Brian Lawrence Live

Sunday, March 16
Joined up with a group of friends for a great brunch at the recently re-opened Abacrombie today— Jack Hoffberger, Tracy Kwiatkowski, Denis Nash, Tiffany Zappulla, and Melissa Lembo. We started out with rounds of mimosas, then dug into the highly interesting menu. My pal Jerry Pellegrino, owner of Cork’s in Federal Hill, recently took over this mid-town gem and it’s a perfect spot for dinner or weekend brunch. Eventually Jerry sat down and joined us, then Chris Whisted (co-owner of Little Havana) came by as well. Because it was St. Patrick’s Parade Day, I thought we might meander over to the parade after brunch, but Jerry kept sending out new bottles of wine to try, and then someone ordered an entire platter of the sinful mac-n-cheese, and the next thing you know, it’s six hours later. 

Saturday, March 15
It wouldn’t be spring without Jim & Anne Burger’s annual party to kick-start the season. The house, in the Evergreen neighborhood (also known as Alonsoville), was packed to the rafters by the time I arrived at 5 o’clock. After being greeted by the host, I settled in for some keg beer and conversations with guests writer Neil A. Grauer, TV producer Mary Ellen Iwata, photographer J.M. Giordano, Kathy Hudson & Greg Otto, Chris DiPietro, Melissa Lembo and Denis Nash. Things were working their way to frenzy level by the time I left an hour and a half later.

Friday, March 14
After meeting friends for some cocktails at Junior’s on the early side, we breezed by the grand re-opening party for Mosaic at Power Plant Live this evening. The beautiful club is now almost twice as large, with an entirely new entry way and new separate bar area, additional lounge areas and an upstairs VIP room. Look for photos from the party to be posted soon on the ‘Style Seen’ area of the Style Web site.

Monday, March 10
IXIA was the place to be this evening for a private party to introduce Kubler Swiss Absinthe to the Baltimore market. I arrived around 8 o’clock with pals Celeste Corsaro and Denis Nash and was immediately greeted by IXIA general manager James Markiewicz. Inside, guests could choose from among 8 different absinthe cocktails and delectables like miniature cheesteaks, mini foie gras burgers, mini grilled cheese sandwiches and mini crab cakes. This long-forbidden liquor is now legally available in the U.S. again after a long prohibition and it was flowing freely. Guests could choose to sip it in the classic form: taking a glass with a shot of the absinthe and holding it under a clear glass dispensary jar and pouring cold water over a sugar cube balanced on a slotted filter and into the absinthe to create a pale green drink known as “the green fairy.” Local makeup artist Jen Seidel-Walsh was on hand to body-paint three topless “fairies” who flitted amongst the crowd. I met Rich Dorkin of Blackmint Distilleries, who are bringing Kubler to the U.S. It was a media-heavy crowd; in the course of the evening I spoke with Edie Brown, Helga Surratt of About Faces, ‘Downtown Diane’ Macklin, Anne Boone Simanski of the Baltimore Examiner, Marty & Sharon Bass, WMIX’s morning guy Reagan Warfield, Amy Burke, and food blogger Rachael Rappaprt and her husband Matt. Washington Post writer William Wan was there as well, and wrote a feature story about it in today’s Post.

Monday, March 3
Tonight I’m at the Baltimore School for the Arts annual Expressions evening. The show features performances by some of the school’s most talented students and is always a crowd pleaser. I missed the Saturday night show (which alum Christian Siriano of ‘Project Runway’ attended) because I was in Vegas for the weekend, so I’m happy that I can get to see it tonight. My buddy Sam Polikoff has been helping to organize these events for years now, and they’re always great evenings. I get to talk with Larry Polikoff, Brooks Amiot, Patrick Sutton, Edie Brown, Andy and Jenn Buerger, Scooter Holt and Mikey Monaghan during the cocktail hour before the show starts. Afterward, a few of us trek over to the bar at Sotto Sopra. I say hello to owner Riccardo Bosio, and chat with Kathleen and Tracy Ward, Bill Struever and Doreen Bolger at the bar as well.

Thursday, Feb. 28
Although it’s been open for a few weeks, Ra Sushi at Harbor East had its Grand Opening Party this evening. The party had an ‘80s theme, and I was asked to be one of three judges for the awesome ‘80s costume contest. I even pulled my original black leather skinny necktie out of mothballs for the occasion. Predictably there were tons of Madonnas, Miami Vice dudes, and preppies. Kudos to the Belinda Carlisle dancer and Lisa Lisa lookalike chicks. The vintage music was awesome and the crowd (many of whom were BORN in the ‘80s!) really got into it. Great party.

Thursday, Feb. 21
Spent an hour at the latest Smalltimore event this evening at Lemongrass. Too bad I had to leave after an hour to get to another engagement. Several hundred people showed up, and while I was there, I got to catch up with J.M. Giordano, Mimi Kapiloff, Sandra Creamer, Tom Brinkley, Christian Johansson and Keiffer Mitchell.

Monday, Feb. 18
My talented friend John Marsh is having an opening show of his new works, entitled “God” this evening at The Brewer’s Art. A nice crowd turned out to support him, but the most amusing part of the evening was the one older, disheveled-looking guest who (seriously) loaded up his plate with cheese, crackers and dip AT LEAST 9 TIMES. No one recognized him; perhaps a hungry bum who just wandered into the reception and decided to load up on food?

Sunday, Feb. 17
I got a group of 6 friends together to go to the Charm City Roller Girls match at the Armory today. We showed up a few minutes after the 4 p.m. start time and were discouraged to see multiple lines wrapped around the outside of the structure. It was cold outside and starting to rain. We left in disgust. Too bad the event couldn’t have been better organized to prevent this kind of nonsense.

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