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.

Earlier this month, celebrity chefs Éric Ripert and José Andrés took to Instagram to officially declare June 25—the birthday of late chef and famed world traveler Anthony Bourdain—as a day to commemorate the legacy that their friend left behind.

In their video message, the duo urged chefs, colleagues, diners, and supporters of Bourdain’s work from around the world to toast the food documentarian on his birthday, “anywhere you want, with anyone you want.” Locally, the food community is coming together to celebrate Bourdain’s life with food inspired by his adventures, and meaningful discussions about how his philosophies can live on.

“It’s just like they said on social media—you have to do something,” says Jerry Trice, co-owner and executive chef of Gunther & Co. in Brewers Hill. “Don’t let the day pass without acknowledging it.”

Trice is participating in Bourdain Day the best way he knows how: He and his team are preparing a special a la carte menu featuring global delicacies influenced by Bourdain’s shows No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Among them will be classic steak frites, chicken yakitori with chilled noodles and pork broth, a bone marrow-topped baguette with a salad of shaved shallots and lemon juice, and lamb barbacoa tacos paired with cold cans of Tecate with lime.

“He spoke the truth,” Trice says of Bourdain, who took his own life last summer. “He got people thinking about how you have to travel and eat food with complete strangers who speak a different language. To quote José Andrés, ‘We need a bigger table, not a higher fence.’”

Global cuisine will also be on the menu at a Bourdain Day event happening at the Maryland Food Bank (MFB). As part of its 40-year anniversary celebration, the Halethorpe facility is hosting an open discussion that will link Bourdain’s ethos to its mission to eradicate hunger.

“One thing that stands out about his work is that food is a great equalizer in so many ways,” says Jo-Ann Enwezor, campaigns manager for MFB. “It’s very cultural. People share meals and recipes as a way of bringing everyone together. We felt it was natural to have an event on Bourdain Day to talk about some of his philosophies around shared meals and breaking barriers.”

Following the discussion, attendees will snack on risotto-stuffed mushroom caps, asparagus and asiago phyllo, and ahi tuna crostini prepared by young chefs with MFB’s FoodWorks program—a 12-week intensive that allows cooks to prepare food for those in need, while also training to join the culinary workforce. Attendees will also have an opportunity to honor Bourdain’s charitable spirit by helping to sort donated food at the MFB.

“Awareness is a big part of the goal,” Enwezor says. “I’m looking forward to being in conversation and building a community with people we haven’t before.”

For Trice’s part, he hopes that his dishes can spark larger conversations, not only about the mark Bourdain left on the world, but also about the issues surrounding mental health in the service industry. One year later, many are still grappling with the chef’s death. David Simon, creator of The Wire and all-around Baltimore champion, recently started a Twitter chain about how tough it’s been to process the loss.

Overall, chefs hope that the day re-enforces the important lessons that Bourdain taught the world. Perhaps one of the most important—to use travel as a means of understanding cultures different than your own.

“He loathed special orders,” Trice says. “If you deconstruct a dish and treat the menu as a list of ingredients, you’re not really understanding what the dish is about. Those are the same people he regarded as tourists, rather than travelers. Travelers will leave the hotel for dinner. You have to stumble the streets at night in different countries to really explore.”