Maryland Business

A $759,000 federal community development grant was given to officials of the city’s Howard Park community Monday to help build a new grocery store there.

The grant was made as part of a national Healthy Food Financing Initiative and is one of 12 nationally. The initiative aims to eliminate “food deserts” in low-income and rural communities by helping to construct supermarkets and small grocery stores that offer fresh, healthy foods.

The award was made as part of the city’s first Food Day. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and city agency heads, representatives of the United Way of Central Maryland, urban farmers and healthy food advocates gathered at City Hall to commemorate the event that is part of a national movement to raise awareness for improved food policies.

The Food Day focuses on six principles that include expanded access to food, reduction of  diet-related diseases, promotion of health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids and greater support for sustainable farming.

The Baltimore Food Policy Initiative has received national recognition for its efforts to improve access to healthy, affordable foods in food deserts – areas where residents lack access to healthy food options.

“For preventing heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions, having access to healthy foods is nearly, if not equally, important as having access to quality health care,” said Baltimore Commissioner of Health Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

The federal grant to help fund a new grocery in Howard Park will help with that, city officials said.

“These federal funds will not only help build a new grocery store, but also support the development of a commercial kitchen, and revitalize farmers markets in the area,” said Department of Planning Director Thomas J. Stosur. “This is a great example of how a grocery store can increase a community’s access to healthy foods and spur job creation.”

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Mark your calendars for Sept. 24 as the day to eat free cupcakes.

No buying, no selling. Just cupcakes. And eating them. Yes! It’s called Cupcake Camp. And it’s definitely my kind of camp — no need for dousing yourself in Off!, or racing to eat melting popsicles that drip down to your elbows, or fearing being lynched by fellow campers. This is just cupcakes.

Blue Hill Tavern on S. Conkling Street is holding the first Cupcake Camp, from noon to 3 p.m. that day. The whole point is just to be an “ad-hoc born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.” Folks will bring cupcakes to share and folks will eat cupcakes that have been shared. That’s it.

Baltimore’s not the first city doing this Cupcake Camp thing. Here’s a list of other cities that have joined in the festivities and will be hosting camps in the upcoming weeks and months.

And if it sounds like BarCamp, well, it sort of is based on the concept. And if you don’t know what that’s about, here’s a helpful link to explain the techie-based workshop idea.

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Baltimore’s sixth annual summer Restaurant Week promotion begins on Friday. And it really is one of the most joyous times of the dining year. Aside from the winter Restaurant Week… which usually seems to get extended for a month because of snow.

The promotion will have about 80 restaurants offering three-course meals for $35.11 and lunch for $20.11 through Aug. 14. Quite the steal if you’re looking to try a new place or hit up an old favorite. Any one in particular you’re looking forward to? Definitely some new ones on the list this year.

And while you’re around downtown Baltimore, the Maryland Zoo and Veolia Transportation are offering a free shuttle from the Baltimore Visitor Center to the zoo and back. The free “Safari Express” shuttle will be around Saturday and Sunday. Trips from the center to the zoo are at the following times: 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m. Trips coming back to the center will be 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m, 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

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Tuesday night, chefs from around the area will be squaring off in a crab cook-off benefiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

This is the second year that the B&O American Brasserie and Hotel Monaco are hosting the event, which costs $35 to attend.

Crab dishes will be judged by attendees and guest judges, including Sam Sessa, entertainment editor at The Baltimore Sun, Suzanne Loudermilk, Baltimore magazine’s restaurant critic, morning radio personality Jojo Girard from MIX 106.5 FM and Dara Bunjon of Dining Dish.

The competing chefs will be:

• Thomas Dunklin, B&O American Brasserie
• Dave Newman, Brewer’s Art
• Cyrus Keefer, Maisy’s
• Derek Simcik, Atwood’s Cafe
• Meredith and Roger Rippel, Riptide By the Bay
• Shawn McClure, Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar
• Guillermo Tellez, Square 1682 in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Paul Healey, Domaso in Arlington, Va.
• Chris Becker
• Darrick Granai, Baldwin’s Station

Guests will be able to enjoy the chefs’ dishes, hors d’oeuvres and a cocktail.

For more information on how to go tonight, see B&O American Brasserie’s Facebook page for details.

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In light of all the news about plans to change up the Inner Harbor that came out Wednesday, there are definitely some great things going on this holiday weekend worth checking out.

My colleague Melody wrote Tuesday about concerts that are kicking off this weekend at Harborplace. The free, 44-event summer concert series will be rocking through the summer. Saturday shows start at 8 p.m., Sunday shows at 6 p.m.

The NCAA 2011 Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be Friday through Monday. Fans can purchase tickets to the games at M&T Bank Stadium ranging from $75 to $350. Friday kicks off with a USILA North/South Game at Goucher College.

Saturday will be a great day for Brew at the Zoo (complete with wine too) at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The event, also held on Sunday, goes from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets range from $40 for members under 21/designated drivers to $75 for non-members over 21. Wild Famous Dave’s BBQ will also be on hand for 200 guests to enjoy in a private tent for relaxing in the shade.

On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Fort McHenry will observe Memorial Day with wreath-layings, a flag demonstration involving veterans at noon, services at Mount Auburn, Baltimore’s oldest African-American cemetery and observance of the National Moment of Silence (3 p.m. in the Star Fort.)

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Chazz: A Bronx Original, the brainchild of actor Chazz Palminteri and Aldo’s Ristorante’s Sergio Vitale and Alessandro Vitale, is opening June 10.

The Italian American cuisine restaurant will open in Harbor East at 1415 Aliceanna St. The restaurant is designed by Rita St. Clair Associates Inc. and will revisit scenes from Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale,” including Arthur Avenue — the main bar and gathering place from the 1993 film.

Palminteri wrote the screenplay for “A Bronx Tale,” which was based off of a one-man show also written by and performed by him.

Diners will be able to sit at the “pizza altar” to watch their meals prepared and baked to order in a coal oven. The menu includes everything from antipasti to piccoli piatti, and will be open for dinner from 5 p.m. to midnight seven days a week. The restaurant can seat up to 165 guests.

Lunch, late-night dining, take-out and curbside service is expected to be offered in upcoming months.

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Baltimore’s taxi drivers were all smiles during lunch hour Wednesday.

Phillips Seafood, of Phillips Foods Inc., along with Visit Baltimore staffers and volunteers parked out by Light Street in front of the Baltimore Visitor Center to dole out free lunch to drivers.

Phillips does this same promotion with several cities across the U.S., and did this last year in Baltimore as well. Last year, the event gave away 475 lunches. From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Phillips staffers had prepared 425 lunches already — with crab sandwiches, chips and water.

And the rain wasn’t deterring cabbies from pulling right into the spot where Phillips mascot Captain Phil was braving the elements and handing out food.

By the time I arrived at the spot around 11:30, the volunteers had already given out nearly 100 lunches, according to Michelle Torres, corporate director of marketing for Phillips.

Eric Masterton-Mott was also on hand, taking a break from being director of group tour sales and hospitality service training and representing Visit Baltimore on the streets. Visit Baltimore got involved to inform cab drivers of some of the big conventions coming into town this summer and to show a little thanks for shuttling around the ever-busy tourist part of Baltimore.

See Mom, there is such a thing as a free lunch, I just should’ve been a taxi driver.

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Coordinating with this Saturday’s royal Baltimore wedding of National Bohemian Beer’s Natty Boh and Utz Snacks’ Miss Salie Utz, is a 30-second animated TV spot made for Smyth Jewelers that tells the story of how the two met. For a sneak peak of the commercial, it’s already posted on the MGH YouTube page.

The MGH created spot might even make you ditch watching “The Notebook” for the 100,000th time this weekend.

Watch the video below:

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Embrace your inner 4-year-old and climb up into the padded seat of a big truck cab. Or a police car.

This Saturday, the Baltimore Museum of Industry has its big truck day event, which should draw in kids from all ages like the Pied Piper.

The event lasts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with lots more outdoor entertainment and half-price admission to the museum itself.

And while you’re around town, catch some lunch or an early dinner on Charles Street during its “Let’s Eat Charles Street” promotion Saturday.  The 300 block of  N. Charles Street will be closed to traffic for an event that features local restaurants, retailers, kids’ activities and live music. Food and drink prices will vary, but admission to the event itself is free. Participating vendors are listed on the event’s website.

And draw on your pencil mustache! John Waters will be visiting Atomic Books on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Baltimore-native film director will be there to sign copies of “Role Models,” available in softcover.

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This Saturday, Natty Boh and Miss Salie Utz are getting hitched. Or chipped. Or whatever chips and beer do together.

You may have seen the billboard on the JFX. Natty Boh, mascot of National Bohemian Beer, proposed to Miss Salie Utz, of Utz Snacks fame, in 2007. Four years later the two are finally getting married.

I asked a spokeswoman for the couple what took them so long, but she said the couple has no comment at this point.

And of course, in classic celebrity style the two will make it a public wedding. The publicity stunt will be held at Power Plant Live! at noon Saturday to kickoff Smyth Jeweler’s new TV ad featuring the pair of Baltimore icons.

The whole shebang is put together by MGH, which created the original pairing of the two icons when it posted the billboard for Smyth four years ago.

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