Arts and Entertainment
Necrology
Restaurants That Died
Not every restaurant made it through the year intact. The two big closings came recently. Four West, the sophisticated restaurant that replaced the long-running Polo Grille in the Colonnade, closed up shop after a valiant but challenging run. And Spike and Charlie’s, the jazzy joint that really knew its way around a duck, called it quits after years of satisfying the symphony crowd and numberless other cosmopolites. Other closings included Canton’s Blu, which had moved into the off-the-beaten-path space vacated by Mangia, Mangia; Montego Bay Grille, which had taken over a space previously held by Chester’s Steak House, the Fishery, and Spanish Meson; Caffe Brio, which had gamely moved into the Federal Hill location first tenanted by One World Café, and which is now Metropolitan Coffee House and Winebar; Mount Vernon’s Center City, now Dionysus, and formerly the Yours Mine and Ours Café; and, very sadly, Greektown’s ShamDanai’s Chicken-n-Waffle House, leaving vacant several future categories in our annual Best of Baltimore poll.
