Daniela's - Authentic Italian in Hampden

---UPDATE!  5/22/2016: Daniela has expanded and moved to 822-824 W. 36th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211 (down the street from the original location) ---

When one thinks of the culinary aspects of Hampden, a wide array of things come to mind: cheap burritos, vegan food, or maybe an unlikeable restaurateur who makes an fool out of herself on national television. But historically, nobody really thought about authentic Italian food. That started to change a few years ago when Grano opened its two locations in the heart of the neighborhood, but one of the locations stuck to pasta while the other kept it pretty high-end.

But now, Hampdenites have a wider variety of authentic Italian food available to them, and best of all, it’s pretty cheap! This is thanks to the 2011 opening of Daniela’s Pasta & Pastries, located on The Avenue.

In case you don’t know, Daniela herself had already built up a reputation in town for being a great pasta maker. She has made pasta for Grano and has acted as a guest chef at Sotto Sopra.

We made our first visit last week, looking for a quick carry-out dinner after an exhausting day.

The restaurant is very small, located in a former eyeglass shop, and is based mainly on a carry-out format. However there are a few small tables inside, and the gentleman working the counter informed us that when the weather warms up they are hoping to add some outdoor seating.

Everything is made fresh daily, and is presented in a small display counter. And everything looks delicious. We grabbed an order of Lasagna Bolognaise and an order of the culingionis. And for just $3 more they threw in a house salad and homemade garlic bruchetta. The lasagna we chose was conceptually similar to the lasagna we Americans are used to, with cheese, meat and a red sauce. However there were 5 or 6 different types of lasagna available that particular night. It was apparent that the noodles were homemade, as they were tender and thick. The meat, sauce, and cheese were all delicious, complementing each other well but none individually stealing the show. Undeniably the best lasagna I’ve experienced. The culingionis, which were essentially potato ravioli (or for my Polish readers, like Italian pierogi), were exceptional. Again, it was apparent that the pasta was hand made that day. The pastas are served in a light sauce seasoned with mint, saffron, and basil.

The portions were not overwhelming, but were generous.

Most importantly, we took home two banana chocolate turnovers for dessert, which were perhaps the highlight of the meal! The flakey pastry was mild but tasty, very fresh, and the rich chocolate and fresh bananas were a perfect match for one another. I would frown upon anyone leaving Daniela’s without one of these in hand.

All in all, an excellent addition to the Hampden dining scene. We’re sorry we didn’t try it out sooner!

Note: they are also BYOB

Daniela’s Pasta and Pastries
900 W 36th St Ave  (SEE UPDATE ABOVE)
Baltimore, MD 21211
443-759-9320

5-Star Rating
Food: *****
Service: N/A
Ambiance: ***
Price: $$ ($10-20)

Finally - Ledo's Pizza in the City!

As we speak, a heated debate is occurring the Charles Village area regarding a developer’s plans to build a large shopping center, including a Wal-Mart and a Lowes, on a soon-to-be-vacant parcel of land. Opponents site that these “big box retailers” could put the small folks out of business, while proponents argue that the area could finally get some of the services that suburbanites take for granted, and that urbanites have to travel to the County to get.

Well I am, willing to bet that, while caught up in this heated debate, many of the proponents of bringing some “suburban amenities” into town may have overlooked what I consider a major victory of their cause – the opening of a Ledo’s Pizza in Charles Village!

Anyone that grew up with me down in Severna Park has eaten plenty of this unique square-shaped, thin-crusted, and provolone-adorned pizza. If hand-tossed and greasy describes New York style pizza, and flaky deep-dish crust describes Chicago style, then Ledo’s could arguably be called “Maryland Style” (I’m not saying its covered in crab and Old Bay, but I mean, it’s from here…).

The Charles Village location is the newest of a handful of Ledo’s locations to open in the city as of late. Its opening has allowed me to more regularly enjoy a food item that I took for granted before I moved up here. I won’t waste my time writing a review, because pretty much all of us have had Ledo’s at some point in time. And if you haven’t, there’s no time like the present.

So, it is still unclear whether or not, in a few years, I will have to drive all the way to hoity-toity Timonium every time I need some grass seed or a hammer; but at I know I won’t have to drive that far for good pizza...

The Speakeasy Saloon - Shhh! Let's Keep it a Secret!

The Bob Ganoosh team received a tip Friday night, from Shawn's lovely mother (who going forward will be referred to as Mama Ganoosh), that the food at the Speakeasy Saloon in Canton was "fabulous." So of course, we had to check it out for ourselves. Despite what turned out to be a torrential downpour, team Bob Ganoosh initiated its investigation, so you wouldn't have to.

We arrived at the restaurant around 7:30 on Friday night, when the bar crowd was starting to show up and the dinner crowd remained strong. We were greeted immediately by a very attentive lady - the owner, we suspect - and seated at a table outside (per our request).

A review of the menu revealed a Mediterranean theme, including a variety of tapas plates and familiar Italian-themed dishes; however, one could also choose from an eclectic mix of seafood and steak selections. Shortly later our server arrived and presented the evening's specials, at which point the menu seemed to double: there were about 3 appetizer specials and 5 entree specials, which were made up of various combinations of seafood and steak. All sounded wonderful, and were priced at around $25 (which for a Filet stuffed with crab meat, for example, is very reasonable).

Shawn ordered one of the special appetizers - the Caprese Salad ($8) - which consisted of generous slices of homemade mozzarella cheese served atop ripe tomato slices and topped with a balsamic vinegar glaze. The mozzarella was very creamy and melted in your mouth as you ate it. I think Shawn and I were both in agreement that this Caprese was only second to the stuff served at DiPasquale's. Meanwhile, I started my meal with a cup of French Onion Soup ($4.95) - as the self-proclaimed expert on French Onion Soup, I had to it out! The soup was served as French Onion typically is, with a slice of baguette concealed in the soup by a blanket of melted cheese (in this case, it seemed to be provolone). The soup was very good, but tasted more strongly of onion and less of beef base, which differs from some with have a more flavorful broth. So, make sure you really like onion if you order the soup.

Onward to our entrees: Shawn sampled one of their classic Italian dishes - Chicken Parmesan served atop Penne Pasta ($11.95), while I sampled one of their more unique dishes - Chicken Phoenix ($11.95). The Chicken Parmesan, consisting of a sweetly-breaded chicken breast topped with marinara sauce and melted mozzarella, was moist and flavorful, a superb rendition of a dish that many order merely because "you can't go wrong." And, the penne was abundant. The Chicken Phoenix yielded one of the most unique flavors either of us had ever tasted on a chicken. This dish consisted of the sweetly-breaded chicken breast, and was topped with a "silky honey-jalapeno sauce" (as the menu describes it). Now, I was going on a whim when I ordered this, and I had no idea how spicy it would be, nor did I have any idea what honey and jalapeno tasted like together. Well, this sauce has to be one of the most unique flavors we have tasted - it was not spicy at all, but rather had a sweet creamy flavor that complimented the sweet chicken breast perfectly. The dish had me talking about it all night.

As for the service, it was spot-on. Even during the ensuing chaos that occurred when the rain arrived and the outdoor-diners began to panic, the servers managed to relocate people inside promptly and open up a retractable awning to maintain some of the outdoor seating. All in all, Team Ganoosh was abundantly impressed with the entire experience!

As for the restaurants ability to handle a large group, it's tough to say. Though there were ample tables available, none of them looked large enough to handle a large crowd, although we were not privy to seeing the size of the upstairs dining area. So if you have a party greater than 4-6, I would recommend calling ahead.

So, like a speakeasy from the Prohibition days, we should probably keep this wonderful spot a secret... but then again, that's definitely not the Bob Ganoosh way!

The Speakeasy Saloon
2480 O'Donnell Street (Canton Square)
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-276-2977
http://www.speakeasysaloon.com/

DiPasquale's Deli - Mama Mia that's a huge sub!

The Bob Ganoosh team would like to apologize for the lack of recent posts. The current writer (me, Gary) has been spending a lot of time being involved with his Community Association... perhaps Bob Ganoosh needs to expand its operations! As such, we took the lazy route and visited somewhere at the suggestion of the Food Network's Diners, Dives, and Drive-thrus... or whatever the show is called. A couple of weeks ago, it seemed like every time I turned on the Food Network I saw them visiting somewhere from Baltimore But something specific caught our eye - this delicious looking "rice ball" topped with marinara sauce. So we decided, we must visit wherever it is that they sell these.

DiPasquale's Gourmet Deli, the home of this unique dish, has been in business since the early 20th century (I want to say, it was 1914). The shop is a little corner rowhouse right smack dab in the middle of Highlandtown, and offers pretty much everything Italian, from fresh baked bread to imported aged cheese to rabbit & octopus meat. It is reminiscent of a little corner deli you'd find in NYC - a rare find in Baltimore - and represents one of the reasons I'd take a neighborhood like Highlandtown over one like Federal Hill any day.

So, Shawn and I drove over there one night (I believe it was Mardi Gras, actually) for dinner, and well we weren't impressed. Of course, that's because we couldn't get in the door - they close at 6PM Monday - Saturday (and are closed on Sunday). If we were really as lazy as I implied above, the article would have ended here. But, as the saying goes, if you don't succeed, try try again. So we planned to go back on a Saturday for lunch.

So this past weekend, we (accompanied by our friend Mark) took a drive down to "Hollantown" for lunch, right before the Maryland game. It was a few hours after lunch time when we got there, but the place was packed regardless. They have a decent sized menu, which includes various subs & salads, as well as classics like homemade lasagna. And of course, the Rice Ball! I ordered a meatball sub; Shawn got a cold cut sub and some mozzarella salad. I can't remember what Mark got off hand. And of course, Shawn and I eat got a rice ball.

Now we started out with our rice balls. These basically consisted of some seasoned beef and mozzarella cheese, battered with a thick layer of some rice mixture, and fried. It comes out a little bigger than a softball. They cut it in half and drizzle some marinara sauce over top. Let me tell you, it was great! Honestly, the flavor was more mild than I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. And it pretty much filled me up, for about $5.

I barely had any room for the meatball sub, of which I took the majority home with me. This unbelievable sandwich consisted of plump homemade meatballs and marinara sauce, stuffed inside of a half loaf of their homemade break. A HALF LOAF! The bread really sealed the deal, but everything about the sandwich was outstanding. At this gigantic extremely filling (I barely finished it in the 2nd attempt) sub was only $7.95.

Shawn's sub was not as huge as mine, but still respectably sized. After the rice ball, he too had little room for his hoagie and took most of it home. Plus, he had some mozzarella salad (which he shared a bit with me). The Mozzarella was unbelievable - it was so creamy that you could eat it without teeth if you so desired. It was top-notch.

If you need, they also sell wine and liquor to take with you - I imagine this would be a good place to buy Lemocello!

So, in short, we had a great meal (well 2 meals) with what we got at DiPasquale's. We ended up spending a a little more than average, for a deli, but it was worth every penny. The portions are great and the quality is outstanding. The joint has been owned by the same family since it opened, and it is obvious from our experience that they take everything they make very seriously. If I lived in that neighborhood, I'd be a regular to this establishment.

Hmm... maybe I should move to Highlandtown. I wonder if the rowhouse across the street with the purple-painted formstone, is for sale!

DiPasqale's Gourmet Deli
3700 Gough Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-276-6787
http://www.dipasquales.com/