COMING SOON

Ida B’s Table: The downtown dining district will soon welcome this new comfort food concept from chef David Thomas, who formerly operated Southern-inspired haunt Herb and Soul in Parkville. Named after pioneering editor and activist Ida B. Wells, the restaurant (which is underwritten by local journalism nonprofit The Real News Network) will serve Thomas’ signature soul food with plates like a catfish Reuben and short ribs in bourbon gravy when it opens in July. Other highlights will include a cocktail program spearheaded by Drinkable Genius guru Chelsea Gregoire, an array of morning coffees, and prepared foods to-go during lunch. 235 Holliday St.

Bmore Licks: This yet-to-open ice cream shop will highlight more than 100 handmade flavors when it cuts the ribbon this July. The hard-to-miss building, situated on the corner of Eastern and South Milton avenues in Highlandtown, boasts an enticing exterior with hand-painted murals of ice cream cones and cherry-topped milkshakes. The art reflects the menu, which will list sundaes, shakes, Italian ice, snowballs, and even a few vegan ice cream flavors. Also be on the lookout for a few outside-of-the-box offerings including cones filled with espresso, and waffle-cone tacos and nachos. 2437 Eastern Ave.

Bluebird Cocktail Room: Former Woodberry Kitchen bartenders Paul Benkert and Ben Poole are opening this new literary-inspired bar in Hampden later this month. The 104-seat-space, located one floor above Belgian beer bar De Kleine Duivel, will feature large communal tables, navy blue walls, a gas fireplace, and a long bar that will be used for pub-style dining service. The cocktails (named after the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf) will be complemented by a menu of European bistro fare including charcuterie, fried sweetbreads, and steak frites. 3602 Hickory Ave.

Sandlot: Though the grand opening of this outdoor oasis at Harbor Point has been delayed a few times due to weather, it is set to officially debut to the public on June 12. The waterfront playground from Spike Gjerde and Corey Polyoka of Woodberry Kitchen will offer volleyball and bocce courts, lounge chairs, an outdoor performance area, and eats served out of tricked-out shipping containers. Aside from cocktails, smoothies, and ice cream, the spot will also feature nachos, sandwiches, and an array eats on a stick (think corn dogs and kabobs.) 1000 Wills St.

OPEN

The Grub Factory: As Charm City’s vegan offerings continue to skyrocket, this new dairy-free destination joins the scene in Midtown with specialty platters, sandwiches, and a signature mac and cheese that took home first prize at this year’s Vegan Mac and Cheese Smackdown. The café—an extension of the Pan Afrikan Liberation Movement—saw lines out the door for its grand opening last month, debuting dishes like meatless gyros, cheesesteaks, and cashew-kale salads. The new spot also adds to the city’s vegan brunch scene, churning out breakfast-all-day options including French toast platters, tofu scrambles, and gluten-free peanut butter pancakes. 1210 N. Charles St.

CH-CH CHANGES

Colette: Foodies flocked to this French favorite in Station North to grab one last order of gruyere beignets last weekend, after management took to social media to announce that the spot would be seeing a major transition in the coming weeks. Owner Adrien Aeschliman, who also operates Bottega around the corner, has decided to move the cozy Sicilian staple into the Colette space following a 10-day renovation. Though Colette will reopen as Bottega later this month, management has vowed to maintain its fan-favorite $10 pasta nights on Mondays. Stay tuned for more details. 1709 N. Charles St.

Cinghiale: Big things are happening at this pasta palace in Harbor East. Not only did the spot recently debut a revamped outdoor patio, but it is also introducing a three-course Sunday brunch prix-fixe featuring a spread of serve-yourself antipasti, Italian entrees, and decadent desserts. Dishes to look out for include over-easy eggs with crispy porchetta, ricotta with granola and strawberry preserves, pork-filled pasta with sage brown butter, and mascarpone panna cotta. 822 Lancaster St., $29, 410-547-8282

EPICUREAN EVENTS

Local Union Hour: Lately, Union Craft Brewing has been on a roll with its Friday-night food mashups. On the heels of hosting pop-ups with local favorites like Ekiben, The Charmery, and Big Softy, the brewery is throwing yet another get-together—this time with South Baltimore staples The Local Fry and Idle Hour. On June 2 from 6-11 p.m., head to the brewery to crack open a can of Duckpin, snack on specialty fries, and get down to music spun by three of Idle Hour’s favorite DJs: M. Scott Mayer, DJ Double A, and DJ Mudbone. 1700 Union Ave., 410-467-0290

Meet the Brewer Series at Parts & Labor: The guys behind Diamondback Brewing are making their way to Remington this weekend to unveil a collaborative beer with the team from Parts & Labor. The Locust Point brewery created a Russian-style Kvass specifically for the event, brewed with leftover rye and spelt bread from Parts & Labor and conditioned on raisins and strawberries. Head to the Remington restaurant this Saturday, June 3, from 12-4 p.m. to sample the beer along with $3 snacks and flights of four other Diamondback brews on tap. 2600 N. Howard St., 443-873-8887

SHUT

Annabel Lee Tavern: The local food community suffered a loss last week when owner Kurt X. Bragunier announced that he would be closing this beloved tribute to Edgar Allan Poe due to ongoing financial issues. The restaurant, best known for its gothic décor and walls sprawled with poetry, served its last crab cakes paired with pints of RavenBeer last weekend. There’s no word yet on what will become of the shuttered South Clinton Street spot. 601 S. Clinton St.

Langermanns: After eight years of serving shrimp and grits in the Canton Can Company, the owners of this Lowcountry restaurant have decided that it’s time to move on. According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the restaurant closed its doors earlier this week due to financial concerns. Langermanns also operated a spinoff in Federal Hill at one point, which closed in 2014 and has since been transformed into German beer bar Das Bier Haus. 2400 Boston St.

Two years ago, a rustic summer camp in Darlington transformed into a millennial hippie’s daydream. For one weekend, Fields Festival parked its metaphorical RV and threw a celebration of local DIY—an umbrella term for Baltimore’s vibrant arts scene that dances across genre, medium, and style. Hundreds of art students, music lovers, and merry pranksters flocked to the rustic grounds of Camp Ramblewood to see scores of area artists, musicians, and performers. Tents were pitched. Art was hung. Donut rafts filled the pool, Dan Deacon started dance parties, and cans of Natty Boh were crushed beside campfires. It was messy, magical, and uniquely Baltimore, and this month, it returns Aug. 19-21, bigger and better than ever. With everything from sets by Future Islands and TT The Artist to camping and lakeside yoga, here’s what you need to know for this Bonnaroo-meets-Burning Man-meets-Wet Hot American Summer weekend.

1. Relive your summer camp glory days by renting an old-school cabin.

2. Or get in touch with nature by glamping in your very own tent.

3. Required attire is up to interpretation. Sundresses, bathing suits, boas, bro tanks, jorts, hula hoops, face paint, glow sticks, bare feet—you name it, it’s all welcome.

4. Be sure to BYO: Natty Boh, grills, guitars, firewood, fanny packs, sunscreen, snacks, and campsite decorations.

5. Across 200 acres of campground, there are plenty of grassy knolls to lounge upon.

6. Sing “Kumbaya” around the campfire pit.

7. Take a dip in the pool with rafts all day and concerts at sunset.

8. Center your chakra with lakeside yoga and a wellness area for all the massage, acupuncture, and astrology your heart desires.

9. With six stages, don’t miss big names and up-and-comers like Future Islands, Dan Deacon, Lower Dens, TT The Artist, Abdu Ali, Flock of Dimes, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Chiffon, Horse Lords, Wume, Nudie Suits, etc. Plus, the eclectic costumes and cosmic jazz of the iconic Sun Ra Arkestra.

10. Get to know local creatives through art installations, theater, film, and poetry, including the likes of Wham City Comedy, street artist Reed Bmore, and members of Le Mondo, EMP Collective, and Best of Baltimore-winning Balti Gurls, to name a few.

11. Stop and smell the roses with décor at the entranceway and throughout the festival by local artists Beth Hoeckel and Becca Morrin.

12. Food Avenue will include tacos from Clavel, Vietnamese spring rolls by chef Stefano Porcile of Colette, Thread Coffee from Red Emma’s, plus falafel, pizza, and farm-to-table fare.

13. Show your skills with tennis and basketball courts open game for festival-goers.

14. Sorry: No children or fireworks allowed. Things might get a little wild as is.

We’d barely breathed a sigh of relief that Bottega, Adrien Aeschliman’s well-loved rustic Italian trattoria in Station North, had reappeared after a months-long hiatus when the restaurateur opened another venue around the corner.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches. Colette, open since February, is Bottega’s French counterpart, serving up Provençal-inflected food in slightly more spacious digs that include a well-appointed, full-service bar, setting it apart from its sister restaurant’s BYOB policy. That makes sense, given Colette’s location. Sandwiched between Tapas Teatro and Pen & Quill, and just two doors down from the Charles Theater, Aeschliman’s new hot spot has created a virtual Restaurant Row in this increasingly bustling block of Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District. We say, bring it on.

In contrast to its larger neighbors, Colette is an intimate space. It’s long and narrow, with the marble-topped bar and tiled flooring up front recalling a Parisian brasserie and the line of sturdy wooden tables and absinthe-colored walls behind channeling a Toulouse-Lautrec poster of a busy urban cafe. Its charms are plainspoken and less quirky than Bottega’s. It’s cozy, but on weekend nights it positively buzzes with energy. (Read: It’s loud.)

Colette’s chef, Stefano Porcile, has spent time at Woodberry Kitchen and Fork & Wrench, so we were fairly certain his offerings would boast considerable invention. Sure enough, the menu is a playful roster of items you’d be hard-pressed to choose from, especially if you’re willing to experiment. The line gets a little blurred between small plates and entrees—several of which come in two sizes—so you could order, say, the smaller bowl of cream-based bourride swimming with oysters, mussels, and clams as an appetizer instead of the main event. Or you could allow a lovely spring appetizer of leeks, sunchokes, and pickled mushrooms bathed in mustard crème fraiche to accompany the entree of double lamb loin, flavored with preserved lemon and draped with beautifully braised Belgian endive.

We started with the delightful beignets and a small plate of fluke ceviche and bay leaf brown butter, assured by our waitress that this unlikely combination really worked. It did. Silky slides of the pristine fish sat atop a pool of warmed butter dusted with the smoky powdered pepper from Basque country known as espelette, the butter adding a rich, nutty note to the fish. Porcile switches things up with the duck confit as well, which surprised by arriving in a salad, its rich shards contrasting with the bitter, bright, and sweet flavors of watercress, pickled daikon, and apricot.

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GRUYÈRE BEIGNETS:
Deep-fried rounds of choux pastry and Gruyère are laced with chives, sprinkled with sea salt, and drizzled with honey, providing just the right balance of savory, salty, and sweet to accompany a Sazerac, a Colette signature cocktail boasting a similar Big Easy provenance.

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There’s a distinct emphasis on fish among the entrees, and the nights we visited, skate, hake, head-on shrimp, and that fluke were all on offer, as well as an inventive combo of grilled octopus and beef heart—a pairing this food adventurer eagerly jumped on. The dish playfully explores the similarities in texture between this odd couple, each of which gets a rap for being rubbery. Here, they’re toothsomely tender and simply served with a scattering of capers, olives, and roasted potatoes. We admired the willingness to push boundaries just as much as we admired the dish.

For dessert, we again put ourselves in the hands of our redoubtable young waitress. She confirmed our sense that the mousse cake would satisfy our endless craving for chocolate, which it did. A ribbon of crimson passion fruit purée divided the dense wedge of chocolate with its glossy topping of ganache—and yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.

For those who don’t live by chocolate, there’s a lovely pistachio crème brûlée and a roasted apple with honey cake, lavender, and lemon curd. At least, that was the lineup during a cold and rainy spring. Summer will doubtlessly bring berries, peaches, and other delights, which we’ll be eager to try when we’re not sampling the offerings around the corner at Bottega.

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COLETTE 1709 N. Charles St., 443-835-2945.
HOURS Sun.-Wed. 5-11 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. 5 p.m.-1 a.m.
CUISINE Modern French
PRICES Appetizers: $9-16; entrees: $17-36; desserts $8-12.
ATMOSPHERE Left Bank meets Station North.