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Inner
Harbor &
Fine
Dining –
Is this
an
oxymoron?
This
past
week, a
friend
invited
me to
sample a
meal at
one of
the
downtown
hotels,
Windows
at the
Renaissance.
Usually
I’m not
a fan of
the
hotel
restaurant;
however,
in my
book,
Windows
does
have one
thing
going
for it.
It is
not one
of those
large
chain
restaurants
that
seem to
be
overtaking
downtowns
everywhere.
These
large,
multi-city
chains,
such as
Roy’s,
Ruth’s
Chris
Steak
House,
and
Fleming’s,
serve
the same
menu, no
matter
where
you are.
Step
into one
in
Chicago,
and it’s
like
you’re
in
Albuquerque.
I don’t
get it.
If you
are
visiting
somewhere,
shouldn’t
you try
something
local,
something
unique?
Just a
thought.
God, I
hate
tourists.
They
are, at
times,
an
example
of the
truly
ignorant
American.
Riding
in the
elevator
to the
restaurant,
I shared
the car
with a
family
of four.
For the
duration
of the
ride,
one of
the
children
pleaded
to be
taken
back to
the
Cheesecake
Factory
because
it
tasted
just
like the
one at
home.
God
forbid,
the
family
takes
the time
to
discover
some of
the
great
pastry
shops in
Little
Italy.
Oh, but
that
would
involve
a four-
or
five-block
walk. We
wouldn’t
want to
take
away
from
PlayStation
time,
would
we?
Because
my lunch
partner
was
running
late, I
decided
to wait
in the
lounge,
have a
club
soda
(yes, a
club
soda),
and read
the
paper,
safe
from the
ignorance
around
me. Or
so I
thought.
At the
next
table
sat
three
businessmen,
enjoying
an
afternoon
cocktail.
From
their
conversation,
which I
couldn’t
help but
overhear,
this
drink
was not
their
first—and
definitely
would
not be
their
last. It
seemed
they
were on
the
third
day of a
four-day
trip to
Baltimore
and were
considering
dinner
options.
Need I
say
more?
The
overwhelming
choice
for
these
three
middle-aged
professional,
self-professed
veterans
of the
road was
Ruth’s
Chris
Steak
House.
Again.
One said
to the
others,
“Hey,
that’s
where we
always
eat when
we
travel.
Why
spoil a
good
thing?”
You’re
right,
pal. Why
venture
forth
from
your
safe
cocoon?
Go to
Ruth’s
Chris. I
know! Do
something
wild,
and get
your
Scotch
on the
rocks,
instead
of
straight
up.
Idiots.
It’s
people
like
them who
think
they are
doing
something
exotic,
something
adventurous,
when
they go
to the
Caribbean
and stay
at the
Marriott
or the
Hilton
and have
breakfast
at
Starbucks,
lunch at
Subway,
and
dinner
at Roy’s
because
Roy’s
offers a
taste of
the
Hawaiian
Islands.
So what
if
Hawaii
is five
thousand
miles
away
from
where
they are
in the
Caribbean?
As I
fantasized
about
taking
this
businessman,
this
culinary
expert,
and
knocking
some
sense
into him
by
slamming
his face
into the
table on
top of
his
Scotch
on the
rocks,
my lunch
companion
showed
up and
we were
off to
Windows
for what
turned
out to
be an
excellent
lunch
and a
meeting
with
chef.
Windows
was an
unexpected
pleasure,
and I’m
looking
into
having a
Baltimore
Foodies
dinner
party
there.
Hmm,
maybe I
should
go back
to the
bar and
have a
drink.
Think my
new
friends
will
still be
there? |
