COMING SOON

Cielo Verde: The beautiful top-floor restaurant space at the American Visionary Art Museum—fondly remembered as the former home Mr. Rain’s Fun House and most recently Encantada—will finally see a new tenant later this month. Spearheaded by chef Irena Stein of Canton’s Alma Cocina Latina and Azafrán on the Johns Hopkins University campus, the lunch and weekend brunch destination will focus on locally sourced sandwiches, salads, and soups. Menu highlights will include a gem lettuce salad with herbed walnuts, fig and thyme toast, vegan banh mi sandwiches, and sweets from Bramble Baking Co. and Sacré Sucré. “My intention was to unify the connection between food and culture,” Stein said in a statement, “a culture where there is a deep-rooted appreciation of food that transcends flavor, into gratitude of the earth and bounty from which it came.” In addition to the daytime service, the space will be available for catered dinners and private events.

Ben’s Chili Bowl: Half smokes and chili cheese fries are headed to Horseshoe Casino next month. As part of the $1 million remake of the casino’s food court-style Baltimore Marketplace on its first floor, the famous Washington, D.C.-based eatery will open a stall slinging its classic chili-topped hot dogs, fries, and burgers in early March. The South Baltimore location will mark the first Ben’s Chili Bowl in Maryland, bringing with it a 62-year history that has included visits from the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Bono, and Chance the Rapper.

Riverside Tap House: Federal Hill residents have been wondering about the status of the former Das Bier Haus space on the corner of Light and East Randall streets, which closed last year after its owners worked to resolve structural issues that plagued the building. Sadly, the German beer hall never reopened, but a new pub has taken over the space. Riverside Tap House is expected to debut in the renovated building later this month, featuring a menu of draft beer, burgers, and other pub fare.

Thai Landing: Towson’s Shops at Kenilworth will soon house a second location of this Midtown-Belvedere mainstay. Moving into a 1,750-square-foot stall on the lower level of the mall this spring, the authentic Thai eatery will offer specialties including Northern Thai curry noodles, pineapple fried rice, “Pla Rad Prig” red snapper with hot chili and basil, and an assortment of Thai teas.

NEWS

Cocina Luchadoras Gets a Shoutout in Bon Appétit: Those who subscribe to the renowned food bible will notice a familiar name in the latest issue’s “Taco Nation” cover story. Upper Fells Point taqueria Cocina Luchadoras was praised for its “Cochinita Pibil” taco, which stuffs citrus-marinated pork into the spot’s scratch-made corn tortillas. We’re beyond happy to see that the dishes—which graced our own taco cover in October 2017—are getting some well-deserved national attention.

EPICUREAN EVENTS

2/15: Union Collective Chocolate Festival
What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day weekend than with a selection of chocolate-themed treats from the merchants inside Union Collective? In addition to drink deals and live DJ entertainment, chocolate lovers will enjoy Jinji’s Chocolate-covered espresso beans from Vent Coffee Roasters, a special chocolate liqueur from Baltimore Spirits Company, Union’s limited-edition Snow Pants Stout aged with cocoa nibs and cinnamon, and, of course, a flight of chocolate ice cream flavors and a signature milkshake from The Charmery. Guest vendors at the inaugural event will also include the experts from Charm School Chocolate and Anandi Chocolate.

SHUT

Howl at the Moon: Regulars at this lively piano bar inside Power Plant Live have until February 29 to get their last song requests in. The spot, which has been a fixture in the downtown nightlife district for the past 20 years, will close its doors for good on Saturday, February 29. “We want to thank each and every one of you for the last 20 years,” reads a message posted to the bar’s Facebook page. “It’s a bittersweet goodbye, but there will be many more opportunities to howl with us in the future at a nearby location.” The next iteration is slated to open in Washington, D.C. this spring. There’s no word yet on what will become of the bar that neighbors Ram’s Head Live, PBR, Mosaic Lounge, and others in the area.

COMING SOON

Butterfly Tacos y Tortas: Just when we thought we didn’t need any more validation that Charm City has made it onto the national culinary map, Michelin star-rated chef and philanthropist José Andrés has announced that he is bringing a concept the area. A spinoff of the chef’s Washington, D.C. restaurant Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, Butterfly Tacos y Tortas will make its debut on the Johns Hopkins University campus on January 27. Though the weekday lunch spot, located inside Levering Hall off of Bowman Drive, will mainly cater to the campus community, it will also be open to the public. Inspired by Mexico City street culture, the fast-casual menu will highlight options like the “Tacos Hongos” with grilled mushrooms and salsa serrano, as well as the “Torta Pollo Milanese,” layered with crispy breaded chicken, black beans, cilantro, and Oaxaca cheese.

Tony Luke’s: The food court-style Baltimore Marketplace on the first floor of Horseshoe Casino, which is home to the likes of Lenny’s Deli and Piezzetta, is getting some new blood next month. As the communal dining area prepares to undergo a redesign with new furniture and a fresh layout, it will also welcome this lauded Philadelphia sandwich spot. Though the cheesesteaks are the stars of the show, Tony Luke’s—named after owner Tony “Luke” Lucidonio—also emphasizes its roasted pork subs, burgers, and fries. Though the chain has two locations in Ocean City, the Horseshoe spot will mark the first in Baltimore.

Watershed: Come fall, Atlas Restaurant Group is shaking things up and expanding its presence across the harbor to Federal Hill. The group that operates Ouzo Bay, Azumi, and several other spots scattered throughout Harbor East and Fells Point is launching two new concepts inside the newly renovated Cross Street Market later this year. The first will be a stall supplying fresh seafood (everything from Chesapeake Bay rockfish and local oysters to Chilean sea bass and Portuguese octopus) seven days a week. In keeping with the seafood theme, the group is also opening an anchor restaurant, Watershed, which will focus on classic Maryland dishes and steamed crabs. With the opening of the Cross Street Market eatery the neighborhood will also be gaining a rooftop deck complete with flat screens, a centerpiece bar, and recreational games like foosball and corn hole.

CH-CH CHANGES

Bin 604: Foreman Wolf Restaurant Group’s neighborhood wine shop has been adjacent to the Whole Foods in Harbor East ever since it first opened in 2001. So it only makes sense that, when the grocery store makes its move to the ground floor of the Liberty apartment complex around the corner later this year, Bin 604 will be going with it. Slated to open this spring, the shop’s new home will provide an additional 1,500 square feet and a separate classroom for workshops and tasting events. The space will also allow for an even more robust Italian wine selection. “Over the years we have grown our capability not just in wine selection and education, but in selection of spirits and beer,” said co-owner Tony Foreman, in a statement. “We’re incredibly excited to redesign the store, almost two decades later, to maximize our strengths.” As for the spaces Whole Foods and Bin 604 are leaving behind, Harbor East plans to announce replacement tenants soon.

EPICUREAN EVENTS

1/24: Chinese New Year at The Corner Pantry
The team at this Mt. Washington haunt is getting creative for their annual Chinese New Year celebration. Given that 2020 is the Year of the Rat (aka Charm City’s unofficial mascot), chef Neill Howell has prepared a menu featuring local spins on classic Chinese dishes. Among them will be pit beef steamed buns with tiger sauce and scallion salad, crab spring rolls with chili sauce for dipping, and a ginger beer-infused Orange Crush. The a la carte menu will be offered all day on Friday, January 24 in celebration of the holiday.

As is fitting of a restaurant tucked inside Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino, Gordon Ramsay Steak is a bit of sensory overload, especially sight and smell.

There’s a meat trolley with 360-degree mirrored views showcasing the marbling of various cuts of raw meat. There’s also the Union Jack mural splayed across the ceiling of a dining room that smells like seared steak and broiled bacon. It’s equally impossible to ignore a wall of white steel knives at the entrance to the kitchen, a sly wink to Ramsay’s rapier wit and sharp TV persona.

But what else would you expect from the in-your-face, Michelin-starred celebrity chef, who, with his perfectly deadpan delivery, once famously commented to one of his cooking-show contestants: “For what we are about to eat, may the Lord make us truly not vomit?” Having gorged on one too many all-you-can-eat buffets while on various visits to Atlantic City casinos as a kid, I know the feeling.

Fortunately, on a recent evening outing to Gordon Ramsay Steak, my experience left me feeling satisfied, not sick. Baltimore has no shortage of steakhouses, but most of them are places for deal-making over dinner. Not so at Gordon Ramsay Steak. With its playful plaid motif in the bar area and colorful cocktails, this carnivore’s den feels fun and festive. Here, the chef offers signatures from his sister spot in Vegas, while also adding regional products—Maryland blue crab, for instance, and Monkton’s Roseda Farm beef dry-aged with local Sagamore Rye.

Follow conventional wisdom—when you’re in a steakhouse, stick to the steaks. The menu features every conceivable cut, as well as American and Japanese Wagyu. Start with the beef tartare topped with a quail egg. The tartare, dramatically smoked under a bell jar at the table, is paired with house-made potato chips, adding a nice salty component.

A less successful appetizer was the grilled romaine salad, which, oddly, was served cold, though all was forgiven with the arrival of the chorizo-stuffed lobster luxuriating in a brandied cream sauce.

As for main courses, the eight-ounce filet, which arrives sitting zen-like surrounded by a swoosh of red wine demi-glace on the plate, is truly terrific and a relatively affordable option at $52, considerably less than the triple-seared Japanese Wagyu at $30/ounce. (Casinos pretty much have their own currency.)

Ramsay’s Beef Wellington is reason alone to go. The dish is paired with mushroom duxelles framed by a flaky puff pastry and sits on a buttery bed of potato purée. Alluring sides such as mac and cheese with truffles and English peas, and a loaded baked potato with smoked Gouda béchamel, sour cream, and bacon are also excellent complements to the beef. We went with the sautéed shiitake mushrooms, whose chewiness nicely mimicked the meat.

Finish your repast with Ramsay’s signature toffee pudding sided by brown-butter ice cream. The rectangular-shaped ice cream is disguised as a stick of butter and comes with—what else—a knife for cutting. With his first steakhouse on the East Coast, Ramsay has not lost his edge.

Gordon Ramsay Steak: 1525 Russell St., 443-931-4254. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m.-12 a.m. Prices: appetizers: $18-26; entrees: $30-110; desserts: $9-18. Ambiance: Modern steakhouse chic.

A procession of golf carts drove onto Lot J in South Baltimore this morning, transporting a number of city officials onto a festive green carpet. Among them was Mayor Catherine Pugh, who made a few brief remarks and even participated in a putting contest while posing for cameras.

The fanfare was all to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Topgolf, an interactive driving range with locations scattered all across the country—plus a few in the United Kingdom.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to stop by here and play a little bit of Topgolf every now and then,” Pugh said. “But I’m even more excited about the visitors that are going to come here. It’s yet another attraction that’s going to make a difference in terms of economic development and creating more jobs.” 

Expected to debut in 2020, the golfing facility will take over the current home of The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) and the adjacent Lot J on Stockholm Street near Horseshoe Casino. The Board of Estimates recently approved a move to a larger home on Giles Road in Cherry Hill for BARCS, which has long been planning to expand its accommodations for animals in need.

“I want to say to Topgolf, welcome to Baltimore. I just wonder what took you so long getting here,” said City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, with a laugh. “I’ve been saying for weeks ‘When are we going to get it? Are we going to get this land deal done? And finally, we got it done.”

Topgolf is part of a larger vision to transform South Baltimore’s Warner Street corridor (from Horseshoe Casino down to M&T Bank Stadium) into a bustling entertainment district with food and drink, family-friendly sports, and live music venues. Charm City’s famed rock club Hammerjacks, which announced plans to reopen in the area back in 2015, will also be an anchor in the forthcoming development when it opens its doors next year.

Overseeing the plans is CBAC Gaming, a partnership between Caesars Entertainment, Rock Gaming, and Towson-based developer Caves Valley Partners (CVP). CVP partner Arsh Mirmiran says that the hope is for the district to mirror other entertainment corridors in big cities like Chicago and Atlanta. He anticipates the Topgolf franchise to play a big role in attracting visitors from other counties.

“That’s going to be their Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, and Baltimore County destination, and I think downtown will also use it a lot for corporate events,” says Mirmiran, who has visited the Topgolf location in Las Vegas. “It attracts a really good mix of people. The diversity of age, gender, and golf ability is insane.”

The high-tech concept uses microchipped golf balls that allow participants to compete against one another. Golfers aim for light-up targets on the 215-yard range and earn points for accuracy and distance. Though it may seem like a pro’s paradise, the facility offers various games and scoring systems to accommodate all skill sets.

Topgolf COO Craig Kessler assures that beginners shouldn’t feel intimidated: “Everyone should come out and give it a shot,” he says. “Even if you don’t pick up a golf club while you’re at Topgolf, there’s something in it for you.” 

The social component highlights live music and a full food and beverage program with its own scratch kitchen. A sample menu lists shareable eats like warm pretzel bites and tortilla chips with beer cheese fondue, as well as flatbreads, salads, sandwiches, and vegetarian options. Kessler says that the kitchen will also be adding some locally inspired eats to the menu when the Baltimore location debuts. Bartenders will pour local and domestic beers, and shake up seasonal cocktails like a spring sangria or pineapple-mint margarita. 

Construction on the new facility is slated to begin in the fall, with a grand opening estimated for 2020. Officials are looking forward to what an amenity like Topgolf can do for the city’s appeal.

“The location here is pretty special,” Kessler says. “To be in the hub of the urban environment located next to the stadiums and the casino, there’s really nothing like it.” 

Mirmiran, who is also currently overseeing redevelopment plans for Cross Street Market in Federal Hill and the multi-phase Stadium Square project in Sharp-Leadenhall, is eager to continue his efforts in South Baltimore. He says it won’t be long before visitors start to notice an altered skyline while traveling into the city from I-95.

“As you’re coming into town from a visibility standpoint, you’re going to see a bunch of new buildings,” he says. “It’s almost like an entire extension of downtown.”

When he was 21 years old, three years after coming out to his parents, Tom Marston took his mom, Joann, and his dad, Ralph, to the second-ever Miss Gay Maryland America pageant at the iconic Club Hippo. It was 1986, when the Hippo was a pillar of Baltimore’s underrepresented LGBT community, and the annual drag pageant was how he and his parents fell in love with the art of female impersonation.

“That night, when I told [owner] Chuck Bowers that the people I was with were my parents, he said to them, ‘You will never have to stand in my club again. You will always have seats,’” remembers Marston. “They were so accepting and that was so rare back then. But all three of us were hooked.”

Marston, who is now the owner of the Miss Gay Maryland America pageant, will continue his parent’s legacy and passion for drag at this weekend’s contest, where eight contestants will compete to be the 34th Miss Gay Maryland America.

“It makes my parents live on. I know they’re watching and loving it,” says Marston. “The people who will be on stage this weekend are the true representation of wanting to make sure others understand the love and history behind drag.”

This Saturday at the Horseshoe Casino, local drag queens, including preliminary titleholders like Miss Gay Cumberland Valley and Miss Gay Northern Maryland, will model, interview, and sashay across the stage for the chance to win $500 and the opportunity to compete on the national stage at the Miss Gay America pageant on Oct. 3-6. The five judges, who range from a pastor and a bodybuilder to past Miss Gay Maryland America winners, are looking for a contestant who excels in each of the competition’s five categories and is a well-rounded representation of the LGBT community.

The first category, male interview, takes place hours before the doors open for the 6 p.m. show and requires contestants to complete a question-and-answer session while presenting as a male. Since the Miss Gay America pageant system requires competitors to be “100 percent male from the neck down,” this part of the competition measures how they will represent themselves outside of the pageant.

Rob Mansman and Micheal Dutzer, who own the Miss Gay America pageant and lived in Baltimore for 10 years, said the male interview is the judges’ first impression of the contestants’ personalities.

“The title of Miss Gay America is a symbol of excellence,” says Mansman. “We want them to be fashionable and entertaining, yet humble enough to go out and talk to people and make an impact on their community.”

After the audience has filled the ballroom and the lights have gone down, the contestants will join past winners for a high-energy opening number set to the theme “Kinky Boots, Maryland style.” Based on the smash-hit Broadway musical, they will appear in costumes that embody their glammed-out interpretation of Maryland symbols such as Old Bay, Domino Sugar, or the Baltimore Ravens.

Mansman and Dutzer said they added this category, presentation, across all Miss Gay America contests to challenge contestants to express their creativity through the chosen theme.

“Often times, people were bringing to the table what they thought would win and they weren’t being themselves,” says Mansman. “Now that we’ve included that category, it’s nice to see the contestants flourish as who they really are.”

Although only one queen will be crowned Miss Gay Maryland America, Marston says the purpose of this long-standing pageant isn’t to win prizes or titles.

“We have queens who have done this for years, or younger ones just starting in drag, and they want to do it for the art, to entertain, and to make a difference in the world by showing that they’re not crazy for wanting to dress in women’s clothes,” says Marston.

The pageant is a labor of love for everyone involved, from the contestants who spend thousands of dollars on studded costumes to Marston and his team who strive to put on a show that will introduce new audiences to the art of female impersonation. He wants everyone who attends, whether they’re seasoned veterans or it’s their first experience with drag, to leave with the same lasting impression he and his parents did 30-some years ago.

“If it takes a good ol’ drag show to get people together to forget about all the things happening in the world and to just have fun for those few hours, then let’s do it,” says Marston. 

Giada de Laurentiis navigates her way around the maze of slot machines and blackjack tables inside Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, and heads toward the space that will soon house her new restaurant, GDL Italian by Giada.

Upon entering the vacated eatery on the second floor—which formerly housed Mexican concept Johnny Sanchez from chefs Aarón Sanchez and John Besh—she is quick to point out interior details that will need to be transformed before the grand opening in April. Her first note: the wire ceiling pattern.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m in a cage,” she says.

The visit to the casino this week marks De Laurentiis’ fifth walkthrough since announcing her new Baltimore restaurant last summer. Now nearing its final stages, the 180-seat Italian trattoria will draw inspiration from the chef’s Roman roots, while also making use of ingredients from local purveyors.

“When I do projects, I’m very involved,” she says. “I’m a very detail-oriented person. Down to picking the flatware. I think females are different from males in that sense. I might say, ‘I really don’t like the ceiling.’ But a man would be like, ‘Just don’t look up.’ So it’s a different perspective. It’s not good or bad, it’s just different. Women see things that men don’t see, and vice versa. That’s why we make great teams.”

Acknowledging that the space’s former concept had a very masculine feel, De Laurentiis is looking forward to warming it up with delicate fabrics, red and yellow hues, interior greenery, rose gold counters, local artwork, and vintage posters inspired by her movie-star grandparents.

In addition to the main dining area, the layout will feature a chef’s table near the open kitchen, an outdoor patio in the back, and a circular bar that leads out to the casino floor, which will serve barrel-aged cocktails and international wines. (Look out for De Laurentiis’ favorite Whispering Angel rosé from the Mediterranean Coast.)

“My concern is always, ‘How do I make it so that it’s fun to sit everywhere in this restaurant?” she says. “It’s all about creating different levels and areas with portraits, colors, and themes so that everybody feels comfortable sitting in different areas, not just by the view.”

Another focal point will be a large antipasto workstation just past the host’s stand near the front entrance, where diners will be able to see charcuterie, cheeses, and pastas being prepared.

“I always want the food front and center,” De Laurentiis says. “The best way to draw people into a restaurant is smell and sight—I want them to be able to smell it from the casino floor. At the end of the day, that’s why people romanticize and fall in love with Italian food. We’re very visual, tactile people and we use our senses a lot.”

While the menu is still in its planning stages, executive chef Brian Drosenos—formerly of acclaimed BLT Prime by David Burke in Washington, D.C.—will serve a wide array of pastas, meatballs, antipasti, and local seafood. Though this is De Laurentiis’ first East Coast restaurant—her other two concepts are located in Las Vegas—she is looking forward to sourcing local (think purveyors like Serenity Farms, Roseda Farm beef, and Stone Mill Bakery) and tailoring the menu to the Charm City crowd.

“It’s a bit of a learning experience for me,” she says. “The East Coast flavors aren’t necessarily in my everyday cooking. I use crab, but more in risotto and arancini and other things. So it’s all about still keeping a little of that Italian flair, but also giving people what they’re looking for in this area.”

Getting to know the Baltimore community is something that De Laurentiis says she has enjoyed most about her new venture. Her research has taken her to gems including Dovecote Cafe, and she is planning to visit other staples including Charleston, Woodberry Kitchen, and Dangerously Delicious Pies this week.

“I had never spent much time in Baltimore,” she admits. “And I really hate coming into a city without knowing anything about it. I’m a people person—I really care about who is around and what they’re doing. In a way, you have to understand the people to understand what kind of menu to put out.”

De Laurentiis comes into Horseshoe Casino after the closing of Johnny Sanchez and allegations of sexual harassment against Besh, who stepped down from his restaurant group last fall. 

“Hopefully there will be more women that open restaurants around the country right now,” De Laurentiis says. “I just have to make mine successful in order for that to happen. If I fail, it doesn’t help everybody else.”

Most of all, she is eager to keep learning more about Baltimore as she continues to put the final touches on the restaurant.

“I think seeing it transform is the coolest thing,” she says. “That’s the most fun. All of the steps along the way make for great storytelling later—that’s what gives me goosebumps.”

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon—the birthplace of Shakespeare—is known to be a total drama king in the kitchen with his fiery temper and profanity-laced language. But in person, he’s as affable as they come. Ramsay, who has 32 restaurants all over the world (and TV shows all over Fox including Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, and The F Word with Gordon Ramsay) has been in Baltimore getting ready to open Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Horseshoe Casino. This is his first steakhouse on the East Coast, and a sister spot to his Las Vegas eatery. We caught up with the multi-Michelin starred chef to talk about steak, Baltimore, and The Bard. 

Have you visited Baltimore before?
I’ve been four times. It’s a lot like London, hardworking, not over-glamorized. It’s just one of those vibrant cities that has a real passion to it. You sense that just walking to the stadium. I didn’t go to the game, but I watched it on TV and visited the stadium this morning. 

I know you worked in an American steakhouse early in your career. What did you learn?
It was just this feeling of warmth and generosity, and it was that kind of hustle and bustle of the place that I loved. It was absolutely jam-packed. Everyone was snug in the booth, and the food was exceptional. The standard of the meat was the most important thing to me, just the quality of the beef, whether it was grass-fed or dry-aged, the quality was second to none.

You’ve said that you know whether a restaurant is going to be good or bad in seconds. What are you looking for when you dine out?
I send my wife to the bathroom. I want to make sure that the bathrooms are immaculate before I sit down. If the hygiene isn’t right, I leave immediately—that sets the tone. And then there’s the lighting. Lighting needs to be an enhancer. The lighting needs to make you feel welcome and not frigid. And then that first welcome is critical, whether there’s someone in the reception area, a maître d’ or even a server, you need to be made to feel welcome.

To what do you owe your success?
I owe it to my mum. She taught me manners and hard work. Mum had two jobs. She was a nurse at night and a cook during the day. We got to eat the food that didn’t sell. I got that determination and hunger from watching her.

Did you cook with her at home?
She’d never let me cook. I did prep. I’d peel the parsnips. Peel the carrots. The only thing I was allowed to do then was bake. I did a couple of cooking courses at school, but my main interest then was sports. I would go fishing on the river Avon and play soccer. After soccer, I’d go back and help my mum clean and cook. 

Growing up in Stratford-upon-Avon, what was your relationship with Shakespeare?
I used to live next to Mary Arden’s house [Shakespeare’s mother]. Throughout the summer and fall, I was in and out of theater. I was super shy about expressing myself in drama. But I understood that boisterousness and that passion from watching the plays and studying the literature. I wasn’t interested in it, but we had to do it. It gave me insight for theatricality. 

You’re this nice guy. Is what we see on TV for show or is that really a part of who you are?
I don’t parlay bullshit. We’re having a chat because I’m not even in service. But when we step into that arena where you’re paying $60 or $100 for a meal, it’s important to me. I’m not two-faced, I’m not hypocritical—I just call it as I see it. 

What do you think of food critics?
It’s something you have to live with. I’m 51, I’ve been cooking since I was 19. I’ve been judged by individuals who know less about food than I do. I call it rhino skin, because of the beat-ups and the jump-ons and the negativity—you have to skin like a rhino that stretches. And every time [one of my cooks] is upset because someone didn’t like something, I say “rhino.” You have to build that character. I respect the critics when they know what they’re talking about, but I don’t respect the critics when they haven’t got a clue. I had a Russian critic in the U.K. who got so drunk at one of my restaurants once, he phoned me the next day to find out what he had eaten. 

Other than the Union Jack on the ceiling of the dining room, what other British touches have you brought to your steakhouse?
This meat trolley is my Rolls Royce. I wanted to bring a little touch of British-ness to the dining room. Pushing one of these carts is like pushing a Rolls Royce through the dining room. This gets rolled to every table. We spaced the tables and booths purposely far apart. The grade and the marbling of the meat are apparent in the reflective surfaces of the cart. Twenty years ago it used to be a soufflé that would pass through the dining room—now it’s this baby. We have a GPS on it in case it goes missing. It’s good enough to cart the crown jewels. 

Speaking of the crown jewels, are you excited about the upcoming royal wedding?

I’m very excited. We know Prince Harry very well. I’ve seen him at events and had the pleasure of cooking for him. What an amazing match—and what a fantastic time to do it. America and Great Britain are becoming even closer. How cool is that? 

It’s 1 p.m. on a Wednesday and about 100 mostly middle-aged people attired in tracksuits, fleece pullovers, and Hawaiian shirts are filing into rows of chairs in Horseshoe Casino Baltimore’s multi-story entertainment venue, 14Forty. Lights are low, and spotlights swivel across a stage with three podiums. Outside the venue, gamblers sit at the casino’s 275 gaming tables and 2,200 video slot machines, which feature names like “Miss Red,” and “Lobstermania 2.” The machines clang and whir while the soft-rock strains of Phil Collins emanate from the loudspeakers. Aside from that though, the space is fairly empty and sedate. But that’s all going to change. People Are Winning, the casino’s new live game show, is about to start.

A booming voice reminds everyone to take a seat. Light shines on a blonde woman in a form-fitting black dress, who quickly explains the rules and the potential spoils. The big prize is hundreds of dollars in rewards points, code for money you can use to play at the casino. Then, it’s show time.

“Let me please welcome Mr. Richard Sher!” shouts the blonde.

The theme from the 1978 Superman movie plays, and people cheer as a white-haired man in a charcoal suit and a bright red tie emerges from the shadows, a microphone affixed to his lapel. “Hello, everybody!” he calls.

Though everyone present seems familiar with the genial septuagenarian, Sher wastes no time reminding the assembled of his local media credentials.

“Welcome to People Are Winning, sort of like People Are Talking, except I’m paid a little better,” he jokes, referring to the local morning talk show he co-hosted on WJZ-TV during the late ’70s and early ’80s with a certain future media mogul as his co-host.

“Oprah’s a multi-billionaire, and I’m with you. She’s eating caviar; I had a Kosher hotdog,” Sher continues with a chuckle. Yes, he means that Oprah, who earned her stripes on Baltimore’s airwaves before moving onto Chicago and subsequent world domination.

Despite the self-deprecating comparisons, Sher doesn’t seem bitter. In fact, he seems downright delighted. Like most natural-born performers, he isn’t concerned with the size or demographics of an audience, just that there is one.

A cymbal clangs, and there’s more laughter. Two women stand up from their seats to shake Sher’s hand, and he obliges. Then, with a gleeful grin, he asks the crowd, “Are you ready to play?”

Game-show host is just the latest professional incarnation for Sher, whose career has spanned five decades and encompassed radio and TV, reporting and anchoring, hard news and fluff—and now, master of ceremonies at Horseshoe.

At the beginning of 2015, Sher’s friend, Sandy Hillman, whose communications firm handles public relations for Horseshoe Baltimore, asked him to breakfast. The casino’s staff had been discussing ways to expand the entertainment offerings and bolster midweek attendance, and a light bulb went off in Hillman’s head.

“I said, ‘Richard, how’d you like to do a game show?’” Hillman recalls. “He was the perfect person. . . . he has a humorous, off-beat personality, he’s warm and engaging, and he’s comfortable on stage.”

“He likes to meet people, to be around people, and I think that’s what he missed most.”

Sher was open to the idea and, together with marketing firm The Breakthrough Group and Horseshoe, hammered out the format. Three contestants are chosen at random, but audience members can win, as well. Question categories include Baltimore trivia with an emphasis on the nostalgic. They selected Caroline Arbaugh, a panelist on Square Off, the public-affairs program Sher hosts on WMAR-TV, to be his assistant.

Calling from Los Angeles, Winfrey believes her former co-host has a natural knack for hosting a game show. He never fails to make her laugh—even one time when he visited her in the middle of the night in the hospital.

“He’s always been one of the funniest people I’ve ever known. Even in my younger days, one of the hardest things was not to laugh out loud on the show,” she says.

People Are Winning debuted on April 8, and Sher calls it “a trip.”

“This is great fun,” he says. “I’ve always been a community person and a people person, so it gives me an opportunity to interact with people, which I used to do every day.”

Plus, he gets to wear the bright ties he loves, something he doesn’t do as much of on the more straight-laced Square Off.

“Here, I just get to be me. I am who I am.”

Sher was born at the former Women’s Hospital in Bolton Hill, and grew up in Northwest Baltimore.

Sher’s parents met when his father, Michael, was working as a salesman at the Park Circle Motor Company, a successful car dealership owned by the prominent Legum family. Sher’s mother, Lillian, was the boss’ daughter and ran off with Sher’s father, a minor family scandal that Sher still recounts with relish all these decades later. Together, Michael and Lillian settled along Gwynns Falls Parkway and had first a daughter, Linda, and then Richard.

Even in his early days, Sher had a flare for performance. He played emcee at dances at St. Paul’s School for Boys—where he says he was one of the few Jews. His formative years are even immortalized on film—Sher was one of the original “diner guys,” portrayed in Barry Levinson’s 1982 film Diner. In fact, he and Levinson were roommates for a period during college while Sher was at University of Maryland and Levinson attended American University. Later, Levinson cast Sher in a cameo role in 2006’s Man of the Year starring Robin Williams.

According to longtime friend and WJZ-TV reporter Ron Matz, Sher has always had the same colorful personality.

“He’s as crazy as he was the first day I met him,” says Matz, who got to know Sher during his early reporting days. “Actually, I think he might be crazier now.”

In college, Sher got a job at the school’s radio station and found he liked it. He worked at country, rock, and news stations, in Washington, D.C., and later San Francisco, before returning to Baltimore. In Charm City, Sher, a self-described news hound, made the switch to TV, landing at WJZ in 1975 as a general assignment reporter and, eventually, an anchor. His wife, Annabelle, who he met in college, and their three sons were along for the ride.

It was during this time that Sher racked up many of his most-cherished war stories. Along with co-hosting with Winfrey from 1978 to 1983—they are still close friends and talked every day during this spring’s Freddie Gray riots and protests—he has been on the frontlines of some intense and dangerous new stories, sometimes even becoming part of the story himself. He witnessed Maryland’s first lethal-injection execution, talked a guy off the roof of the University of Maryland Medical Center, and got involved with a hostage situation, where he convinced the perpetrator to release the farmer held at gunpoint.

“I don’t miss the murders. I didn’t miss the riots. I’m really happy with what I do,” says Sher.

“I would [cover] a murder a day,” Sher says. “The names were different but the sound bites were always the same. Children’s murders, children’s funerals, hit-and-runs.”

Yet, he valued the pace of the job, and how each day was different. He knew he was informing and entertaining the public, though he wasn’t exactly waging a battle against public corruption or exposing national secrets. Instead, he got satisfaction out of being the only reporter to interview a murder victim’s family, the one whose name opened doors.

“I had the easiest job,” Sher says. “You’d go in in the morning, you’d go out and do a story. . . . you put it on the air, you go home. You don’t have any baggage to take home.” And, “everybody knows you.”

But it still ground him down and, eventually, he’d had enough. Still, he found it difficult to step away from the job he loved and the image he’d been associated with for 30 years. Sher first tried in 2004, then 2006. Each time, he couldn’t go through with it. Even on his last day in 2008, he says he asked his boss, “Can I still change my mind?”

“It was very difficult for him,” Annabelle Sher says. “I think it was because there was no transition; the end of his career was very abrupt. He likes to meet people, to be around people, and I think that’s what he missed most when he left.”

Sher describes his mood during that time as “unhappy and really down.”

“I was upset about it. It took its toll on me emotionally,” he says. “But eventually, I came out of it.”

He began volunteering at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center—now, he never leaves the house without his Shock Trauma wristband. Then, nearly six years ago, he resurrected the feisty Square Off—which he’d hosted for 19 years on WJZ-TV—on Baltimore’s ABC affiliate. And, of course, now there’s People Are Winning.

Noah Hirsch, the vice president of marketing for Horseshoe Baltimore says that, so far, the game show has done exactly what it’s supposed to do—attract more weekday traffic. Each week, the audience has grown, approaching as many as 200 people.

Sher is pleased, too. “I’m as busy as I want to be,” he says, “and I don’t miss the murders. I didn’t miss the riots. I’m really happy with what I do.”

Back in the casino, under the lights and adoring gazes of the public, Arbaugh, the blonde in the black dress, chooses three pieces of paper from a suitcase and reads the name of the first contestant aloud.

“Dona Fontaine.”

A woman in an orange blouse and straw hat stands up, her face registering her surprise. Sher walks over to her and shakes her hand.

“Dona, how are you? It’s been a long time,” he says, immediately shifting into flirting mode. “I think I left my coat at your house.”

The crowd laughs and Fontaine keeps hold of his hand a little longer than maybe she should. She doesn’t tell Sher, but she has seen him in person before—at a taping of People Are Talking in the 1980s. And, she thinks to herself, the only thing different about him is that his hair is whiter now.

Arbaugh announces two other women’s names, and both are ecstatic. Sher helps all three ladies shed their coats and put their purses on a nearby table before they ascend a staircase to the platform.

Each contestant stands behind a podium, and the questions begin. Categories include “Sports” and “Current Events,” but today, “We Are What We Eat” is the most popular. If the contestants don’t know an answer, a member of the audience tries. Each correct response is awarded with another receipt-like paper, good toward $20 of gambling or a discount at one of the casino’s restaurants.

As Sher poses questions like, “Name one of the Orioles’ TV announcers,” and “What grocery store chains existed before Giant?”, the crowd begins to grow. Horseshoe employees in their ruffled, gold blouses stop by, clapping wildly when Sher shills for his employer, saying, “Have you ever seen a more beautiful casino than Horseshoe? Absolutely fabulous.”

Sher is in his element, a ringmaster of sorts. “Quiet, will ya?” he shouts when someone tries to call out an answer. He jokes that he and a male show assistant are getting married that weekend because of “a new law in Maryland.” And when he asks one of the contestants if she sings and she launches into, “You Are My Sunshine,” he gets everyone to join in.

The crowd eats it up. As Sher quips about whether a contestant is a natural blonde, a woman in the audience turns to her husband and says, “This is fun, isn’t it?”

The scene is almost surreal for two longtime Baltimoreans as we settle onto our barstools under a canopy of tequila barrels at Johnny Sánchez, the Mexican taqueria inside the new Horseshoe Casino. To our right are chirping slot machines with names like Mystical Unicorn and Boingy Beans, to our left M&T Bank Stadium glowing purple in the distance.

We’re having a definite, “Did I swallow the worm?” moment even before our first round of margaritas.

On a rainy Wednesday night, it’s hardly a full house at the Mexican taqueria. The clientele ranges from a group of business types in khakis and golf shirts to a table of white-haired AARP-card carriers to two guys outfitted head to toe in Ravens gear.

No one looks like they’re expecting mind-blowing gastronomy, which is a good thing, because that’s not what you’ll find here. The Johnny Sánchez experience is best described as fun dining, not fine dining. But three stars in the Michelin Guide isn’t what anyone’s after. When celebrity chefs John Besh and Aarón Sánchez devised the concept (the Baltimore location is the first in a chain that now includes a New Orleans outpost), they aimed to create a restaurant that serves “great food without the price tag or attitude.”

With those expectations in mind, the duo has largely succeeded. Each of our three visits began with a skillfully mixed cocktail. During our first, we sat in the dining room, a soaring space that’s just one component of the 6,100-square foot facility that includes the bar, a lounge, and (as far as we know) the only private tequila tasting room in Baltimore. Latin music spun by a DJ mixes with cheering, groaning, and beeping from the casino floor to create a cacophony of sound. It’s seldom quiet here.

We asked our cheerful server if the margaritas were made using store-bought simple syrup. He didn’t know—a recurring theme—but was eager to find out. Just under six months old, the restaurant seems to have struggled to find polished help, but it’s clear that the staff is hungry to grow. Everyone we encountered, from busboys to servers to bartenders to managers, seemed genuinely invested in our happiness. And our salsa bowls and water glasses were well tended to throughout our meal.

The Johnny Sánchez experience is best described as fun dining, not fine dining. Michelin stars are not what anyone’s after.

Turns out the margaritas contain entirely fresh ingredients, including house-made sour mix. Each variety we sampled was delicious. Be forewarned: We almost committed the cardinal Mexican restaurant sin, filling up on addictive chips (from Fells Point’s Tortilleria Sinaloa) and salsa.

The black bean sopes, one of five shared entradas, or appetizers, are an intriguing place to start. The bite-sized corn shells are artfully presented and filled with carnitas pork, lime crema, and corn salsa. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful, but, taken as a whole, the dish lacked kick. It could have been bolstered by the serrano peppers served on some of the tostadas. The lobster ceviche with grilled mango was the best of several tasty varieties.

Many items on the menu are priced twice. (Show a Total Rewards card, available for free in the casino, and pay a few dineros less.) Traditional Mexican favorites are the best bets. The tortillas used for both the tacos and burritos didn’t overpower meat and vegetable options, including shredded chicken, skirt steak, crispy pork belly with black beans and herbed rice, and more exotic offerings like the slow-roasted goat and pickled cactus taco. Of primary importance, they maintain their structural integrity, always a key factor when eating Mexican food with your hands. Also of note, the kitchen has a winning way with the tasty tostadas.

Especialidades (specialties) are less consistent. Ambitious dishes like baby goat stew in a Jalisco-style broth and redfish stuffed with beans, corn, and habañero cream sauce are complex and reward those willing to embrace the intensity of their textures, flavors, and smells. More basic offerings like roasted chicken and a grilled rib-eye are a bit bland, but a good counterbalance for diners with less adventurous palates.

Cigar-sized cinnamon churros, served with gooey dulce de leche and Mexican spiced chocolate, are a sweet way to end an enjoyable meal. Time will tell whether Johnny Sánchez survives on the backs of the slot jockeys and card sharks taking a break from the tables, or becomes a destination for Baltimore residents who’ve never rolled a pair of dice. We recognize its potential and admire its attitude, so either way, we’re wishing it buena suerte.

JOHNNY SÁNCHEZ 1525 Russell St., 443-931-4575.
HOURS 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily, with a limited menu between 11 p.m.-2 a.m.
CUISINE Modern Mexican.
PRICE Appetizers $7-8.50; entrees $6-8.50; desserts $9.
ATMOSPHERE South-of-the-border chic.

Guy Fieri seems to have a thing for Baltimore these days. In the past few years, the star of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives has featured many of Charm City’s most endearing joints on his show. So it wasn’t surprising when the peroxide-blond celebrity chef decided to try his luck with his own outlet at Horseshoe Casino.

In this day and age of gluten-free groupies and passionate paleos, Guy Fieri’s Baltimore Kitchen & Bar is the perfect place to eat with abandon. As you make your way past the penny slots, don’t expect anything close to high-caliber cuisine (that’s not Guy’s goal, anyway), but do expect to have a good time. One advisory: come hungry—even the most medaled food Olympian will have trouble cleaning the plates here.

As we studied the menu, we asked our waiter for calorie-conscious suggestions. “Nothing healthy here,” he told us. And so, we pressed on.

First up: an order of General’s Wings ($13), deep-fried lollipop wings served with a house-made sauce. Sweet and spicy, with a kick of heat, the wings were, by far, the tastiest things to arrive at the table. We also sampled a too-creamy Maryland crab dip ($14), which didn’t deliver on the promised crab.

Neck-craning from nearby tables ensued as the mile-high Mac-n-Cheese Bacon Burger ($16), a griddle-pressed burger loaded with oodles of noodles, bacon, and fried onions on a brioche bun, arrived at our table. (As I bit into the burger and wiped my mouth with Fieri’s signature skull-and-crossbones–themed napkin, I asked myself, “Is this my suicide or a sandwich?”) Though the burger was touted as having won a Burger Bash contest in 2013, the patty was overly greasy and the other ingredients overwhelmed an otherwise satisfying mac-and-cheese.

To get in some greens, we ordered the Guy-Talian Deli Salad ($15) including Italian meats and mozzarella balls, ringed by a thick “crown” of prosciutto. The salad was drenched in dressing, though we did enjoy the addition of some seemingly rogue roasted cherry tomatoes. (Clearly, something healthy slipped past Fieri’s TSA agent in the kitchen!)

As we piled leftovers into several to-go containers (a hand truck would have been more fitting), we couldn’t resist requesting a slab of New York-style cheesecake ($12)—the size of Manhattan, really—slathered in hot fudge and pierced with pretzels, pretzel brittle, and potato chips. As the saying goes, if you’re gonna go down, go down swinging.

›› Guy Fieri’s Baltimore Kitchen & Bar: 1525 Russell St., 443-931-4387. Hours: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. daily; appetizers: $11-16; sandwiches: $15-18; entrees: $19-27; desserts: $10-12.

Charm City Cakes owner and Ace of Cakes star Duff Goldman is about to answer the question that his fans have been asking for years: What do his cakes actually taste like?

The public will get to find out on Aug. 26 with the opening of Horseshoe Casino’s Jack Binion’s Steak House, which has teamed with Charm City cakes to create an array of inventive dessert options.

Goldman’s sweet stuff will include 10-inch buttercream cakes, decorated six-inch cakes, cupcakes and cake jars, in crowd-pleasing flavors such as red velvet and carrot cake.

“This is a way for everyone who’s coming to the casino or from out of town to try our cakes,” says Goldman. “They’ll be able to see that our cakes don’t just look awesome, but they taste great, too.”

Typically, Goldman’s cakes are custom-ordered and come at a premium price. (They can run well into the thousands of dollars.) With this venture, the goal is to democratize his product and reach out to fans.

“It’s not some big wedding cake that you have to pay hundreds of dollars for—it’s just a slice,” says Goldman.

The partnership is one of the first new projects that Goldman has taken on in Baltimore since expanding his brand to Los Angeles with Charm City Cakes West and Duff’s Cakemix, a do-it-yourself cake shop for kids.

“It’s been a long haul getting a casino opened in Baltimore,” says Goldman. “Now that it’s here and my friends Guy [Fieri], Aarón [Sánchez] and John [Besh] opened restaurants, I was like ‘I should probably have a place too.’”

Although Goldman’s Ace of Cakes last aired on the Food Network in 2011, he plans to make a return to the screen.

“I was working on a YouTube series with Gartner [production house], but they sort of lost interest,” he explains. “They’re an awesome production company, but their tastes skew toward traditional media and were used to seeing television-type [ratings] and results. I will be doing more digital content in the future, though.”

Since then, he’s grown tired of celebrity chef culture.

“I don’t like those words,” says Goldman. “I’m just a chef that people point cameras at. If you need to introduce yourself as a celebrity chef, you need to reexamine why you started cooking in the first place.”

He clarifies his position: “Back in the day, there used to only be Emeril, Julia Child and handful of others. Now there’s a cooking show or two on every channel. Being a celebrity chef isn’t the great qualifier that it used to be.”

The talented baker does, however, cherish the newfound knowledge and love of food that the average American has thanks to cooking shows.

“There are all these kids that are being inspired to go to culinary school—not because they want to be on T.V., but because they want to be chefs—which is great,” says Goldman. “At Cakemix, I get kids decorating cakes better than I was when I graduated culinary school and they’re 10 years old. It’s amazing.”