Brian Lawrence Live
Tues., Sept. 29
Did a two-fer tonight at M&T Bank Stadium. First-up, stopped by for the cocktail hour at the Baltimore Visionary Awards Dinner honoring Art Modell. At the VIP reception, held in the stadium’s south club lounge, I greeted Art & Pat Modell as well as Ravens PR director Kevin Byrne. As the dinner portion of the evening was getting under way, we made our way from there over to the north club lounge, where the ‘Two Rings for O.J.’ event was going on. It was a 40th birthday party for former Raven O.J. Brigance and fundraiser for Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which Brigance was diagnosed with two years ago. Upon walking in, we passed Joe Flacco, Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis on their way out. Inside, I caught up with former kicker Matt Stover, who I hadn’t seen in a while, as well as Spenser Folau and former punter Kyle Richardson. In the course of the evening I also talked with friends Susan Goodell, Mary Beth Marsden, Vince Fiduccia and Diane & Larry Macklin. Definitely a nice party for a good cause.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/30/09 at 11:45 AM
Sept. 21-26
On Monday evening, a group of foodie friends had dinner at the new Italian restaurant, Pizzazz, located in the Pier 5 Hotel. Our outdoor table overlooked the harbor and each course that came out of the kitchen was wonderful. The bonus for the evening was running into friends Edie & Stan Brown and Paula Rome & Tony Hawkins at an adjoining table. The combination of good friends and a perfect late-summer night made for a nice evening.
On Tues. night, I met my pal Todd Yuhanick for dinner at Phillip’s downtown. I hadn’t dined there in some years, but Todd introduced me to the newly-installed chef, Arturo, who has been at some great restaurants in both Miami and L.A. He has some big ideas for Phillips— keep an eye on it. On Thurs. night I met some pals for dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse, then capped off the evening with a stop-by at new Hampden favorite, 13.5% Wine Bar, which was buzzing.
Friday found us meeting up with friends on the plaza at Power Plant Live for the Gin Blossoms show, then it was over to the VIP opening party for the new club/lounge, Mist. The Jetset Mafia boys, Bobby Dyer and Rob, have done a complete renovation on the space (formerly Iguana Cantina) and it’s now sleek and slick. Spent the evening hanging with friends Ayda Said, Denis Nash and Kevin Wesner, before heading over to Pazo, to join friends Tracy Kwiatkowski, Patrick Sutton, Tiffany Zappulla, Christian Johannsson, Jill Goldberg and a bunch more— it seems like everyone was back from summer holidays and ready to put the fall social scene into motion.
Saturday afternoon was spent at the Shawan Downs steeplechase, and ran into tons of people there, including Jim Burger, A.T. Ward, Willis Macgill, Cristen Pascucci, Ian Robbins, Mona Hajj, Stiles Colwill, Susan Perrin, Diane & Larry Macklin and many more. The Southsides tasted a bit off, but a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon saved the day. The crowd was on the small side this year, but a huge improvement over last year’s torrential downpours. After a brief cocktail at Sullivan’s, Sat. night was spent at the Archdiocese Inaugural Gala at the Hyatt. My pal Mikey Monaghan was on hand making sure everything went smoothly. At the dinner table, I got to catch up with Channel 2’s Jamie Costello and local sportscasting legend Vince Bagli over dinner, as well as Legg Mason’s Mark Fetting later on.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/29/09 at 09:37 AM
Wed. Sept. 16
Did double duty tonight, starting off at a private reception and tasting one of my favorites, The Capital Grille. Gracious owner/manager Jimmy Kinney had invited a group 30 or so to sample some of the new fall menu items, including butternut squash soup, jumbo prawns and pumpkin cheesecake— all wonderful. Grabbing my usual, a Stoli Doli martini, I mingled with the other guests, including Diane & Larry Macklin, Ed Norris and his radio sidekick Maynard, Anne Boone Simanski, Randi Rom, Eddie Applefeld, Celeste Corsaro, Amy Burke from Profiles and retired Raven Michael McCrary. Then it was off to Bourbon Street for the annual City Paper ‘Best Of’ party. There, over the thumping dance beats, I caught up with my friends, CP publisher Don Farley and advertising director Jenn Marsh, as well as filmmaker Dru Bynum, Jamie Campbell of Shine Collective, Ben Greenwald and Jon Wilkin. This party makes me feel older every year— sigh.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/21/09 at 03:02 PM
Sept. 9 & 10
My buddy John Warnack is the general manager at The Center Club, and the club is just reopening after being closed for two months for a floor-to-ceiling renovation (its first since opening in the early ‘80s). The design is an unqualified success, and the ‘80s power-maroons have been replaced by soothing tones of blue. There’s a swank new barroom, too. John invited me to the reopening party, where 200+ guests took it all in. I traded comments with lots of people at the party, including John’s wife Heather Harlan, who writes for the BBJ, DBED’s Chistian Johannsson and Monyca Berrocosa. We’ll be doing a big photo feature on the renovation in the Nov. issue of Style.
Then on Thursday, I stopped by Alizee at The Colonnade for a press cocktail party to introduce new chef Christian deLutis. Daniel Raffel, the general manager thrust a martini into my hand and I stepped in to say hello to Christian, whom I’ve known since his days in the kitchens at Corks and the Wine Market. Aside from lots of savory bites, Christian had also roasted a small pig, which he was carving from. Lots of other foodies and press types were there, including pals Anne Boone Simanski, Dara Bunjon, Eddie Applefeld, Celeste Corsaro and Tracy Ward. A few of us retired to the private wine room across the hall to relax, then I said my goodbyes and headed down to Blue Hill Tavern to join Denis Nash, Tracy Kwiatkowski, Scooter Holt and a few others to to toast Tiffany Zappulla‘s birthday. A very nice evening, indeed.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/11/09 at 04:52 PM
Friday, Sept. 4
Started the evening by meeting some friends at Ra Sushi for a bite, then headed over to Pazo to have our favorite bartenders Carmen and Tracy mix up some Vodka Tonics. In our little posse we have Erica Fried, DJ Lamdin and Tiffany Zappulla. Rob from Jet Set Mafia had sent me an invitation to a party being held jointly by homeboys b-baller Carmelo Anthony and singer Mario, to benefit the Carmelo Anthony Foundation. The party was being held in the empty Gaines McHale space at Harbor East, and when we strolled up at 10:30, there was already quite a queue to get in. Drinks featuring the new Belvedere IX were flowing from bars all around, and I spotted Bobby Dyer from Jetset rushing around attending to details, as well as Marta Lopushanska. Got to chat with committee members Jim Seay and Pat Turner, as well as Sara Ingram, Jeanine Turner, Dave Schleider and Sue Heisler as well. By the time we left an hour later, the place was pretty well packed, and there was till quite a few people waiting to get in— the sure sign of a successful event.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/09/09 at 01:49 PM
Monday, Aug. 31
I was in foodie heaven today, with lunch at The Wine Market in Locust Point and dinner at Lebanese Taverna in Harbor East. Wine Market owner Chris Spann invited me to lunch along with about a dozen other foodies to mark the 5th anniversary of the restaurant. We got a delicious sneak peek at the upcoming fall menu, courtesy of chef Jason Lear. It was a 5-course extravaganza, replete with excellent wines from Black Ankle Vineyards near Frederick. First up, a chilled beet soup with dill pollen cream, curry oil and spearmint. Next, Provencal shellfish stew with poached black cod, fennel and mussel broth; then, fried potato-crusted organic chicken with yellow split pea panisse, carrot mustard puree and swiss chard; then it was on to a fourth course, herb-roasted Wagyu beef tenderloin with heirloom tomato ceviche, tempura white asparagus and avacado mousee. For dessert: tempura fried pineapple, basil panna cotta and lychee broth. Others fawning over such a decadent spread were The Sun‘s Rob Kasper and Clinton Macsherry, food writer Martha Thomas, and Nanny Warren and Carter Polakoff from the Baltimore School for the Arts. The Wine Market will be celebrating with a special three courses for $25 menu throughout the month of Sept.
For dinner, I joined friends Anne Boone Simanski, Eddie Applefeld, Diane Macklin, Randi Rom and Celeste Corsaro for dinner at Lebanese Taverna. I’ve always told anyone who’d listen that this is the best hummus to be had in town, hands-down. It didn’t disappoint, and the rest of the meal was equally good. It’s also one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the city, I think— beautifully spare yet cosmopolitan. After feasting there, we sauntered over to Talara for some after-dinner drinks and said hello to Ari Cohen, the asst. general manager there. The Monday evening salsa dancing session was in full swing and fun to watch. No dancing for me, though.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/03/09 at 03:55 PM
Thurs. Aug. 27
My PR gal pal Edie Brown invited me and several other B-more foodies to dinner this evening at City Cafe. The owners, Gino Cardinale and Bruce Bodie have just finished a complete renovation of the space, and it looks better than ever. There’s still a chic coffee bar up front, but the rear and upper level dining rooms are really the stars of the show. I joined Dara Bunjon and Eddie Applefeld for a superb dinner, and met new chef Chad Gauss, who is turning out some top-rate meals here. My favorite— the “TV Dinner”: Kobe beef Salisbury steak with pan gravy, mashed potatoes, a 5-way vegetable succotash and a chocolate brownie!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/03/09 at 09:53 AM
