Before the massive sandwiches arrive, but after the Maryland crab soup with knuckle-sized crab lumps is devoured, Larry Schwartz emerges from the kitchen at Larry’s 1332 (1332 Sulphur Spring Rd., Arbutus, 443-304-2841), the cafe he opened last summer. He’s dressed charmingly casual in a worn black sweatshirt as he stops at each table, not seeking praise but instead asking what he can do better. Sorry, Larry, but we wouldn’t change a thing.

Maybe Julia Faye Briggs should have read tea leaves to reveal her future. She would have found out that she was going to have a second career after she retired as an IT specialist for the government. Serendipity led Briggs to an empty space in The Stone Mansion (4901 Springarden Dr., 410-367-8253), an 1863 rambling home in the city’s modern-day Coldspring Newtown neighborhood near Sinai Hospital. “I wasn’t looking to open a business,” she says. “It was looking for me.” She opened Tea by Julia Faye Tea Room & Tea Store in 2010.

There was a need for cheese, explains Sharon Johnson of Federal Hill who recently opened Cheese Galore & More, a new stall at Cross Street Market (1065 S. Charles St., 410-244-5515). Johnson had been in sales and food management for 20 years before becoming the victim of company reorganizations and the economy. "Food is in my blood," she says. "I decided to try this." The shop's case is filled with delectable goat cheeses, Bries, Taleggio, and Stiltons. (The mango-ginger has been a sellout.) Even stinky Limburger is popular, Johnson says.

Once in a while, it's nice to go a little overboard on spending, especially during the holiday season. We hunted down a trio of luxurious wines that will make a special gift for the wine lover in your life—or for you.

Fruitcakes take a lot of abuse. They’re the butt of jokes and maligned as doorstops or boat anchors. Ned Atwater—owner of several local shops making and selling fresh foods and baked goods, including Atwater’s in Belvedere Square—set out nine years ago to bring a little respect to the seasonal dessert. “People were skeptical,” he admits.

A chic Federal Hill cafe is drawing early birds and late-night customers alike with its trendy frozen yogurt, pastries, and espresso. Afters Café (1001 S. Charles St., 410-244-0909) is airy and bright, even on a rainy day, with tiled tabletops and a cozy seating area with comfy couches. Self-serve frozen-yogurt dispensers line the wall beside the cash register and a toppings bar is available with items like fresh fruit and candy—at 45 cents an ounce for everything, you can have as much or as little as you'd like.

Suburban House claims to have the world's largest matzo balls. When asked if there is any empirical evidence to support this claim, however, our waitress just shrugged. Soon she returned, balancing a shallow soup plate with what looked like a softball resting in its center, surrounded by bright-yellow chicken broth and wide slithery noodles. This dense dumpling is not just big; it's seriously good.