Maryland Business

By: Liz Farmer

I had lunch yesterday at the B&O American Brasserie, the restaurant in the Hotel Monaco, which opened late last month. As the 1 p.m. hour rolled around, my fellow diners and I watched as the white tablecloth establishment filled up with people in suits and ties, demonstrating a need that was being filled: North Charles Street was wanting for a place with standard but upscale fare for a nice business lunch.

The Brasserie’s location at Baltimore and Charles streets next to dozens of law firms (the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos among them) makes it primed to scoop up the crowd that before was likely walking the three or so blocks to the Inner Harbor to places like Sullivan’s Steakhouse, the Capital Grille or M&S Grille. Now before you start telling me me about places like the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel (on Lafayette) or Tugs Bar & Grille (on East Saratoga) — yes, I know those are close to the Brasserie too.

But I’m talking about a section of North Charles Street between the harbor and Saratoga that’s primarily populated by casual dining places like the Charles Street Deli & Gourmet or Pizzeria Speranza. Nice for a quick bite with colleagues, but I wouldn’t close a deal there.

The Brasserie stands out from its Inner Harbor brethren by putting little twists on basically standard menu items. Instead of a straight steak salad, the romaine lettuce is grilled. The turkey club sandwich comes with an avocado and lemon peel relish. I had a crab cake sandwich that tasted pretty standard — but the side of fries really out-shined the main dish as they were lightly fried and the most potato-ey tasting fries I can ever remember having (that’s a good thing in my book).

I could write a whole other blog about the desserts, but suffice it to say they are well worth checking out (especially the strawberry rhubarb pie) if you are looking for a late-night bite.

The prices are about comparable to other white tablecloth restaurants downtown and all three meals are served: breakfast ($8-$16), lunch ($5-$19) and dinner ($18-$34). The atmosphere, inspired by the B&O Building in which the restaurant is located, is also nicely done with a muted blue/brown/cream color scheme, leather and cloth textures and booth seats styled to look like old-fashioned train seats.

All in all, it’s nice to have another option downtown serving American gourmet food with enough variety between breakfast, lunch and dinner it’ll take you more than a few trips to try everything. Now if only the economy would pick up…