Brian Lawrence Live
Wed., June 3
I met up with my media gang for dinner at the new Velleggia’s this evening, now located downtown on Water Street. It was a bit strange to be dining there the same day that the beloved original restaurant was being auctioned off in Little Italy as part of foreclosure proceedings (it didn’t sell). My chicken cacciatore was excellent, but the whole evening I couldn’t help but think of the many Friday nights I’d spent in this space back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s when it was the Water Street Exchange, and happy hour on Water Street was the only place to be on Fridays. At its peak, as I recall, there were 5 bars either directly on Water Street or across the street that fed the Friday happy hour madness. Now, only Peter’s Pour House remains to service the paltry crowds that might show up after work. In its heyday, the Water Street Exchange would be packed to the rafters with the young professional crowd occupying every square foot of floor space and spilling out into the street. A strange juxtaposition to this evening, when the fledgling restaurant is dark, quiet, and host to a scant three other tables besides ours. After the gang departed, I headed to Federal Hill to Corvino, where I spent the next hour and half catching up with owner Brian McComas, who filled me in on his upcoming plans to open a steakhouse in South Baltimore and a Mexican restaurant in Federal Hill. He also introduced me to one of the new house cocktails, the Hillsider, made with Hendrick’s gin, simple syrup, soda and cucumber. Tasty! I don’t even like gin, but Hendrick’s, with its subtle cucumber essence, is good, and makes a great backdrop for this summertime libation.
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