New Main Street Book Store Doing A Food-Based Book Club, Partnering With Rumor Mill

There is a new book store on Main Street called Greenrow Books that specializes in children's books and cookbooks.

Amanda Yeager has a short profile in the Sun, and she notes that Greenrow will run a food-based book club, partnering with the Rumor Mill.  The club will meet at the restaurant where chef Matt Milani will riff off the book for appetizers and drinks.  That's definitely something to check out -- both cookbooks and the book club.

If you want to shop locally, check out last year's series about local shopping -- both food and non-food gift ideas.  The Boulder mens store closed, but I think the other options are still good.

Rumor Mill Gets A Balanced (Salad) Review

The Rumor Mill on Main Street is on my list of restaurants that we really want to try.  Several people have talked it up to me, and I got another nudge last week when Balance Salad blogged about a 22d anniversary dinner there.

Kobe sliders, sweet potato fries, chocolate hazelnut tarts and more.  It definitely sounds like a place we would like.

Link: The Sun Drinks Deeply At Rumor Mill, But The Food Does Not Make Gorelick As Happy

The Rumor Mill got a pretty friendly write-up in the Sun on Sunday, but the bad news is the review that wasn't enthusiastic about the food.

Richard Gorelick clearly liked chef Mathew Milani and his ambition, and he recommends the infused vodkas and rums that the Rumor Mill makes in-house.  But that didn't translate into the food Gorelick ate.  A tiny chunk:

. . . I have run into few chefs as eager to please as Milani, who paid a pleasant visit to our table and who appears absolutely in earnest about his restaurant's mission. It would be much easier to turn a buck in Ellicott City with pub grub. I admire Milani for sticking to his guns.

But I find myself without a single dish to lavish praise on. A duck dish came very close: This was a simply presented dish of cardamom-infused sous-vide duck breast, thinly sliced, served with brined cherries and pomegranate oil. If it suffered from anything, it was being in such uninspired company.

Oddly, Gorelick had just listed Rumor Mill as the 12th best restaurant in Howard County (and 28th best in his Top 50 in Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties).  That had kicked off comments from people like Ken Oh, who talked up Johnny's and complained about Rumor Mill's inconsistency.


I have actually never been to the Rumor Mill.  HoCo Rising recommends it and already defended the bread pudding against charges of density.  The bread pudding was HoCo Rising's #3 favorite food in Howard County -- ahead of burgers and lobster grilled cheese!

Link: Rumor Mill on HoCo Rising

The Rumor Mill in Ellicott City gets a rave this morning from the HoCo Rising blog.  HocoRising talks up chef Matt Milani, who sounds really adventurous and who put out finger foods and small plates that sound terrific.

Honestly, the Rumor Mill and the Pure Wine Cafe have languished on my "to do" list.  They're not close.  I hadn't heard much talk.  Suddenly, I am desperate to try "lollipops" of blue cheese, beet and bacon that were made on an "anti-griddble" and that HoCoRising describes as melting in your mouth.  This is the benefit of a web of small blogs about Howard County -- more voice means more eating.