You can tell a lot about someone from their laugh. And Chenire Carter delivers a warmhearted infectious roar.

Born and raised in Cherry Hill, the Maryland Institute College of Art alum has worked in her hometown for more than 20 years, through community-centric roles at such places as St. Vincent de Paul, Paul’s Place, and Baltimore City Public Schools. Now at MAG Partners—the lead developer behind the up-and-coming neighborhood rebrand of Port Covington known as Baltimore Peninsula—her focus is on bridging the gap with the surrounding communities.

As Baltimore Peninsula is one of the largest urban revitalization efforts in the United States, with the goal of transforming a former industrial port in an area of historic disinvestment into a vibrant new neighborhood in South Baltimore, hers is a vital role.

We spoke to Carter about the opportunities that the project presents—and its challenges.

What brought you to the Baltimore Peninsula project?
Five generations of my family have lived in Cherry Hill, so when I first heard about the project, I was curious and admittedly apprehensive. When I realized the Baltimore Peninsula wasn’t going to displace existing South Baltimore residents, I saw the potential to channel my love of our city into helping shape a game-changing development.

What work are you doing with the community?
We’re focused on creating increased access to opportunities, because while talent is widespread in Baltimore, opportunity is not. The neighborhoods we work with are often classified as “underserved” or “underprivileged,” but really, I think they’re underestimated—and this is because they historically have not had access to the types of resources that a project like Baltimore Peninsula has.

Through our role in the SB7 Coalition—a unique co-joining of developer and South Baltimore community leaders—we’re working to thoughtfully and intentionally invest in the local communities, whether through funding allocated to the surrounding South Baltimore neighborhoods, technical assistance for local businesses, or partnerships with community organizations that have long been doing meaningful work in our city.

How are you and the development team working to abate concerns?
We take all concerns seriously; we can’t improve without knowing what we should improve on. In my role, I am in constant communication with local residents and community leaders. The number one concern has been, “Is the Baltimore Peninsula for us?” which often speaks to various disparities that many have experienced in their lifetime. Understandably, the community wants to know that the project is truly “for them,” and we’ve made sure this is the case by providing those critical opportunities for success to Baltimoreans first and foremost.

We prioritize our minority-women-owned business contracts and local hiring efforts, and we’re proud to partner with individuals like restaurateur Pinky Cole, who knows the city on a deeper level, and who will be opening two restaurants—Slutty Vegan and Bar Vegan—in the neighborhood later this year.

High heels look great, sure. But comfortable? Not so much. But why must we sacrifice comfort for beauty? Baltimore-based shoe designer Jazmine Davis wondered the same thing. An avid shoe lover and practicing scientist, she knew there had to be a way to enjoy the best of both worlds. In 2017, she created Jazmine Kionna—a Port Covington-based vegan shoe brand whose patent-pending insole is built to mold to your foot’s specific pressure points and minimize the impact of walking and standing. We talked with Davis about starting her mission to end #HighHeelHell with style.

What inspired you to start a shoe brand?
In my high school years, I was the girl who always wore heels. But going into college, after losing both of my parents, I lost myself. I didn’t care about how I looked, how I dressed, or what I wore. I had saved up some money doing an internship in Detroit. For my birthday, I spent my first purchase on designer heels. But they were completely uncomfortable! Four years later, I thought, “You can create, so why not [create a comfortable heel] for yourself?”

You’re also a scientist. How has that played into Jazmine Kionna?
I knew I wanted to merge my love for fashion and my love for science. I called all of these footwear companies to see what insoles already existed, what materials I could use. Then I held my own focus group where I had people experience certain materials. From there, I reached out to experts who could speak to comfort. It soon came down to asking, how do we reduce the fashion carbon footprint? What does vegan mean? How do we build sustainability into the business, too?

What’s next for Jazmine Kionna?
I’m really excited about the changes to come. We have samples being looked at now with new colorways and different heel heights, and we will probably introduce handbags sooner rather than later. We’re only online, but we’re thinking about possibly doing more pop-ups to grow our home base in Baltimore, and exploring options in other cities.

One aspect of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul law was a provision designed to create “opportunity zones” in low-income areas around the country. By offering tax breaks to developers for investing in targeted, low-income areas—vetted by each state’s governor—the purpose was to spur economic and commercial activity and revitalization efforts in under-invested neighborhoods.

However, according to a just-released report from ProPublica, an independent, journalism nonprofit focused on government accountability, that new tax law will likely benefit Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Goldman Sachs, and other Port Covington investors with what could be millions in tax breaks for their ongoing South Baltimore project.

As the selection process for opportunity zone sites was underway, Gov. Larry Hogan’s deputy chief of staff, Sean Powell, noted in an email last year that Port Covington did not qualify for one of the potential 147 low-income tracts in Maryland. That was largely because of the higher household incomes in Federal Hill and Locust Point that are included in the census tract. ProPublica reports that Hogan, also a real estate developer, of course, nonetheless selected Port Covington after his aides met with Plank’s lobbyists.

“This is a classic example of a windfall benefit,” Robert Stoker, a George Washington University professor who has studied Baltimore’s economic development, told ProPublica reporters Jeff Ernsthausen and Justin Elliott. “A major investment was already planned and now is in a zone where they are going to qualify for all kinds of beneficial tax treatment.”

Port Covington, a former railroad terminal and brown field, is Plank’s ambitious effort to build an essentially new waterfront city within Baltimore’s city boundaries. The project is being overseen by Sagamore Development, a privately held company founded by Plank and real estate developer Marc Weller in 2013. Port Covington is already one of the largest development projects in the U.S.—as well as the recipient of $660 million in tax-incremental financing breaks from Baltimore City, and all told, another $1.3 billion in public infrastructure spending. The entire buildout is projected to cost $7.3 billion and take 25 years to finish.

“Port Covington being part of an Opportunity Zone will attract more investors, foster more economic growth in a neglected area of the City, and directly benefit all of the surrounding communities for decades to come,” Weller said in a statement to ProPublica.

“For parts of Port Covington and the six adjacent South Baltimore communities, the Opportunity Zone program provides an incredible opportunity to drive capital, bring outside investment and create jobs in areas that have been left behind for decades,” Weller added in a statement emailed to Baltimore magazine.

Geared toward attracting newer and younger people to Baltimore—the Sagamore Spirit distillery and Rye Street Tavern are already in place—the futuristic vision for Port Covington calls for mixed-use development that will feature high-rise offices, an upscale hotel, apartments for millennials, restaurants, walkable shopping, and Water Taxi travel.

As ProPublica reports, Port Covington is not in an impoverished census tract and nor is it a new investment. Also, according to its investigation, “the census tract only became eligible to be an opportunity zone thanks to a mapping error.”

City Councilman Ryan Dorsey decried the selection of Port Covington (over other areas in Baltimore) for additional tax breaks Wednesday on Twitter following ProPublica’s report, questioning Weller’s statement that Port Covington is a “neglected area” and Hogan’s statement that the project will go “a long way to providing benefits for the whole city.”

Baltimore fair housing lawyer Barbara Samuels asked via a tweet: “Is there a gov’t subsidy that this (misad)venture hasn’t vacuumed up?”

Pro or con, the full story on opportunity zone tax breaks and Port Covington is worth a read.

“The Port Covington tract is just 4 percent black,” the ProPublica pieces highlights in the piece. “For it to be included in the program, another community somewhere in Maryland had to be excluded. The ones that the city suggested that were excluded by the governor, for example, are 68 percent black and have a poverty rate three times higher than Port Covington’s.”

Before moving to Baltimore, Brian Plante was living the New York chef’s life and dining out in The Big Apple. While in culinary school in New York, he recalls, “we’d eat out every night, truly authentic cuisines or food from the best chefs in the world and they were right in my backyard,” says Plante who did stints at Babbo and Esca. “Every chef should experience that for a little while.”

Plante is now happily living in Baltimore as the chef/partner at Rye Street Tavern in South Baltimore. “I enjoy living in Locust Point,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like I’m living in a city. After three years of living in Baltimore and when I walk into Rye Street, I feel like I know everyone eating here.”

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?

I was very young, maybe 6 or 7, when I thought about becoming a chef. But as I grew older, I was afraid of the hours. I came to it late—I’m 34 now, I became a chef at 24.

Chef Brian Plante. —Noah Fecks

What other jobs did you work prior to becoming a chef?

I worked in a warehouse. . . . When I told my father that I wasn’t going to finish college, he said he’d get me a warehouse job. I worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift and was the only one who spoke English. He told me that my high-school education was no better than anyone else’s. I hated the job more than anything, but I stuck it out because I was stubborn. I made three-ring binders. I’d take the three rings and put them on the machine. I did that for eight hours straight. It was mind-numbing.

Wow, that sounds awful. Any other jobs?
I worked at Costco selling electronics. My boss was two years older and he was at the ceiling of how far he could go. I realized that I wanted a job that never had a ceiling. That’s what being a chef is all about. However hard you work is how high you can go.

So when did you start working in restaurants?

I worked in a restaurant called Food 101 in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where I’m from. I loved it. I loved the pace of the kitchen. It was stressful, but exciting. When you’re a chef, every day is completely different than the last and it gives you instant gratification.

Did you get formal training after that?
In 2010, I moved to New York to attend the French Culinary Institute. I’d never even been to New York City before. My first day there, I got a pizza and a beer and ran back to my apartment. I was so overwhelmed.

What did you learn in culinary school that you still use today?
I was blessed to have Jacques Pépin and André Soltner as my professors. André Soltner told me, “Relax, its just food.” We were making bouillabaisse at the time.

What has it been like for you to cook with the ingredients from the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
It has been incredible. The proximity to everything from the city is second to none. Within 20 minutes, I can have easy access to one of the best pig farms in the country and within an hour I can be slurping oysters with the Choptank guys. The quality of the ingredients is amazing and is very similar to New England.

What’s on the menu right now that you’re excited about?
I’m super excited about our pork dishes. We don’t waste one part of the pig. On a 300-pound pig, there’s probably two pounds we don’t use. We do our play on an old-fashioned barbecue sauce with ribs. We’re doing a house-made bacon jam for sweet and sour collards, and we have pulled pork specials, beautiful pork chops, and house-made sausages. We’re also doing more to explore the dishes of Appalachia like rabbit stew with the rabbit legs braised in mustard and crème fraiche and the loin rubbed with an herb garlic spice and grilled.

What would you like to do in the future?
We’re starting to make our own vinegars in the old whiskey barrels from Sagamore. We’d also like to get into pickling and fermenting. Dishes that you tried a year ago are going to taste different when you come back.

Where do you like to go in Baltimore when you eat out?

I like Thames Street Oyster House—it’s a little taste of home for me.

Before moving here three years ago, did you know anything about Maryland Blue crabs?
A soft-shell clam sandwich and steamers are my favorite things to eat. When I went to L.P. Steamers for the first time, I thought that I was going to get clams, then I realized that steamers in Baltimore means crabs. They were delicious and awesome, but they weren’t clams.

So have you mastered eating them?
At L.P. Steamers, I was with a bunch of chefs from New York at the time. We were picking out the meat and making piles of the meat and cracking the entire crab before we ate the meat, and then we were dunking the meat in butter. The people at the next table told us, ‘That’s not how you do it.’

A politician’s best bet days before an election? Make sweeping job-creation claims at a corporate gold-shovel show. Then hope nobody fact-checks you.

That’s a bit what it sounded like recently, when, two weeks before election day, local, state, and national elected officials from both parties joined economic development officials and company officials to announce “Cybertown, USA.” In essence, a cybersecurity firm and venture-capital companies that invest in tech startups are setting up shop in Port Covington, the massive mixed-use mini-city on a large waterfront tract in South Baltimore that’s the brainchild of Under Armour founder Kevin Plank.

Try on some of these claims for size: “Maryland is home to the world’s most advanced cybersecurity and data science . . .”; Baltimore is positioned to be the cyber and innovation capital of our nation”; and the jobs announcement “helps solidify Baltimore and Maryland’s reputation as the cybersecurity capital of the world.”

(That’s from Mike Janke, co-founder of DataTribe, Gov. Larry Hogan, and congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, respectively.)

Granted, it’s always good news that three companies are locating here: DataTribe, a globally known cybersecurity startup studio with offices in Maryland and Silicon Valley; AllegisCyber, a leading Silicon Valley-based early-stage cybersecurity venture-capital firm; and Evergreen Advisors, a Columbia-based investment banking and corporate advisory firm focused on assisting emerging-growth and middle-market companies.

And one of Port Covington’s draws for the tech industry in the years ahead may be that it boasts a secure, redundant, private fiber-optic loop to provide gigabit-speed internet connectivity and site-wide public Wi-Fi service. The development is also unique in that it will be built from the ground up with a cybersecurity-hardened infrastructure.

But how does the Baltimore region really stack up nationally when it comes to cybersecurity and other I.T. jobs?

We checked out sources that don’t need ballots to maintain their bank balances: The folks at Money magazine say we fall about in the middle of the pack in terms of I.T. job growth—109 percent growth annually—on a list of 20 cities outside of Silicon Valley (which is still the leading location).

When it comes to cybersecurity jobs, Tripwire says that Columbia is near the top of the list in the nation in per-capita terms, but behind Jersey City, NJ. And who wants to live there?

And metro Baltimore is nowhere on Forbes’s list of seven cities destined to be cybersecurity capitals of the world (though Washington, D.C., is, as is Silicon Valley).

That may be partly because, compared to most metro areas, the I.T. sector is a relatively small share of the overall economy in Baltimore, says economist Dr. Jacob Cosman, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School whose specialties include real estate, retail business, and spatial competition in cities.

“The share of jobs in I.T. in Baltimore looks less like Seattle or San Francisco and more like Cincinnati or Las Vegas,” he says. “Conversely, education and healthcare comprise a larger share of the workforce in Baltimore than most other metro areas.”

In fact, he says, though Tech jobs in Baltimore are relatively well-paid, and might then have outsized importance to the region’s tax base, “the concentration of I.T. jobs and I.T. firms is nowhere near the real centers of innovation and technology like Seattle and Silicon Valley,” he says. “The concentration of I.T. in Baltimore is not even near the level in smaller centers like Boulder, Madison, and Raleigh. Without that high density, it’s difficult to build the pool of specialized workers and financing that would accompany a legitimate hub of innovation.”

So why can’t Baltimore make all these dreamy geek-capital claims come true?

“The biggest obstacle is that other cities already have easy access to specialized workers and financing because they have a pre-existing hub of I.T. activity,” says Cosman. “In addition, it’s more difficult to attract highly paid, highly mobile workers to Baltimore because the city offers fewer of the amenities that high-income workers want. Some of this is geography—Baltimore will never have temperate winters, beaches, or easy access to wilderness—but some of that might change as the city develops more entertainment and cultural amenities.”

Of course, if we can curb our enthusiasm a bit, the Port Covington development is still good for the city, Cosman says.

“Even if the announcement makes some very optimistic claims, the fact that established firms want to occupy the office space in Port Covington is still overall good news,” he says. “The city government took a risk on the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars to finance development there. We can debate whether that was really the best use of the city’s scarce fiscal resources, but the city government has made that decision to commit those resources, and at least it seems like there is some demand for the development the city has financed. This is probably not Cyber Town, USA, but it is much better than empty space.”

Like many Marylanders, Brian Treacy sat devastated as he watched news footage of flood waters rushing down Main Street in Ellicott City on Sunday, May 27. The town’s second catastrophic flood in two years had wiped out businesses, overturned vehicles, and taken the life of Sgt. Eddison Hermond, a heroic National Guardsmen who was attempting to rescue a resident when he got caught in the torrent.

“My heart just went out to them,” says Treacy, president of the Sagamore Spirit distillery in Port Covington. “Less than 18 months after the first flood, these folks were going through this again. I immediately sent off an email to my team saying, ‘I don’t know what it is, but we need to do something.’ By the time I came in on Monday, people were standing there at the door ready to talk about what we could do to help.”

At the time, Sagamore’s limited-release Cognac Finish—a rye whiskey five years in the making—was just about ready to go to market. But instead of shipping the bottles through distributors and retailers, the company decided to sell them directly from the distillery and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to flood relief efforts led by the Ellicott City Partnership (ECP).

“It was a challenging decision for us in some ways because we wanted to get it as far out into the market as possible,” Treacy says. “But the way things are set up in the three-tier system, there would be one third or less of the money left by the time we went through that process. We wanted to make sure the Ellicott City community had every dollar.”

This Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Cognac Finish will be on full display at a special iteration of Sagamore’s ongoing Whiskey on the Waterfront event. Aside from featuring the usual live music by local bands and eats from neighboring Rye Street Tavern, this weekend’s outdoor fête will focus on selling all 1,000 bottles of Cognac Finish.

Priced at $70 per bottle, the limited-release rye is 105-proof—featuring notes of spice, honey, almond, and vanilla from its time spent finishing in French cognac barrels.

“We proofed it pretty high, so it’s nice and strong just like the Ellicott City community,” Treacy says. “We thought it would be a great dedication to them. They’re extremely resilient, and they’re worthy of one of our best whiskies yet.”

More than 30 Ellicott City shops and restaurants have reopened since the flash flood, and officials are anticipating that traffic on Main Street could resume as early as this weekend. But there are still many residents and business owners who will benefit greatly from Sagamore’s direct donation.

“As sad as a devastating flood is, I’m uplifted each day by the generosity of people all over who want to help,” says Heather Gaetano, ECP board member and promotions committee chair. “When we’re having our rougher moments, it really helps to know that we’re still supported and people still believe in our town.”

In the spirit of community, Sagamore invited Ellicott City executives to the distillery campus earlier this month to participate in the bottling of the Cognac Finish. Gaetano—along with Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, County Council representative Jon Weinstein, and other officials—were involved in every step of the process, and even got to initial some of the labels.

“Many of our hours are usually spent agonizing over individual stories and difficulties,” Gaetano says. “So this was a really positive way to be together and feel supported. It’s nice to see that people don’t want to let go of the magic that is Old Ellicott City.”

Treacy, who describes the bottling event as a “career highlight,” is looking forward to expanding that experience to the community this weekend. Though organizers are hoping to sell out at Saturday’s event, any leftover bottles will be available for purchase at the EC Marketplace on Saturday, July 28—which will be followed by the 2018 ECStrong 5K around the neighborhood.

“It doesn’t end once these bottles sell,” Treacy says. “Ellicott City knows they have a big lift in front of them, and they do it with a smile and they don’t complain. It’s our job to keep checking in to see what we can do.”

Visual Art

Profiles of Color III
Fredericksburg, Virginia, artist Ronald Jackson reimagines African-American portraiture in his solo show Profiles of Color III: Fabric, Face, and Form at Galerie Myrtis. The mixed-media pieces are collaged with bold shapes and patterns, reminiscent of Klimt but with a contemporary African accent. June 30 through July 28, with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. June 30 at Gallery Myrtis, 2224 N. Charles St.

Landmarked
Ada Pinkston explores historical landmarks and monuments in Landmarked, a highly participatory show that invites visitors to respond to prompts and, in doing so, become part of the exhibit as it unfolds. A pedestal in the gallery will serve as a space for performance art pieces throughout the duration of the show, including a special night of guest performers on June 16. June 1 to 22 at Cardinal, 1758 Park Ave.

Music

BSO’s New Music Festival
Imagine the elegance of classical music performance against the backdrop of Graffiti Alley and you have the June 22 Chamber Jam with Mind on Fire, Shodekeh, and Ok Miss, part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s four-day New Music Festival. In its second year, the fest brings contemporary classical music to venues across the city, highlighting living composers. This year, Kevin Puts’ oboe concerto Moonlight, a piece commissioned by the BSO, will premiere at a free show at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. June 20 to 23.

John Williams at Camden Yards
Celebrated American composer (and lifelong baseball fan) John Williams—who has written scores and served as music director for films that include E.T., Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars—will be at Camden Yards on June 11 to throw the first pitch. Before the Orioles game, the BSO will perform a selection of his well-known pieces, starting at 6:30 p.m. The game will be followed by the June 13 Evening with John Williams performance at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Theater

Nights on the Fringe
Ballet, theater, puppetry, film, crankies, spoken word, dance, circus arts . . . the list goes on for Nights on the Fringe, a vaudeville-inspired cabaret weekend presented by Charm City Fringe—in case you are itching to see some Fringe-worthy shows before the main festival in November. The evenings will be hosted by Aaron Henkin (WYPR’s Out of the Blocks) and Umar Khan (Gin & Jokes, Super Comedy). 8 p.m. June 8 and 9 at the Baltimore Theatre Project.

Literary Arts

Books in Bloom
The daylong Books in Bloom festival brings a host of writers across all literary genres to Columbia for readings, discussions, children’s activities, and a pop-up bookstore. The lineup includes Amanda Lucidon, Edwidge Danticat, Elliot Ackerman, Ian Mackenzie, Jane Delury, Jeannie Valasco, Katia D. Ulysse, Nathan Bomey, Sujata Massey, Vikram Sunderam, and others. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 10 at downtown Columbia Lakefront, 10221 Wincopin Circle, Columbia.

Miscellanea

CreateScape
Creative Labs’ CreateScape event celebrates the DIY arts culture of Baltimore through a free, three-day open house at the group’s headquarters. With a focus on health, creativity, sustainability and collaboration, the fest, hosted by Creative Labs, will cross yoga and dance battles with live music and street art. An array of artisan vendors will give this event a festival feel. June 8 to 10 at Creative Labs, 1786b Union Ave.

Healthy Baltimore: A Festival of Wellness
The free Healthy Baltimore festival at Port Covington will bring an array of music, food, and health and fitness vendors aimed to get you on track—plus the inspiration to move your soul and your body with a performance by Talib Kweli. Pre-registration is required. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 16 at The Field in Port Covington, 200 E. Cromwell St.

On my first trip to Rye Street Tavern, after snaking through a wall of traffic across Lombard Street, exiting off I-95 North, and getting dumped by my GPS onto a jug handle that led me past billowing smoke stacks, I found myself in an industrial No Man’s Land that most locals would be hard-pressed to find on a map. In fact, my dining companion, a lifelong Baltimorean, skeptically asked, “Where are we going, anyway?” But as the global headquarters of Under Armour and the triple-diamond racing logo on the Sagamore Spirit distillery water tower came into view, the answer was apparent. Approaching our destination, there was the tavern—a stone barn-like structure with walls of windows, Adirondack chairs along the water, and the adjacent distillery rising in the distance like some sort of Emerald City. 

Welcome to Kevin Plank’s Field of Dreams, his reimagined vision for Port Covington, a one-time garbage dump and abandoned rail yard where grain and coal and merchandise were once loaded onto the piers along this peninsula on the Patapsco. As the Under Armour CEO attempts to develop the 266-acre parcel by building a city within a city, Rye Street Tavern (sprung from the site of a defunct Walmart) is destination dining, at least until Port Covington starts to develop. And it’s more than worth the drive it can take to find it. Clearly, others agree—woe to the patron who doesn’t make a reservation.

The restaurant itself is meant to evoke Plank’s Reisterstown property at Sagamore Farm, where water burbling steadily from the farm’s springhouse is being used in the production of his Sagamore Spirit whiskey. Inside, interior designer Patrick Sutton, who has seemingly designed every new upscale restaurant in Charm City, has topped himself with this stunning ode to Plank’s thoroughbred farm (think worn leathers and wagon-wheel lighting fixtures), along with touches that call to mind the Eastern Shore, such as oyster shells artfully arranged in wooden bowls and a coil of nautical rope on an entryway table. 

In addition to the spectacular setting, Rye Street is also a serious culinary contender: Leading the charge is Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini of New York’s NoHo Hospitality Group (the same group that gave us Rec Pier Chop House in Plank’s Sagamore Pendry).

With a focus on New American/mid-Atlantic comfort foods, the dinner menu is divided into appetizers, a raw bar (including ceviches, crudos, and East Coast oysters), sandwiches, and mains, including the trifecta of tavern classics (fried chicken, ribs, and burgers), an assortment of wood-fired seafood, simply prepared steaks, and a “Crab of the Day” dish. 

Over several months, I visited Rye Street five times and didn’t have a bad bite. You should start with the ceviches or crudos. My favorite was the Peruvian-style striped bass ceviche, slices of the flavorful and firm fish, marinated in aji amarillo (yellow chile peppers) and fresh lime juice to make “tiger milk,” then crowned with Andean corn, red onion, radishes, and fresno chillies. 

Another signature of the spot, and rightfully so, is AC’s Famous Fried Chicken with pickles salted and fermented in whiskey barrels and house-made biscuits. In the ’90s, Carmellini made a fried chicken road trip to taste his way through the South. The result is this boffo bird—not served in a bucket, but still something to add to your Baltimore bucket list. Whoever is working the fryer also dazzles with a simple fried-fish sandwich, a crispy hunk of flounder paired with yuzu pickled cucumbers and served on a sturdy house-made seeded bun slathered in Old Bay aioli. Also a highlight is the wood-grilled Maryland rockfish served with shrimp, grits, and smoked tomatoes. With its intensely smokey-sweet flavor profile, it was possibly the best single seafood dish I consumed in all of 2017. 

Bacon-Wrapped Trout
This dish, stuffed with Swiss chard, breadcrumbs, and a touch of beurre blanc, and served with Sea Island red peas and chow-chow relish, is a must. It was inspired by the Low Country dish hoppin’ John.

And if you don’t mind a little neck-craning from adjacent tables, don’t miss Rye Street’s seafood twist on a traditional potpie. Filled with carrots and peas, the dish is fairly classic, however the presentation—with a crab claw dramatically cracking through the crust—is anything but. 

Service is also excellent, and on one busy Saturday night when a large party was kept waiting, all appetizers were on the house. What impressed me most is that the waitstaff was equally versed on the menu’s liquids (many of them Sagamore Rye-based, natch) as they were on the solids. 

Whether for lunch, brunch, or dinner, Rye Street is the perfect place to impress an out-of-towner or a first date, or just a spot to commune with your nearest and dearest. On one of our visits, we spied Ravens kicker Justin Tucker breaking house-made cornbread with a table of friends. And as one might expect, Kevin Plank is also a frequent patron. 

In Field of Dreams, another starry-eyed Kevin (Costner) stands in an overgrown cornfield when he hears a whisper out of nowhere: “If you build it, he will come.” Plank is counting on all comers.  

When sifting through the 238 proposals from North American cities and regions, Amazon will see two bids from Baltimore that tell very different stories. According to Reuters, 54 states, provinces, districts, and territories applied to host the company’s second headquarters—a fate that would bring 50,000 jobs and tens of billions of dollars worth of investment to the winning bid. 

While the city’s Port Covington proposal comes with plenty of incentives, the Old Goucher neighborhood has also placed its hat in the ring. Located in the center of the city between Remington and Charles Village, the Old Goucher Community Association announced a completely independent bid last week. The proposal, “Center City Baltimore: Amazon’s Next Day One Neighborhood,” stresses the centrality of the area to restaurants, universities, and museums as a selling point.

“If [Amazon’s headquarters] come to Baltimore, I would be happy to have them in Port Covington or in Old Goucher,” said the community association’s president Kelly Cross. “We’ve been overlooked for decades. But when you look at the access that we have, you really can’t compare it to any other part of Baltimore.”

Among the recommended sites in the proposal are the stalled state center complex in West Baltimore and a prison complex on the east side of town. Although the Old Goucher community has major landmarks like MICA, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the University of Baltimore within walking distance, it’s hard to compete with the South Baltimore Port Covington site that is already slated to receive a $660 million TIF bond to start the project. The site is also expected to profit from more than $700 million in tax breaks.

An article published on Inc. magazine’s website last week said that the Port Covington site would be an ideal fit for Amazon’s HQ2 home. Writer Tom Popomaronis cited the flexibility of the 235-acre mixed-use space at Port Covington as one of the major factors that may sway Amazon’s decision. (That $233 million investment from Goldman Sachs didn’t hurt either.)

“Port Covington is bolted onto an existing city with an incredible, authentic history, deeply rooted in innovation that played a very strong part in American history,” he wrote. “To say that it’s compelling is an understatement.”

Tom Geddes, the CEO of Plank Industries, echoed the sentiment that Baltimore has the best foundation for a company like Amazon to build upon.

“Amazon might take a project in another city from 0-60, but with Baltimore, we expect them to take us from 50-90,” Geddes said in a statement. “We have significant momentum already and know the impact it will have on the city and region—Amazon would obviously be not only a huge accelerant to this, but also a beneficiary of it. You can feel the energy that already exists today which Amazon will inevitably fuel as they look to build their corporate culture on the East Coast.” 

In Maryland overall, other bids were submitted from Prince George’s, Howard, and Montgomery counties. And, while Port Covington certainly has plenty of merits, Cross said we shouldn’t count Old Goucher out just yet. On a recent visit to Google’s headquarters in New York City’s Midtown, he noticed a trend among major corporations that may give his community the extra push it needs for consideration.

“Tech companies are moving to that center city area,” he said. “One of the problems that Baltimore has had is that we haven’t been really focused on putting jobs and capital in the city core where it can really have the massive ripple effect everywhere.”

On Wednesday, Sagamore Development announced that global investment firm Goldman Sachs would commit $233 million to the Port Covington redevelopment. The 235-acre, mixed-use project on Baltimore’s waterfront is a move that Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group (UIG) has been eyeing since 2016.

“This is not only an opportunity to invest in infrastructure and lay down the framework for what will be millions of square feet and dozens of buildings, said managing director for Goldman Sachs UIG Margaret Anadu, “but do so in a way that’s really going to benefit Baltimore residents.”

The $660 million tax increment funding (TIF) that Sagamore received last year from the city is cited as a key factor in the UIG’s decision to invest. Anadu said the TIF signified the project was supported by the city and displayed strong public-private partnerships 

“With the approval of the TIF, that said the city and state were behind this,” she said. “Then you have Sagamore as the quarterback—they are relentless.”

A key factor in the collaboration between the private and public sectors was the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) signed last year between Sagamore, the city, and SB7—an organization that represents the South Baltimore communities of Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, Curtis Bay, Lakeland, Mt. Winans, Westport, and Port Covington. The agreement ensures that the communities in South Baltimore continue to thrive culturally, economically, educationally, and socially during the 20-year redevelopment process of Port Covington.

The $233 million investment will uphold the promise made in the CBA to invest in infrastructure—roads, utilities, and parks for the community—during all phases of the project. Goldman Sachs said they wouldn’t play a huge role in the planning process beyond the monetary impact.

“We will have a voice in the direction of the project,” Anadu said. “But we will primarily serve as investors, leaving day to day on-the-ground execution to the Sagamore team.”

Plank Industries CEO, Tom Geddes, said the project would bring thousands of new jobs to the city, nearly 1.5 million square feet of office and retail space, a 200-room hotel, and apartments.

Of the 235 acres, a portion will remain untouched during the redevelopment, and that includes Under Armour’s 50-acre headquarters, as well as City Garage, Nick’s Fish House, Sagamore Spirit Distillery, and the newly opened Rye Street Tavern. 

“You won’t see a lot of activity on the site over the next 12-18 months,” Geddes says. “But there will be a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work on planning and design going on getting the site shovel ready.”

The prospects of this new investment have Mayor Catherine Pugh optimistic about the new partnership and what it means for the city’s residents. 

“This investment, especially from such a prominent partner as Goldman Sachs, means more jobs, more opportunity and more economic growth for Baltimore City,” she said in a statement. “Investors are seeing what we already know about Baltimore—we’re a city on the rise, and an economic hub with a strong, diverse workforce.”

This move comes as Sagamore is in the process of drafting a proposal to Amazon to move a second headquarters to the Port Covington development. Last week, the online retail giant released a statement requesting bids for the new location by October 19. If selected, it would bring 50,000 new jobs and a $5 billion investment in office space to Baltimore.

“We think Port Covington would be a phenomenal location for Amazon,” Geddes said. “Having the vote of confidence of an institution like Goldman Sachs is nothing but helpful.”

Geddes is hopeful that the new partnership represents progress for Port Covington and delivers on the commitment made to bring outside investments to the city.

“We could not be happier that we have Goldman Sachs as our partner,” Geddes said. “It was important to us to find an equity partner that shared our common vision for urban economic growth, job creation, and local workforce development here in Baltimore City.”

With more than a dozen restaurant concepts scattered from New York to Miami operating under his reign, James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini is no stranger to the jitters of opening night.

“You have to break the machine to figure out where the holes are,” he says. “I can make the recipes no problem, but it’s the human component that’s the hard part. Luckily, we’ve had a lot of practice.”

Carmellini will celebrate yet another opening night on Tuesday, September 12, as he welcomes diners to Rye Street Tavern on the campus of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Spirit Distillery in Port Covington. The restaurant marks Carmellini’s second venture into Charm City dining, the first being the Italian-influenced Rec Pier Chop House that opened inside of Plank’s Sagamore Pendry Hotel in Fells Point last spring.

With a focus on American cuisine, the 315-seat restaurant will feature Carmellini’s spins on classic comfort foods that incorporate the flavors of the Eastern Shore. Among the token dishes will include crab pot pie, classic fried chicken, Bloody Mary blue crab salad, roasted local carrots with popped sorghum (a grain similar to popcorn), and an array of wood-fired seafood bakes.

Carmellini credits visiting area purveyors—think Calvert’s Gift Farm in Sparks and Whistle Pig Hollow in Reisterstown—and exploring aquaculture on the Eastern Shore as being some of the most exciting aspects of landing on the local food scene.

“Baltimore is very diverse, and no one really knows that,” he says, describing the area’s many microclimates. “A sense of place is important. You always want to be respectful of the community in executing it, while also presenting things from another point of view.”

Developed by local designer Patrick Sutton, the restaurant’s cozy interior is a fitting accompaniment to the menu of comfort foods. Filled with wooden and copper accents, the space is also a nice complement to the neighboring Sagamore Spirit Rye distillery. The building is comprised of a front bar (boasting exclusively domestic wine and spirits), main dining room, upstairs area for private events, and outdoor space complete with firepits and Adirondack chairs overlooking the water.

“To me, a good tavern should have a little sense of home when you walk in,” Carmellini says. “That’s what I want it to be—a mix between a destination and a neighborhood place where you just stop by for a bite to eat.”

Aside from its own wood-burning fireplace and an elevated platform to host live music, the front bar also features a collection of vintage paintings surrounding a huge taxidermy buffalo.

The 65-seat dining room highlights a killer waterfront view, as well as elements like exposed wine racks, interior greenery, leather booths, and a chef’s table overlooking the kitchen’s hearth oven.

“Cooking with wood is a long American tradition that goes beyond just barbecue,” Carmellini adds. “A good part of the menu is cooked over wood, so seeing it all happen creates a special connection.”

Upstairs, the tavern houses two loft rooms overlooking the front bar, a dual-climate wine cellar, and two pieces of the original American flag that flew over Fort McHenry that have been framed and put on display. The top-level also pays homage to the restaurant’s proximity to the distillery with a non-functional copper column still and a hallway lined with whiskey barrels.

“I’m a big fan of whiskey and bourbon, and obviously wanted to incorporate that into what we do here,” Carmellini says, mentioning that his team has fermented ingredients like pickles and hot sauces inside some of the reclaimed whiskey barrels. “I will say one thing about Baltimore is, man, you guys like to drink.”

Other than the city’s burgeoning booze scene, Carmellini says that he’s enjoyed getting acquainted with the community’s quirk.

“Baltimore is pretty weird, man,” he says with a laugh. “There are a ton of characters around that should be embraced and celebrated. Here, you have that grit. As far as food culture goes, it’s all about finding a way to maintain that organically.”

The first new street in Port Covington runs 190 feet. And it is closed to traffic, technically making it a pedestrian walkway.

Still, the unveiling of Rye Street, the naming of which required legislative approval from the Baltimore City Council, marked a significant moment Monday, according to Sagamore Development Company officials and the city leaders on hand yesterday.

“A small road, but a big step for us,” Marc Weller, president of Sagamore Development, said of the privately funded walkway.

Sagamore’s 235-acre master plan for Port Covington—for the most part, a large industrial brownfield for the past few decades—envisions 14.1 million square feet of mixed-use development, 2.5 miles of restored waterfront, and 42 acres of accessible parks and green space for city residents.

Broad, pedestrian-oriented Rye Street links East Cromwell Street—the main thoroughfare in Port Covington—to the waterfront. It also passes directly between Sagamore Spirit Distillery and the new Rye Street Tavern, which is scheduled to open in the middle of September. The tavern, which includes waterfront views and outdoor seating, will have a capacity of about 400 people and emphasize American cuisine and Maryland seafood. James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini and the New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group will run the restaurant’s operation.

City officials at the unveiling included Joan Pratt, the city comptroller, Bill Cole, president and CEO of Baltimore Development Corporation, Jim Smith, Mayor Catherine Pugh’s chief of strategic alliances, Frank Murphy, acting director of the city Department of Transportation, and City Councilman Eric Costello, whose district includes Port Covington.

“It’s exciting for me to see,” Costello said of the Rye Street unveiling. “A growing Baltimore is a strong Baltimore. I look forward to visiting often.”

Rye Street, he added, “is the first of many more to come,” noting the success of City Garage, the nearby innovation hub which recently opened a second campus as part of a collaboration with Betamore, and the opening of Building 37, Under Armour’s new waterfront headquarters in Port Covington.

In fact, Sagamore officials said, Rye Street is the first of 16 planned new streets, 66 new intersections, and 47 new blocks for Port Covington. Sewage and water line construction is expected to start late next year.

A bike path that will connect Federal Hill and Locust Point to a recently completed Port Covington 1.4-mile bike lane is also in development.

Phase I of the Port Covington project, which will include 4.1 million square feet of mixed-use development, is expected to take 5-6 years. The overall effort, as currently designed, is expected to take 20-25 years.

Four years ago, Maryland native Brian Treacy, who was living in Arizona at the time, got a call from an unknown 410 number and correctly predicted who it might be. On the other end was longtime friend, and Under Armour CEO, Kevin Plank.

“Kevin talks fast when he’s excited,” Treacy said today. “He talked about this vision for restoring rye whiskey in Maryland and opening a distillery in Baltimore City. For two sentences, he sold it pretty well.”

Soon after, Treacy was on a plane to Baltimore and plans were underway for the Sagamore Spirit distillery, which up until now has been housed in the City Garage incubator space. But with a ribbon cutting today, the distillery opened the doors of its permanent location, along the waterfront in Port Covington. The distillery opens to the public Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

“Today we celebrate the finished product,” Treacy said this morning at the ribbon-cutting, sharing a state with Sagamore Spirit co-founder Bill McDermond, Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, and Mayor Catherine Pugh. “The purpose of this distillery is to create a reason for people to come visit Baltimore, educate guests about rye whiskey production, and be a place for them to learn about our brand.”

Prior to the opening, Sagamore Spirit Rye was being distilled in Indiana, then shipped to Baltimore. Now all of the aging, production, bottling, tastings, and tours will take place inside 22,000-square-foot distillery building and the adjacent 27,000-square-foot processing building.

“This new space really allows us to own the authenticity from start to finish and scale up when the time is right,” said Treacy, joking that it will be another four years before the Maryland start-to-finish whiskey will be properly aged and ready to taste. “I’m excited for that day to come.”

For now, though, guests can tour the distillery that features the only 40-foot mirror-finished copper column still in the world, which maintains a constant state of distillation and was made in Louisville, Kentucky. 

The facility also features a 250-gallon copper pot still for experimental and seasonal releases, nine 6,500-gallon fermenting tanks, an 8,000-gallon beer wall, and a 6,000-gallon mash cooker. The other pièce de résistance is the 120-foot water tower, filled with spring-fed water from Sagamore Farm in Baltimore County.

A visitor’s center and merchandising area, as well as a few tasting rooms, make up the processing building. This weekend, guests can experience free tours of the two-story facility and taste three different expressions of Sagamore Rye. Starting on Monday, April 24, the experience will cost $15. 

“We really want to put Maryland back on the rye whiskey map,” Treacy said. “And we hope that projects like these will make Baltimore be viewed in a more positive light.”

“Sagamore’s spring water is iron free and fed from a limestone aquifer,” Treacy explained. “Limestone water is traditionally the best, and purest, way to make a rye whiskey.”

Once that process is complete, the whiskey is hand bottled and labeled and, recently, that has meant that family and neighbors of Sagamore staff have been coming in to help during the homestretch before bottles hit shelves on May 13.

As for the rye whiskey itself, it’s made up of two different mash bills (one with high rye and one with low), so the final product is a fine balance of spicy and sweet. The rye is a lot smoother than many small-batch whiskies on the market with dominant flavor notes of molasses and caramel. The spirit reminded us of a lower-proof Knob Creek rye, and would be ideal in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan cocktail.

“Expect our product to be in some of the best bars and restaurants around town,” Treacy said. “We’re aiming to end up in the places with craftier cocktail programs.”

Launch party plans are in the works and will be posted on Sagamore’s social media platforms once they’re firmed up. Not surprisingly, one place you’ll be guaranteed to find Sagamore rye? At the 141st Preakness Stakes on May 21.

“All of these ventures have one thing in common,” Treacy said of Plank Industries. “And that’s celebrating the unique heritage and history of Maryland.”