Brian Lawrence Live
Wed., May 26
I got a last-minute invitation from my friend, PR maven Lisa Shenkle, to a cocktail reception aboard the HMS Sutherland, docked at the Broadway pier in Fells Point. The frigate of the British Royal Navy is in town for a few days and was throwing a reception for approximately 50 people. I called my buddy Jim Burger to tag along and we proceeded to have blast. I talked to several of the ship’s staff, including a husband and wife duo (she’s stationed on the Sutherland; he’s on duty on a Royal submarine). (Funny thing about the Brits and their aversion to ice. All drinks are mixed without ice unless you specifically ask for it; if asked, they will drop 2 or 3 tiny shavings in.) Ice or not, the V&Ts were perfect in the 94-degree heat. After a dramatic sunset flag lowering ritual complete with marching, formations and swords, we hopped off the boat and headed half a block up Broadway to Tapas Adela, where Downtown Diane‘s “Sex and the City 2” party was in progress. The front room was packed with lots of lovely ladies, among them: Sloane Brown, Anne Boone Simanski, Katie Simanski, Sue Heisler, Lisa Schatz and Celeste Corsaro. Lisa Shenkle and husband Rick Schiappacasse joined in as well.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/28/10 at 02:17 PM
May 19-22
Lots going on this past week: First, on Wed., I joined some fellow media peeps at the B&O American Brasserie to sample some of master mixologist Brendan Dorr‘s new springtime elixirs. Our group of 10 or so included notorious bon vivant Jim Burger, Jess Blumberg from Baltimore magazine and Cindy Plackmeyer, who blogs on Baltimore bars for Examiner.com. We had nine libations to get through, not counting the sparkling rose we had as we waited for the group to assemble. Of the nine, two stood out for me: the Chamomile Fizz and the Remedy (also, look for the Queen Bee, Boxcar Beer #2, Platform, Santa Fe Railway, Modena Market cocktail, A-Train and Coconut Milk Punch). After that group disbanded, a few more friends came by and we took over a table in the restaurant and ordered dinner and a few more rounds, staying long into the spring evening.
The following day a 3 o’clock, a group of a dozen or so media foodies met up in Fells Point for the inaugural Charm City Food Tour, led by Celeste Corsaro. For the next three and a half hours, we walked from stop to stop, taking in lots of local history, fun food facts and tasty food and beverage samplings along the way. Bill Irwin greeted us at Kooper’s Tavern, where we sampled slider burgers, we had half a pint of pale ale at the Wharf Rat, Grand Marnier shots at One-Eyed Mike’s, and were greeted by the venerable Marc Dettori at The Black Olive. Other stops included the Broadway Market, Stuggy’s and Meli. What a fun (and filling!) afternoon.
On Friday, I was at the benefit happy hour outside on the patio at the Capital Grille for a benefit called Bowties & Bourbon, sponsored by Quinntessential Gentleman. QG owner Craig Martin greeted me warmly and pointed out the five different types of bourbons being poured and the large selection of cigars there for party guests. Now this is a Friday evening happy hour pattern I could get used to.
And on Saturday, I was one of the 1,800 ticketholders for the ‘Evening with Anthony Bourdain & Eric Ripert’ at the HIppodrome. Introduced by MIX 106’s Reagan Warfield, the two TV chefs entertained the audience with witty (and sometimes hilariously profane) tales and musings on their experiences in the restaurant business. That was followed by a Q&A with the audience. In the crowd: Lisa Schatz, Tom Brinkley, Kevin Miller, Stacy Murray, Jamie & Meg Kelley, Richard Gorelick and Dara Bunjon. After that, we headed down to the main lobby for the Baltimore Foodie Experience, where 20 local chefs and restaurants were doing tastings and samplings while Mambo Combo played. Unfortunately it was jammed, and the sampling lines were so long that we decided to have dinner out instead.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/24/10 at 05:51 PM
Wed.,May 12
Today I headed downtown to the Inner Harbor to join some fellow media peeps for the introduction of the Harbor’s newest attraction: the new Seadog boat tours. I boarded the Spirit of Baltimore and was greeted by Amy Taubenfeld and Dot Fuchs. Tom Noonan took a few minutes to talk about the new attraction, then I joined pals Anne Boone Simanski and Diane Macklin for a nice luncheon before they invited all of us out onto one of the new Seadog boats. The boats give guests a waterview tour of major Baltimore attractions, then turn speedboat—heading out into the bay for some highspeed racing over the water. Look for these slick boats all over the water downtown this summer!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/20/10 at 12:10 PM
May 3-10
Springtime brings a slew of benefits, and Style has been on the scene at most of them. On Monday, May 3, I headed downtown to the Renaissance Harborplace hotel for Meals On Wheels’ 18th Annual Culinary Extravaganza. I met up with my ‘Socially Speaking’ pal, Anne Boone Simanski for the VIP cocktail reception before the main event started. Lots of the city’s best chefs participate in this event, but the stand-outs for me this time were Winston Blick of Clementine, Barry Fleischmann of Innovative Gourmet and Jerry Edwards of Chef’s Expressions— really excellent food. Lots of folks were enjoying the food— including Style publisher Andy Buerger, designer Rita St. Clair and sculptor Joe Sheppard. I also caught up with Charm City “pie guy” Rodney Henry of Dangerously Delicious Pies, serving up several different types of tasty pie— I had to try them all.
Saturday, May 8 found us at the 24th Annual black tie Benefit Gala for Centerstage. in the crush of people sipping Southsides during the cocktail hour, we chatted with Terry Morgenthaler & Patrick Kerins, Charisse Nichols, Jennifer Marsh, Lee Kappelman, Carolyn O’Keefe, Suzan Garabedian, Sloane Brown and Steve Sobelman. Then we skipped over to the Capital Grille, where our favorite bar server, Sandra Defino, set us up with a sweet spot at the bar to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs and nibble on steak tartare, filet sliders and truffle fries. A nightcap at 13.5% Wine Bar finished us off.
On Monday night, May 10, I attended the benefit dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse for Matt Birk‘s HIKE Foundation. Seven Baltimore Ravens players were on hand to act as food servers for the sell-out crowd of more than 200— including Birk, Michael Oher, and QB Joe Flacco, who chewed gum throughout the evening as he greeted fans and posed for pictures. In the crowd.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/12/10 at 01:12 PM
Mon/Wed, April 26/28
On Monday evening, I headed up to the Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley to this year’s annual Great Chefs’ Dinner, with chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli of NYC’s Butter. I got there at 5 p.m. to participate as a table judge for the design competition, and also to pick out my favorites to be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Then the cocktail reception kicked in and the evening sped by. This event always draws lots of familiar faces and the ballroom’s 40 tables were full to overflowing. We were seated at the “Mad Men” table, which was really fun and creative. The design theme for the evening was New York City, and plenty of the tables did an eye-catching job of making that a reality.
Then on Wednesday night, I joined my foodie gang for dinner at the Mt. Washington Tavern. Owner Rob Frisch and marketing/events maven Mikey Monaghan were there to greet us and lead us up to our private table in the open-air Skybar. There, we were treated to course after course of great food. Favorites: the beet salad, Philly cheesesteak spring rolls and the scallops.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/04/10 at 10:53 AM
