Centro opens tomorrow

Centro Tapas Bar in Federal Hill opens at 5 p.m. tomorrow (March 20). It joins a growing number of restaurants in town offering small plates. Chef/owner George Dailey, who grew up in Venezuela, will focus on Spanish and South American tapas.

George isn’t new to the food business. He’s been operating On the Hill in Bolton Hill for five years. "We always wanted to do this," says George, about Centro and referring to his wife Jessica. "We saw the Bicycle up for lease and fell in love with it."

(Former Bicycle owners Nick Batey and his wife Saundra now run Ullswater in South Baltimore.)

George and Jessica, a Baltimore native, met in Boston before relocating here. They now have a five-year-old son named Jack. "We wanted to move closer to family," George says.

Now that Jack is older, George was ready for the challenge of another restaurant. "I’m looking forward to being hands on and getting in there," he says. "It’s exciting. That’s a good word to describe it."