Dulaney High grad opening L.A. restaurant

Chris Phelps, who trained under Mark Henry at The Oregon Grille and was a sous chef at Ixia, is officially opening his restaurant Salt’s Cure on Saturday with co-owner Zack Walters. Proud mom Kathy Alexander of Harbor East wanted to share the news.

The restaurant, which had a soft opening several weeks ago, is already getting favorable media coverage. One guest said he had an, “incredibly juicy, flavor-packed pulled pork with pickled onions on Breadbar [artisanal] rolls and a perfectly crisp BLT with the usual suspects piled atop whole grain brioche bread also from Breadbar. And then that watermelon simply adorned with honey and sea salt.”

Chris, 30, and Zack—pictured from left during the construction phase of Salt’s Cure, billed as an American restaurant/butcher shop—specialize in the meats of organically raised animals. According to Chris’s mom, he “butchers the animal, dry-aging the expensive cuts, and turning the less desirable cuts into sausage, bacon, prosciutto, pancetta, bresaola … without introducing nitrates.”

Chris isn’t the only Maryland restaurateur in Los Angeles. Frederick native Michael Voltaggio, season six Top Chef winner, is also planning to open his own restaurant there. He’s been quoted as saying that he wants “to make fine dining more accessible to more people.”