Hungry Andy's—a bright and cheerful spot—recently opened on Broadway. I haven't eaten there yet, but I did take a peek and pick up a menu.

It offers more than sandwiches, including pit beef, ribs, wings, and platters (fried amber cod, chicken, and fried shrimp, for instance). The eatery, with counter service and tables if you want to eat in, also has "fresh cut fries."

I'm particularly intrigued by one of the "munchies"—fried green banana chips. I'll be stopping by to take a taste soon.

Has anyone had a chance to visit? The address is 629 S. Broadway. It's in the same block as Ding How. No website yet.

Photo by me

The first Grilled Cheese Cook-Off at the Mt. Washington Tavern was a sizzling success yesterday. The event, which benefited Moveable Feast, was a sell-out and also provided a few hours of family fun.

The kids had their own craft table and were able to vote on their favorite sandwich. There was even a kid—Eli Knauer—on the official judges' panel. Eli, who is nine but will quickly tell you that he will be 10 in May, has his own food blog, Adventures of a Koodie.

Eli joined me and several other eaters: Ron Matz of WJZ, Brenda Carl of WCMB, and Sara Hisamoto, director of public relations at Visit Baltimore in the food fest. We sampled five sandwiches from professional chefs and three sandwiches from home cooks, whose recipes had been previously selected from a pool of entries.

Former Top Chef contestant Jesse Sandlin, who is doing restaurant consulting since leaving Vino Rosina, announced the winners:

Kids' Favorite—Chef/owner Matthew Milani, Rumor Mill Fusion Grille.

People's Choice—Executive chef Chad Gauss, City Café, who brought along his lovely wife and two adorable children.

Home Cook: Michelle Howell of the Parkville area.

And, drum roll, the Professional Favorite:

Kevin Miller, executive chef at Widespread Concierge Services and formerly of Ixia.

His dish, pictured, was called a Dutch Toasty and was served with a spring-pea soup topped with crispy prosciutto. Kevin said he based the sandwich on foods he had in Holland.

The grilled sandwich featured brioche bread layered with two-year-old Gouda, Jarlsberg, and goat cheese with fresh dill, topped with pickled cucumber chips. Kevin recommended that we dip the sandwich into the pea soup. It was a great flavor sensation.

Chefs Patrick "Opie" Crooks of Roy's and Darrick Granai of Baldwin's Station also participated. Their sandwiches were delicious, too. I was told the voting was very close.

Although a few judges were heard to say that it would be a while before they ate grilled cheese again, we're all hoping the organizers put on this event next year. 

Photo by me

The teaser clip says, "Let's see if murder is on the menu." Tonight's CSI:NY show at 9 on CBS focuses on a gourmet-food-truck explosion.

According to the show's website, Dr. Sheldon Hawks (Hill Harper), pictured, a member of the CSI team, goes to a food festival in SoHo and one of the food trucks blows up. Chefs claim that competing trucks stole their recipes. Oh, my.

I recently blogged about Baltimore's growing number of gourmet mobile trucks. They seem to have worked out their various cuisines and parking areas without resorting to any shenanigans.

I wonder if any of them will be watching tonight's show.

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

In January, I blogged about the popular Baltimore Farmers' Market and Bazaar opening a month early this year. And now, that day is finally here on Sunday. I can't wait.

I'm especially interested in checking out a new farmer at the market, KCC Natural Farms of Forest Hill. The family-owned-and-operated farm sells French Heritage chickens, pheasants, and poussins (young, small chickens).

They'll be located in the west market, according to Carole Simon, who manages the weekly market underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday and Saratoga streets.

This year, it'll be easier to visit the main market and west market with temporary street closures from 5 a.m.-2 p.m. every Sunday.

I'm looking forward to stopping by Albright Farms of Monkton, too. In addition to their regular offerings, they're going to be selling rabbit this year, Carole said. The meat is becoming a staple on many area menus.

Some people are still squeamish, though. Maybe it would be better if we adapted the French word for rabbit, lapin. Then, we wouldn't think of pet bunnies.

The market is open from 7 a.m. to noon, or sell-out. I strive to get there early and head to Zeke's coffee for fortification before making the rounds. See you on Sunday. 

Photo courtesy of Albright Farms.

Or, at least, it seems that way on Twitter as a new food truck comes on the scene. Each day, my account is loaded with the locations for the six mobile trucks in town.

If there are more trucks, let me know. We have enough now for a food-truck rodeo, which is done in other cities and where all the trucks locate in the same area. But for now, the trucks are scattered around town.

The latest wheeled entry is Souper Freak, logo pictured, operated by Irene Smith, which dispenses soups and sandwiches. It just started operation on March 21, so I wanted to give them some time to get organized before I visited.

Today, the red Souper Freak truck is on the Morgan University campus, according to its tweet.

The other trucks are Kooper's Chowhound Burger Wagon, Gypsy Queen Food Truck, Curbside Cafe, Creperie Breizh, and Iced Gems. There is also Tacos Jalisco, but the silver truck keeps a regular spot on Broadway between Bank and Gough streets.

I know of another popular restaurant that just purchased a food truck, but I'm sworn to secrecy for now. I'll let you know as soon as I can. 

Today and tomorrow, Baltimore Coffee & Tea is giving away free coffee and tea, hot or iced, in exchange for a non-perishable food item to benefit the Maryland Food Bank at a time of year when donations at the pantry often wane.

The "Can for a Cup" promotion is being held at Baltimore Coffee and Tea's retail stores in Timonium, Annapolis, and Frederick.

The food items in greatest demand include peanut butter, canned tuna, and canned fruit. Surely, you have some extras in your cupboards in exchange for a cup of really good coffee or tea, any size, or $1 off a specialty drink.