Summer and the Sipping
July 24, 2007
By Martha Thomas
Photography By Bryan Burris
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Years ago, an older friend taught me how to love beer: Go out and mow the lawn on a really hot day. Come in and grab an ice-cold, sweating bottle from the fridge. Draw it across your brow. Crack it open and take a big, refreshing swig.
I have found beer a heady thirst quencher ever since. Wine, though, has never had quite the same allure in hot weather. It leaves me drowsy, the sugars seeming to exacerbate the stickiness in the air. But I like wine with dinner and I like to eat outside in summer. My goal for this story was to discover a few plein air dining spots and a few cool vintages to enhance my meals. Here’s what I found.
Grand Cru
On a Friday evening you’ll need to arrive when the sun is still high to score an outdoor table at this Belvedere Square wine shop. But it’s worth it. The free Music in the Square starts around 6, and the “ticket” for Grand Cru’s prime seating is the scant $5 corkage fee for any of the outstanding bottles available inside. Shop at the square for your dinner: a panini sandwich from Ceriello’s Fine Foods, sushi from Ikan Seafood or, my favorite, a savory crepe stuffed with potatoes, herbs and smoked trout or salmon from Neopol Savory Smokery.
A thirst-quenching wine to complement the rich crepe? Nelson Carey, Grand Cru’s owner, recommends the Hugo Gruner Veltliner 2006.
Donna’s
If you find yourself at Donna’s in Cross Keys — or in Columbia, for that matter — on a Thursday evening around 6, feel free to join the long table set up inside or out (depending on the weather). The assembled group looks like a bunch of old friends, but it’s really a weekly gathering that’s open to all comers.
Every week, Allen Hirsch, co-owner of Donna’s, or founder Donna Crivello herself oversees a wine tasting with appetizers. Hirsch, who creates the wine list for the Donna’s chain of restaurants, is a fan of rosé. For hot weather he recommends Bon Bon Rosé from Australia: “It’s like drinking candy. It’s not sweet, but it has the flavor of strawberries.”
He also raves about sparkling Shiraz, something relatively new to the American market. Served cold, he says, it’s the perfect summer accompaniment for meat: “You have the depth and richness of a red, and the bubbles help to cut the fat.”
Metropolitan Coffeehouse and Wine Bar
If you’re lucky you can land one of the handful of sidewalk tables. With little room to spare, this Federal Hill spot feels as if it belongs in Manhattan.
The simple, inexpensive menu and extensive wine list encourage lingering. Check out the wine tasting every Tuesday that is usually held in the bar upstairs; five pours are
$15. During the hot months, Metropolitan’s owner, Bruce Dorsey, recommends wines to match the weather: crisp Austrian whites, German Rieslings, Champagne.
Dorsey also likes rosé when it’s hot, particularly something dry from southern France: “It’s cold, it’s light and it’s very refreshing.” Like Hirsch, he also loves a sparkling Shiraz, especially the Trevor Jones Sparkling Red from Australia. “If you want something big and bold and full of flavor, yet still cold and bubbly, this is your wine,” he says. “It’s spicy and dark and perfect for anything coming off the barbecue grill.”
Gertrude’s
The most sublime outdoor dining spot in Baltimore isn’t truly plein air. The summer calendar of lucrative special events often coincides with the calendar of summer storms, which mandates a certain amount of cover. A swath of white canvas shelters most tables in this restaurant, set amidst the gurgling fountains and eclectic pieces in the Baltimore Museum of Art’s sculpture garden.
Never mind. Just open a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Blanc, bar manager Justin Lehman’s pick. On Tuesday nights, 15 wines from the regular menu (which normally sell for $24 to $40) are $18 per bottle. On Wednesdays all wines are half-price.
Wine Market
At the gateway to Locust Point, the Wine Market suddenly finds itself in the thick of Baltimore’s restaurant scene instead of on the fringes. The courtyard of the rehabbed foundry provides a hip haven outside this wine-shop-cum-bistro.
For a $9 corkage fee, you are welcome to choose any of the hundreds of bottles from the wine shop to sip at the bar, in the restaurant or on the brick piazza.
Retail manager Chris Bradyhouse recommends Domaine de Salvard, from Cheverny in France’s Loire Valley: “It’s dry, crisp and racy.” The Wine Market celebrates Locust Point’s urban pioneers on Monday evenings with “neighborhood night.” All wines are $15 and entrees are 20 percent off.
For an outdoor bite and a taste of the grape, visit these local eateries:
GRAND CRU
527 E. Belvedere Ave., Baltimore
410-464-1944
DONNA’S
CROSS KEYS:
5100 Falls Road, 40 Village Square, Baltimore
410-532-7611
COLUMBIA:
5850 Waterloo Road, #100
410-465-2399
For other locations, visit Donna’s website at www.donnas.com
METROPOLITAN COFFEEHOUSE AND WINE BAR
902 S. Charles St., Baltimore
410-234-0235
GERTRUDE’S
10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore
410-889-3399
WINE MARKET
921 E. Fort Ave., #135, Baltimore
410-244-6166
