Morning Edition

Morning Edition
153 N Patterson Park Ave
Butcher's Hill, Baltimore
Brunch
410-732-5133
Cost: $
Reservations: not needed
Date of meal: Saturday October 6, 2007 (11:00am)
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: On It

Morning edition is a cute brunch place north of Patterson Park. Please note that it has weird hours (only open Friday through Sunday and only for breakfast brunch but not too early). If you want to grab breakfast on a Wednesday, this is not the place for you.

Decor is homey. Tables are old, wood, and wobbly. Menu is handwritten (and photocopied and long). Decorated walls with lots of odd objects make give the place a personal touch. Given the dirth of alternatives, I was surprised it wasn't more full.

The menu is long enough that there is something for everyone. We had a raisin French toast and an omelette with Italian sausage. Both were excellent, and at prices <$10 for interesting omelettes it's almost a good bargain. The main problem with Morning Edition is the wait for food. We sat for roughly 30 minutes waiting for our food to come. While this can be nice if you want an extremely leisurely brunch, it can be a bit stressful if you only want a fairly leisurely brunch and have something to do afterwards.

I would be very happy to go back. The price point is much more appealing than Miss Shirley's, and the quality is almost as high. If they nailed service a bit more, it would be ideal.

Salt

Salt
2127 E. Pratt St.
Butcher's Hill, Baltimore
410-276-5480
New American
www.salttavern.com
Cost: $$$
Reservations: Recommended
Date of meal: weekday in July, 2007 (9pm)
National Price-Quality Frontier: Inside It
Baltimore Price-Quality Frontier: On It


Salt has a simple, elegant, hip vibe that makes you very cool for going there. The place was full of very cool people, even on a weekday at 9pm. Even so, we were able to get a table pretty much immediately and without a reservation.

My spouse enjoyed a colorful alcoholic beverage in a martini glass. We had the duck-fat french fries, which were actually a little disappointing given the gluttony implied by the name. Given the restaurant's name, I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find their fries too salty. On the plus side, the aoili dipping sauces were underwhelming. Still, our entrees were outstanding. We had an excellent white fish, which was elegantly presented and perfectly cooked. I had a beef (I think, how embarrassing that I'm not sure) three ways, and I remember liking all three preparations. Entrees were in the $20-25 range.

I liked Salt quite a bit and plan to return.