döner Brös owners Alex Politsch and Steven Banks are putting the finishing touches on their brick-and-mortar eatery in Charles Village this week. The spot will open to the public on Monday, December 17, serving salads, wraps, and fries topped with authentic döner kebab meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Döner Brös neighbors THB Bagels & Deli, Bird in Hand, and Red Star Bar & Grille in the Nine East 33rd development near the Johns Hopkins University campus. “Hopkins was always a home run for the food truck so it was only natural for us to open our first store here,” Banks said in a statement. “We are excited to add another unique cultural option to the already eclectic and dynamic neighborhood.” 9 E. 33rd St. 844-366-7277

NEWS

Wayward Smokehouse Expanding to White Marsh: Federal Hill locals should prepare to see familiar signage while spending time around The Avenue at White Marsh in 2019. The team behind Wayward Smokehouse on South Charles Street has announced plans to take over the former Don Pablo’s space off of Honeygo Boulevard. The plan is for the restaurant to combine Wayward’s Texas barbecue vibe with The Curious Oyster, a new concept that focuses on sustainable seafood. 8161 Honeygo Blvd. White Marsh

Guinness Partners with Sierra Nevada for Fire Relief: In the wake of the deadly wildfires that recently spread throughout Northern California, Sierra Nevada recently established the Camp Fire Relief Fund to help rebuild communities affected. Doing what they do best, the brewing behemoth also created the Resilience Butte County Proud IPA, with proceeds directly benefiting the fund. Our own Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House is one of 1,200 breweries nationwide that has vowed to brew and sell the beer in hopes of providing more relief.

“I grew up in California and even though I’m now on the East Coast, the wildfire tragedies still feel close to home,” Open Gate brewmaster Peter Wiens said in a statement “Ken Grossman and the rest of the Sierra Nevada family are industry icons, and I’m honored to join their effort to help rebuild the lives of those devastated by the Camp Fire.” The IPA will be available in the Guinness taproom and upstairs 1817 restaurant starting December 13. One hundred percent of all proceeds will benefit the rebuilding efforts. 5001 Washington Blvd., Halethorpe. 800-909-2645

EPICUREAN EVENTS

12/13: 3rd Annual Christmas in Mexico at The Charmery
The Charmery co-owner David Alima and Clavel chef Carlos Raba have been hard at work preparing for their third-annual Christmas in Mexico celebration this week. The duo will be getting into the holiday spirit with fried ice cream treats that resemble adornos de navidad (Christmas ornaments). A portion of all proceeds will benefit Guardian Gym—a California-based boxing and jiu jitsu nonprofit that Raba supports. 801 W. 36th St. 6:30-8:30 p.m.

12/16: Prima Pop-Up at Le Comptoir du Vin
New Station North restaurant Le Comptoir du Vin is teaming up with yet-to-open Old Goucher spot Sophomore Coffee to host a special breakfast pop-up this weekend. Mix up your regular Sunday brunch routine with a traditional Turkish breakfast (think boiled eggs, veggies, cheese, and flatbread) paired with warm drinks provided by Sophomore. The team will be pouring Toby’s Estate coffees, as well as local Sparrowtail Tea blends. 1729 Maryland Ave. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $12