If you’re missing Il Scalino, the delicatessen offshoot of La Scala Ristorante in Little Italy that closed last summer, all is not lost. La Scala has recently introduced a new salumeria menu, providing patrons with the same wonderful Italian cheeses and imported meats to eat at the restaurant or to take home.

The restaurant has even incorporated one of the old deli cases in its décor, says Lynn Cipollone, La Scala’s marketing coordinator. You can choose from cheeses like taleggio, pecorino Toscano, and grana padano, and meats like prosciutto di Parma, speck, and mortadella. The cost is $4.95 each, three for $12.95, four for $16.95, and five for $20.95.

In the meantime, Max’s Empanadas has moved into the Il Scalino spot on South High Street. Stop by for a taste of Argentina in Little Italy. Don’t miss the traditional coconut-and-dulce-de-leche tart. With a cup of cappuccino, it’s a perfect afternoon treat.

Johnny Dee’s Lounge in Parkville is a welcome antidote to all the trendiness and foodism that goes on in the restaurant world. I went there for the first time on Friday night and loved the throw-back simplicity of it all.

The place was hopping (or as much as it can "hop" with an older crowd). I’m not going to make snide Peppermill jokes, but it has a similar clientele. And everyone was having fun.

The restaurant, which has been around for more than 50 years, is in the back of Loch Ridge shopping center near Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Loch Raven Boulevard to give you some placement. (Remember when that area used to be called Baynesville?) The address is 1706 Joan Ave.; phone, 410-665-7000.

Johnny Dee’s is known for its shrimp salad, so I ordered the platter ($11.50), which includes a side. I had the coleslaw (decent, though a little mayonnaisey); my friend, french fries. It also comes with buttered sandwich bread (which reminded me of my grandmother's meals).

The shrimp salad deserves its reputation, featuring fat pieces of shrimp, celery, and minimal mayonnaise to bind it. We sat in the lounge section with vinyl-covered couches and chairs reminiscent of someone’s ’60s rec room and low-slung coffee tables. There is a mirrored dining room in the back and a long stretch of a bar in a connecting room.

The waitresses hustle and have a "hon" element. Our waitress brought us extra fries later because she thought we hadn’t gotten enough originally. Everyone seems to know each other, and a cheerful Johnny Dee (or so I was told) mingles with the diners.

It’s definitely an old Baltimore tradition to enjoy while it’s still around.

I also made another discovery while I was there—Towson Oriental Market, on the Willow Oak side of the shopping center.

I went back the next day to explore the store. It is filled with Asian products, including fresh produce and unusual frozen meats and seafood. There were numerous shoppers on a Saturday afternoon. The staff seemed friendly. It’s nice to add this place to my shopping roster.

Here’s your chance to roll up your sleeves and find out cooking tips from Little Italy's experienced pasta makers. The matriarchs of the community are gathering on Saturday (Feb. 27) to make ravioli for a spaghetti and ravioli dinner to benefit St. Leo Church.

And they’re looking for volunteers. After all, the ladies have to make 12,000 raviolis.

I’m told you can just show up at 9 a.m. Saturday at the St. Leo school hall (910 Stiles St.) to learn from seasoned cooks like 91-year-old Lucy Pompa. The hard-working group also needs help on Saturday, March 6, to make mounds of meatballs, starting at 9, in the church hall.

If you just want to eat the fruits of their labor, the biannual dinner on March 7 (it’s also held in November) costs $10 for adults and $5 for children and includes salad, bread, spaghetti with two meatballs, or ravioli with one meatball. If you don’t have time to sit down in the school hall, you can get carryout for 50 cents extra.

For more information, call the church rectory at 410-675-7275.

Photo by Suat Eman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Benjamin Erjavec, executive chef at The Oceanaire Seafood Room, is all about helping the environment, and he’s found an interesting way to do his part. He’s saving oyster shells from the restaurant for the Oyster Recovery Partnership, a 15-year-old nonprofit that puts oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay.

Here’s how it works: Once a week, discarded shells are picked up at Oceanaire (and other places around town) by the recovery program. They are washed thoroughly, and then baby oysters, or spat, are placed into the shells and put into the bay.

"It takes about three to five years to achieve a harvestable oyster, but we have to start somewhere." Ben wrote in an e-mail telling me about his efforts.

He’s determined to make a difference. "In one week, I had 16 (five-gallon) buckets full of shells," he said. Nice.

I think it’s interesting that Campbell’s is redesigning its soup labels, pictured left, to increase their visual appeal to consumers. (The current label is pictured on the right.) It has to do with something called "neuromarketing," according to a posting today on mediabistro.com. I guess our brains do the buying, not our stomachs.

But the new design made me think about Andy Warhol’s famous painting of Campbell’s Soups Cans. At the time, the soup company offered 32 varieties. That was 1962. Now, there are about 250 different kinds. Warhol would have his work cut out for him today for his "15 minutes of fame."

Charleston in Harbor East will be serving lunch, starting Tuesday (Feb. 23). Will Cinghiale be next?

"We may," said Tony Foreman, who owns both restaurants with his wife and Charleston chef Cindy Wolf. "But not on the tale of serving lunch at Charleston."

Cinghiale served lunch when it first opened in 2007, but the army of cement and dump trucks outside created an ongoing roadblock during the day. "I said, ‘Forget it," explained Tony about the decision to end lunch service.

Charleston also offered lunch when it was launched way back in 1997. But for several reasons, including constant construction in the area, that ceased after several months.

Now, the award-winning Charleston is again opening its doors to the midday crowd, beginning at noon, with a last seating at 1:30 p.m.

"People asked," said Tony, when I talked to him today. "They wanted a place for serious business lunches and celebratory lunches."

With its white-cloth-covered tables, impeccable service, and plush surroundings, it’s definitely a place for a splurge lunch. A three-course, prix-fixe lunch is $44 a person. Paired with wines, it’s $69. (There goes work after that!)

There also will be a five-course tasting menu for $68 a person, or $98 with wines. The restaurant is calling it "Cindy Wolf's menu of the moment."

"For Charleston, it’s a chance to think about food a little differently," said Tony. "[Cindy] has been pretty excited about it."

The chef at Langermann’s in Canton was surprised by the comments made by chef Patrick Morrow in The Sun today (Feb. 17). Morrow is opening a new restaurant to be called Bluegrass in South Baltimore, which evidently will offer Southern cuisine, according to the Table Talk column by Elizabeth Large.

When asked to compare his menu to the one at the new restaurant Langermann’s, chef Patrick described his as "more refined. It's not barbecue and collard greens."

Chef Neal Langermann says that while his restaurant is Southern influenced, only about a third of the menu is Southern cuisine. The chef, formerly of Georgia Brown's in DC, says his eponymous restaurant is actually targeting Southern hospitality, not just the food.

"We consider ourselves more American regional," says Neal, who spent several nights on an air mattress in his office recently to keep Langermann’s open most days during the snowstorms. "It leaves the door open for us to do the entire continent."

Yes, you’ll find shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and bourbon bread pudding there. But you’ll also find such items as New York strip, braised beef short ribs, smoked chicken tortelloni, and LA wings with spicy Asian glaze. (See a review of Langermann’s in our April issue.)

"We’re about hospitality and caring," Neal says. "We know people can go anywhere to eat."