Death Watch

Venerable Baltimore institution closes.
New owners take over space.
Lots of press for their opening, even some raves about being one of best new restaurants of 2006.
2007 comes, no best of lists, staff leaving, checks occasionally bouncing and it seems much political infighting among the owners.
Will this operation make it? It seems other restaurant owners are all ready anxiously eyeing the site.

Snow time in Little Italy

Word has it that a certain chef in Little Italy has a fondness for nose candy.

Could that be why they always seem so excitable during their local TV appearances?

How are they still open?

We wonder how this downtown venue is still open.
Exec Chef #1 leaves a year or so ago.
Sous is promoted to Exec. They leave a few months ago.
Chef #3 joins team a month or so ago.

BUT restaurant has current ads out there for an exec and a sous.

ALSO, we hear that they claimed on their taxes, that they lost $400k last year and have bounced checks to people.

So, how are they staying open? Are the owner's pockets really THAT deep?

Let's get started

Welcome to the “Baltimore Restaurant Rumors” blog.
As with any industry, there are always rumors floating.
That “buzz,” some people call it.

Sometimes one person hears one thing, another person sees something else and, independently these items seem unrelated, but then, lo and behold, once they are put together, a picture appears.

For instance:
Has a restaurant suffered since a chef moved?Is a restaurant having trouble paying staff?Are you curious how a certain establishment can even still be open?Have you heard about a new place opening?
Is morale or food quality suffering because of management issues?
Tell us. You can e-mail us anonymously.

This is what we do; we offer a completely anonymous forum for contributors.
If you work in the business, if you are a frequent diner, if you are a purveyor to the industry, we want to hear from you. This can only be successful, and informative, with your help.