Seer Torshi at Ceazar Restaurant

If you want to explore new foods, definitely check out the pickled garlic among the side orders at the new Ceazar Restaurant in Elkridge.

Mrs. HowChow saw the item for "seek torshi - garlic pickle"and wondered whether people were really paying $3.49 for pickles. So we asked. Our waiter was delightful. He explained that they were pickled garlic cloves -- garlic in vinegar. We demurred because we already had a table of food, but, a few minutes later, the waiter returned with a small plate with a half dozen brown cloves.

Seek torshi is part of Iranian cooking in which vegetables are pickled in vinegar, curry and salt. (So says Wikipedia.) The waiter explained that his mother pickles garlic every year. They made several large bottles of garlic and vinegar, and they let them pickle over time. Like vinegars and wine, torshi is prized for its age. The waiter said his family had some bottles that had been pickling for 17 years.

Ceazar's torshi isn't that old. The garlic actually tastes roasted. I squeezed each clove into my mouth, keeping the skin in my fingers and releasing the soft flesh with a strong, but mellow flavor of garlic and a delicious taste of vinegar. Definitely worth your trip.

As I wrote in the prior post, Ceazar is a new Persian restaurant attached to the best Middle Eastern grocery in Howard County. The market was in Columbia for 13 years under the name Sizar's and just moved to Elkridge near the intersection of Rte 100 and U.S. 1.

Ceazar Restaurant
6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075
443-755-9442 (market)
442-755-9444 (restaurant)

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100 and less than two miles from I-95. From Rte 100, you take U.S. 1 south, turn left at the first light onto Rte 103 and follow it as it curves twice. Ceazar is in a shopping center on the left.

Link: Howard County Beer Map

The Baltimore Beer Blog has updated his Howard County Beer Map.  Check out his post and the map.  He would love input to add places that serve good beer.

Kelchner's Cocktail Sauce at Frank's Seafood

If you check out Frank's Seafood in Jessup, pick up a bottle of Kelchner's Cocktail Sauce and some shrimp to dip.

My sister-in-law reintroduced me to shrimp cocktail because she often puts out a plate when we arrive to visit. It's so simple. It's so delicious -- if you get good cocktail sauce. Frank's sells bottle of Kelchner's, which has a fiery horseradish flavor a cut above most cocktail sauce.

This is a nice pick-up -- either to put on shrimp that you buy at Frank's or to store for a quick meal. Peel and steam some shrimp. Pour some Kelchner's in a bowl. You have a perfectly nice dinner or a classy way to welcome guests.

(Update: Lotsabogeys comments below that Kelchner's is available at Giant.  And Alison C says it is available at Weis.  So look at any seafood counter that you visit.)

If you go to Frank's, there are several other great food stops along the U.S. 1 corridor. Check out everything from organic groceries and empanadas to a kitchen supply store and the county's best Middle Eastern grocery.

Frank's Seafood

7901 Oceano Ave # B
Jessup, MD 20794
(410) 799-5960

NEAR: This is in the wholesale seafood market in Jessup. You take Rte 175 east from I-95. You turn right on Oceano Avenue after passing the prison. You turn left into the market. You need to show a driver's license, but Frank's is open to the public.

Link: Good gyros at Hickory Ridge Grill

Live in Howard County is talking up the gyros at the Hickory Ridge Grill in Columbia. Sounds like something to try!

Pretzel Roll Breakfasts at the Dutch Country Farmers Market

Egg, bacon and American cheese -- wrapped in pretzel dough and baked until crisp outside and warm inside.

That's a reason to stop one Saturday morning at the Dutch Country Farmers Market in Burtonsville. Eat while you walk the market and see what other foods you want to bring home.

Lydianne's Soft Pretzels sells a variety of pretzel rolls, including steak and ham, and they're actually delicious. Normally, I prefer egg-and-bacon without cheese precisely because a dollop of American cheese ruins too many great breakfast sandwiches. But the pretzel dough is so good that I would have gone back for a second except that my roll was a butter-dipped breakfast. (Next time, I'm going to wait for them to come out of the oven and ask for one before it gets the butter bath.)

(Update: The Dutch Country Farmers Market moved to Laurel in September 2009.)

Lydianne's Soft Pretzels

at the Dutch Country Farmers Market (until July 4, 2009)

15642 Columbia Pike

Burtonsville, MD

301-421-1454

NEAR: The Dutch market is at the intersection of Rte 198 and Columbia Pike. This is a block west of Rte 29. From Howard County, take the first exit in Montgomery County. You'll go around a traffic circle at the top of the exit ramp, and then you'll ride down the old Rte 29 past Meadows Farms nursery. The market is in the shopping center on the right just before the intersection with Rte 198.

Dutch Country Farmers Market (after August or September 2009)

9701 Fort Meade Road (Rte 198)

Laurel, MD 20707

877-421-1454

717-786-4736

http://www.burtonsvilledutchmarket.com/

Link: Bean Hollow Makes A Sun Top 10 List

Bean Hollow in Ellicott City makes the Sun dining blog's list of 10 great coffee houses. I haven't been yet, but this makes me want to visit.

Chick N' Friends in Columbia

Fried chicken requires a Goldilocks touch -- too greasy and it's fast food, but doctored too close to healthly and you might as well buy something off a rotisserie.

Chick N' Friends takeout in Columbia serves up delicious chicken -- moist and full of flavor, not just the taste of crust.  To me, the difference is that they cook in batches.  Mrs. HowChow and I waited 10 minutes for our order, and we sat on a bench outside with chicken so hot that we had to pull it apart with forks.

Normally, I'm a skinless chicken guy sauteing with a little Pam.  But it's a guilty pleasure to crunch through fried chicken so I'll drive a little extra to the Long Reach Village Center.  I can't coat my kitchen with oil, and I always wonder about the boxes sitting under the heat in the supermarket deli or KFC.  I'll go back to Chick N' Friends, especially for the white meat.  The breasts were so moist, and the large pieces of meat balanced well with the crispy skin.  (Not that I didn't nibble every piece of meat and skin from the wing as well!)

At its best, Chick N' Friends tastes like home cooking in the best possible way.  The corn bread muffin was moist and tasted like corn.  The collard greens were tender without much seasoning.  And the sweet potato pie was superb.  Lightly sweet with a smooth texture, but the taste of something hand made.  The crust was firm, and, even where it was slightly burnt, that made the pie taste like something that I'd gotten from a friend.  

Chick N' Friends roasts chicken if you want a heart-healthy option.  It also fries several types of fish, and there are waffles available all day.  Next time, I'm going to try the chicken and waffles - or maybe the wings.  Recognize this is a takeout place, but, in good weather, you can sit on the benches around Long Reach's flower-filled courtyard.

Can anyone else recommend fried chicken in Howard County?  Have you had the Korean fried chicken at H Mart?

In some ways, Chick N' Friends reminds me of Maiwand Kabob, although it isn't as large and doesn't have seats.  But it is one of those little places in a village center that you might never know about if you didn't happen to shop there.

Chick N' Friends

Long Reach Village Center

8775 Cloudleap Court
Columbia, Maryland 21045

http://www.chick-n-friends.com/

NEAR: This is in the Long Reach Village Center in central Columbia. Chick N' Friends faces the central courtyard, so you can't see it from the parking lot. Easy access off Rte 175 -- just go north on Tamar Drive and look for the village center on the right. Or from Snowden River Parkway -- just go west on Tamar Drive and look for the village center on the left.

Iron Bridge Vandalized Over Foie Gras

Someone shattered windows at the Iron Bridge Wine Company and spray-painted graffiti against the use of foie gras, according to the Sun article posted Monday. The Sun says Tersiguel's already removed the liver because of threats, but the Iron Bridge owners were defiant in their quotes to the Sun.

(Update: Post with photos on Tale of Two Cities.)

Miss Top Chef? Be Top Chef at Sysco

Do you miss Top Chef? You can live Top Chef -- or give a gift to the cook in your life -- by buying a chef's coat right here in Howard County.

The only thing cooler than Carla and Fabio were the personalized white jackets that the contestants wore into reality show battle. Sysco Discount Food Center in Elkridge sells white chef coats for $25. They're not personalized, but they sure look cool. (And you can upgrade to black for $40 and red for $41.55.)

The Sysco on Rte 1 has a great array of restaurant supplies beyond jackets. It also offers up party supplies like cups, plates and table cloths, along with a mini-Costco selection of food in enormous packages.

Link: Judge's Bench Second Anniversary

As seen on the Baltimore Beer Guy, the Judge's Bench in Ellicott City is having its second anniversary party on April 1. I haven't been, but the BBG blog talks up the interesting beer options there.

Click here for the BBG blog's posts about the Judge's Bench. Click here for my post about Beer in Howard County.

Empanada Wrappers at El Patio Market

Make your own empanadas with a spectacular convenience food in the freezer at El Patio Market in Jessup.

El Patio sells its own empanadas -- to be either heated at the store or carried home for dinner. But the freezer also holds packages of Fargo-brand empanada wrappers -- thick rounds of dough ready to be filled with anything that your heart desires.

I have always had a soft spot for empanadas. I learned to cook when I moved to Florida for my first job and worked through a Moosewood book of ethnic food. One of my recipes was empanadas stuffed with a mix of potatoes, onions, peppers and cheese. Sundays at Moosewood called for frying them. After coating that studio apartment with oil a few times, I shifted to baking those babies. Simpler, but it still involved making dough, which was sticky and slow.

El Patio's empanada wrappers solve that all. The 16 wrappers, imported from Argentina, come separated by waxed paper. I peeled each from the pack, stuffed the filling as I folded it in half,

and crimped the edges. Baked about 12 minutes at 400 degrees, they were browned and delicious. We ate them with Trader Joe's Corn & Chile Salsa. Super easy, and the truth is that you could stuff them with anything.

This is one of the best little tools that I have found at a market. They'll stay in the freezer. They could be part of some fancy dinner, or I could make filling the night before and use them as a super-fast weeknight meal. Sixteen pastries fed us three meals, including brown-bag lunches where the empanadas did well.

(Update:  See the comment from Marianne about sweet empanada fillings in Texas.  You could fill these pastries with anything.)

Notice that El Patio sells two versions of the wrappers -- one for frying and one for the oven. They're clearly labelled in English and Spanish, and the blue one above is for baking in the oven. While you're at El Patio, grab a Super Mango Lollipop or one of the peanut brittles near the cash register. If you like empanadas, you should check out the Jamaican patties at Golden Krust Bakery in Catonsville.

El Patio Market
7968 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1)
Jessup, MD 20794
443-755-0385

NEAR: Just south of Rte 175 on U.S. 1. It's on the east side about a block south of the intersection. Very convenient from I-95.

Vegetarian Empanadas (adapted from Sundays At Moosewood)

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 small onions or large shallots, sliced

1/2 sweet pepper (maybe red?), sliced

1 c. fresh or canned corn (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 c. cream cheese

1 c. (or less) cheddar cheese, shredded

1 package of Fargo empanada wrappers, defrosted at least overnight in the fridge.

1) Preheat the oven to 400

2) Boil a pot of water and drop in the potatoes. Cook them until their tender. Check at about eight minutes and then keep checking. Drain the potatoes.

3) While the potatoes are cooking, saute the onions and peppers in a little bit of oil over medium heat. When they soften, add the spices (and the corn if you want). Saute another minutes. Then pour all the vegetables into a bowl.

4) Mash the potatoes in a second bowl. Add the cheese slowly. Use as much cheddar cheese as you want. (The original recipe called for two cups of cheese. That is too much for me.)

5) Add the other vegetables to the potatoes and mix.

6) Take a wrapper from the package. Put filling on half of the wrapper, leaving space around the edges. Fold the wrapper over the filling and press the edges together with your fingers.

7) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the empanadas brown. The filling is all cooked, so you just want the empanadas to look browned.

8) Serve hot. They're great with Trader Joe's Corn & Chile Salsa.

There is nothing sacred about this recipe or these amounts. You could stuff the empanadas with anything that was chunky and solid/dry enough not to soak through the wrapper as it bakes.  Marianne comments below about sweet fillings in Texas.

India Delight -- Columbia's New Indian Restaurant?

A new restaurant called India Delight may be coming to the shopping center on McGaw Road that has The Green Turtle, Smoothie King and Z Pizza.

On March 4, 2009, the Kaywell Construction Corp. of Fulton (go Fulton! go Fulton!) applied for a building permit at 8874 McGaw Road, according to the county Web site. This is near Apple Ford and the planned Wegmans just south of Rte 175. The permit says it is for "India Delight" and describes alterting existing restaurant space for a new restaurant.

India Delight could replace Orinoco Coffee Shop, California Tortilla or the Atlanta Bread Company. I'm happy to publicize any local restaurants -- especially people trying to bring us new options.

(Update:  It opened in June 2009.  I love comments.  Please post comments about the restaurant on the June post.)

Thanks again to the anonymous commentor who taught me to search the building permits. Please tell me if you figure out any other restaurants under construction. If (for example) you were wondering if coal-fired pizza is coming to Shipley's Grant, you could type the address of the building into the Howard County Web site and see.

Until India Delight opens, definitely check out the nearby places, including House of India, Akbar and the Mango Grove/Mirchi Wok duplex. Or read my post about Indian Restaurants in Howard County.

Wegmans' Howard County Building Permit?

When will Wegmans open in Columbia? The first step for construction is a building permit, and Howard County lets you search its records to read permit applications.

Click on this Web site. Click the application below. Click "search applications" under Building at the bottom. Type in McGaw in the Street Name and click "search." The Web site appears to look for building permits.

No permit to date. If you see one, email me or just leave a comment below.

(Update: Wegmans applied for its first permit in June 2009.)

Click here for Why I Want Wegmans In Columbia -- and please comment there if you want to talk about Wegmans in Howard County. Click here for news about the Columbia Wegmans. Thanks to the anonymous commentor who taught me about this Web site. If you want to pick a nickname, email me and I'll thank you with that.

Reviews of Looney's South in Maple Lawn

People are reviewing Looney's South in Fulton in the comments to an earlier post that you can check out here. There are also photos and comments on Tale of Two Cities.

When I drove past last night, the St. Patrick's Day crowd had filled the entire parking lot --- lots designed for entire office buildings -- and people were lined up outside. Mrs. HowChow and I definitely plan a visit and have high hopes, so I'm reading the reviews with interest.

Why I Want Wegmans in Columbia

The Wegmans planned for Columbia is not going to change your life, but it certainly will change the way that Mrs. HowChow and I shop for food.

If you want an update on the Howard County Wegmans

construction, click here for Wegmans news. If you want to hear someone hate the supermarket, talk to my sister-in-law who says that it's too big, too expensive and just not what she needs.

But I'm here as a fan of Danny (as my aunt in Syracuse refers to the chain's president), and I'd bring a shovel to Snowden River Parkway if they'd let me help dig the foundation. For now, my Wegmans visits are limited to detours on visits to Fairfax or long drives up to the Hunt Valley store north of Baltimore. They're fun, but that's a big shopping trip, not a regular place to pick up snacks.

I love Wegmans because it democratizes great food. For a moment, ignore the aisles and aisles of packaged goods where Wegmans sells everything from every national brand. (In the way that Bloom sells a few sizes of each item, Wegmans sells every size and every flavor so there are miles of crackers.) I'd love Wegmans for just the fresh side of the store where they sell vegetables, cheeses, olives, and the long row of meats, fish and bakery.

• High-medium-and-low. The beauty of Wegmans is that it sells on several levels -- exotic, expensive items; an interesting, but affordable middle ground; and good-quality basics. Take the cheese as an example. At the high, Wegmans sells ridiculous little buttons that cost more than $20 a pound. They live in a special refrigerator along with bries covered by layers of fruits and nuts. If that's too much, Wegmans sells you that fruit and nut concoction. Buy your own brie and top it yourself. Serve with a stilton that costs the same but tastes better than Harris Teeter's and some Spanish sheep's cheese that one of the employees will let you sample. And, then, when you need cheddar for nachos, there is a case with blocks of basics. Same price as Giant, but more than just the Cabot brand.

• Interesting items at affordable prices. That selection runs through everything -- the deli, the vegetables, the olives. Oh, the cerignola olives. Large green olives with an almost-buttery flavor. That is the middle ground. They're priced like the Bloom olive bar, but they're this unique, delicious item that I can't find anywhere else. That goes double in the produce aisle. Like the H Mart, Wegmans offers rows of varieties when fruits are in season -- five kinds of pears, 10 kinds of apples. Better than the H Mart, they often have both organic and regular varieties. They're not buffed like Whole Foods. They're sitting ready for you to choose and discover. On our last visit, Mrs. HowChow picked up kohlrabi. I'd never cooked it before, but the price was reasonable enough that I could take a chance and explore.

• Semi-prepared foods. The irony is that Wegmans might be even better for people who cook less than I do. Wegmans makes things easy. The meat and fish departments sell dozens of rotating variety of ready-to-go entrees. Chicken encrusted with nuts. Fish seasoned and ready to bake. Those are alternatives to takeout, and Mrs. HowChow would love to pick up some fish and a great baguette on the way home from the office. She also loved the Wegmans menus. The stores creates a little station, serves you a dish, and puts all the ingredients within reach. One night, we tasted pork loin and walked out with pork, a package of pre-cut squash and a very special bottle of lavender honey. That was fun for Mrs. HowChow, who rarely orders pork and certainly doesn't pile cookbooks on her night table.

On top of the fresh items, Wegmans sells all kinds of exotic packaged foods. Next to the cheeses are just shelves of products from England, Japan, Latin America, etc. There are organics like Whole Foods. There are low-cost grains and dried fruits like Trader Joe's. Once, we stumbled on an absolutely delicious smoothie mix, and Mrs. HowChow has bemoaned every visit since because we never found it again. All the choices -- and the affordable choices --make shopping fun because there is something new or unusual in almost every aisle.

Ironically, I'm not a huge fan of the prepared food that is a huge part of the Wegmans reputation. The subs are okay, but I wouldn't drive there just for dinner. The pizza and the "Chinese bar" are just your basic takeout food. You will do far better if you just drive down Snowden to An Loi or House of India.

(UPDATE: I have announced when *I'm* going to Wegmans:  2/14/2011.  Click that link.  Join the Facebook group.  We'll either be shopping on Valentine's Day 2011 or helping them build the store.)

The Columbia Wegmans is planned for Snowden River Parkway across from Apple Ford. That is just south of Rte 175. Last I checked, the Wegmans site listed new stores opening through 2010 and described the Columbia store as "to be determined."

This is part of the "What I Learned" series of posts. They're organized in rings. See below to continue on the ring of ideas about food in Howard County. Or click to switch to the posts about different cuisines or posts about shopping.

PREVIOUS: U.S.1: The Foodie Frontier
NEXT: Great Takeout in Howard County

$20 Off Dinner -- Not Too Good To Be True

This sounds too good to be true, but, you can get $20 off dinner at several Howard County restaurants by buying gift certificates this week from Restaurants.com.

Restaurants.com sells discounted gift certificates. Right now, you pay $4 for a $25 gift certificate (or more for larger ones). You print it from your computer, and it's good for a year. No shipping charge. No hidden fees. The only hitch is that your bill has to be at least $35 to use the certificate and some restaurants restrict their use to Sunday to Thursday. (The certificates are normally $10, but they're discounted now.)

Mrs. HowChow and I used a certificate on Sunday at Cuba de Ayer in Burtonsville. We paid $22 (with tip) for an appetizer, two dinners, dessert, soda and cafe con leche. Normally, we wouldn't have eaten that much. But then, normally we woudln't have gone to Cuba de Ayer, so everybody wins. This appears to be a way to impress customers, and it worked on us because we loved the tres leches cake.

This is a great way to try somewhere new or indulge on appetizers and dessert at Cuba de Ayer, LeeLynn's, the Diamondback Tavern, and other local places. Click here for a list of the participating restaurants in Howard County. (Hat tip to Adventures in Baltimore Restaurants, which turned me on to this.)

Dutch Country Farmers Market in Burtonsville (Laurel)

For anyone interested in exploring food, the Dutch Country Farmers is worth the drive to Burtonsville.

(Update: The market moved to Laurel and reopened on September 10, 2009. Hours will be Thursday 9-6, Friday 9-8, Saturday 8-3.)

You could go just for the spectacle and the pretzels. Dutch Country is a supermarket-sized area with a dozen vendors selling everything from meat to candy, fresh-squeezed juice to ribs you can carry out. It's chaotic. It's friendly. It's a well-stocked middle ground in a world where so many stores specialize in organic or cheap.

Start your trip with a $2 hot pretzel from Lydianne's Soft Pretzels, which is just past the candy shop when you enter. They're literally right out of the oven, and you can't beat that kind of treat. Personally, I ask for a pretzel that hasn't been dipped in butter. They literally have a few quarts of melted butter, and they dip everything before they go to the counter. That's delicious, but I prefer a little more crisp and little less butter.

Then, take a walk. As far as I can tell, the vendors are all people from Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Obviously, this is a perfect place if

you like Pennsylvania Dutch food. There is an entire display of pasta, potato, tuna and other salads. There are great sweet desserts like fudge, cheesecake and pies. And there is a wall of preserved items like jams, pickled vegetables (brussel sprouts!) and pickled eggs.

But you should sample your way around the Dutch Market to see what catches your eye. I have found great ingredients to cook and many little treats. I actually haven't tried the vegetables stand. Usually, I'm in the midst of errands, and the full selection of vegetables -- clearly not grown in Pennsylvania -- always makes me wonder whether they're really "farmers market" special or just nice-looking stuff from a wholesale market. Stick your head in the candy area and look for the unusual gummies. Check out the spices and jarred items across from the candy for pickles, jams, spices and soup mixes. Spend a long time at the meat counters, especially if you're looking for something unusual. These are my current favorites:

• The hot pretzels, including the breakfast "bacon, egg, and cheese" pretzel log. (I'm not kidding.)
• The dairy products -- including Trickling Springs Creamery regular or organic milk in glass bottles -- just inside the entrance.
• The Beiler's Meats counter with a broad selection of steaks, veal, pork, interesting sausages, organic meats, and butcher-store specialties like ham hocks, cow feet, and goat meat. Beiler's sells three levels of meat -- USDA grain fed, a "natural grain fed" free of steroids, hormones and antibiotics, and a certified organic.
• The baked goods, including all kinds of dinner rolls, sweet breads, cakes and even loaves from the Breadery in Ellicott City.
• The fresh-squeeze orange juice and lemonade around the corner from the candy stand. That can run $7.89 and $3.59 for a half-gallon respectively, but you can watch the machine squeeze juice right there in the store. It's delicious, and you can buy smaller bottles as well ($4.29 and $1.99).

(Update: See the detailed recommendations from HowICook in the comments.)

The Dutch Country isn't an organic wonderland. Despite the beards and bonnets, these are modern folks selling manufactured goods. The goods are delicious, and it's cool that they're made in Lancaster County. But the pickles that I bought contain polysorbate 80, and that is going to be similar if you're looking through the candies or at Lydiaanne's zesty horseradish mustard. So keep your eyes open and buy something because you like it -- not for the romance of the "Dutch Country." (And watch the prices too. The $1.39 Claeys candies are 99 cents if you buy them at Laurel Meat Market.)

Overall, this is a fun place to check out. The key fact is that it is only open Thursday to Saturday and only 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday. Check out the Web site below. It gives you a superb feel for all 12 vendors, plus the hours and address. In 2007, there was talk that the Burtonsville market would close and move to Laurel, but the Web site and signs at the store say it will be open until further notice. I don't know exactly what that means because they still list the new location on Rte 198 in Laurel.

If you are checking out Burtonsville, turn west on Rte 198 and check out the restaurants in the next two blocks. There are outlets for Rita's and Mainwand Kabob, plus Cuban at Cuba de Ayer and Ethiopian at the Coffee Oromia.

Dutch Country Farmers Market (to July 4, 2009)

15642 Columbia Pike

Burtonsville, MD

301-421-1454

http://www.burtonsvilledutchmarket.com/

NEAR: The Dutch market is at the intersection of Rte 198 and Columbia Pike. This is a block west of Rte 29. From Howard County, take the first exit in Montgomery County. You'll go around a traffic circle at the top of the exit ramp, and then you'll ride down the old Rte 29 past Meadows Farms nursery. The market is in the shopping center on the right just before the intersection with Rte 198.

Dutch Country Farmers Market (after August or September 2009)

9701 Fort Meade Road (Rte 198)

Laurel, MD 20707

877-421-1454

717-786-4736

http://www.burtonsvilledutchmarket.com/

NEAR: The market will be on Rte 198 just east of U.S. 1. It is very convenient from downtown Laurel.

Rita's Is Giving Italian Ice Away!

Start up your summer habit by going for a free cup of icy dessert at the local Rita's Italian ices this Friday, March 20, 2009.

Rita's has a corporate tradition of free regular ice on opening day. Memorial Day may still feel far away, but you can make summer come faster by living like the warm weather has already arrived.

There are two Rita's in Columbia at Harpers Choice (where ice pairs with Afghan from Maiwand Kabob) and at Kings Contrivance (where you can get pizza from Trattario E Pizzeria de Enrico). There is a third in Jessup at the Columbia East shopping center with My Organic Market.

Click here for the addresses of the Maryland Rita's.

Bring Joy To Howard County - Or Baltimore

Joy Ike is a Pittsburgh musician who traveling to Baltimore in April.  She is looking for venues to play music -- maybe galleries, artsy bars, or coffee shops.

Joy emailed me asking about Mad City Coffee.  But she is looking for any venue suggestions that have enough room for music and bring in a decent amount of foot traffic.  Joy says she plays an eclectic mix of pop, nu-jazz and neo-soul.

Can  you recommend anywhere that Joy should check out in Ellicott City or Columbia?  Or even Baltimore?  If so, post here -- email her at joy@joyike.com.  For more about Joy, check out her Web site.

Sysco Discount Food Center in Elkridge

Sysco's retail outlet on U.S. 1 offers up unique opportunities, and you could see a single store with three different opportunities:  big-package food, party supplies, and kitchen outfitter.

If you're looking for any of the three, it's worth a visit.  Sysco is the giant food company that supplies so many restaurants.  I don't know if the store is a service for small restaurants or some kind of outlet.  But's it's well-stocked, well-organized, and it really offers some entertaining finds.

First, the food looks like a small Costco.  Frozen, canned and packaged food in huge containers -- five pounds of chicken nuggests, 10 pounds of pasta, six pounds of apple sauce.  You can buy name brands or the Sysco version.  I don't know these prices, but the name brands lookedgood quality like Heinz ketchup, Real Lemon lemon juice, etc.  This is great if you needed huge quantities of frozen shrimp, shredded cheese, olives, tomatoes, etc.  Some unique options that caught my eye:

• Ketchup, mustard, mayo packets that you buy by the pound.  I didn't buy them because I couldn't figure out exactly what I would do with them, but they'd be great if you pack your lunch.
• Frozen soup bases that you mix with water to create stock.  Beyond the pedestrian chicken and beef stocks, Sysco offered lobster, clam, ham and crab.  At less than $10 to make five gallons of soup, they might be a nice option if you were cooking soup for a party.
• A two-pound brie for $11.15.  It's President brand so that is no risk, and the large wheel would make a striking centerpiece on a party buffet.  Cover that with one of those jam and nut toppings, and it would be spectacular.

Second, work the back room and the front corner for party supplies.  The back room is basics with foam cups, paper plates in huge quantities. You could buy 250 plates for $11, which is a bargain compared to what I have paid on the morning of a barbeque.  The front corner is higher end.  Plastic rolls of tablecloth ($11 for 100 feet would be great to dress up picnic tables.

The colorful napkins and paper plates coordinate with $2.19 tableclothes for an indoor soiree, and there were 89-cent serving spoons that looked like metal until I picked them up.  Classy plastic!  

But the real unique option is the catering trays.  These are the disposable plastic trays for carrying an array of sandwiches or setting up a picnic.  They're invaluable to cart your creations to a picnic or a pot luck, and I have never seen this selection or these sizes at a supermarket.

Last, check out the restaurant supplies against the far right wall -- baking sheets, bowls, saute pans, coffee urns.  These are clearly products for the professional.  They're not heirlooms like Le Cruset.  They're working products at prices that looked good to me, especially because the other option I know for items like candy thermometers or knives is William Sonoma, which sells high-end and charges that way too.  Some of the products are huge.  Like 40-quart stock pot huge.  How do I justify storing that in the basement?  Others are just things that looked cool on Top Chef like an array of stainless steel bowls.

If I were outfitting a kitchen, I'd do it from Sysco.  They sell all kinds of basics like measuring cups, knives, bowls, etc.  Mark Bittman -- who is brilliant and practical -- has a great article and video on the NYT Web site about equipping an entire kitchen for $200 with another $100 of extras.  He says you need to go a restaurant supply store.  Check out Bittman's video and his article and then go to Sysco.

The Sysco Discount Food Center opens at 9 am Monday to Saturday.  It's open until 6 pm on Monday-Wednesday, 7 pm on Thursday and Friday, and 2 pm on Saturday.

Thanks to HowICook and ho.co.po. for the tip about Sysco in other comments.  The stretch of U.S. 1 in Elkridge is a great place to explore if you're looking for interesting food.  Check out an earlier post about touring down from the Ceazar International Market near Rte 100 past tacos, organic groceries, empanadas, fish and more to Rte 32.

Sysco Discount Food Center

7540 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1)

Elkridge, MD  21075

410-799-8808

800-659-6044

NEAR:  The Sysco store is on the west side of U.S. 1 between Rte 100 and Rte 175.  It's the same complex as the U.S. 1 flea market.  The Sysco store is in the shopping center to the north of the flea market.

Ceazar Restaurant in Elkridge

The new Caezar Restaurant is delicious addition to Elkridge -- Persian foods with an attention to detail, but a casual price.

The restaurant is the sister-business to Howard County's best Middle Eastern grocery store, which moved to Elkridge this year after 13 years in Columbia under the name Sizar's. Now, the Caezar International Market sits next to the restaurant, so you enjoy a great meal and carry home some delicacies for later.

Caezar Restaurant starts with a pretty basic menu -- appetizers, salads, and grilled meats served as wraps or platters. But the menu actually offers some unique variations, which I understood were the Iranian takes on food that I learned in Turkish and Lebanese restaurants. So the wraps come on a thin, lavash bread instead of pita, and the choices include items new to me like a yogurt and cucumber appetizer "mast-o khiyer," a sliced beef sandwich called "motadella," and a Persian noodle soup "ashe reshteh."

The meal was delicious. Our wraps came with a small starter plate of salad and bread, which was a really nice bonus. A square of salty cheese, radishes, onion, parsley and that "mast-o khiyer" appetizer. We ate them slowly with pieces of the house bread, which was a flavorful thin bread like pita, and it made the meal -- a late lunch when the restaurant was almost empty -- something more special than just your normal sandwiches. And the sandwiches were special themselves. Grilled meat (chicken or tenderloin) rolled inside that multi-layered lavash bread and accompanied with tomato, lettuce, herbs and pickle.

Again, the herbs and pickle were different. Caezar has a casual feel, but they want to be something more special than just a kabob joint. The modern plates and the tablecloths at dinnertime show you that they're offering something special. For that kind of attention to detail, the meal was a bargain. For $20, we each had drinks and sandwiches so large that we brought halves home as leftovers, plus we enjoyed the little salads and an appetizer of samose. That was six fried pastries filled with potatoes and peas. The menu calls them "spicy," but they're actually mild -- especially compared to the samosas and sauces that you would get at House of India or Mango Grove.

If you go to Caezar, you should definitely ask questions. The waiters were extremely friendly, and, once they realized that we were interested in Iranian food, they talked at length and let us sample a Persian garlic pickle that was completely new to me. They were also just incredibly nice. Mrs. HowChow loves yogurt dips like raita, so we ordered the mast-o khiyer appetizer. The waiter could have just brought us the dish and padded his check, but he pointed out that our sandwiches came with the same dip on the side. That's the kind of attention that makes me a regular.

If you enjoy grilled meats like the kabobs at Caezar, you should also check out the local variations -- another Persian option called Parsa Kabob off Rte 108 near Rte 174 or the Afghan joints like Maiwand Kabob in Columbia and Mimi's Kabob in Clarksville.

If you go to the Ceazar International Market next door, you should definitely try the pistachio nougat. Not cheap, but the rose water flavor makes this one of the most delicious things that you can buy anywhere.

Ceazar Restaurant

6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075
443-755-9442 (market)
442-755-9444 (restaurant)

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100 and less than two miles from I-95. From Rte 100, you take U.S. 1 south, turn left at the first light onto Rte 103 and follow it as it curves twice. Ceazar is in a shopping center on the left.

Can You Recommend An Ice Cream Parlor?

Where do you go for great ice cream in Howard County?  Kate asked for advice about great ice cream parlors now that spring is coming.

I love going out to Soft Stuff and Rita's, but I don't claim that either serves spectacular ice cream. They're fun summer nights because we sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere.  There was an ice cream store on Rte 40 that closed before I could visit. Is there a parlor in Columbia or Ellicott City that makes its own ice cream?  What do you suggest? 

Link: Baltimore City Paper's Restaurant Issue

Baltimore City Paper has posted its restaurant issue for 2009. It's a series of short articles broken down by type of cuisine.

Local mentions include Pioneer Pit Beef (barbecue), Grace Garden (Chinese), and Shin Chon (Korean). This is a nice list. It's a complement to Baltimore Magazine's high-end list with fun places to explore. But it's city-centric, as the paper's name suggests. Couldn't they even mention that Bonaparte Breads has an outpost in Savage?

If you want a similar guide to Howard County, check out the "What I Learned" posts. (Hat tip to Adventures in Baltimore Restaurants, which reported this last week when I was too excited about steak on U.S.1 to rearrange posts.)

Link: Baltimore Magazine's Top 50

Five Howard County restaurants make Baltimore Magazine's Top 50 list. Congratulations to Iron Bridge Wine Company (36), Aida Bistro & Wine Bar (37), Tersiguel's (40), Victoria Gastro Pub (47) and Jordan's Steakhouse (48). I hope this draws curious city folk to explore down Rte 29.

(Hat tip to Live in Howard County, which reported this last month before the list was even on the Web.)

Community Supported Agriculture in Howard County

If you're looking for organic or just seasonal vegetables near Columbia or Ellicott City, consider some of the local options for "community supported agriculture" -- basically a way to buy a piece of a local farm.

CSAs are a trendy little program where farms or groups sell "shares" that entitle you to a piece of the harvest. You get the produce when it comes ripe. Most CSAs are organic (or at least don't use pesticides even if they aren't certified yet). All are aimed to support local farms. So it's not the cheapest way to buy vegetables -- but it's a way that gives you product that never saw a refrigerated warehouse and is probably a few days (or hours) out of the field.

• Gorman Farm in Laurel runs a CSA. For $550, you get a "full share" -- about eight pieces of produce a week for a season running from June to October. You pick up your box on Thursdays (11 am to 7 pm) at their stand on Gorman Road. They also offer a "half share" and run that produce stand if you want local vegetables, but don't want to commit to $550.
  
• One Straw Farm runs a large CSA and one of its drop-offs is the My Organic Market in Jessup. You pay about the same or find a friend to split the share. Their season runs from June to November. (Thanks to Lisa for the comment about One Straw Farm.)
  
• Breezy Willow Farm appears to run a CSA with pick ups at the farm in West Friendship at Rte 32 and I-70 on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. I can't find much on their Web site, but you should click on the "Farm Fresh Goodies" sign on the left side, then scroll down. The farm seems to crate goat and sheet milk soaps along with selling vegetables.
  
• South Mountain Veggies created a new option for 2009, but they're very, very limited. This family brought you South Mountain Creamery, which delivers dairy products and sold its milk, cream and cheese at the Saturday farmers market in Cooksville. They're buying produce from local farms and then delivering to customers. But they picked their customers in March 2009, and it didn't sound likely that they would expand. Keep them in mind for next year.

All these options are aimed at people who want to cook vegetables. This isn't the potatoes, tomatoes and green beans that you buy 52-weeks-a-year in a supermarket. This will be whatever is ripe now, and there are tons of blogs where people talk about their CSAs, share recipes for unfamiliar produce, and chat about whether it was worth the investment -- like this and this and Nina's local Yet Another Food Blog. As far as I read, you need to like vegetables and surprise. You need to like the idea that each box comes with something new or something that you won't know how to cook, and you need to like not knowing what you have until you reach your kitchen. If that sounds fun, try a CSA. If you try one, buy a used copy of How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman or Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. Those are my bibles when I have a vegetable and need a recipe to cook right away.

(Update: Nina of Yet Another Food Blog picked One Straw Hill for her 2009 CSA.)

If you commute south, you might want to look at the Sandy Spring CSA, which has a pickup place in Sandy Spring on Wednesday.

Please post below if you have any experience with local CSAs or know of some that I missed. This post is a revision of an earlier post that was just about Gorman Farm and South Mountain. I retitled this version so that people might stumble on it when they're searching the internet for CSAs. If you're new to HowChow, check out my post about Vegetable Shopping in Howard County or my posts about the local farmers markets.

South Mountain Veggies

240-575-5221

301-371-8565 (creamery)

http://smveggies.deliverybizpro.com/home.php

NEAR: It's a delivery service. You don't need to go there. But South Mountain Farm is at 8305 Bolivar Road; Middletown, MD 21769.

Gorman Produce Farm

Gorman Road between between Leishear Rd & Murray Hill Rd.

Laurel, MD

301-957-6884

http://www.gormanproducefarm.com/Home.html

NEAR: This is on Gorman Road. That's pretty convenient from Rte 29 if you take the Gorman/Johns Hopkins Road exit. You go east, and the road becomes Gorman. You can also reach

Maruha Japanese Steakhouse Opens In Columbia

The Maruha Japanese Steakhouse has opened in the Hickory Ridge village center.  This is a Japanese restaurant with an large sushi menu, but the real center is an entire room of hibachi tables.

Hibachi is the "Benihana-style" of tabletop cooking also called teppanyaki where you sit on one side of a table and the chef cooks on the other.  Maruha has a series of these tabletops in deceptively large and nicely-decorated space, and they were eager to show off the hibachi room when I stopped for a menu.  I was just heading into the Giant, so I did not have time to sample the food.  Anyone?

If you like Japanese steakhouses, you can also check out Ginza of Tokyo on Johns Hopkins Road near Rte 29.  Again, I haven't been, but there was a great comment by a guy who talked up Ginza and said his kids love watching them cook hibachi.  Click here for all posts about Japanese food, including Sushi King and Sushi Sono.

Does anyone know what happened to the Fractured Prune donut store in Hickory Ridge? Are they re-opening?  It closed last fall, but it looked completely stocked when I looked through the window last weekend.  There are even pallets of soda inside.  If you know something, please comment on the posting about the closing.

Maruha Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
6410 Freetown Road
Columbia, MD 21044
410-531-6288

NEAR: This is in the Hickory Ridge village center just off Cedar Lane. This is north of Rte 32 and south of Broken Land Parkway just west of Rte 29.

Help Me: Organic Shopping

Sometimes, I have time to shop. Sometimes, I don't even have time to boil water. But when I can, I like to search the Howard County organic markets for something special.

I'm posting about "What I've Learned" to collect a guide to the best of Howard County food., including a post about vegetable shopping. I'm asking for help, and I'll incorporate comments in the upcoming posts (or update them if the post already happened):

• What do you like at the organic stores? Roots, MoM and David's all have aisles of stuff that I don't really know. Mostly, I go for vegetables, bread and cheese -- like Kate who found emmentaler at Roots. But I stumbled on Moorenko's ice cream at MoM, and I know there must be more. Great crackers? Great juice? Meat? Is there some difference between the three groceries -- something that one does best?
• Do you know any other options? I'm posting separately about Gorman Farm and South Mountain Veggies. Does anyone get South Mountain milk delivered? Are there other straight-from-the-farm options in Howard County?

Gorman Farm and South Mountain Veggies

If you're looking for organic or just seasonal vegetables in Howard County, you may want to consider some of the local options for "community supported agriculture" -- basically a way to buy a piece of a local farm.

CSAs are a trendy little program where farms or groups sell "shares" that entitle you to a piece of the harvest. You get the produce when it comes ripe. Most CSAs are organic (or at least don't use pesticides even if they aren't certified yet). All are aimed to support local farms. So it's not the cheapest way to buy vegetables -- but it's a way that gives you product that never saw a refrigerated warehouse and is probably a few days out of the field.

Gorman Farm in Laurel runs a CSA. For $550, you get a "full share" -- about eight pieces of produce a week for a season running from June to October. You pick up your box on Thursdays (11 am to 7 pm) at their stand on Gorman Road. They also offer a "half share" and run that produce stand if you want local vegetables, but don't want to commit to $550.

One Straw Farm runs a large CSA and one of its drop-offs is the My Organic Market in Jessup. You pay about the same or find a friend to split the share. Their season runs from June to November. (Thanks to Lisa for the comment about One Straw Farm.)

Breezy Willow Farm appears to run a CSA with pick ups at the farm in West Friendship at Rte 32 and I-70 on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.  I can't find much on their Web site, but you should click on the "Farm Fresh Goodies" sign on the left side, then scroll down.  The farm seems to crate goat and sheet milk soaps along with selling vegetables.

South Mountain Veggies is the new option in town. This family brought you South Mountain Creamery, which delivers fairy products and sold its milk, cream and cheese at the Saturday farmers market in Cooksville. They're buying produce from local farms and then delivering to you. As of last weekend, they were still working out their delivery areas and delivery days, but they had a very flexible system where you could pick three different size boxes and order deliveries every week or every two weeks. No season-long commitment.

In both cases, this is aimed at people who want to cook vegetables. This isn't the potatoes, tomatoes and green beans that you buy 52-weeks-a-year in a supermarket. This will be whatever is ripe now, and there are tons of blogs where people talk about their CSAs, share recipes for unfamiliar produce, and chat about whether it was worth the investment -- like this and this and Nina's local Yet Another Food Blog. As far as I read, you need to like vegetables and surprise. You need to like the idea that each box comes with something new or something that you won't know how to cook, and you need to like not knowing what you have until you reach your kitchen. If that sounds fun, try a CSA. If you try one, buy a used copy of How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman or Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. Those are my bibles when I have a vegetable and need a recipe to cook right away.

I heard about South Mountain Veggies on Yet Another Food Blog, and I'm going to try them if they deliver to my neighborhood. They have a track record with dairy deliveries. The Web site seems professional, and I'm impressed that they're confident enough to let people sign up without committing for the year.

If you commute south, you might want to look at the Sandy Spring CSA, which has a pickup place in Sandy Spring on Wednesday.

South Mountain Veggies

240-575-5221

301-371-8565 (creamery)

http://smveggies.deliverybizpro.com/home.php

NEAR: It's a delivery service. You don't need to go there. But South Mountain Farm is at 8305 Bolivar Road; Middletown, MD 21769.

Gorman Produce Farm

Gorman Road between between Leishear Rd & Murray Hill Rd.

Laurel, MD

301-957-6884

http://www.gormanproducefarm.com/Home.html

NEAR: This is on Gorman Road. That's pretty convenient from Rte 29 if you take the Gorman/Johns Hopkins Road exit. You go east, and the road becomes Gorman. You can also reach

Five Guys Coming To Columbia

Five Guys is coming to the Columbia Mall, according to a comment from the beautifully named nuttyturnip.

This will be the first Five Guys hamburger and fries joint in Howard County.  The local chain has spots in Laurel, Hanover and Security Square.  But this would be one of the best burgers in Howard County once it opens.

Nuttyturnip says there is a "coming soon" sign at the old Haagen-Daz location in the mall food court.  My brother-in-law will be crushed because he loved that ice cream.  But the burgers are better.

Pupuseria Y Taqueria Las Delicias in Elkridge

The newest food find in Howard County is beef worth pulling to the side of the road.

There is a new "taco truck" on U.S. 1 in Elkridge, and the innovation is the grill where you watch your meat cooked while you wait. Fajita beef. Pork ribs. Beef ribs. Pick your flavor, and the folks at Pupuseria y Taqueria Las Delicias box it up with tortillas, a tomato salsa, rice, beans and salad.

A charred, carnivorous treat for $10. A great break if you were doing errands at the Lowe's or along U.S. 1. Actually good enough to carry out for dinner because the beans and salsa were excellent. Bland side dishes are my real complaint about local Mexican restaurants, and they're delicioso at Las Delicias -- red beans slightly larger than the canned variety and tasty.

I had the fajitas, and they're nicely done. Marinated skirt steak with

real flavor, but tender enough that each bite came perfectly. None of the toughness that I have inflicted on a skirt steak on my own grill. I also loved the grilled jalepeno. I ate it by hand, sort of cringing for the the hot-pepper overload. But it was mildly spicy, even when I ate the seeds.

But this weekend, I plan on going back for the beef ribs. The chef gave me a taste as I left. Even better than the fajitas. Tasty meat that came right off the bone. One bite just wasn't enough!

Las Delicias is parked on the southbound side of U.S. 1 just north of Rte 32. It's very convenient from Rte 175, so it's a fine place to stop if you are doing errands at Lowes or shopping at the My Organic Market in Jessup. For now, they're serving on weekends, but they said that they plan to come every day once the weather improves.

If you go to Las Delicias, ask for extra tortillas. Two wasn't enough to wrap all the meat in my fajitas, and the woman in the truck happily gave an extra two to the guys in front of me. I stopped at Las Delicias because of post by crowsonguy on Chowhound. Now, I wonder if he was talking about something else -- because he says his roadside grill was north of Rte 175. We'll see next weekend!

I'm a huge fan of the U.S. 1 tacos, especially Pupuseria Lorenita's. It's cheaper than Las Delicias -- great if you just want two tacos and not the whole platter. Click here for a whole post about Mexican restaurants in Howard County and here for a tour of food along U.S. 1.

Pupuseria Y Taqueria Las Delicias
301-503-0391

NEAR: The truck parks on Rte 1 just north of Rte 32. It's on the west side, and you can't miss the truck and the grill behind it.

Link: Review of Ellicott Mills Brewing Company

Greg B. posts about the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company on the Food and Wine Blog. He wasn't that impressed, although they liked the venison sausage. Does anyone have their own review?

Click here for a post about Beer in Howard County, part of the ongoing series about "What I Have Learned" writing HowChow.

Santa Tecla Peanut Brittle at El Patio Market

The best part about writing a food blog is that I can buy candy as a public service.

I'm not snacking. I'm researching when I grab that 99-cent peanut brittle from the counter at El Patio Market in Elkridge. I stopped at El Patio for their empanadas -- handmade pastries filled with chicken, beef or various vegetable combinations. But those were for dinner, so I grabbed the Santa Tecla peanut brittle to nibble on the way to Lowes.

Santa Tecla is terrific. The flavor was peanuts with a taste of sesame seeds. It's quite adult and actually less sweet than most brittles that I have had. Great for a snack. Perfect to throw in a lunch bag. Interesting enough that I may buy some more to see if the brittle cuts cleanly. A strip of brittle would dress up homemade ice cream. Altogether, another fun find.

El Patio is small, but it has some delicious an unique items like the empanadas or a Super Mango Lollipop. Or consider stopping for a snack or a meal at one the trucks on Rte 1, particularly the tacos at Pupuseria Lorenita's at Paco's Paint a few blocks north of Rte 175 or the fajitas and ribs at Pupuseria Y Taqueria Las Delicias on the way south to Rte 32.

El Patio Market
7968 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1)
Jessup, MD 20794
443-755-0385

NEAR: Just south of Rte 175 on U.S. 1. It's on the east side about a block south of the intersection. Very convenient from I-95.

CakeLove Founder at the Maryland Home & Garden Show

Warren Brown -- the lawyer turned Food Network celebrity -- will be at the Maryland Home & Garden Show this Saturday afternoon to meet fans and talk about his chain CakeLove.

The show is in Timonium, and there is information here.  

A PR person asked me if HowChow readers might be interested.  I asked if that meant CakeLove might be coming to Howard County.  No such luck, as far as I know.  But Brown will be at the show at 1 pm Saturday.

Did the FBI Seize The River Hill Sports Grille?

Pat Hiban posted about the River Hill Sports Grille and an FBI press release that says it seized a sports bar in Clarksville as part of a criminal guilty plea. Pat seems to know the bar and the owner, and he says that the William Ray Miller in the press release owns the bar in the River Hill Village Center.

Does anyone know if the FBI really seized the bar? People in Hiban's comments say they haven't heard about this. Is the River Hill Sports Grille open? Hiban talks the place up, although I haven't visited.

Looney's South and Harris Teeter in Fulton

The new Looney's South in Maple Lawn is flying leprechaun awnings outside, but the indoors is still a moving-day jumble of chairs, tables and ladders. The last I heard was that "soft opens" should start this week. Does anyone know more?

Looney's fills the hole where Trapeze closed last year. Looney's sent me an email saying they'll open March 12, and people are already advertising a "grand opening" party in Fulton on March 14, 2009 hosted by 98 Rock. That means they'll be safely open for St. Patrick's Day on the 17th.

(Update on March 18: Looney's is now open and people are leaving reviews in the comments below. The opening week crowds were huge, and I hope business is rubbing off on neighbors like imWine.)

Although the Daily Grind coffee shop closed last weekend, Maple Lawn is also getting the second Harris Teeter in Howard County. The Maple Lawn Web site has a press release saying that market will open in Fall 2009. That is the construction site to the west of Maple Lawn Boulevard on Rte 216. The walls were up when I drove past last weekend. No windows or anything that looks like a supermarket yet. For the latest on Harris Teeter, click here for News on Harris Teeter.

Ceazar International Market in Elkridge

The king is dead. Long live the Ceazar.

The Ceazar International Market has opened just off Rte 100 in Elkridge. Under the name Sizar's, this was the king of Middle Eastern grocery stores for more than 13 years in Columbia, and the new store is beautiful.

It's not full yet. The shelves are heavy with the canned and dried goods that range from dried beans to rice, from stuffed eggplants to ghee. The freezers are ready to sell you samosas, cheeses, and Indian curries. But there is still empty space, and they're slowing adding stock to the new location. This is a great place to explore if you want to cook Middle Eastern food or just find ingredients like spices, teas, rose water, or Jallab syrup. Folks there are happy to answer questions or make suggestions.

One of the innovations is a butcher counter, where you'll be able to get goat, lamb, beef, veal and chicken. It's all halal. This is the kind of place where you should go and tell them what you want. The owner was very proud that they aren't freezing meat back there. It's all fresh, and he wants to stock what customers want to buy.

My old standbys have moved from Columbia to Elkridge. It's worth your time to check out Ceazar Market for just the pistachio nougat -- my favorite light candy flavored with nuts and rose water. It's not cheap, but it's so unique and so delicious.

Ceazar opened a restaurant next to the market, which is excellent and extremely friendly. It's Persian food, which was delicious and interestingly different. I'll post a separate review, but I'll talk up the wraps, the samose appetizer and the staff that was happy to answer questions. The restaurant is casual, but the modern dishes and the tablecloths at night reflect the kitchen's clear desire to be more than just a kabob shop.

If you want to read more, click for the starting page for my "What I Learned" guide to food in Howard County.

Ceazar International Market and Restaurant

6801 Douglas Legum Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075

443-755-9442 (market)

442-755-9444 (restaurant)

NEAR: Just off Rte 103 east of U.S. 1. This is just south of Rte 100 and less than two miles from I-95. From Rte 100, you take U.S. 1 south, turn left at the first light onto Rte 103 and follow it as it curves twice. Ceazar is in a shopping center on the left.