While I've Been Out: Reporting On Lil' Finds And Starting To Catch Up On Openings and Closings

Gyro at Hickory Ridge Grill

While I've been out, the good food has kept rolling.  Even when I couldn't post, I appreciated all the comments and emails, and I'm trying to start blogging again.

Let's start with the gyro at the Hickory Ridge Grill in Columbia.  Over the years, the little diner has renovated itself into a nice, casual restaurant off Cedar Lane.  In our early weeks home, we took a posse there for Sunday breakfast -- eggs, pancakes

Our last visit was dinner on a summer night.  Lil' Chow and I were part of my new reality -- sitting down at 5:30 pm and looking first at the kid's menu.  It's a tough schedule for blogging, but we still eat well.  He went kid's spaghetti.  I considered something light, but went gyro under the idea that I try to eat good versions of food that might be bad for me.

This is part of my "While I've Been Out" series to restart the blog.  Late last year, the blog got some serious competition.  I'm still working out how to keep writing while I'm doing so many other new things as well.  Saturday, I noted that Wegmans seems to be trying again to open a liquor store in their Columbia location.  Tomorrow, a full post about new places opening, old places closing, and big questions that I hope folks can answer.

The gyro made my night.  Gyros can be a come-on with great smells, then provide more grease than flavor.  In contrast, the Hickory Ridge gyro was meaty and nicely charred on the edges, and it came with a fresh topping of tomatoes and lettuce and salty cheese that cut through heaviness.

I ate all the fries.  You can see the heap in the photo above.  I promised myself that I'd stop halfway through.  I gave a few to Lil' Chow, who preferred his pasta.  Then I kept dipping fries into the tzaziki until there was nothing left of either.

Lil's Chow's birthday on Ananda's watermelon salad

We have had a good year even though I haven't been able to write as much as I hoped.  The long adoption wait may prepare some new parents for the changes.  It didn't prepare us.

Along the way, we have had great food.  Lil' Chow's birthday dinner at Tian Chinese Cuisine in Ellicott City with black bean noodles that are always a hit there or at Da Rae Won in Beltsville.  His birthday brunch with family at Ananda in Fulton, truly become one of the best restaurants around.

We had a spring brunch at Ananda that is truly the great "lost HowChow post" for the ages.  As I have noted before, I got a few lines of notes into my phone, then never had time to write more.  But it was a perfect mean.   A warm morning on Ananda's open-window patio with the Cordis Couple -- a table where Lil' Chow discovered Ananda's  French toast and I ate a special duck dumplings.

The French toast is a regular, and it's reason enough to go to Ananda for a weekend brunch.  Cooked in the oven and lightly twisted with a cardamon maple syrup.  It's a perfect example of how Ananda succeeds.  It's full of flavor, yet fresh, lighter than you'd expect.  It's a dish that you'd recognize, yet done with a twist that I wouldn't do at home and I can't find anywhere else.

I hope folks will be patient with HowChow's new reality.  I'm going to try to start again this week.  I have tried to collect news for tomorrow and then some posts for the next two weeks.  As always, I love comments and would love people to propose Trolling posts to augment my opinions.  See the rules for Trolling posts here.

See you tomorrow!

Thanks to Mrs. HowChow who ran a long Saturday morning through a gymnastic class to Sushi Sono to give me time to write posts.  We're trying hard.  Mostly, it's working out.

Signs? We Don't Need No Stinking Signs! Not When Ananda's Food Fills The Tables All Week

Ananda -- So you'll recognize it without a sign

I loved the food from the beginning, but for some reason, I now love Ananda's attitude as well.

The Indian restaurant opened in Fulton last year to terrific reviews.  Like a national magazine's list of the 25 most outstanding restaurants of 2015.  We have loved it from the beginning...

But Ananda's spot is unusual.

Duck dumplings

It's great for me.  It's the closest restaurant to my house.  But Ananda sits on Maple Lawn Boulevard out of sight from the main roads.  And it has no sign.  A striking open-windowed dining room in good weather, but no sign.

We always figured they were waiting on a sign delivery.  But then Mrs. HowChow asked owner Binda Singh this week, and Singh told her there won't be a sign.

He doesn't believe in them.

The Ambassador in Baltimore doesn't have a sign, he said.  And he doesn't think Ananda needs one either.

Now, I have to admit that I'm friendly with Singh.  I don't out myself normally in restaurants, but Singh is super-friendly and knew from emails that we were coming on his opening day.  It was a thin crowd.  So we said hello, and we have enjoyed ourselves ever since.  (Well, except for Lil' Chow's first nice restaurant meal when we tried to take him there at 6:30 on the Sunday daylight savings ended.  He was exhausted! That's another story.)

Singh doesn't believe in signs.

Citrus salad

Somehow, I love this.  It feels like a bad-ass rejection of the way most retail runs.  And it's working.  The place was packed on Tuesday when Mrs. HowChow took some students for dinner.  We're going back for Mother's Day.  We'll do dinner, but I heartily recommend the brunch.  One of the "lost" meals from my three months with few posts was a terrific March brunch with the Cordis Couple where I ate the perfect dumplings.

Those dumplings are pictured above.  My notes just say "duck, dumpling, chili sauce, sesame seeds, four, M."  I must have thought that I'd blog that afternoon. Some toddler madness must have gotten in the way.

Seriously, check out the Ananda menus if you haven't been yet.  Mother's Day looks like a buffet brunch.  That French toast casserole merits a visit all on its own.  Just keep your eyes peeled as your heading to eat -- because they're not putting up a sign.

You can see all my posts about Ananda.  You should also check out Jennifer Waldera's HerMind Magazine profile of the Kaur sisters, including Kinday Kaur who is the chef at Ananda.  Her sister is the chef at the "sister" restaurant The Ambassador in Baltimore.

Eating Off The Kids' Menu: Mango Grove And Ananda Introduce Indian To Lil' Chow

The kids' menu dosa -- maybe larger than normal

When we rolled into Mango Grove in Columbia on Sunday night, we had no idea what Lil' Chow would eat.

He's a good eater.  But he definitely prefers crunchy food to soft stuff. 

He knows sticky short-grain rice, toast, seaweed, rice cakes, and pancakes.  But our only prior attempt at Indian had been a mistake where we tried Ananda on the day that clocks sprang forward -- so he was starving before we arrived and stayed addled through an appetizer before melting down.

We bet on the cheese dosa off Mango Grove's kids' menu.  A rice and lentil crepe -- stuffed with their normal potato filling, but also layered inside with melted cheddar cheese.

A boy and his mango lassi

It's delicious.  We know because Lil' Chow didn't bite at the crunchy dosa.  This could be a terrific meal for any kid willing to try something new and wanting to eat crispy crepe and warm filling potato.  (It can be spicy and adult as well if you order the mysore masala dosa.)  I'm confident that Lil' Chow will come around.

But last Sunday, he ate rice and mango lassi.  That's the Indian basmati rice, looser and more flavored than the Korean rice that I made habitually now in my new rice maker.  Mango Grove stirfries rice with onions.  Lil' Chow chowed.  Then, he sucked.  He took the kid's lassi -- a mango-yogurt shake in a plastic cup with a lid and straw -- and drank down.  He was hilarious and a bit amazing since we had never seen him act so carefully with a drink before.

Mango Grove is one of Howard County's best kitchens.  We feasted on the dosa along with the mashed eggplant of baingan bartha and the unique jackfruit of kathal korma.  Unripe jackfruit give a meaty texture to that curry, although it's more of a subtle toothiness, not the weird "fake meat" texture that you can get from meat substitutes.  You're eating a vegetarian curry.  The jackfruit is firm, and the curry is beautifully spiced.

Today's snow got Lil Chow a second round of Indian rice at Ananda in Fulton.  Mrs. HowChow was minutes from dropping off our delayed-open daycare when they announced they were closed for the day.  Surprise!  She met RDAdoc for a playdate and then lunch.  When I got home, she raved about the butternut squash soup and the chickpeas.  No photos were taken.  (So sad.  Sad for me.)  But they also learned Ananda has started Sunday brunch.  We may be back there soon.

Ananda Breaks Into The County's Best Restaurants, Gets Raved By The Sun's Gorelick

The shrimp dish jinga kararii at Ananda

I tamped down my excitement when I first wrote about Ananda.

The Fulton restaurant is the closest food to my house, serving a cuisine that I love.  And I'm just a hobby blogger, which makes me reticent to act like I know exceptional food after a meal or two.

But the professionals love Ananda, so I'm letting myself wax poetic.  It's a new restaurant, but I think it already matches the best restaurants in Howard County.

We had another amazing dinner last night.  Great cocktails.  Spectacularly flavorful shrimp, chicken and dessert.  The class of white tablecloths and subtle waiters, paired with the friendliness of a veranda full of families and kids.  All as the cool evening rolled in through open walls.

It's a magical combination, and it's getting notice.  Todd Kliman of the Washingtonian mentioned Ananda on-line a few weeks ago -- distilling the observation that the kitchen fuses Indian cuisine with a local seasonal vibe of a city bistro.  Then Kathy Patterson of Minx Eats enjoyed both the drinks and food.  Then yesterday Richard Gorelick gave Ananda four stars in the Sun:

Ananda strives to evoke something of the same nostalgic feeling, and it succeeds. The atmosphere is sophisticated but not stuffy. . . The food — in particular, the items listed as house specials — is elegant, too.

Boom.  Now I can say that I love the food without feeling like I'm infected with amateur-writer puppy love.  We have eaten three meals at Ananda, each better than the last.  This time, I ate the shrimp dish jingha karari and used rice and bread  to lap up every drop of the sauce rich with ginger and garlic.  Mrs. HowChow ate a chicken kabob that was juicy white meat chunks, cooked perfectly and then served with an herb sauce.  We finished with a special peach crumble that rivaled our favorite seasonal desserts at Woodberry Kitchen.

Read the professional reviews.  They all capture the place -- and Gorelick goes respectful when he describes the Maple Lawn development.  I'm amazed that Ananda's kitchen is serving recognizable -- even traditional -- Indian food in ways that seem unique.  It's a bit in the food itself.  A bit in their offering plated entrees.  My shrimp came with a choice of lentils or spinach as a side dish.  A bit in the local and seasonal specials like the watermelon salad that we ate on an early visit and that Gorelick raved about.

We're not the only ones raving.  The table next to us last night ordered three watermelon salads for three diners.  It's so good that they didn't share.  We have neighbors who have gone with their toddler every Sunday night since Ananda opened.  They love the food, and they're making a family tradition.

As I wrote in my "first thoughts' post, Ananda has an atmosphere that welcomes toddlers in t-shirts and women in date-night dresses.  You should try dinner on the veranda on a fall evening.  But I can see that Ananda will covert into a cozy, warm winter spot once they bring down those glass walls and turn up the fireplaces.  The bar and the interior dining rooms will give you all kinds of options.  Gorelick's review got a laugh in our house because he called out Ananda's three televisions.  It's a discordant sight here and in other really good restaurants.  You'll just need to look the other way.

Ananda
7421 Maple Lawn Blvd
Fulton, MD 20759
 (301) 725-4800

NEAR:  Ananda is in the Maple Lawn development just south of Columbia.   It's on Maple Lawn Boulevard, which connects Rte 216 and Johns Hopkins Road just west of Rte 29.  Ananda is a stand-alone building.  As of September, it had no sign.  It is across the parking lot from a Suntrust bank.

Kliman Loves Ananda; That's Great, But I May Need To Post About 14th Street's Hooker History

Watermelon salad in the middle of nowhere

Todd Kliman actually drives to Howard County to try restaurants.  So we love him and won't need to have him flogged.

The restaurant critic for the Washingtonian wrote a rave about the new Ananda in an on-line chat this week.  Kliman is really good.  I have a vague smart idea, then I see that Kliman turned a similar idea into a concrete, descriptive passage that says everything that I thought and more:

Add to that the quality of the meats and fishes, which is several notches above that of the curry house, and you have a brand of cooking that is lighter and fresher than any Indian restaurant in the area not named Rasika. Given this emphasis, you might expect the dishes to experiment a little, to rethink traditional dishes in whimsical or dramatic ways. But for the most part Ananda is attempting a different, less obvious kind of fusion — the fusion of the local-leaning bistro with the conventional Indian restaurant.

Fusion of Indian with "local-leaning bistro" is a perfect description of Ananda.  You'll get some Indian dishes and some modern creations with true Indian flavors.  I think even an on-line chat by Klim will influence people to try the Fulton restaurant.

But then Kliman had to muddy my warm feelings with the kind of worn-out "slag the suburbs" barb that I thought had been abandoned by even the newbies at the Baltimore City Paper:

The restaurant itself is a showpiece. From outside, it looks a little like a castle and a little like a bank, and sits in the middle of nowhere, amid a still-evolving development of townhouses in Fulton, Md.

Seriously?  Middle of nowhere?  That doesn't seem necessary.  Especially because Ananda is just off Rte 29.  It is in sight of APL's new space sciences office building, and it's actually in the decade-old Maple Lawn development that includes more office buildings.

I can walk to Ananda.  So I'm allowed to josh Howard County by using a corn field as my Twitter icon.  But even that corn field became houses two years ago, and I don't slag Washington by constantly reminding folks that their hippest cuisine is served on blocks that were full of hookers when I was growing up.

But then again, maybe I should.

Seriously, you should keep an eye on Kliman's chats on the Washingtonian Web site.  He finds cool places.  He writes about all kinds of food.  And he has both terrific suggestions and well-turned ways to describe what he has eaten.

First Thoughts On Ananda: Really Good Indian In A Really Unusual Space For Howard County

Eggplant appetizer at Ananda

I don't want to get ahead of my skis on Ananda, but I'm really jazzed -- both for its food and for the new restaurant space in Fulton.

I'm a homer -- literally because this is one of the closest restaurants to my house.  But I think I'd be excited even if Ananda were on the other side of the county.

This is an Indian restaurant with familiar flavors and dishes, but a menu that aims to be different.

A few weeks ago, we started with a watermelon salad.  Three towers cut from the heart of a sweet melon, served over a small salad with a lime-and-chili dressing and pistachios.  A little feta for salt.  Those nuts for crunch.  It's a dish that I'd expect more at Range than an Indian restaurant, and it was perfect on a warm night as we watched the sun set.

We have friends who have gone every Sunday night for a month.  They're working through the menu -- delicious tandoori chicken a week ago, a cold summer squash soup with pear chutney last night poured at the table from a spout.  It's not perfect.  One night the report was that halibut was lovely and light, but she wished she had ordered the Goa fish -- even with bones -- because it probably had more intense flavors.  But they're excited by the dishes and the variety.

So are we.  Ananda plates dishes rather than serving family style.  That means you get side dishes with each entree, and I thought they were done smartly.  Spicy fish curry comes with spinach.  That's rich and earthy against the spicy sauce.  The mixed vegetable curry comes with lentils.  The lentil's zest contrasts the creamy vegetable sauce.  The vegetables are cooked perfectly -- fork-tender broccoli, peas and the fresh cheese called paneer.

The building on Maple Lawn Boulevard was forever under construction, but the setting was worth the wait.  For now, they're serving mostly in a patio room with three sides of open walls.  Notice the paneling, the ceiling fans, and the fireplaces.  It's comfortable enough to welcome kids in t-shirts, but special enough that several tables had women decked in night-out dresses.

If you squint, you can see only trees and ignore the sounds of traffic.

Again, I want to take it slow at Ananda.  The kitchen has been wonderful so far.  I figure we'll have time to take it's temperature.  But I recommend it as a special spot -- maybe date-night cocktails on the patio -- or as a regular stop where you could explore the menu and specials.  Either way, it's welcome in the neighborhood.

Ananda Shifting To Regular Menu, Showing Off Another Side Of Indian Food In Fulton

Avocado appetizer at Ananda

The new Ananda restaurant in Fulton is switching to its full menu, and it's definitely a place worth exploring -- especially if you want something off the beaten path.

We ate off the "soft opening" menu Monday night, and we particularly enjoyed some dishes that we had never seen before.  An appetizer salad of cucumber, avocado and herbs was the star of the meal.  Then the cardamon-kissed desserts stole the show at the end.

The shrimp entree

Overall, Ananda seems like a worthy entry among the great Indian restaurants in Howard County.  I have chattered with friends about how it compares to Royal Taj and Mango Grove.  It's too soon to write the book on a restaurant that doesn't even have a sign yet, but people are excited by the menu and the vibe of the place.

Ananda is one of the prettier spots for dinner.  You can still hear traffic off Maple Lawn Boulevard, but the dining room with open walls makes for a beautiful spot, complete with white tablecloths and a Monday night show by a baby bunny on the grass outside.  It's nice enough for a date, but completely friendly to the kids who have been eating when we visited.

This is an ambitious kitchen.  The dal and the raita were just side dishes in our meal, but they were intensely flavorful.  Great cooks use Indian spices and herbs in a way that I have never mastered at home, and they're paying attention to those details even in the side dishes.  They hit similar successes in the chickpea entree and in our desserts -- a house-made ice cream and a rice pudding.

But Ananda stands out because they're pushing the offerings of local Indian restaurants.  I have said for years that I'd love specials or seasonal dishes because several of our Indian kitchens are among the most-inspired in town.  Ananda's avocado salad -- fresh vegetables, dressed beautifully and served with the crunch of a papadum -- was a revelation.  Simultaneously Indian, but new to us.

The chickpea entree

Beyond the menu items, Ananda is following their original Ambassador restaurant in defaulting to plating each entree.  Unless you ask for family-style service where everyone shares, you get a main course with rice, dal and a sauce like the large shrimp on the "soft opening" menu.

Overall, this is a fun place to check out.  People are loyal to their Indian favorites because they're among the deepest cuisines in Howard County.  We happily alternate between the curries at Royal Taj or House of India and the dosas and south Indian food at Mango Grove.  Ananda could create its own niche -- the same white tablecloth feel of Royal Taj, but a bar for cocktails and a menu that offers slightly different tricks.

Ananda is on Maple Lawn Boulevard just south of Johns Hopkins Road.  They don't have a sign yet, but they're across the parking lot from a Suntrust.  Ananda joins a scene with five established Indian restaurants in Columbia -- House of India, Mango Grove, Royal Taj, Flavors of India, and Nepalese-Indian Curry & Kabob -- plus the new Chutney that replaces Akbar's and the quick service Tandoor Grill on Johns Hopkins Road.

Ananda Has Opened Softly, And The Open-Walled Patio Is Pretty Sweet; Full Menu In A Few Weeks

Lemon-basil sorbet at Ananda

Ananda, the new Indian restaurant in Fulton, opened softly this evening.  We already had dinner at home, but Mrs. HowChow saw that they're serving sweets.

Not just any sweets -- rice pudding, lemon-basil sorbet, and cardamom ice cream.

Next thing you know, we were sitting on the open-walled patio at sunset drinking cocktails and eating dessert.  It's a beautiful space, serving ice cream that Mrs. HowChow rated like Capogiro, our favorite gelato up in Philadelphia.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

This was the first night for Ananda, a new restaurant in Maple Lawn from the folks who own the Ambassador in Baltimore.  They have been building for a long time, and they're opening slowly.  For a few weeks, they'll do a $20 three-course dinner off a smaller, but pretty diverse, menu.  They'll add a sign and eventually expand to a full menu.

Our light dessert makes us optimistic.  Really terrific sorbet and ice cream -- both strong, subtle flavors and perfect consistencies.  Really nice cocktails, one with rum, blackberries and ginger beer and another with cucumber, tonic and gin.  The attention and ingredients make us look forward to actually eating a meal.

You can get such great Indian in Howard County that Mango Grove and Royal Taj both make my favorite restaurants.  But I'm an actual homer when it comes to Ananda.  We can walk here. 

As much as we look forward to the food, we're just as excited to hang out in the space.  It has taken almost two years, but they've built a beautiful space with a large bar and an entire room with garage-style doors that open to make it an open-walled patio.  In other rooms, they have fireplaces that look like they'll be cozy spots in the winter.

Ananda
7421 Maple Lawn Boulevard (I think)
Fulton, MD 20759

NEAR:  This is on Maple Lawn Boulevard just south of Johns Hopkins Boulevard.  It isn't near the other Maple Lawn restaurants.  This is a stand-alone building -- for now without a sign -- across the parking lot from a Suntrust bank.

Here We Go Again: Folks Say Ananda Will Open In 3-4 Weeks, Bringing Indian To Maple Lawn

I don't want to be Chicken Little, but folks are saying again that the new Ananda restaurant will open in Maple Lawn in 3-4 weeks.

The latest word was a post on the Maple Lawn 2.0 Facebook page by someone who said she talked to the manager.  This will be an Indian restaurant.  The building has been going up for more than a year.  Construction has been glacial all 2014, and I don't think it has a sign or a Web site.

I sent an email to an address that someone wrote in a January ad looking for servers and kitchen help.  The restaurant was opening in February when they posted that.

(Update:  Don't count on a June opening.  On June 12, I heard back from a nice person who said they don't have an opening date yet.  The advice was that I email back in a few weeks, and they'll have a date then.")

Ananda seems like it could be terrific.  It's owned by the folks who run the Ambassador in Baltimore, and I'm infatuated by the windows on one side that open like garage doors.  Those should turn the room into almost-outdoor dining in good weather.

Does anyone know more?  Has anyone seen a Web page or any announcements? Hat tip to K8teebug, who flagged the Facebook page for me.

Ananda Update: It Seems Maple Lawn's Indian Restaurant Will Open; Chatter Says Next Month

Ananda over last weekend

The current chatter says that Fulton may actually get its Indian restaurant -- Ananda, a joint that has been under construction a long time on Maple Lawn Boulevard.

Construction seemed to stop over the winter, and there was a brief moment when the building was listed for rent on Craig's List.  But they got their liquor license, and a Maple Lawn Facebook page now includes talk of "pre-opening" meals starting in early May.

Early May seems unlikely considering the state of the restaurant last weekend.  There has been real progress with light fixtures and some chairs, the kind of progress that had been lacking over the winter.  But Ananda still looked like a construction site, not a restaurant.  So be patient.

Does anyone know more about the timing or the plans?

Mystery: What's Up With Ananda? Is Indian Coming To Maple Lawn? (Yes, Folks Say)

The building that could become Ananda

I want to raise a toast to hope that Ananda will actually open in Maple Lawn.

Ananda is the Indian restaurant -- at one point called "Polo Club" -- that has been built on Maple Lawn Boulevard just south of Johns Hopkins Road.

It's a serious-looking building with fireplaces, dark wood panelling and some cool windows that will basically convert one room into outdoor seating during good weather.  Unfortunately, the building looks the same as it did two months ago.  No sign.  No tables.

So what's up?  (Update: Go all the way to the bottom to hear the optimism.)

More than a month ago, Ananda was advertising for servers and other employees.  Even on Craig's List.  Then the building was listed for rent in late January.  That went away, and the Maple Lawn developer was telling people that the restaurant would open in early March.

Well, it hasn't.  A few locals have said that they've heard Ananda is dead.  They point to the lack of work on the building.  But there was someone inside on Sunday, maybe installing speakers.  There were boxes inside -- some with moulding and some marked "glass."  The place looks weeks or months away from opening because there is nothing that looks like a restaurant, but there is a bunch of money invested in there already.

Now, my eyes are on March 27 -- the date to which the liquor board has postponed. but at least not cancelled, the hearing for Ananda's license.

Does anyone know more?

(Update:  Talk is now that the Maple Lawn developers are going to accompany the Ananda owners to the liquor board.  The restaurant is apparently still on.)

Latest Word: Ananda Will Bring Indian To Maple Lawn; Mission Barbecue To Come To Columbia

The latest word is that the Indian restaurant Ananda will open in Maple Lawn in the near future.

That's what the Maple Lawn developer told folks at a race in the neighborhood over the weekend.  There was that weird point last week where the new restaurant building seemed to be listed for rent.  But the developer said the Indian restaurant would open, and the liquor board is still scheduled to consider Ananda's license on February 11.

In other news, Mission BBQ is coming to Columbia.  I have that from a reliable source, although I didn't take notes so now I'm not 100% sure of the location.  Mission is a local chain with locations around Baltimore.  They're replacing something that closed recently.

Buffalo Wild Wings is replacing the Don Pablo that closed near the Target off Rte 175.  Am I right that a Chicken Out closed in Columbia, maybe on the back side of that same Target?  My faulty memory says the Mission BBQ is replacing a Chicken Out.  Maybe someone knows the story or the timing.

Is An Indian Restaurant Closing In Maple Lawn Before It Even Opens? New Place For Rent?

For more than a year, people have been talking about a new Indian restaurant in Maple Lawn called first the Polo Club and later Ananda.

Are they closing before they even opened?

The building looks beautiful inside, and it seems close to completion.  The business even applied for a liquor license.  But Keller Williams has a listing on Craigslist offering to [update: rent, I think,] the building -- saying it would be great for a retail store or a "barista bar."  Giulia spotted the ad and posted on a Facebook group.

Does anyone know what's up?  The Maple Lawn developers definitely thought an Indian restaurant was opening here at their last annual meeting.

Indian Restaurant in Maple Lawn Will Be Ananda

The new Indian restaurant in Maple Lawn appears to be called Ananda, not "The Polo Club" as people had discussed before.

You can see both names on the Howard County liquor board's agenda.  But it looks like Polo Club is the legal name, and the restaurant will be Ananda.  I saw that first on a tweet by TaylorLegal, and I'm throwing up a post because I had mentioned "Polo Club" so often in the past.

The Ananda building looks beautiful.  They have landscaped and started added lights.  I previously noted that they installed awesome garage doors so that one dining room will convert into a covered patio in good weather.

The Coolest Garage Doors In Howard County

That window appears to slide into the ceiling like a garage door

The Polo Club is still under construction in Fulton, but I think they have the coolest garage doors in Howard County.

(Update: In early 2014, TaylorLegal posted on Twitter that the restaurant would be called Ananda.)

On Saturday, we looked in the windows of the dining room that overlooks a little water management pond, and Mrs. HowChow noticed that the huge windows aren't windows.

View out the windows

If we're right, they're doors.  Entire windows appear to sit on slides like garage doors, and they look like they'll slide up into the ceiling in good weather.

Now the Polo Club appears to be opening in some cold winter month like late December or January.  But those windows should open in the spring for some beautiful breezes.

This is a nice trend.  I saw similar huge windows at the new Facci in Turf Valley, and a bunch of places have added patios -- including Twist & Turn in Highland and Portalli's in Ellicott City.  I feel like Victoria Gastro Pub's covered patio was relatively unique when it opened several years ago, but these other folks have added nice options as well.

Expect Two New Maple Lawn Restaurants In Next Weeks -- First The Grille, Then The Polo Club

Expect two new restaurants in open in Maple Lawn in the next few weeks -- first The Grille and then the Polo Club.

That's according to the Maple Lawn developer who discussed the restaurants at the community's meeting last night.  None of the plans are final -- which makes sense because opening a restaurant seems like complex work.

The Grille is working on some final arrangements, the developer said.  This is the restaurant replacing the Venegas Prime Filet just off Rte 216.  He said they had an inspection last Thursday and are probably aiming for a soft opening some time next week.

The Polo Club is a few more weeks behind.  (Update:  In 2014, it appears that the Indian restaurant will be called Ananda.)  The talk was about an opening in late December or early January.  This is an Indian place being built from scratch up near Johns Hopkins Road by the folks behind the Ambassador.  I still don't see a Web site for them.

Updates On Future Restaurants -- Highland Inn Working Indoors, Ernesto's Coming To Rte 40, Red Parrot At Turf Valley, Grille 620 Mystery

Highland Inn - Outdoor construction looks complete

New restaurants keep coming to Howard County -- and we keep waiting for a few that have been on the board or under construction for a while.

I'm collecting what I can see.  Who knows more?  Any opening dates?

The Highland Inn looks like the work is heading inside.  Since the upscale restaurant on Rte 216 was announced last year, they did huge work renovating the building.  But the construction fences have been removed, and work presumably continues inside.

The new Polo Club in Fulton is a little behind that timeline.  Walls are still

The Polo Club in Fulton

going up in yellow construction boards.  But you can see the shape of the Indian restaurant destined for Maple Lawn Boulevard.

One of the recent hot spots has been Turf Valley, which clearly recruited second locations from local restauranteurs -- Xitomate, Facci, Mimi's Kabob.  Tim found a July 16 lease plan for Turf Valley that shows even more restaurants.  He wrote about Turf Valley and a follow up on new Mexican on Rte 40:

Red Parrot Asian Bistro is back on board for Turf Valley Towne Square. It was on the original plan last fall then dropped off until this new one. They also have a location at McHenry Row in Federal Hill near Harris Teeter. They join Grille 620, Xitomate, Facci, Mimi's Afgan Kabob, Subway, Yolave and Petite Cellars. Those of us west of Marriotsville Road are very excited to have some decent dining options close by.

I have not been able to find out any information on "Grille 620", have you? 

Also, I was looking through the Summer 2013 "Best of Elliott City" glossy flyer and I see that Ernesto's Fine Mexican Food is in fact coming to the Enchanted Forest shopping. The ad states "Next To Jilly's "Late July - Early August."  Their logo is the same of this website so I guess it's the same folks:,

Then there are places on Rte 40.  Shilla Bakery still has paper in the window, reports RelocatedFromNoVa.  And Bean & Burgundy is on its way a little farther west.  Last report had been that they were aiming to open in late August.  Who knows more?

Who knows timelines or Web sites?  What other new places have I overlooked?  There must be some new places in Columbia.

New Indian In Maple Lawn Will Be The "Polo Club"

The new Indian restaurant coming to Fulton will be called the "Polo Club," the developer said at tonight's Maple Lawn annual meeting.

The restaurant under construction on Maple Lawn Boulevard just below Johns Hopkins Road is being built by the folks who run the Ambassador in Baltimore.  That's still a steel frame, so the Polo Club probably won't be serving food until next winter.