Atwater's and Sugarbaker's, Catonsville

Catonsville is a very cute area and I had no idea that it has so many awesome food options.  I had to head over there recently for some errands and got to walk around and check out the sights afterward.  I was very excited to see that two places that I had been excited to try were right in front of me.

My first stop was to Atwater's.  I was so happy to see the woman there stocking the freshly made soups and people in the back making delicious-smelling breads.  There were so many choices and I was interested in almost everything, but I decided to pick up a container of gazpacho and a loaf of raisin pumpernickel bread.  The gazpacho tasted so fresh and bright.  I loved all of the flavors that stood out in it and the lightness of the overall soup.  I wish I had some more right now!  The bread was also amazing and I had it for breakfast for quite a few days.  It wasn't too sweet, but the raisins gave it a really nice flavor.  I saw some in the Atwater's in Annapolis about a week ago and I was very tempted to buy it again!



Then I headed over to Sugarbaker's, which is in a beautiful old building.  The people there were very pleasant and helpful, but I had my eye on the prize: their Smith Island Cake.  I love Smith Island Cake when it's good, but it seems like a lot of bakeries make it too dry.  This is supposed to be one of the best places in Baltimore to get it, plus it's made with peanut butter cups in the icing!  It took serious willpower to wait until after dinner to eat it, but it was well worth the wait.  The cake is not dry at all and is just as spongy and moist as any cake should be, despite the thin layers.  The icing is amazing and surprisingly not too rich with all of the chocolaty peanut butter goodness.  I am eager to try more of their cakes, but I might just keep going for that one.

Conrad's Crabs and Seafood Market, Parkville

I had a Groupon for Conrad's and I was very excited to use it.  Anytime I hear about restaurants that use their own fresh ingredients, I'm excited.  Especially when those ingredients happen to be crabs that the owners catch themselves.

G and I both decided to try jumbo lump crab cake sandwiches and we weren;t disappointed.  The crab cakes are really well made and have a good amount of crab meat and seasonings.  Not very much filler at all.  I was a little bit disappointed in the crab cake to bread ratio (huge roll!), but that's not too much to complain about.  The sandwiches also came with fries, which were seasoned with Old Bay and very tasty.  These crab cakes weren't in the same league as Faidley's or Captain's Galley, but they were still very good and I would recommend checking them out!

Serpico Pizza and Pasta, Sparks

I don't care that Wegmans is a little bit (okay maybe a half hour at times) out of our way for weekly grocery shopping.  It's Wegmans and I love it.  Plus it's an excuse to explore the Hunt Valley area every week.  A lot of times, we will get dinner before we shop, but the options are starting to get thinner.  One of the restaurants that we decided to try was Serpico Pizza and Pasta, down the road in Sparks.  We eat pizza and subs a lot, so I was willing to see where Serpico fit in with our favorites.

Unfortunately, they just don't fit it.  Upon entering, the restaurant was very uninviting.  The staff was not approachable and seemed hassled.  There were dirty tables throughout.  I don't think they even had the dining area lights turned on.  Very strange.  G got a meatball sub and I got a chicken cheesesteak.  The meatball sub was average.  It wasn't bad, but they weren't amazing meatballs and the sauce was, again, average.  My chicken cheesesteak was bad.  The toppings did not meld together and the meat was dry.  And the taste was just off.

This led us to a conversation about whether we just ordered "the wrong things."  I can see that.  Maybe their pizza is really what they're known for and we would be blown away by it.  But if you can't make something well, then don't put it on your menu.

Ruben's Crepes, JFX Farmer's Market (and Federal Hill)

The one thing that I wish I could bring to the JFX Farmer's Market is a little more breakfast food options.  I am the type of person who loves breakfast and I never skip it.  On one of our first trips down there, we decided to hit up the Ruben's Crepes stand, since they seemed to have a long line and a lot of breakfast-y choices.

I loved that you could see the workers making everything right in front of you and that your crepe came to you fresh off the grill.  I got one that was a bacon, egg, and cheese and G got one that had pepperonis and mozzarella.  They were both really tasty.  The crepe serves as a nice alternative to toast or a muffin and everything tasted very fresh.  Everyone there was friendly and the food was somewhat portable for walking around the market.  I can't speak for their location in Federal Hill, but I assume that they have to be equivalent.  All in all, it's a nice place to get your fix at the Farmer's Market!

Check me out in B Free Daily!

I am very excited to announce that I have been featured in today's issue of b free daily!  Excellently enough, it's an article about "foodies" and the new food culture that younger generations have created through blogging and other internet outlets.  If you're in the Baltimore area, you can pick up a copy in the orange "b" newspaper dispensers, or check it out here on pg. 12!

And this of course begs the question: what is your opinion on the new "foodies" that are cropping up all over the internet?  Foodie revolution, or "foodiots"?

Baltimore Foodies Help Needed!

My parents are coming to visit this weekend and I really have no idea where to take them to eat (which is obviously the best part)!  If you had guests coming from out of town, where would you take them for dinner?? 

I'm interested in any and all recommendations!

Taharka Bros.

As a newcomer to the Baltimore area, I am quickly finding out that one of the best things about it are all of the street festivals and fairs that seem to be going on every weekend.  I love it!  Especially because it gives me an excuse to try amazing food and sample a little bit of everything that they have to offer.  Lucky for me, some local restaurants also participate in these festivals, so I've gotten to try some places on my "To Eat" list while strolling around in the gorgeous weather.  At Flowermart this year, Taharka Bros. was set up, and I'm so glad that they were.

They have a pretty awesome list of flavors, but I knew which one I was going to get as soon as I saw it: Key Lime Pie.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was heavenly.  I worked at an ice cream store that makes its own ice cream for 5 years, so I'm a little bit of a snob about these things, but this ice cream is amazing.  Creamy and surprisingly strong citrus flavors with an amazing graham cracker crust mixed in.  Yum!  G got a chocolate brownie flavor (not sure exactly what it was called) and it was also amazing.  I love desserts that have amazing flavor, but aren't sickeningly sweet and these ice creams fit the bill.

Besides having great ice cream, this business really does amazing things for Baltimore and its citizens.  They employ at-risk youth and train them in business skills.  From their website:

Taharka Brothers is a venture of the Sylvan Beach Foundation, Inc. Sylvan Beach is a non-profit foundation which functions to assist at-risk Baltimore youth and teaches them the intricacies of business strategy and entrepreneurship with the ultimate goal that each of these student-workers will found his own business prior to his graduation from the program.

Amazing.  Go there! Find them on the streets! Just support this awesome venture.