Typically, we only get 365 days in a year to have fun. But, every four years, we have an extra day. For Leap Day 2020, many local breweries and restaurants are celebrating with parties, specials, and new beer releases on Saturday, February 29. Here’s where to make the most of the extra day and enjoy the festivities:

Bmore Brew Bus Tour: The second-annual Bmore Brew Bus Tour, where locals hunt down the best craft beer that Charm City has to offer, is taking place on Saturday. With stops at Guinness, Heavy Seas, Jailbreak, and Crooked Crab breweries, there will be plenty to see and taste. A ticket includes a tour of Guinness, a complimentary beer or flight from each location, round trip transportation, and snacks. Multiple locations. $89.

Checkerspot Brewing Company: Checkerspot in South Baltimore is tapping into the leap year with unlimited pours. The “Big Beer Leap Year” event will bring back limited-edition beers from the past two years. The brewery will open an hour early for VIP admission, and at 1 p.m. for regular admission. Old favorites being served will include “Golden Strongman,” “Jean Quad,” “Barrel Aged Jean Quad,” “Elijah Craig Bourbon Barrel Big Wig Brown,” and the “Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Big Wig Brown,” which are all from 2018. Last year’s special beers will include the “High & Mighty IPA” and the “Bear Imperial Porter.” All beers are first come first serve, so be sure to get there early before the taps run dry. 1399 S. Sharp St. $35 regular admission, $50 VIP.

Oliver Brewing Company: At Oliver Brewing Company’s tasting room in East Baltimore, sample five new can releases starting at 12 p.m. to celebrate the extra day of the year. Among them is “I Wish I Was At The Yard,” a dry-hopped pale ale created in collaboration with Monument City Brewing Company. Next up is the “Fruit Can Man V3,” an imperial sour brewed with tart cherry, red currant, and raspberry. “Undulatus” is a hazy IPA with a cream finish. The newest collaboration with Stillwater Artisanal is “The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be,” a double dry-hopped IPA. This duo also collaborated with Chesapeake Cider Company to create the “Apple Cobbler Fruit Shake,” a nitro sour ale with apple, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and milk sugar. With plenty of exciting flavors coming out, Oliver Brewing Company has many options to choose from. Pair your can with a slice from Dizzy Cow Pizzeria, which will be slinging delicious pies all day long. 4216 Shannon Dr.

Diamondback Beer: The celebration at this South Baltimore brewery will double as a release for its new barrel-aged Barleywine, as well as a launch party for its new Tour & Tasting program. Diamondback’s new traditional English Barleywine is aged for 16 months in Tawny Port, red zinfandel, and muscat barrels before being blended together—creating the final product, the “Liquid Richie.” The new Tour & Tasting Program will provide three different chances to experience Diamondback’s brewing process on Saturday. Tour the production facility, experience a guided tasting of four special releases, and bring home a swag bag all for the price of $25. The taproom will be serving $5 “Green Machine” pints all day, and feature live music by Nate & Friends from 2-4 p.m. 1215 E Fort Ave, Suite #008.

Union Craft Brewing: Cleverly honoring the date, Union Craft Brewing will offer an array of beer deals from 2:29-9:29 p.m. on Saturday. Buy two beers for $9 and spend your afternoon soaking up the extra day. With nine beers on tap, you have plenty of time to try them all during this seven-hour event. 1700 W 41st St.

Monument City Brewing Company: This Highlandtown hangout just announced a surprise release party on Saturday for “NOBO,” its New England-style IPA. Overflowing with juicy flavors from its triple hopping, the beer will be available in limited drafts and cases. Starting at 12 p.m., this will be the only drop of the year for “NOBO,” so beer lovers are encouraged to come and get it while it’s available. Monument City will also be filling up its first time capsule, and the team is accepting contributions from the public. The time capsule will be sealed and buried underneath the brewhouse until February 29, 2024, so be sure to return in four years to claim your keepsakes. 1 N Haven St.

Bond Street Social: If a cocktail is your preferred drink of choice, Bond Street Social in Fells Point is ready to supply. The waterfront favorite will be hosting a $28 open bar from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., in which party-goers will be served premium well mixed drinks, domestic bottled beer, and house red and white wines. 901 S Bond St.

Final Farewell Party at Howl at the Moon: Howl at the Moon at Power Plant Live is hosting its final event of the year before it closes and moves to Washington, D.C. From 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. enjoy drink specials, live music, and more. 22 Market Pl.

Free Birthday Cake at Miss Shirley’s Cafe: Leap Day only comes every four years, which is why Miss Shirley’s is offering a special birthday surprise for Leap Day babies. On Saturday, any guest who was born on February 29 will receive a free cake. Choose between the “Crab Cake Po’Boy” or a tall stack of specialty pancakes to celebrate your big day. This offer is only available on Saturday, and is redeemable at any Miss Shirley’s Cafe location. Tell your server that you would like to redeem the Leap Day promotion, present a valid ID, and enjoy your free cake. Multiple locations including 750 E Pratt St.

Miss Shirley’s Cafe corporate executive chef Brigitte Bledsoe had a serious health scare over the summer. Now, she’s “back in action,” she says, with a new lease on life and some new dishes on the menu. 

I know you had a big health scare this year, can you tell us a bit about what happened?
It was a life-threatening ordeal. I got married in July at a local beach in Maui—and almost died in the same month.

You were in the hospital for a long time. Did you dream up new recipes while you were there?
While I was in the hospital, I must have been thinking about work pretty much all of the time. Apparently, I was sprinkling parsley on things and barking orders at at my produce company—I don’t remember a lot of my hospital experience, but while I was there, I was still thinking that I was working.

Wow. So what was it like when you actually came back to work about a month ago?
I was nervous to come back after being away for three months. I had to use a standup desk. There were flowers and chocolates and balloons, and the team decorated my desk. 

My first day I felt like I was spinning around in a circle—it was very overwhelming. I went home and slept six hours after working for six hours. I’ve now been cleared to visit all three of Miss Shirley’s locations. It makes me want to continue to get stronger—I want to be here 10 more years, not 10 more days. 

Did your time away inspire new ideas for Miss Shirley’s menu?
I was inspired to bring back some menu ideas from Hawaii that I wanted on the new menu. I wanted to do a loco moco, which is a very traditional Hawaiian dish–they serve it everywhere. It’s white rice with a hamburger patty with gravy on top and served with an egg. Our version is served with grits, Roseda beef, and some mushrooms in the gravy. But because I got sick, my culinary team had to pull together our fall/winter menu without me. I was so impressed.    

Did your trip inspire other dishes, as well?
We did a walking tour through Chinatown, and it was fantastic I had the best banh mi sandwich and I knew I wanted to do that on the menu, too. Ours has pulled pork on our ciabatta bread with pickled radishes and carrots and fresh jalapeños.

How did you come to work at Miss Shirley’s—I know you started here at the beginning when it opened 13 years ago.
I started in 2004 with Miss Shirley’s founder Eddie Dopkin (father of current owner David Dopkin). Ironically, I had had foot surgery and was on crutches at the time. He said to me, ‘How do I know you can cook?’ And I said, ‘Come to my house.’ I made 10 to 15 different dishes, including the coconut cream stuffed French toast, and the crabcake and fried green tomatoes eggs Benedict that are still on the menu today. I don’t think Eddie knew what direction he wanted to go in, but I’ve always loved Southern food from fried chicken to collard greens. I made him grits and fried green tomatoes and things just took off from there.  

How did you learn to cook?
At a young age, I remember pulling out my mom’s cookbooks saying, ‘Can we make this?’  And she would say, ‘Yes,’ and we would cook side by side. My mom (former Baltimore magazine food editor and Sun restaurant critic Suzanne Loudermilk) has a love of food and is quite the foodie.

So how did working in restaurants become a career?
My parents’ thought that I was going to the community college, but I was working full-time at Ocean Pride—I didn’t even go to school. I think I got busted when my mom came in and saw me. I was a handful back then. She’s so proud of me now.

Scorpion Bowl, Pen & Quill

Cocktail: Rum, cognac, orgeat, lemon and orange juices, Angostura bitters
Garnish: Flaming lime, grilled pineapple, “shark” lime, orange wheel, paper umbrella

Every week, the bar staff at Pen & Quill breaks out the paper umbrellas for Tiki Tuesdays. “Cocktails can get stuffy and, with this theme, it’s impossible to be stuffy,” says bar manager Naomi Kline. The menu is full of traditional tiki tipples like mai tais, but the pièce de résistance is this scorpion bowl, which is meant to be shared between “two adventurous drinkers or four people who want to drive home.” Explains Kline, “You know it’s a success when a customer gasps. You can look out at Charles Street, and feel like you’re in the islands.”

---

The Waverly, Sugarvale

Cocktail: Duck-fat-washed rye, white vermouth, Bigallet China-China Amer liqueur, Monument City Brewery Company Brown Ale reduction, orange bitters
Garnish: Mini-ploughman: duck ham, lonza (cured pork loin), Beemster Gouda, smoked olives, pickled fennel

“This was our way of combining our charcuterie and cocktail programs,” says Breanne Radford, lead bartender of the Mt. Vernon spot. The Waverly is a play on a traditional Brooklyn cocktail, but Radford uses a duck-fat rye whiskey and Monument City Brewing’s Brown Ale reduction for a unique twist. When deciding how to garnish her cocktails, she thinks like a chef. “I like contrasting flavors,” Radford says. “The duck meat adds richness to something that’s already really spicy.”

Born on the Bay-O, Miss Shirley’s

Cocktail: Deep Eddy lemon vodka, Bloody Mary mix
Garnish: Blackened shrimp, tasso ham, andouille sausage, cheddar, pickled okra, tomato, celery, Old Bay

“The Bloody Mary trend with outside-of-the-box garnishes has been happening all over the country,” says Miss Shirley’s head chef Brigitte Bledsoe. “We wanted to do something crazy that was still our style.” So the chef, who also conceives the cocktails, decided to garnish the Bloody with ingredients to represent the restaurant’s Southern menu. “The main reaction is usually, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to eat this?’” Bledsoe cracks. Fun fact? The staff goes over to Bledsoe’s house to brainstorm and taste test cocktails over pizza.

---

Amado Nervo, Clavel

Cocktail: El Buho mezcal, cilantro honey, vermut, lime, cava rose
Garnish: Black sea salt, smoked over Pacific red alder wood

Clavel is known for queso dip, mezcal drinks—and beautiful garnishes. We are enamored with the bar’s take on salt rims. Case in point: the narrow band of black salt on the Amado Nervo. “The technique is to swipe a rectangular pattern on one side of the glass with a lime wedge and dip that area into a bowl of salt,” says owner Lane Harlan. “This gives the cocktail a dense and calculated salt shape.” When combined with the drink’s other ingredients, Harlan says the cocktail leaves you with “a memory of smoke.”

Falcons at Ravens, Sunday Oct. 19, 1 p.m., M&T Bank Stadium, Fox

Has Joe Flacco stopped throwing touchdown passes yet? If so, it likely won’t be long until he starts again. Atlanta comes limping into town this week with a 2-4 record and a defense with an aptitude for folding. The Falcons are giving up an average of 277 yards passing per game, fourth worst in the NFL, and they’re surrendering 28.3 points per game, third worst in the league. They’re 0-3 on the road, which makes the Ravens a solid bet even as 7-point favorites.

What to Eat: I spent part of last weekend in suburban Atlanta hanging out with more than one native Georgian. When I asked what special food is associated with “Hotlanta,” their faces looked as dumbfounded as the Buccaneers’ defenders did last week. Soul food seems to be the city’s signature, so for lunch I’m heading to the appropriately named Georgia Soul Food (102 E. 25th St.) for some fried catfish, candied yams, collard greens, and peach cobbler.

But before that, a trip to the venerable
Miss Shirley’s Cafe (513 W. Cold Spring Lane and 750 E. Pratt St.) seems to be in order. Does it get more southern than Dixie cornbread squares, southern fried deviled eggs, chicken ‘n waffles, or the southern fried slammer sandwich, an artery-busting combination of fried green tomato, applewood-smoked bacon, smashed avocado, cheddar cheese and fried egg on pumpernickel?

If you’re staying in, this
Savannah-style crab soup recipe seems like the perfect marriage of Georgia and Maryland. (It even has Old Bay!)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups clam juice
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
• 1/3 cup dry sherry

Directions:
Place flour in a cast-iron skillet; cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add carrot and the next five ingredients (carrot through garlic), and sauté five minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add Old Bay seasoning, salt, black pepper, dried thyme, and bay leaf; cook for one minute. Sprinkle the browned flour over vegetable mixture, and cook one minute, stirring frequently. Stir in clam juice, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until mixture is slightly thick, stirring frequently.

Stir in the milk and half-and-half; cook four minutes. Stir in crabmeat and sherry; cook five minutes or until the soup is thoroughly heated. Discard bay leaf before serving.

What to Drink: Georgia, of course, is known as the Peach State, and folks down south are now using that juicy fruit to make beer. RJ Rockers is a brewery out of Spartanburg, SC, but its Son of a Peach is an unfiltered American wheat ale that’s Georgian at its core. It’s available at Total Wine in Laurel.

I was drawn to this
peach margarita recipe because of the site it’s on, ABeautifulMess.com. That’s often how I feel after drinking a few margaritas.

• 1/2 cup peach puree
• 1 lime
• 1.5 ounces tequila
• 1/5 ounce of triple sec
• 1 tablespoon simple syrup
• Sea salt and a peach slice to garnish

Directions: Skin and puree two white peaches. This should yield enough peach puree. Combine the puree, lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and simple syrup. Stir to combine. Rim your glass by placing the rim in a shallow amount of water and then dipping it into coarse sea salt. Add ice and pour the mixed drink over ice. Garnish with a peach slice.

When David and Brandy Dopkin moved into their four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath home on a cul-de-sac in Mt. Washington, they had very clear ideas about what they wanted in an abode. For Brandy, it was all about having a close-knit community and a place for their growing children, Jordana, 6, and Graham, 4, to play.

“I wanted the kind of neighborhood where I could knock on someone’s door, borrow eggs, sit on the porch, and watch kids play in the court,” says Brandy. For David, son of legendary late restaurateur/caterer Eddie Dopkin (Classic Catering and Miss Shirley’s Café), it was all about having a showcase setting, as well as an easy commute to his three Miss Shirley’s Café locations. “I’m very detail-oriented and a perfectionist,” he says, laughing. “I like everything to be matchy-matchy.”

Of course, when you understand all the odd similarities the two have, it’s no surprise that the couple, married eight years, managed to have both of their criteria met in one home. Consider this: Both attended University of Maryland, College Park, at the same time; both taught fifth grade for five years in Baltimore County; and both of them—only children—were born on the same day in Baltimore 38 years ago within an hour of each other. But it wasn’t until David’s former girlfriend fixed them up that they came into each other’s orbit.

“Brandy and I have so many things in common, it’s crazy,” says David, managing member of Miss Shirley’s, “down to the fact that both our dads are Ed, and they both drove the same car in the same color.” Adds Brandy, “We even grew up with the same breed of dog [a schipperke].”

There are, of course, some distinct differences. Brandy (who is head of human resources for Miss Shirley’s) is extroverted, for instance, where David is on the quieter, more contemplative side. Though Brandy recalls growing up “in a very quiet home,” she figured it was her job as a kid to shake things up. “So I’m the one who loves a lot of noise and has the whole neighborhood in the house. David used to get mad at me because when he’d come home from a busy workday, there would be a thousand people in the house.”

But despite the influx of people and annual traditions such as Halloween parties, everything is in its proper place, and the overall effect in their home is one of calm and comfort, with oversized sofas, ottomans, and plenty of places to de-stress from the day.

“Our world is extremely hectic from the minute we leave this house,” says Brandy. “The restaurant business, and customer service, and pleasing people is extremely demanding, so we needed our home to be a quiet place where we could regroup and re-center. And we can’t get enough of the color brown.”

Comfortable and cozy were the operative words used when discussing décor with local designer Joseph Lazzaro. “I’m all about Under Armour,” says David. “If we don’t have to get dressed up, we don’t. We’re not grand-chandelier type of people. We got married at the American Visionary Art Museum. We like funky, modern, eclectic.”

As in many households, the Dopkin kitchen—with its open, airy feel; dramatic curved, granite island; and state-of-the-art appliances—is the heart of the home, though the duo is fond of eating out. (Sofi’s Crepes, Ambassador Dining Room, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Volt are on speed dial, while takeout dishes from Miss Shirley’s and Classic Catering are staples when guests are over.) “Believe it or not, Brandy and I are not culinary people,” says David. “We eat out a lot.” Concurs Brandy, “I hate to cook. I’ve always said, ‘I don’t get why you would cook when you can call the caterer.’ Ironically, when I started dating David, I didn’t even know he was affiliated with Classic Catering.”

Though the couple worked with professionals to get a finished look, it was important for them to have their own imprint as well. “I always wanted a home that told a little bit of a story,” says Brandy. “I don’t like just going to Pier 1 and buying a plate—although you need those pieces, too. A lot of things in this house tell a story, and that’s what’s important to me.”

The couple’s history is told in nearly every room of the house, from the framed menu from the Ambassador, where they had their first date, to a Romero Britto serigraph bought on vacation in Miami, to a kinetic wood sculpture purchased in New York on the occasion of their fifth anniversary.

“I grew up in a really lovely home,” says Brandy, “but things were placed because a decorator put them there, and it never told a story. In every room, we have little things that have meaning.”

The home also reflects the Baltimore-born-and-bred couple’s love of all things Charm City—from a delicate trio of Artscape elephants to a life-sized crab sculpture in the backyard to signed jerseys from hometown-team greats, including Ray Lewis, Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Palmer, and Johnny Unitas. Then there are the personal photos that speak to the family’s long-standing relationship with the Ravens.

“Those are photographs of [late Ravens owner] Art Modell at different stages in his life,” says David, pointing to a silver frame holding several vintage photographs. “There will never be anyone like him again.” David’s close relationship with football in Baltimore also included his stint as Classic Catering’s director of food services for the Ravens and, these days, he still oversees Classic’s Ravens accounts.

For David, meaning also comes from prominently displayed pieces that once belonged to his beloved father, who died last October. A Wurlitzer jukebox, a Classic Coke vending machine, and artwork that includes a playful 3-D Charles Fazzino Hanna-Barbera print and finely detailed Hiro Yamagata “Four Seasons” prints showcase his dad’s sense of fun and whimsy. Unique family memorabilia furthers the family narrative.

“I threw a birthday party for my dad and had these Eddie bobbleheads made for every guest,” says David, pointing to a small figure that resembles his father. “My dad loved Atlantic City, so he’s holding blackjack chips, a Miss Shirley’s oven mitt, and a spoon from Classic Catering.”

Of the many treasures in the house, the bobblehead sums up not only David’s endless affection for his father but his own legacy, as well. Though some of the family history has been lost along the way, food has always been the Dopkin business, and David is the fourth generation of, as he puts it, “food purveyors and producers.”

While the story that his great-grandparents were in the meatpacking business is somewhat apocryphal, what’s certain is that his paternal grandparents, Ansela and Michael, opened the highly successful The Beef Inn on Smith Avenue in Pikesville in 1970, and later another outpost on Reisterstown Road. “My grandfather was supposed to be a silent partner with a couple of other guys,” recalls David, “and they were supposed to hire a manager, but the manager lasted six months, and because our family lived a block away, they got stuck running it.”

Food was a family affair. Says David, “My mother and father worked there with my grandparents, my aunts, my cousins, and Miss Shirley McDowell (who became the namesake for the southern Miss Shirley’s Café).”

Almost at birth, David was a part of the business, too. “I’ve been told for 38 years that it said, ‘It’s a boy,’ on the sign outside the Reisterstown Road restaurant when I was born,” he says. “The family also loves to say that I’d be in a playpen in the dry-goods room lining up the cans and the boxes.” His love of order, apparent in his home, carries through professionally, as well. “Today, I still go into Miss Shirley’s, and, if I’m doing inventory, I still like to line things up. There’s a lot of madness on Saturdays and Sundays, but when our very valued guests leave, every nook and cranny is put back together.”

From the playpen, David graduated to standing on milk crates and working the register at his father’s ever-growing enterprises, including a chain of bagel stores known as The Bagel Place; dressing up as the Easter bunny for Cal and Kelly Ripken’s private parties catered by Classic; and, eventually, working the summers at the Ravens’ training camp at McDaniel College before becoming director of food services at the Ravens’ permanent home at the Under Armour Performance Center.

“My father trained us that you get whatever anyone wants,” explains David. “Art Modell liked his kosher hot dog, David Modell liked a special banana Popsicle . . . or some players might want a special salad dressing. ‘No’ never entered our minds.” The best piece of advice he ever got from his dad? “He’d say, ‘Do it yesterday. Be proactive.’ I learned from him that you always want to be thorough and detail-oriented. If the weather is going to be bad, for example, you call the generator people first.”

Despite losing his mentor, David, who helped expand the Miss Shirley’s brand from Roland Park to downtown Baltimore and Annapolis, has been able to continue the success of a business that cracks 6,000 cage-free eggs on Sundays alone. “I’ve always thought how much I think like my father,” he says. “I knew what he was going to say before he said it. He may not be next to me, but I know what he’d do in certain situations.”

Brandy is quick to add that David is a success in his own right. “There is this perception that David is Eddie’s son, but David is the hardest-working person I know,” she says. “For years, he was getting up at 6 a.m. and running those businesses. We didn’t have a hiccup in the transition of my father-in-law going—he really prepared us.”

After Eddie’s death, David contemplated honoring his father’s passion for parties by making his father’s funeral (attended by the likes of Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and former Ravens linebacker O.J. Brigance) celebratory instead of somber. “My father would have turned his funeral into a party,” says David. “He would have had orange yarmulkes for Shirley’s and green yarmulkes for Classic. He would have turned it into a production. I asked the people at [Sol] Levinson’s, ‘What do you think about us giving out Goetze’s Candy to end on a sweet note?’” Ultimately, David decided to stick to a strictly traditional service.

For now, however, the party continues at home. “Brandy is definitely the outgoing dance-at-seven-in-the-morning and get-down-with-the-kids kind of person,” says David. “And that kind of joy and laugher and zest for life has gone straight to my kids and makes me more open to being silly.”

What would Eddie say if he were still around? “If he could see me now, he’d say, ‘I love you and I’m proud of you—let’s take the kids to Disney World.’”