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Eat Feature

Sweet Surrender

Cheesecake Factory · Vaccaro's · Café Hon · Riverside Roastery and Espresso

Sam Holden
Vaccaro's

Eat Special Issue 1998

The Hours and the Times A Day in the Life of Baltimore Dining

Woke Up, Got Out of Bed Pete's Grille · Blue Moon Café and Espresso Bar · Bel-Loc Diner · Suburban House · Golden West Café · Cinnamon House · Jimmy's Restaurant

Baltimore, the City that Brunches Morning Edition Café · Weber's on Boston · Loco Hombre · Regi's American Bistro · Louie's Bookstore Café · Mount Vernon Stable and Saloon · Hull Street Blues · Grand Palace

The Noon Whistle Women's Industrial Exchange · Thairish · Silk Road Café · Suzie's Soba · Faidley's Seafood · Caribbean Kitchen · Minato Japanese Restaurant · The Bridge · Silk Road · Troia Bistro at the Walters · Caf

Meet Me at the Trough New No Da Ji · Sushi Chalet · Mughal Garden · Akbar · Bombay Grill · Attman's Authentic New York Delicatessen · The Roost · The Yellow Bowl · Micah's Cafeteria

Not Now, I'm on Break The Daily Grind · Funk's Democratic Coffee Spot · Donna's Coffee Bar · City Café · Java Joe's · One World Café · Strand Cybercafé · Coney Island

Get Happy Brass Elephant · Neon Moon · Globe Brewing Co. · The Brewer's Art · The Wharf Rat · John Steven, Ltd. · Kisling's · J.C.'s Bar and Grill · Nick's Inner Harbour Seafood Co. · Birds of a Feather · Bertha's

The Dinner Bell Breakfast is about responsibility, lunch is about sustenance, but dinner . . . dinner is about oppor...

Old Baltimore Haussner's · Martick's · Sabatino's · Da Mimmo · Palmer House · Gunning's Crab House · Bo Brooks · Obrycki's · Ikaros · Uncle Lee's Szechuan Restaurant · Tony Cheng's Szechuan Restaurant · Jerry's Bel

Road Kill The Fine Art of Dining à la Curb | By Joe MacLeod

New Baltimore Joy American Café · Sotto Sopra · Zodiac · Holy Frijoles · Corks · The Wild Mushroom · Jr. · Ruby Lounge

New Old Baltimore Winterling's · Mamie's Café · The Trolley Stop · Morgan Millard · Bay Breeze · Owl Bar · La Tavola · Opa

Big Night Baltimore The Black Olive · Tersiguel's · Kings Contrivance · Rudy's 2900 · Pierpoint · The Prime Rib · Tio Pepe's

TV Dinners Mediterranean Palace · Sushi Café · Iola Café · Al Pacino Café · Ledo Pizza · Tamber's Nifty Fifties Dining · Banjara/Singh Express · Chokchai

Out-of-Town Baltimore Braznell's Caribbean Kitchen · Saigon Restaurant · Thai Restaurant · Matsuri · Lisa's Cofee House · Ze Mean Bean Café · Blue Nile · Azeb's Ethiopian Restaurant · The Helmand · Ariana Restaurant

Out-of-Towner Baltimore Hard Rock Café · Baltimore Brewing Co. · Waterfront · Lista's · Joe Theismann's · Della Notte · Phillip's

Where Everybody Knows Your Name Café Tattoo · Sisson's Restaurant · Henninger's · Alonso's · Charles Village Pub · Mick O'Shea's · Kelly's · Buddies Pub & Jazz Club · Swallow at the Hollow · Peter's Inn

Cast Party Henry & Jeff's/Arrogant Director · La Tesso Tano · Thai Landing · Café Zen · Spike and Charlie's

Sweet Surrender Cheesecake Factory · Vaccaro's · Café Hon · Riverside Roastery and Espresso

In the Midnight Hour Valentino's · Captain James Landing · Sip & Bite · Double-T Diner · Gampy's · Nam Kang

Posted 2/25/1998

There's something wonderful about going out just for dessert. It's one thing to order a sweetie to cap off a dinner when you're out at a restaurant; it's another thing entirely to leave the house for the express purpose of indulging in something wickedly rich after an otherwise ordinary meal at home. There's a whiff of decadence about it, of treating yourself special. We wouldn't do it too often, lest it lose its luster, but we highly recommend it every once in a while.

True to its name, the Cheesecake Factory (Pratt Street Pavilion, Harborplace, [410] 234-3990) offers 34 different flavors of cheesecake, from Kahlua almond fudge to coffee Heath Bar crunch to just plain old unadorned cheesecake. There is often a wait for a table in the Baltimore branch of this popular chain, but once seated, diners can choose from much more than cheesecake; the extensive menu offers pasta, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood, and steaks, all served in truly huge portions.

Vaccaro's (222 Albemarle St., [410] 685-4905) is a treat for the eyes as well as the palate. As you enter this Little Italy pastry shop you're confronted with glass display cases of oversized Napoleons and chocolate eclairs, traditional Italian cookies, pignoli and cannoli cakes, and more beautiful and luscious reasons to cheat on your diet. Everything tastes as good as it looks.

Fortunately, the pie at Hampden's Café Hon (1002 W. 36th St., [410] 243-1230) also tastes as good as it looks--and it looks mighty good. The Hon itself is looking mighty prosperous. Since moving to its bigger location a couple of years back it's been chock-full of Hampden newcomers and its menu has expanded greatly. But it's the humble pie--especially the sumptuous fruit-filled ones, with crusts that flake into submission at the touch of a tine--that has best survived the transition. It's a little bit of dependable down-home sweetness.

You've spent all day tromping through old Ellicott City in search of that perfect antique end table. You're tired. Your feet hurt. Give yourself a treat. Riverside Roastery and Espresso (8059 Main St., Ellicott City, [410] 465-0233) has a slim menu of sandwiches and salads, but what you want here is something rich from the pastry case and a deep mug of their excellent java, or maybe a sweet, frothy Torino shake. You didn't really need that end table anyway.

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