This past week found me at both Hersh's Pizza & Drinks and The Gin Mill in Baltimore. MAN! What a disappointment!!! Baltimore is such a great gritty city, dark, poetic, and seemingly ripe for good watering holes and delicious restaurant gems in the rough...so why does it seem to be so hit-or-miss? I don't want to like DC better, but it must be conceded that the selection of consistently good finds is just vastly superior.
First things first: I was really looking forward to The Gin Mill in Canton as you all know how devoted I am to the juniper juice...not realizing the intended meaning being a cotton gin. Not only were the drinks watery and the service fairly stand-offish, it was shocking not to see a fine selection of gin or even decor (or some such acknowledgement) to the namesake. Sigh. My silly mistake. Regardless...a slight but telling miscommunication: when asked about the drink specials, the response was "Happy Hour is M-F 4-7pm," which was not the intended meaning of the question. Upon clarification for drink specialties of the house the response was "We don't have any...well I guess there is the Moscow Mule, which is our house drink..." rather surprising considering their website claims to be a craft cocktail joint...
Blame it on my impatience or what have you, but I could not even finish the drink, so there's no telling what the food was like. Sad, as the blue cheese macaroni looked tempting, but not enough to stick around for. We left and went down the street to the Fork & Wrench. Thankfully the barkeep there single-handedly rescued the evening and deserves his own, separate posting here.
Hersh's Pizza & Drinks in Federal Hill, however, gets notably higher marks.Swanky atmospherics, metropolitan feel. Run by a couple of siblings, it's fairly new having opened earlier this year on Light Street over off of the Hanover St. exit from I-95. Disappointing still though, as a place that bills itself a pizza joint ought to have some killer pie. Perhaps I'm being harsh - it was edible but I have to say the tomato sauce was not terribly flavorful and the middle not entirely cooked through - odd for a wood-fire oven place. Aside from a variety of red wine served chilled (??), the cocktails on the drink menu were fabulous - especially The Baltimore, a martini made with house made fig-infused bourbon. It was delicious and poignant, standing apart from the entire experience. My dining companion aptly noted "it tastes like sorrow." Highly recommend the Old Cuban too, with rum, lime, prosecco, and mint syrup...a sparkly bright citrus flavor to get things started. The bartender was charming, knowledgeable and inventive...pretty much the main reason to go back for.
First things first: I was really looking forward to The Gin Mill in Canton as you all know how devoted I am to the juniper juice...not realizing the intended meaning being a cotton gin. Not only were the drinks watery and the service fairly stand-offish, it was shocking not to see a fine selection of gin or even decor (or some such acknowledgement) to the namesake. Sigh. My silly mistake. Regardless...a slight but telling miscommunication: when asked about the drink specials, the response was "Happy Hour is M-F 4-7pm," which was not the intended meaning of the question. Upon clarification for drink specialties of the house the response was "We don't have any...well I guess there is the Moscow Mule, which is our house drink..." rather surprising considering their website claims to be a craft cocktail joint...
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| The Baltimore @ Hersh's Pizza "Tastes like sorrow." |
Hersh's Pizza & Drinks in Federal Hill, however, gets notably higher marks.Swanky atmospherics, metropolitan feel. Run by a couple of siblings, it's fairly new having opened earlier this year on Light Street over off of the Hanover St. exit from I-95. Disappointing still though, as a place that bills itself a pizza joint ought to have some killer pie. Perhaps I'm being harsh - it was edible but I have to say the tomato sauce was not terribly flavorful and the middle not entirely cooked through - odd for a wood-fire oven place. Aside from a variety of red wine served chilled (??), the cocktails on the drink menu were fabulous - especially The Baltimore, a martini made with house made fig-infused bourbon. It was delicious and poignant, standing apart from the entire experience. My dining companion aptly noted "it tastes like sorrow." Highly recommend the Old Cuban too, with rum, lime, prosecco, and mint syrup...a sparkly bright citrus flavor to get things started. The bartender was charming, knowledgeable and inventive...pretty much the main reason to go back for.
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