Sign up for our newsletters   

Baltimore City Paper home.
Print Email

Eat Feature

Y is for Yeast

Baltimore Brewing Company · Big Sky Bread Co. · Stone Mill Bakery · Ellicott Mills Brewing Company · Capitol City Brewing Co.

John Davis Jr.

Eat Special Issue 1999

Alphabet Soup We know where we like to go for a good burger--and we'll bet you do too. Or a good omelet. Or a good...

A is for Appetizers The Helmand · Café Madrid · Henninger's Tavern · Café Zen · Grand Palace · Morgan Millard · Al Pacino Café · Sarah's Café · Iola Café

B is for Breakfast Jimmy's · Blue Moon Café · Golden West Café · Morning Edition Café · Helen's Garden Café · Hull Street Blues Café · Loco Hombre · Weber's on Boston · Suburban House

C is for Carry-out DiPasquale's · Cosmos · Rotisseria · Chow Mein Charlie's · Chokchai · Thairish · Caribbean Kitchen · Viccino's · Michaelangelo's · The Roost

D is for Dessert Vaccaro's · Cheesecake Factory · Adrian's Book Café · Moxley's · Louie's Bookstore Café · Coney Island

E is for Expensive Charleston · The Black Olive · Milton Inn · Polo Grill · Chart House · Oregon Grille

F is for Frugal Pete's Grill · Trolley Stop · Fazzini's Italian Kitchen · jr. · Rallo's · Mamie's Café · Caribbean Food Carry Out · Silk Road Café · Frisco Burritos · Winterling's · Valley View Inn · Fresh

G is for Guilty Pleasures Anne's Dari-Creme · Howard's Delly · Maria D's · Johnny Rockets · Thrasher's · Steak Out Express · New System Bakery · Krispy Kreme

H is for Happy Hour The Brewer's Art · Mick O'Shea's · Brass Elephant · Speakeasy Saloon · Calvert House · Nick's Inner Harbor Seafood Co.

I is for Incendiary Sushi Café · Ko Hyang · Joung Kak · Thai Landing · Sisson's · Café Tattoo · Austin Grill

J is for Java Needful Things · The Hidden Bean · City Café · Donna's · Empire Café · Xando · The Daily Grind

K is for Kids Friendly Farm · Hacienda Mexican Restaurant · Fuddruckers · Overlea Diner · Funk's Democratic Coffee House and Bistro · Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon

L is for Lunch Women's Industrial Exchange · Sascha's Daily · Mughal Garden · Akbar · Bombay Grill · Nate's and Leon's · Snyder's Cafe and Deli

M is for Meat Prime Rib · Shula's Steakhouse · Ruth's Chris Steak House · Alonso's · The Crease · Bill Bateman's · Lenny's · Attman's · Boomerang Pub

N is for New School Joy America Café · Spike and Charlie's · Sotta Sopra · La Tavola · Opa! · Viccino Bistro · Café Pangea

O is for Old School Haussner's · Tio Pepe's · Ikaros · Acropolis · Bo Brooks · Forest Diner · Angelina's · Kawasaki · Thai Restaurant · Perring Place Restaurant · Sanders Corner · Sabatino's · Matthew's Pizzaria 

P is for Pub Grub Peter's Inn · Simon's Pub · Duda's · Sobo Café · Koco's Pub · Kisling's · McCabe's · Dougherty's Pub · Charles Village Pub

Q is for Quirks Holy Frijoles · Ye Olde Malt Shoppe/Earl's Beauty Inn · Tamber's Nifty Fifties Dining · Captain James Landing

R is for Romantic Corks · Pierpoint · Banjara · Ambassador Dining Room · Tersiguel's

S is for Seafood Gunning's Crab House · Gunning's Seafood Restaurant · Faidley's Seafood · Legal Sea Foods · John Steven Ltd. · Anne Arundel Seafood · G&M Restaurant · Mo's Fisherman's Exchange · Bill's Terrace Inn · Bay Caf

T is for Tourists Waterfront · Hollywood Diner · Café Hon · Obrycki's · Bertha's · Lista's · McCormick and Schmick's · Wharf Rat · Gallery Sandwich Shoppe · Hard Rock Café · Planet Hollywood · ESPN Zone

U is for United Nations Restaurant · Silk Road · Braznell's Caribbean Kitchen · Orchard Market and Café · Ze Mean Bean Café · Saigon · House of Kabob · Desert Café · Restaurante San Luis · Little Havana · Café

V is for Vegetarian Golden Temple · Liquid Earth · One World Café · Wild Mushroom · Puffins · Sin Carne · Village Market

W is for Worth the Drive Captain Billy's · Captain John's · Cantler's Riverside Inn · Gabler's · Baugher's Family Restaurant · Rudy's 2900 · Olney Ale House

X is for XXL New No Da Ji · The Yellow Bowl · Micah's Cafeteria · Cactus Willie's

Y is for Yeast Baltimore Brewing Company · Big Sky Bread Co. · Stone Mill Bakery · Ellicott Mills Brewing Company · Capitol City Brewing Co.

Z is for ZZZ Sip & Bite · Double T Diner · Valentino's · Star Light Diner · Bel-Loc Diner · Gampy's · Nam Kang

Posted 2/24/1999

OK, it's the 25th letter. We're all tired. Here's where this alphabet concept gets stretched to the breaking point. (Hey, you're just lucky we rejected "D is for Doesn't Fit Into Any Other Category.") It's where we jam two, two, two kinds of food-related establishments into one specially constructed category jerry-built on the shaky foundation of yeast, which is itself the foundation of two of our favorite things: bread and beer, the latter of which gets us all, uh, shaky. So, it's, like, bakeries and brewpubs, get it? OK, smart-ass, you try doing a dining guide and see how easy it is.

OK, so we've been known to quaff a few. All right, maybe more than a few. But with all those suds comes so much wisdom--such as knowing to avoid the every-bar-has-it fare (nachos, blackened tuna) on the menu at Baltimore Brewing Company (104 Albemarle St., [410] 837-5000) and opting instead for the Teutonic cuisine favored by the joint's owner, Theo DeGroen. The three-sausages platter (your choice of weisswurst, bratwurst, knackwurst, or nurnburger) tantalizes, as do its accompanying freshly made sauerkraut and roasted potatoes. Kassler Rippchen goes perfectly with either the smoky rauchbock or the malty or the märzen. Now, if they'd just open a BBC near our office.

Among its many charms, Roland Park is home to two great bakeries. For sandwich-making bread, we recommend Big Sky Bread Company (509 W. Cold Spring Lane, [410]662-6070), which turns out mighty fine Wyoming sourdough, honey whole wheat, cinnamon raisin walnut, challah, and more. The loaves change day to day, so call ahead if you're set on one flavor. Stone Mill Bakery (5127 Roland Ave., [410] 532-8669), just a stone's throw away, makes great fancy, grown-up breads. We've never made it all the way home without tearing a hunk off a well-textured just-bought baguette. Stone Mill also boasts a café, where you can order chicken salad, roast turkey, and various sandwich stuffs served on fresh-baked bread. Both places made their name with bread, but both also turn out fine muffins, danishes, and assorted goodies (don't miss Big Sky's great granola).

When it comes to that ubiquitous '90s gift to drinking, brewpubs, it can be hard to separate the hops from the chaff, but the pilsners, stouts, and ales at the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company (8308 Main St., Ellicott City, [410] 313-8141) are worth a trip to the Howard County seat's antique-shop-laden main drag. Ellicott Mills has won much praise for its Alpenhof Dunkel, and deservedly so--this medium-bodied dark beer is one of the smoothest microbrews we've ever sampled. When the weather turns warmer, though, switch over to the light, yeasty Hellas brew.

Baltimore has always been gallons ahead of Washington on the brewpub front. So when a branch of D.C.'s Capitol City Brewing Co. (301 Light St. [Harborplace], [410] 539-7468) landed at the Inner Harbor, some local beer nerds turned up their noses with outrage. They should have opened their mouths instead. Not only does Cap City crank out some tasty beers (the Blackout Stout is the next best thing to Guinness), but the menu is diverse and pleasing, from a fat bratwurst sandwich to various fancy-pants salads.

Related stories

Eat Feature archives

More Stories

Price Point (3/3/2010)
EAT: City Paper's annual dining guide

Central (3/3/2010)

Harbor Area (3/3/2010)

Comments powered by Disqus

Calendar

Restaurants