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The result was Fork & Cork—a sold-out series of monthly dinners that brought six local chefs and sommeliers together to fuse their styles into one multi-course meal.

Now, Fork & Cork 2.0 is gearing up later this summer, with Riley and chef Chris Becker of Fleet Street, Dalton and chef Zack Mills of Wit & Wisdom, and Chris Coker and chef Bryan Voltaggio of Aggio all back on board to participate. Joining the pack this time around is La Cuchara’s chef Ben Lefenfeld and advanced sommelier Greg Schwab.

“It’s been really nice to get to know a lot of the other chefs in the area over the past two years—these guys especially,” Lefenfeld says. “We’ve all done different events under the same roof, but not necessarily where we executed a meal together. So it will be interesting to work together to come up with food that’s going to knock people’s socks off.”

Each installment will take place at one of the four restaurants and feature a collaborative five-course meal. The chef and pastry chef from the home restaurant will prepare a main course and dessert, the visiting chefs will be responsible for the additional three courses, and the sommeliers will work together to curate a list of pairings from the home restaurant’s cellar. The series kicks off with the first dinner at Aggio on August 16.

“The guest is the true winner here,” Coker says. “You really get to see all of our personalities come to life.”

The launch of Fork & Cork 2.0 comes at a particularly exciting time for Coker, who recently earned the distinction of Advanced Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers. He is one of only three professionals in Baltimore to achieve such a distinction—the other two being his colleagues (and close friends) Dalton and Schwab.

Coker says that he wouldn’t have been able to succeed without the support of the tight-knit community of local sommeliers, which was pioneered by Dalton when she started a peer tasting group in 2012.

He says that the process of taking the three-day exam—which covers service, blind tasting, and theory—was intense, and that he was a bit skeptical when he was summoned to receive the results.

“It takes a village to get that pin,” he says. “Especially for the advanced exam, you want people to challenge you daily and push you forward. When I found out I passed I was totally silent. I said, ‘Can you make sure my name is really on that piece of paper?’”

On the heels of earning the prestigious distinction, Coker is excited to take a break from studying and enjoy teaming up with the other sommeliers for the upcoming events.

“We’re complete nerds when it comes to wine,” he says. “We think about it in terms of structure and flavor profile, and that’s why there will never be a bad pairing at Fork & Cork.”

Following the launch at Aggio, the next installments will take place on September 13 at La Cuchara, October 18 at Fleet Street Kitchen, and November 15 at Wit & Wisdom. Admission for each event is $115, and guests who purchase tickets for all four dinners will receive a $20 gift certificate to each restaurant.

While the Fork & Cork menus are still in the works, Lefenfeld assures that each meal will be one of a kind. He says that, aside from getting the chance to explore the other chef’s kitchens, he’s most excited to play a role in providing such a unique experience to diners.

“I’ve done brief tours of the kitchens at Wit & Wisdom and Fleet Street and they both have a lot of fun toys to play with,” he says with a laugh. “Special events like this are the ones that people should be excited about. We always over-deliver for people who indulge in this type of experience.”

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This four-course dining and drinking experience kicks off next
week on Tuesday, August 18 at Wit & Wisdom.

This series will put a twist on classic competition, in which
the sommeliers will have the extra challenge of not knowing the menu until a
day before the dinner.

While the seasonal menu is under tight wraps, the chefs are
working together to create a memorable meal. “The dishes will showcase our
restaurants and our ideas in food,” says executive chef Zack Mills of Wit &
Wisdom.

The idea for this collaborative event came from Julie Dalton,
sommelier at Wit & Wisdom and Tim Riley, sommelier at Fleet Street Kitchen.
“We want to showcase the strengths of our competitors,” says Dalton. “The fact
is, we’re all friends.”

While Wit is known for its special events, this dinner series
is particularly timely as area restaurants continue to band together to boost
morale in the wake of April’s unrest surrounding the death of Freddie Gray.

“In Baltimore, we feel like we have a lot to offer,” says Dalton,
“and sometimes its better to work as a team.”

The next part of the series will be a four-course meal hosted
at Aggio in September, followed by the final meal at Fleet Street Kitchen in
November. The price for each meal is
$99 plus tax and gratuity. “Our goal is to
make this affordable for what it is,” says Mills.

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Nancy Longo, owner of Pierpoint in Fells Point is hoping for an early end to the curfew. “It’s having a huge impact,” Longo says. “At this point, I have no tables on the book for Friday and Saturday,” she says, “and my cooking class folks are cancelling daytime events.”

From last Thursday through this Tuesday, Long estimates she’s lost $15,000 in sales, with an additional $1,000 loss from cancelled cooking classes.

“Our restaurant members are telling us they are seeing a drastic reduction in the number of customers coming to their restaurants,” says Marshall Weston Jr., president and CEO of the Maryland Restaurant Association.

Hoping to bring back business, Longo is one of many restaurant owners hoping to put a positive spin on the week.

Long is running a “curfew special” on her signature dish. “Crab cakes are $10 tonight,” she says. “Come down at 5 p.m. and get them ’til they’re gone.”

Other specials include $1 drafts at Brewer’s Cask in Federal Hill, 50 percent off alfresco dining at Tark’s Grill in Lutherville, half-price wings at The Local Fry in Federal Hill, gratis meals for kids 10 and under at Café Gia in Little Italy, and half off every bottle of wine at Family Meal in the Inner Harbor.

Many area restaurants are getting an early jump on happy hour, with drinks flowing at 2 p.m. at The Brewer’s Art and 4 p.m. at Ouzo Bay.

Other places such as Bookmakers Cocktail Club in Federal Hill have added a lunch shift (including new menu items) to their service, with happy hour drink specials starting at noon.

Despite hurting for business, some area restaurants are donating profits to Baltimore City and local businesses affected by the protests, including Fleet Street Kitchen, Ten Ten Bistro, and Café Gia.

The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore (DPOB) is doing its part in helping to spread the word, too.

Using the hashtag #BmoreThursday (and changing according to the day of the week), the DPOB is keeping a running list of information about area restaurants and businesses for updates, opening, closings, and adjusted hours, says spokeman Michael Evitts.

Evitts is hoping that the hashtag will serve as a helpful tool that will enable Baltimoreans to break bread together.

“Food is something that brings people together whether it’s a barstool or hearth or a kitchen table,” says Evitts. “People want community right now. The corner pub is the living room and restaurants have a role to play in the civic discussion.”

Evitts urges Baltimoreans to patronize their local businesses in any way they see fit.

“We’re doing everything we can to encourage people to go out for lunch or stop by their favorite restaurants on their way home,” he says.

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The fine-dining spot in Harbor East will be hosting a five-course wine dinner on Wednesday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Executive chef Michael Correll and beverage director Tim Riley have designed an elegant prix-fixe menu fusing the season’s freshest bounty with specialty wines from France and Austria.

“The first of the season is always a big deal,” says Correll, who started at Fleet Street last October. “During the winter everything’s about root vegetables and stews, but when I think spring, I think light and refreshing—and a lot of green.”

In keeping with Fleet Street’s farm-to-fork style, chef Correll says he was excited to make locally-sourced ingredients the highlight of the menu.

“White asparagus is one of my ‘things'” he says. “I think the whole menu is going to be a hit but I’m really excited for people to taste that dish in particular.”

In addition to the dashi-poached jumbo white asparagus with English pea purée and sea urchin, the evening’s menu will include pumpernickel-crusted cod paired with a glass of French chardonnay, leg of lamb with baby artichokes served with a glass of cabernet franc, and heirloom carrot cake with marshmallow ice cream served with a glass of French sauternes.

Chef Correll also says that he’s inspired by Japanese cuisine, and he’s putting his own unique spin on some of the dishes by adding ingredients like maitake mushrooms, wasabi toboko (fish eggs,) and yuzu (a citrus fruit native to East Asia).

With more than 100 bottles of wine in its cellar, Fleet Street Kitchen is a great place to sample wines from around the world.

Says Correll, “Tim Riley loves teaching people, so they come in with an open mind and leave having learned something new.”

Tickets for the all-inclusive event can be purchased here.

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In 2010, the Green Street Academy opened in West Baltimore with a sustainability-focused curriculum, building, among other projects, a hoop house for growing vegetables, two tilapia tanks, a chicken coop, and koi pond at its current location, which it shares with another school.

Now, after five years, the charter will move next fall into its own building—the historic, 1925-built Gwynn Falls Park Junior High, which has been without students for 30 years. Currently serving 439 students in grades 6-10, the Green Street Academy broke ground two weeks ago on its future home. With 100,000 square feet inside planned for renovation and nearly 9 acres of green space outside, the public city charter school will add 11th and 12th grade classes and ultimately grow to 875 students, says the school’s executive director, Daniel Schochor.

Areas of academic concentration at the school include advanced technology, energy, construction, conservation and agriculture, healthcare, and entrepreneurship, with the idea of enabling students to move directly into the 21st century workforce and/or college. The additional space will also allow the academy to host outdoor classes, as well as add rain gardens and a cistern, and advance its aquaculture and aquaponic programs.

Among its partners, the school already sells its produce to Woodberry Kitchen, Fleet Street Kitchen, and Classic Catering. The school also runs a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program for academy families and others in the community.

“Our students are very appreciative of the fact that they go to a school that has a sustainability focus—they recognize that as both different and useful—and they feel good about their experiences here,” says Schochor. “We’re looking forward to expanding what we do . . . we plan to offer certification and internship programs that give kids a leg up, preparing them whether they go to college or enter a career.”

Since purchasing the North Hilton Street property, the school, operated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, has put together a $23 million renovation plan, gathering financing from a variety of sources, including a $14 million loan from Bank of America and a $2 million loan from the Reinvestment Fund, a nonprofit that funds community development projects.

The school has also raised $3.5 million in donations and is still looking to raise additional private funds for the project as well.

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The fine-dining Harbor East establishment is promoting Michael Correll, former chef de cuisine at the restaurant group’s Cunningham’s in Towson.

Correll, whose resume includes stints at the acclaimed La Croix in Philadelphia and a position as executive sous chef at the short-lived, second iteration of The Chesapeake, will not make any significant changes to the seasonal New American menu, though he will add his own touch with a few dishes still in development.

This chef change marks the second turnover at Fleet Street in the past six months or so.

Last spring, chef Chris Amendola was replaced by chef Nate Magat (formerly executive chef at Bagby’s Ten Ten American Bistro). Today, it was announced that Magat is leaving his post to move back to his native California.

“We are fortunate enough to be a large enough restaurant group to have a lot of talent to draw from,” says Dave Seel, director of public relations for the Bagby Group. “Chef Correll comes from a strong culinary background, and we’re lucky that we can maintain consistency by pulling from talent within.” 

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The Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse will be offering 16 different cuts of meats and authentic Brazilian side dishes for $51.50 per person. What’s even better is that dads who come in on Father’s day will receive a Father’s Day Card, which is good for a complimentary lunch or dinner on their next visit. It just so happens that the 2014 World Cup, which begins on June 12, is being held in Brazil, so it’s the perfect time for the family to indulge in Brazilian cuisine. Restaurant hours: 11:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Reservations: (410) 528-9292 or online.

Watch the World Cup at the James Joyce Irish Pub & Restaurant. This restaurant offers quality comfort food at a decent price. It’s the perfect place for dads to sit back, throw a couple back, and enjoy a hearty meal. Restaurant hours: 10-2 a.m. Reservations: (410) 727-5107 or online.

Ten Ten American Bistro is a great place to bring your dad for brunch. Enjoy Ten Ten’s three-course Father’s Day Brunch for $29 per person. The Father’s Day brunch menu features steak and eggs, huevos rancheros, bottomless Bloody Marys, and much more. Brunch is served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Reservations: (410) 244-6867 or online.

If dad is in the mood for French cuisine, Le Garage Beer Bar & Frites is the place to go. Opened in April, Le Garage prides itself on being “approachable French cuisine.” For Father’s Day, Le Garage is offering a three-course, prix fixe menu for $36. The regular menu will also be available a la carte along with a selection of 14 hand-selected draft beers. Le Garage will also be selling its growlers at 20 percent off. Restaurant hours: 5 p.m.-midnight. Reservations: (410) 243-6300 or online.

It’s a holiday so why not make a day of it? Bring dad and the family down to beautiful Annapolis and enjoy an affordable meal at the Annapolis Smokehouse. The brunch menu includes $3 mimosas and Bloody Marys and an array of a la carte options. If you’re coming for dinner, grab the New York strip steak. Restaurant hours: 10 a.m.-midnight. Reservations: (410) 571-5073 or online.

Cunningham’s is sure to please dad’s appetite. This Towson gem is offering a three-course, prix fixe Father’s Day brunch for $30. The brunch menu includes items such as steak frites or its Creekstone Farms burger. Brunch will be served from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Dinner will be served from 5-9 p.m. Reservations: (410) 339-7730 or online.

Fleet Street Kitchen is serving a three-course Father’s Day Brunch for $42 per person. The Father’s Day brunch menu includes dishes such as seared sea scallops or shrimp and grits. Dessert options include a lemon-curd tart and frozen carrot cake parfait. Brunch is served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Reservations: (410) 244-5830 or online.

Cafe Troia provides authentic and innovative Italian cooking. Dads will love it. With dinner, all bottles of wine under $140 are half price. Dads can enjoy Cafe Troia’s fish of the day or homemade ravioli specials. Restaurant hours: 5-9 p.m. Reservations: (410) 337-0133 or online.

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With the departure of Chris Amendola from Fleet Street Kitchen, chef Nate Magat (formerly of Ten Ten) has stepped up to the plate. We’re told that the Magat will put his own touches on the table with more eclectic, international twists such as his Camarones ‘Al Mojo’ dish, shrimp with spring onion, shallots, green garlic, and sweet black garlic.

To fill the void at Ten Ten, chef John Hufnagel, the former sous chef at Bagby-owned Cunningham’s, will offer his modern vision on classic American cuisine with dishes such as Local Pork with Summer Succotash and a Ramp Ranch. 

Happy tasting!

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While the menu options remain sophisticated with glazed
sunchokes, bone marrow, and a pig face and pickles plate, the prices are
much more reasonable than Fleet Street’s dining room. At a media dinner
last night, the restaurant group’s director of marketing Dave Seel
explained that The Tavern Room will focus on small plates and appetizers
(which they call “tastes”) rather than a full tasting menu.

Another exciting aspect of The Tavern Room are the punches
that beverage director Tim Riley has whipped up exclusively for the
space. Meant to be shared between 2-4 people, the punches include Cry of
Delores (Crema de Mezcal, apple brandy, sherry, smoked tea, and
citrus); Colonel Baldwin’s Punch (Haitian rum, old cognac, Madeira,
Cherry Heering, and lemons); and Kentucky Navy (bourbon, rye, spearmint
tea, black walnut bitters, citrus, local cider). All of the
punches—served in communal Mason jars—were lovely, but we especially
loved the minty, aromatic flavors of the Kentucky Navy.

Also new
is The Tavern Room’s happy hour, which is Monday-Friday 5-7 p.m. and
features half-price small plates and tastes, as well as $5 beer, $6
cocktails, and $7 glasses of wine.

All in all, the new space is a
welcome addition to the restaurant concept, as it will make Fleet
Street Kitchen, as a whole, feel less intimidating and more inviting.

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The
restaurant’s current menu with a-la-carte items and prix-fix meals will
still be available in the upstairs area, now referred to as The Dining
Room.

The Tavern Room’s food won’t be typical pub grub, though.

Chefs
Chris Becker and Chris Amendola will be offering intriguing dishes like
merguez pretzel bites, ocean-trout belly crudo, confit duck leg, and
vegetarian items including glazed sunchokes as well as some previous
favorites: a “pig face and pickles” offal dish and a charcuterie and
cheese board.

To complement the food, Tim Riley, the restaurant’s
beverage director, will be showcasing various punches in large punch
bowls for groups. They’ll change seasonally.

The dining scene in Harbor East gets more interesting all the time.

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