baltimore county - Mason Dixon Arrive Magazine

Left top: At Krakus Deli, Tom Flis explained
the various kielbasa and special
meats and sweets. Left bottom: Prima is
know for its excellent selection of cheese
and variety of feta.
Chewing through
By Gregory J. Alexander
spices. Customers come for deserts,
fresh breads, sausages and meats, and
to buy Polish newspapers, magazines,
movies and CDs. 1737 Fleet St.,
410-732-7533, krakusdelibaltimore.com.
OSTROWSKI OF BANK STREET
To save time, we did not visit the
other Polish deli in Fell’s Point. Like
Krakus, Ostrowski makes their sausages
and kielbasa on site. We understand
that the flavors are different
between the two delis, and it’s a matter
of personal taste which one you might
prefer. 1801 Bank St., 410-732-1118,
ostrowskiofbankstreetsausage.com.
DiPASQUALES
Next we headed out Eastern
Avenue to Highlandtown to visit
DiPasquales. While this Italian grocery
carries some of the same things
as Trinacria, it also offers many items
quite different, including fresh produce
and fresh herbs. The prepared
salads, cold seafood and the large
selection of deli items are impressive.
They also have a brick oven and large
seating area with table service. It was
about 11:30, so we decided to have
an early lunch. We ordered Insalata
Pescara, a seafood salad served over
baby greens with grilled bread and a
Real Italian sub with salami, prosciuttini,
mortadella, capicola and provolone
doused with a special olive oil
and vinegar blend, topped with grated
cheeses, lettuce, tomato, onions and
hots, and served on a fresh Kaiser.
Wow. It’s not just that we were hungry
… both of these were delicious!
There were plenty of additional
items in my basket, and it took quite
a while to check out. While in line, I
ran into some neighbors from Federal
Hill … it’s Baltimore, hon! So, plan
ahead if you’re on a schedule and get
in and out before lunch. 3700 Gaugh
St., 410-276-6787, dipasquales.com.
PRIMA FOODS
Our last stop was the Greek
wholesale food distributor, Prima
Foods. Next to a huge warehouse is a
grocery with tons of items for Greek
and Mediterranean cuisine. There
are fresh breads, excellent olive oils,
canned goods, pastas and rice, dried
breads, juices, pickles, etc., along rows
of shelves. A huge freezer case lines
the back wall with prepared foods, all
types of meats including whole leg of
lamb, vegetables and much more. The
olive station is self-serve with jumbo
black and green, kalamata, herbed
and mixed – whatever you like. The
main attraction is the slicing station.
To begin, there are six kinds of feta
cheese. We took a suggestion from
a customer and decided on a chunk
of Kaseri, popular with locals. It was
delicious!
This grocery closes at 1pm on
Saturday, so it was the perfect end to
our ethnic adventure. From here, we
jumped on I-95 at Eastern Avenue
and caught the beltway back home.
And, what a wonderful dinner we
had!
51 Kane St., 410-633-5500,
primafoodsinc.com.
Charm City
IIt seems that every time I’m looking
to go out to dinner, the same old
question comes up: “Where to go?”
It’s so easy to get into a rut and go to
the same restaurants all the time due
to the familiarity and the comfort of
knowing what to expect. But what
fun is that? Baltimore is loaded with
wonderful, creative restaurants; however,
it feels risky to try somewhere
new, knowing that you may drop $50
or so on dinner and be disappointed.
So, how about sampling a few
places without committing to dinner?
Culinary tours offer just this type of
opportunity, and recently, my partner
and I participated in one by Charm
City Chews (charmcitychews.com),
owned by Baltimorean Sharon Reuter.
Reuter puts together a fun and interesting
food tour that not only allows
you to sample some culinary treats
but also provides some interesting
historical facts. We opted for Reuter’s
“A Little Italy, A Little Not” tour
where for $45, Reuter took us to five
restaurants. The well-organized, professional,
yet casual, tour lasted about
2 ½ hours, and Reuter keeps the
group size small to provide a personal
experience.
We met Reuter and the other four
attendees (two from Baltimore, two
from Philadelphia) at the first stop
on the Little Italy tour, Isabella’s on
South High Street. The small popular
eatery is known for its brick oven
pizza and paninis and since it was a
nice day, Reuter took us to the adjacent
bocce court where we enjoyed a
delicious “Sonny,” a sandwich made
with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, basil
and olive oil. Here Reuter explained
to us how Italians ended up living in
Charm City Chews provides handy carry-out containers. Photo by Paul K. Williams.
this neighborhood and then showed
us the house where Nancy Pelosi lived.
Next up was La Tavola on Albemarle
Street. We sat down in the elegant
dining room and feasted on gnocchi
with a mild Gorgonzola cream sauce.
Everything here is made fresh (we, in
fact, saw a woman making gnocchi as
we passed by the kitchen). The portions
were huge, and Reuter cleverly
brings Chinese takeout-style boxes
with her logo on them to take leftovers
home. As we ate, Reuter explained the
history of Gorgonzola cheese.
For a non-Italian experience, we
headed to Max’s Empanadas, and
enjoyed wonderful Argentine chorizo,
cheese and walnut empanadas along
with a glass of malbec wine. We
learned that Max came to Baltimore
to teach tango and ended up opening
a restaurant. In continuation
of the non-Italian theme, Mustang
Alley’s was next – a beautiful, upscale
bowling alley housed in a former
Confederate hospital. Along the
way, Reuter explained why Central
Street is so wide – a canal used to run
underneath. The filet mignon sliders
paired with the Mustang Ale was
delicious. We also got to go behind
the scenes and see how to reset the
bowling pins.
Our last stop was Piedigrotta
Bakery, where cannolis, cookies
and espresso drinks were served.
This charming bakery is owned by
Carminantonio and Bruna Iannaccone,
and Carminantonio is credited with
the invention of tiramisu!
All in all, we learned a lot, met
new friends and ate more than our
share of delicious food. And, as
Reuter points out, “It takes you out
of your comfort zone to try new
places.”
68 Mason-Dixon ARRIVE | APRIL 2011 Mason-Dixon ARRIVE | APRIL 2011 69