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East Coast Pitstops: Seeking comfort food in Baltimore part two
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Photo by Crystal Johson-Ms. Shirley's Cafe
Baltimore may be a mid-sized city but it runs big in the department of great food. In part one of the East Coast pit stop series in Baltimore, the restaurants Cafe Hon and Darker Than Blue were celebrated respectively for authentic comfort food as well as innovations in comfort food. For Part II, we visit Ms. Shirley's Cafe, Andy's Nelson Barbeque and Red Springs Cafe.
First of all, kudos to the executive chef on hand for our lunch and her team for an ambitous menu. Ms. Shirley's Cafe is
Let the games in southern comfort food begin! The fried green tomatoes seem to be in a cornmeal based batter. It is fresh and light and reminds one of summer. It comes with a lemon herb aioli. A more popular classic fried appetizer is sweet potato fries. Our batch were sweet and crispy, served in a cone shaped basked with mango ketchup and citrus aioli. Honestly, neither the mango ketchup or citrus aioli popped with the tantalizing flavors but were more reminiscent of a good standard ketchup and mayo if you are not famaliar with the ever increasing popular sauce of aioli. The Shrimp and Grits are spendid in presentation and taste. Jumbo Shrimp paired with amazing grits cooked in heavy cream, Mascarpone cheese, chives, applewood smoked bacon and tomatoes. Although, this dish is very good it lacked cohesiveness. The shrimp and grits feel like two different experiences.
The winning appetizer that should be put on a garden party menu or catering an up scale event in Baltimore is the baked fig with goat chees and Smithfield Ham. Many of the dishes are garnished with watercress as this one. Figs are abundant on the trees in Southern California so this is especially nice to have this dish. The goat cheese tops the fig and almost hidden under the watercress are thin bacon like slices of smithfield ham. Combining the elements together composes a sweet and salty balance.
Ms. Shirley's Cafe offered us a wide variety of items on the menu to sample. The menu is loaded with many options if not more than the Cheesecake Factory menu. Here are a few breakout stars:
Decadent Pancakes: With options like Raspberry white chocolate pancake(yes, it is better than it sounds), pineapple upside down pancakes, cinnamon danish and blueberry pancakes there is not a wrong choice. We were most impressed with these breakfast menu items. To syrup or not syrup, that is the question. They stand alone in sweetness but they do come with maple syrup.
Funkey Monkey Bread: It is a good take on the classic dessert, topped with bananas, pecans and chocolate. It is also comes with a chocolate dipping sauce. Cinnamon also is an accent flavor. It pulls apart easily for a fun sharable dessert dining experience. My observation is that it could have been more moist.
Chopped Salad: Mixed greens, Romaine, tomato, hearts of palm, red onion, apple wood smoked bacon, avocado, blue cheese and a creamy tomato vinargrette. This is a favorite dish. The hearts of palms are abundant and the vinagrette is an outstanding compliment.
Honorable Mention: The Chesapeake Sandwich is like biting into a Dagwood sandwich. The top is filled with seafood salad including jumbo shrimp and the bottom with a giant crab cake. There is also an interesting dish which consists of a Corneal- Encrusted Maryland Softshell Crab atop an egground upon a hash brown complimented with a with chipped beef. Stunning visually but a let down because it comes across as busy as it sounds and misses the mark of really coming together taste-wise as a dish. For beef lovers, the Bisto Beef Sandwich is an award winning sandwich comprised of grilled peppercorn beef filet, blue cheese crumbles, grilled Vidalia onions, peppadews and more atop a Ciabatta.
There are two great locations. One is in the Roland Park area of Baltimore near Loyola College. It is an easy ride from downtown with parking in the back. Furthermore, there is a second location in downtown Baltimore. It is a great place to come with a date, friends, or family. It is only open for breakfast and lunch until 3:30 PM. The crowd is eclectic and diverse at the Roland Park location where we dined. It is a Yuppie neighborhood with many neighboring restaurants like a one block portion of Sherman Oaks on Ventura Blvd in LA.
Fore more info: Roland Park: 513 West Cold Spring Lane Baltimore (410) 889-5272
This restaurant is named for its owner former Baltimore Colts football star, Andy Nelson. This restaurant and successful catering establishment has accolades galore for its barbeque. A friend of mine joined me for dinner and a woman at the counter warned me that they had run out of many of their popular items like smoked turkey wings and catfish. However, I did get to sample the pulled pork, ribs, collards, mac & cheese, baked beans, corn bread, black-eyed peas and the apple cake. My dining companion, an area local enjoyed the meal immensely. She remarked that after the visit that she would surely return. As for me, I enjoyed the delicious sweet cornbread and the spicy flavoring of the black-eyed peas. Unfortunately, that is where the word love stops for me. I enjoyed the apple cake which is wrapped in plastic wrap at the to go counter. It is sweet, moist and cinnamon seems to be prominent.
True authentic barbeque lovers may enjoy this place. I understand the strong vinegar taste in the pulled pork is classic. Although, it does not win me over. The ribs were good but not tender. The collard greens have a strong vinegar taste. I asked several people around me their thoughts on the cuisine. Everyone at neighboring tables loves the food. To this I submit to a matter of taste. Know that this is an extremely popular establishment with a huge catering office next door. Obviously, this place is the people choice.
Fore more info: 11007 York Road, Cockeysville 410-527-1226
Photo by Molly Strzalecki of Baltimore Metromix
This cafe may be among the best Southern cuisine you will find anywhere. Red Springs Cafe has only been open since the middle on May. After successfully running a catering business for six years, Cheryl Townsend embarked on her long time dream of opening a restaurant. Her primary crowd tends to be the lunch time business crowd but she has slowly begun expanding her evening hours to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Fridays. She also has weekend hours including a Sunday brunch.
The only dissapointing part of my dining is experience is that the food is served on styro-foam plates and drinks in styrofoam cups. Considering that Red Springs Southern cuisine is some of the best that I have tasted, it deserves to be on a glass plate. Again her crowd at present is mainly the downtown lunch crowd; however, hopefully when her new night time hours catch on the glass plates will come. Enough dwelling about plates and cups, food is the star afterall.
As for the assortment of meats on the menu, my dining companion and I Ioved the the catfish, turkey wings, and baked chicken. In fact the baked chicken, was good I would tell brides to order it from the catering menu. It has a light lemon pepper and salt flavor. The skin is crispy. The catfish is among the better prepared catfish you will find. Baked tilapia, ribs, pulled pork and fried chicken are also on the menu.
The cabbage and collards greens are sensational, with the cabbage edging out in the veggie competition because of the texture and flavor. The cabbage is not overcooked and the cook has some diabetics cooking class trade secrets which contribute to a tasty and guiltess side.
As for guilty pleasure, there is plenty of room for that in the form of potato salad, sweet potato pie and coconut cake. Bread pudding is also on the menu but we did not get opportunity to try it. Potato salad and I normally don't get along but i would order the potato salad at Red Springs. It is not laddened with creamy mayo. The flavor gets to take center stage instead of potato drowning in mayo. The sweet potato pie is creamy and good but the nutmeg seems to bit a bit strong though. As for coconut cake, it has never been my thing but between Red Springs Cafe and Cafe Hon, Baltimore may have changed my position on things. The coconut cake at Red Springs has a mild citus pineapple flavor and sweet homemade tasting frosting.
For more information: 353 North Calvert Street, Baltimore (410) 637-4041
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