Restaurant Review (Cantina Mamma Lucia)

Cantina Mamma Lucia
1350 Dorsey Rd
Hanover, MD 21076
(410)-684-2900
http://www.mammalucia.com/


Hidden a few minutes from the busy Arundel Mills Mall is probably one of the best Italian restaurants in the area. The reason I go there is a $7.49 lunch buffet. The all you can eat buffet runs Monday thru Friday, 11am - 2pm and is really one of the best values on the menu. The menu changes daily on the buffet, so check the website for your favorites. I do not know how they make any money if they have customers who can eat as I do.

Their pizza is in a NY style and has a crisp crust with that little bit of chew to it. The toppings are always fresh. My two favorite pasta dishes are the Fresh Battered Eggplant Parmigiana served with spaghetti and tomato sauce and the Linguini Alla Mare Chiara with fresh clams, shrimp, and calamari in a delicious marinara sauce.

The Subs are always well prepared as well. The salads are basic and consistent. The Fritto Misto consists of a plate of fried calamari, mozzarella sticks, breaded mushrooms, and zucchini sticks, and is my favorite appetizer there. Mama always said, "Nothing says loving like fried cheese." However, it does not hurt to have other fried foods around it.

This restaurant does italian food right, they cook for you as though you were family, and just like family when you leave, they hope you come back soon.

300 Hits

I would just like to thank you, to the 300+ viewers of this blog for reading each and every day. I started this blog on July 3rd. I did not expect to have this many readers or facebook or linkedin friends or this quickly.

Thank you

Bmorefoody.com

Events (Restaurant Weeks)

A favorite time of year is apon us, Restaurant Weeks.

Please view specific websites for details.

Bethesda Chevy Chase Restaurant Week
July 23 - August 1, 2010


Great Grapes Wine, Art & Food Festival
August 24 - 25
Anne Arundel County Fair Grounds


Howard County Restaurant Week
July 27 - August 8, 2010
 

Baltimore County Restaurant Week
August 13 - 22, 2010


Baltimore City Restaurant Week
August 16 - 22, 2010


Enjoy Restaurant Weeks Everyone!!!

Restaurant Review (Mama's on the Half Shell)

Mama's on the Half Shell
2901 Odonnell St
Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 276-3160

I went out Friday night with a friend to Mama's. We waited about 30 minutes in the bar for our table. Talking to all the interesting characters in the bar, and drinking Orange Crushes (pinnacle vodka, triple sec and fresh squeezed orange juice over crushed ice) Very Tasty. Once seated outside at our table had a very attentive server named Brian, a true local who has worked at Mama's on the Half Shell for 7 years and everyone knows and loves him. His service is the best I've had in years. I would recommend getting seated in his section. The recommendations, stories and attention to details were impeccable.

The salad was simple and well dressed in a light sweet balsamic and maple dressing. My friend had the fresh catch a pan seared rockfish with a bur blanc sauce and a side of macaroni and cheese. Creamy and crispy on the top of the dish and gooey on the bottom. The fish was buttery and flakey, perfectly cooked.

I had a medium rare NY strip steak with a tomato based steak sauce and French fry cut Peruvian purple potatoes, that looked to be tossed in oil and fresh herbs. My steak was mouth watering, tender and cooked perfectly. The first batch of potatoes was burnt. My server Brian got another batch that was cooked correctly. I still had an issue with these potatoes; it seemed to be a comp out coming from the chef. A French fry cut and deep fried purple potato is a just a bad choice. I will look black. There were so many things the chef could have been done: Roasted, Pureed, Mashed, And Smashed. Anything!!! Purple potatoes are not common place. Show them off!

I spoke to the bartender, server, and manager, over the course of our evening there. Everyone puts customer service and hospitality first, in this busy bar and restaurant. I would highly recommend this location and anything your server recommends.

Restaurant Review (Cold Stone Creamery)

http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/
Locations Vary Nationwide

For those who have dietary limitations finding indulgent desserts are a rarity. A friend’s recent discovery at Cold Stone Creamery has left me intrigued. My friend cannot have natural sugar or a high fat content in her foods. She recently found a Cold Stone location with multiple flavors of Sinless Sans Fat™ ice cream which is non-fat and no sugar added. Flavors selections vary by location. My friend’s taste buds were in heaven; this has been a dessert she has been missing for years since their dietary limitations began. This product is a needed dessert for people with dietary limitations and should be enjoyed in a like it, love it, or gotta have it, size at your digression.

Rant (Artscape)

Artscape is an enjoyable outdoor art festival that I have been going to for years. This year I looked at the food selection a little more closely, and saw nothing that appealed to my senses. The highlight of the food selection was a fresh squeezed lemonade. Most of the food was deep-fried or grilled foods from vendors that varied from Thai and Indian to cheese steaks and seafood. Also at the top of my list was funnel cake and turkey drumsticks. The quality and quantity was not up to par for the price of the products. Greasy and poorly presented does not make a good showing for your business at one of the premiere art festivals in the region.

Enjoying a Trend

I've noticed a trend for about the last year. In the last few weeks, I've come to a happy realization about it. There are many well trained and educated chefs who have done their time in 3,4,5 star kitchens, working under amazing chefs, bakers, managers, and owners... Who have left the high-end kitchen world to create simple beautiful tasty food. Be it comfort food, a re-design of an american classic, or regional speciality. I'm happy with this trend and hope it continues.

Tell me where are your favorite chef's?
who do food right?
What dish or meal do they do right?

News (Brass Elephant)

PNC Bank plans to Auction the The Brass Elephant
on August 3rd 2010 at 2pm.
924 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD

The sale is for only the venue. This does not include the furniture, and equipment that has been sitting in the restaurant since closing in august 2009. Nor does the sale include the liquor license.

Hopefully another restaurant can come to life in this venue soon.

Needed Service (Designated Daves)

Designated Daves
717-872-2826 (Phone)
Designated Daves Website

We all have been drunk at a bar/restaurant sometime in Baltimore. Sometimes we call a friend to pick us up, walk home, take a taxi, go home with someone from the bar or even sleep it off in your car. Hopefully, never driving home drunk. I've seen too many friends get charged with DUI/DWI and all the other charges, fines, penalities, and fees associated.

Designated Daves is a step above the rest. This is how that call goes...

1) HEY! I'm too drunk to drive home tonight and I MUST have my car tomorrow Morning!
2) Call us from your current location.
3) A two person team will meet and greet you, one will be your designated driver, the other the chase vehicle.
4) We drive you home safely in the comfort of your own personal vehicle. GREAT!
5) After we arrive, the designated driver leaves in the chase vehicle.

Home safely with your vehicle, NO EXCUSES, NO FAULT, NO DUI!!
THANK YOU DESIGNATED DAVES BALTIMORE!

They are currently servicing these area's:

Inner Harbor and Harbor place
Fells Point
The Brokerage
South Baltimore Cross Street area
Canton
Towson,
Cockysville,
Timonium,
Hunt valley,
Lutherville,
As well as northern Baltimore county

This is not a free service but the rates seem reasonable for the service they provide. If you are a regular at a bar you can even have advance reservations with Designated Daves. And for the long term user of this service you may even want to think about the membership program.

Rant (Customer Service)

Where has all the customer service gone? The food service industry is a hospitality industry this seems to be forgotten by some employees and establishments. I have been eating out a lot lately (maybe writing a food blog has something to do with it) and some service has been amazing and others downright brutal.

I do have varying levels of expectations when I go out. I am trained as a chef/pastry chef. My eyes catch more than most others, because I have had many years of training in that field (from quality of service, timeliness, to sanitation). My varying levels of expectations do change when I'm at a fast food joint verse a buffet verse a fine dining establishment as they should. But customer service and hospitality are basics and they need to be taught and done well.

Today, I stopped at a mid-priced modern bistro in Baltimore for lunch. I had horrible service and requested from the server that the cook come out from the kitchen. The same cook who had cooked my very delicious and well plated meal. I then proceeded to tip the cook right in front of my server. You know the server won't hear the end that for a while. Maybe his service will improve.

I will go to a place with great food and terrible service a few times but I will not go to a place with terrible food and great service more than once. Just remember everything matters in the food service industry and if something bad happens people will tell ten friends (or write a blog about it) if something good happens they only will tell two or three people about their experience unless it was amazing.

So servers, hosts, managers, and owners be nice to your customers, show some hospitality, and the tips and shifts will probably look a little nicer that way.