Food for thought

In New York this past weekend, I was again reminded of the dearth of diverse food options in Baltimore. Don’t get me wrong, our seafood is sublime, gastropubs (Red Star, Brewer’s) delightful, and the locavore ventures–Dogwood, Woodberry–are as delicious as they are au courant. But what about Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean? Can we get a casual, inexpensive diner?

Luckily, Baltimore Sun critic Elizabeth Large is already on the case. She votes for Moroccan, upscale vegetarian, and good Chinese, for crying out loud–people have been eating Chinese food here since the 1960s, one would think a delectable dim sum spot would have sprung up by the harbor years ago.

I’ve got a few top suggestions to add (so do some 200 other people, judging from the comments on Ms. Large’s post!)

1. Middle eastern food (Lebanese, to be specific): a casual, inexpensive dine-in place with brick walls and a chalk board of specials; on the menu, we’ll need falafel, tabbouleh, shwarma, fried eggplant, and absolutely divine hummus dribbled with olive oil and pine nuts. If this was on Charles street near Hopkins, it would be flooded with students nightly. Could be conveniently combined with a hookah bar.
2. More pizza: I live near Kyro, and would not agree (as their Web site boasts) that it is Maryland’s best brick oven pizza. Iggie’s is superior, but as aforementioned starving scholars will attest, one can never have too many options. Let’s get that competition going!
3. Vietnamese: Pho has gotten rave reviews. Why not open another little Vietnamese kitchen in Fell’s Point or Canton? Nb: Thai food does not supplant good Vietnamese, and besides, our local pad thai and summer rolls are hardly thai-riffic.
4. Korean: Baltimore’s many Seoulites, and foodie acolytes such as myself, would love a fun barbecue a la K-town in New York City. 32nd street between Fifth and Sixth avenues gushes over with students gossiping over steaming, spicy beef, grilled octupus and cold, strong soju (much more potent than sake). Perhaps the folks running the Korean stand at Northeast Market could set up shop down the block, conveniently close to food and company-starved doctors from Johns Hopkins. On the other hand, to avoid an unsightly bulletproof glass entryway, this eatery could also go in Fell’s. Required menu entree: boiling tofu soup, to which a diner adds a raw egg for thickening.
5. A good, cheap diner that is not Hollywood  . This elegant 1954 stainless box sits on Saratoga street, behind City Hall–great for councilpeople who eat between 9-2pm Monday through Friday, the working hours of this eatery. Why not open for brunch on the weekends? Either way, let’s cart another portable in from Long Island, and put it up on Charles street, in stumbling distance on Saturday morning from my apartment.
6. Homemade pickles. Like artisanal-ricotta churning, this is a huge trend in Brooklyn, and for good reason. As seen at Carroll Garden’s newest locavore restaurant Buttermilk Channel, pickles make light, tasty bar snacks, are cheap to produce, and provide endless variety. Just look at the Russians, who gave the world dill pickled watermelon.

Come to think of it, with the global downturn, I think pickle production will be my Plan B. Who’s with me?

Advertisements