Brian Lawrence Live

Monday, June 2
I headed down to AVAM this evening to check out the Taste of the Nation fundraiser, where some of Baltimore’s top restaurants donated their time and their best dishes to help the cause to prevent childhood hunger. Restaurants like Red Maple, Capital Grille, VIN, Kali’s Court and IXIA all had stand-out dishes to be sampled. A number of national brand liquors and wines were also on hand to serve up samples– the concoctions being offered by Woodford Reserve Bourbon were particularly tasty. I hung out with a contingent of media mavens for part of the evening: Downtown Diane, Sloane Brown from The Sun, Anne Boone Simanski from The Examiner, Reagan Warfield from Mix 106, Eddie Applefeld from WCBM and photographer Jim Burger. I also got to hang with some of my pals in the restaurant business like Jerry Pellegrino of Corks and Karen Patten of Kali’s Court/Mezze. I also compared notes with friends like Karen Tong from Nevins Associates, Marc Kantrowitz and Patti Neuman. Everyone agreed, it was an enjoyable evening for a good cause.