A few weeks ago, I’d been running around craving pizza ALL FRIGGIN DAY, but the thought of an overloaded pie with an underdone crust disgusted me more than usual, enough to defeat my sloth even. Solution? Grill it up son! I started doing this last year, after grilling flat bread and using that as a crust. Pretty good, but not actual pizza, per se.Homemade pizza dough is just too much trouble for the payoff, except for those few souls who are absolutely committed to perfecting it. I eventually found that some pizza places are willing to sell you balls of their pizza dough, which makes the process a whole lot simpler. My go-to spot is Angelo’s in Hampden, where a large dough ball is $3.50 (they also make a very good, if not very Philly-esque, cheesesteak).

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Night of the Cookers

410-383-2093

885 N. Howard St., Baltimore, MD 21201

Wednesday-Thursday: 11-30am-12pm; Friday -Saturday: 11:30am-1:30am; Sunday 11:30am - 10pm

I visitied Night of the Cookers - the carry-out annex, next door to the the dining room proper - after ending up on labyrinthine Howard St. while trying to dodge traffic. I’d heard that it had opened, but reviews/opinions were strangely non-existent. Anyway the place bills itself as modern Southern or some such variant, so I warily ordered a rack of ribs. As I did, the gregarious cook/chef excitedly recommended that I try his gumbo. Naturally I asked how long a roux he used (I go for the medium chestnut 25 min. flavor), and he replied that he cooks his for TWO HOURS:

Me: Uh, two hours? Just for the roux?”
Him: Yeah, uh, well, uh, you know how roux after you cook it for a while separates?”
Me: Um, yeah (thinking to myself, yeah that’s how you know you’ve fucked it up!)
Him: Yeah well I let that happen a few times and mix it back together.

Uh huh…. Well you never know, so I ended it there lest I spark an unnecessarily heated exchange, and went home with ribs, gumbo, mac and cheese, and greens.

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Bada Bing Bada Beef

410-282-4770

7210 Holabird Ave. Dundalk MD 21222

Open Daily, 10:30 am - 8:00 pm

Thank the lord, real Baltimore pit beef is not dead. As I’ve posted previously, it seems like fake pit beef is spreading out of control in the area. Many places now seem to use straight-up deli cuts, expose them to an open flame for a few minutes, and pass it off as the genuine article. Well we are not rubes dammit! Anyway, I knew there used to be a spot in Dundalk that was good, but I didn’t realize it was named “Bada Bing Bada Beef” Despite this uh, whimsical attribute, this place is the absolute shite.

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Tired…so tired. As acolytes are well aware, bbq is a labor of love. I started smoking my whole dry-aged ribeye last night around eight over apple and some hickory, and finally, this morning at 8:30, here is the result:

Hot, no? When I pulled the ribeye off, I put my ribs on which had been brining overnight. I got six gorgeous racks of spareribs from Whole Foods yesterday - now, before you scoff (as I surely would), they were on hardcore sale. Normally they’re $5.99/lb, buy this weekend they were $3.99, plus n extra $10 off any meat purchase of $40 or more for their “Fill the Grill” special for the holiday. Sweet!

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Chaps Charcoal Restaurant

410-483-2379

5801 Pulaski Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Open Daily at 10:30 AM

As always, shitty cellphone pics means dead or forgotten camera - sorry in advance.

Like so many other foods, real pit beef is dying off right before our eyes. I happen to live within a few miles of Chaps on Pulaski highway, which I guess recently has attained a rep as the go-to pit beef spot round these parts. It’s pretty good but not really real. Two things should jump out at pit beef enthusiasts from the get go - there’s barely any char or crust on the meat, and it is way too tender (also a characteristic of the “pit” beef at Key Pit Stop, which I sorta reviewed for the Citypaper ‘08 Eat Guide). After peeking into the kitchen from across the counter, it’s immediately apparent that this place uses pre-prepared deli meat, instead of cooking from scratch. Now this may make some sense for pit ham, or perhaps even pit turkey, but for real pit beef, I need to have that deep, dark char and slightly chewy, bloody texture you get from medium-rare bottom round. Here’s my default order, the bulldog (pit beef, sausage, cheese), genius in concept if not execution:

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I will very shortly be posting up my detailed survey of area crab cake offerings. I am working on building a way to have readers add and/or update reviews, so stay tuned….

Di Pasquale’s

410-276-6787

3700 Gough Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Monday - Friday: 9 am - 6 pm; Saturday: 9 am - 6 pm; Sunday: CLOSED

Di Pasquale’s is located north of Eastern and east of the park in what was once Germantown I think? Anyway, people this place is freaking amazing! I’ve known about the one on Harford for quite a while of course, known for their superb fresh mozzarella. Yes, they are owned by the same family, apparently they bought the Harford road location about 20 years ago, while the one in east Baltimore has been around since 1914. That’s 14, 1-4!

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