Food & Drink
Keeping House
Remington’s R. House is a very, very, very fine house.
Set in a former body shop, Remington’s R. House is a great place to park yourself, whether it’s for a lunch break, mommy-and-me play date, or a stiff drink at R. Bar. With 10 stalls to choose from, there’s seemingly something for everyone at the newest food hall to join the trend. Wherever you decide to dine, be sure to talk to the chefs, each of whom is proud to share their story.
Blk Sugar’s Krystal Mack will tell you how she literally peddled her products (coconut macaroons and meringue macarons) on a bike prior to setting up her shop; Munehiro Mori of Hilo will explain the intricacies of poke; Melanie Molinaro of Stall 11 will gush about hydroponic farming. “Baltimore City is becoming this great food city,” says development manager Jon Constable of Seawell Development, who created the space. “We’ve created this launch pad for chefs by taking away the overhead it takes to open a full brick-and-mortar restaurant.”
Here are some of the stands that stand out:
→ BRD: While we never thought that any other fried chicken could win our hearts (RoFo drumsticks for life), we commend the colossal fried chicken sandwiches at BRD. Stacked skyscraper-high on plush potato rolls and piled with creative fixings, this poultry is anything but ordinary. Pro tip: We were particularly smitten with the Vietnamese banh mi-inspired Hanoi Hen, topped with cucumber, cilantro, and spicy sauce.
→ Ground & Griddled: Start your day in the sunny south corner, where Dave Sherman (of Café Cito) puts out some of the best breakfast sammies in town. The Breakfast BLT—a Fred Flintstone-size piece of ciabatta bread layered with bacon, arugula, smoky grilled tomato, roasted garlic aïoli, and—the crown jewel—a gooey, golden, paprika-fried egg is the best reason we can think of for not hitting the snooze button (though it’s available all day if you’re not an early bird). Wash it down with a bracing cup of nitro coffee, courtesy of Stumptown.
→ Hilo: Award-winning Japanese chef Munehiro Mori turns out beautiful bowls of poke (marinated cubes of raw fish). Think of them as flavor journeys, rife with tuna and salmon, and studded with chunks of pineapple and mango, slivers of scallion, splashes of lime, and flash-fried flakes of garlic and shallots. No passport required.
→ Stall 11: Even if you’re not a vegetarian, stop by Melanie Molinaro’s vegetable-themed outpost featuring novel salads, smoothies, and sandwiches. We were more than a little sad when our straw made that final hollow sucking sound at the bottom of our smoothie—in this case, The Californian, a phenomenal fusion of cardamom, almonds, almond milk, bananas, butter, and cinnamon.
→ White Envelope: With so many places to pick from, the line forms at this arepas spot before it even opens for the day. We love these satisfying stuffed pockets made of maize and fashioned by Federico Tischler (formerly of Alma). We savored the Asado Negro—tender beef short rib cooked in caramel sauce and painted with spicy plantain purée—then devoured a vegan version crammed with crispy falafel, butternut squash purée, and purslane.
A Few of "R" Favorite Things: The greenery that gives the market an indoor-outdoor feel; the rooster wallpaper at Ground & Griddled, designed by owner Dave Sherman’s brother, who owns a custom wallpaper company; the mum-stenciled walls in the bathrooms by artist Kelly L. Walker; the robot ticket validator made by MICA grad Jen Schachter.
›› R. House 301 W. 29th St., 443-347-3570, Mon.-Thu. 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 7 a.m. to midnight, Sat. 8 a.m. to midnight, Sun. 8 a.m.-10 p.m.