Baltimore Restaurant Rumors

Update

2007-06-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the inactivity, but for the last two months or so I have had a cruise ship gig. I'm here in the Eastern Meditterean and life is great. Wages suck, but the women and weather are f*****g great. I hope to be back in Baltimore sometime att he end of summer.

Ciao

Correction

2007-03-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

OK, last post today, I promise.

Turns out even though this palce has filed for Chapter 11, they are staying open. So my previous post was incorrect. They are not closed, but rather staying open while going through Chapter 11.

Thanks to the reader who clued me in.

Bad guesses to below posting

2007-03-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all and thank you for the multiple e-mails I got in reference to the posting below.

Let me clarify something, 99% of my postings are about city restaurants. That’s where I work. That’s what I know. That’s who I know.
I am not referring to the Chef-less Fire Rock Grill in Columbia that is closing at the end of the month. Nor am I referring to Mark Schek’s place the Rooster Café. I am talking about a city restaurant. Let me rephrase that, a now closed city place.

How are they still open? Part 2 - THEY AREN'T !!!

2007-03-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday, January 18, 2007

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?

***********
Well, we have an update, they filed for Chapter 11 on March 7th.
And another one bites the dust

Though these are rumors here, it seems they are running pretty true....wouldn't you think?

***********
keep those tips coming, we will try to confirm or deny everything you send us

Customer, right?

2007-03-12T05:52:00.000-07:00

I have heard some great juicy things, but I always try to get at least one other confirmation, so that anything I post out here I have heard form at least two different sources.

So, while I try and conform things I thought I would actually share another bit of wisdom...

The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self absorbed little children.

It's only rock and roll

2007-02-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

OK, previous post was nice, clean, safe; so here’s one for all of you other rumor mongering, must know people.
Once upon a time there was this chef who had a nice gig going as exec at a Top 50, (probably in its day, a Top 10) restaurant in Baltimore. They quit, come back, quit again, come back and then finally quit for good. Well it turns out chef had a very nasty coke and booze problem while there.

They leave, dry up, work at a bar in the county and then return to the city, in an exec position to a venue needing help. Guess what? Their food and service is terrible. It is getting panned in the local blogs. There is no Top 50 rating, staff is disgruntled.

Reminds me of those stories of those rock and roll artists who had some great songs and hits while they were high. They dry up and their music sucks.

Don’t get me wrong, I do admire this chef’s strength to get dry and stay dry, now for over a year, almost two. I am very proud of them.

It’s just a shame their food sucks now.

TV Chef comes to Baltimore

2007-02-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

OK, everyone has seen all of the building going on, waterfront properties just popping up everywhere, starting a $1mill+. Well it seems that one such waterfront property, on the Inner Harbor, when completed with have a restaurant from a very famous TV chef there. No, not one of the Iron Chefs America, but someone else, very well known.

Skip week

2007-02-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Boy, I skip a week of postings, and I get e-mails asking me where my weekly posting is.
Sorryyyyyyyyyyy…………..I picked up a couple of extra shifts and was just too tired to write, my apologies.
BUT, here I am so since I missed a week, how about two this week?

Location, Location, Location...Nope, you need a good owner also

2007-02-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

Mis-management can kill a venue no matter who the chef is.
Case in point: prime Canton location, beautiful building, great visibility, very good chef, venue is profitable.
Now, owner starts making money and enjoys life. It seems he had a penchant for gambling in Atlantic City, has interest in property there, has interest in other restaurants in the area, enjoys being a porn producer on the side and enjoys his vices too much.
Word has it he just want to keep this Canton venue open so that him and his buddies can have an after hours place to party.Also, the chef who opened the venue leaves because of him, his replacement leaves, all the help leaves, vendors are not being paid, bar is only 1/3 stocked, and food is a joke now. So, tell me, he is he even open now?

Death Watch - Part Two

2007-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

hmmmm, the plot thickens. It seems the executive chef at the restaurant mentioned below will be turning their toque, effective as of March 1st. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Rats leaving the ship before it sinks or ship getting rid of driftwood?

Death Watch

2007-01-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-01-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-18T05:58:00.000-08:00

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.