Roland Park Bagel Co. still has an assortment of fat bagels, but the display case is also filled with freshly baked, beautiful (and delicious) cupcakes, chunky cookies, fruit scones, muffins, and more, produced by the shop’s new pastry chef, Jason Hisley, pictured.

When I talked to Jason this morning, he had been at the store since 4 a.m., turning out dozens of baked goods, including the bagels, for customers. He took a few minutes to sit down and tell me about his path to Roland Park Bagel Co.

The 21-year-old Baltimore native is a graduate of Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in baking and pastry. He was a baker at Panera Bread and for a catering company in Bethesda before landing at the bagel shop, which is owned by Eddie Dopkin, three months ago. And he’s excited about the possibilities there.

For winter, Jason is working on making bread puddings, using leftover bagels. He likes to use natural ingredients and fruits in season, he says. From what I sampled, the products hold true to that.

The peach scone is moist and, well, peachy. Jason also adds interesting touches to his cupcakes ($2.25 each), like a marshmallow on top of the s’mores one, a piece of cookie on the chocolate chip, pastel frostings on the red velvet, and fresh blueberries on the lemon-blueberry.

“My take is that pastries are a little piece of art for the senses,” he says.

And his baked goods are not just pretty, they’re yummy as well.

I like this. For the first time, Baltimore International College is offering Food Enthusiast classes, which will begin in September. An array of noncredit seminars and hands-on demos will be taught in the evening by experienced BIC chef instructors at the school’s Culinary Arts Center in Little Italy.

In an online catalog, you’ll find classes like Introduction to Cheese Making (Oct. 7, $80), Mediterranean Cooking (Oct. 14, $80), Basic Techniques to Prepare Chocolate (Sept. 30, $60), and lots of other interesting topics from basic knife skills and holiday dishes to healthy cooking.

These sessions sound like a great way to learn more about food preparation and have a great night out with fellow food lovers.

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.”

The movie Eat Pray Love may be all about character Elizabeth Gilbert’s quest for self-fulfillment, but the “Eat” portion, set in Rome and Naples, is all about being full.

The food scenes are gorgeous (truly food porn)—icy gelatos, huge plates of spaghetti glistening with red sauce and perfectly fresh basil, platters of squash blossoms, rabbit ragù, pale-pink prosciutto with the ripest orange melon slices, spring-green stalks of asparagus, and rich, gooey pizza. You can almost smell the aromas.

I saw the move last night at a screening. (I’ll let the critics duke out its merits.) But if you’re one of author Liz Gilbert’s seven million plus fans (often called Lizbians) and head to the movie, which starts on Friday, you may want to eat first. Not only will the food scenes stir your appetite, you’ll be in the theater a while. The running time is 133 minutes (though the “Love” part is brightened considerably by the appearance of Javier Bardem).

Even before the movie opens, news reports detail the numbers of women re-tracing the footsteps of Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts) as she travels to Italy, India, and Bali—including her food stops. Evidently, Il Gelato di San Crispino is seeing an influx of single female tourists, often clutching Gilbert's memoir EPL, stopping by for a cold treat.

There’s also been a discussion about the “controversial pasta scenes”—the controversy being women and their relationship with food. The film’s director Ryan Murphy is quoted as saying, “in our culture right now, there’s so much guilt around food and appetite, so having a scene where a woman eats with unabashed joy is amazing and lovely."

Agreed.

I had a bunch of cherry tomatoes from the farmers’ market and a lot of basil growing in my garden. What to make? After searching epicurious.com, I came up with a recipe that used those ingredients plus olives, goat cheese, and pasta. I made it last night. It’s a great summer dish that I’ll be making again.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

1 pound gemelli or penne
2 3/4 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
5 to 6 ounces soft mild goat cheese, crumbled
2/3 cup coarsely chopped kalamata or other brine-cured black olives
3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, then drain. While pasta is cooking, toss tomatoes with salt to taste (I used 2 teaspoons kosher salt) in a bowl and let juices exude.

Toss hot pasta with goat cheese in a large bowl until cheese is melted and coats pasta. Add tomatoes with juices, olives, basil, and salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine. Serves 4-6.
—From Gourmet, September 2000

Photo by Quintin Bacon, courtesy of epicurious.com

Guess what? Food Network’s Tyler Florence is genuine, fun, and down-to-earth. You never know what you’ll find with these celeb chefs, who, admittedly, are very busy and often besieged by fans.

But after throwing out the first pitch at last night’s O’s game, the charming Tyler stopped by a VIP suite to hold court with several local bloggers—including Coconut and Lime and Taste of Baltimore—and me!

Flushed with heat or excitement, he shared his enthusiasm about throwing out the ball. It was his second time (the first was at a Dodgers game two weeks ago). “I threw better,” he said with his characteristic boyish grin.

He’s been making the round at ballparks to promote healthy eating with grapes in a promotion by the California Table Grape Commission. So it was no surprise that there was a big display of fresh grapes on a table and hot dogs with grape relish among other snacks. He really likes frozen grapes, he shared.

Before the game, Tyler and his crew stopped by Chaps pit beef restaurant on Pulaski Highway and were impressed by the beef sandwiches. None of the restaurant personnel recognized him, he said. Ironically, the group ate at a table near an autographed poster of Guy Fieri, another Food Network brethren, who did a segment on Chaps for his Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show.

No time for Baltimore crabs, though. Tyler was on a whirlwind, less-than-24-hour tour and headed back to his home in northern California last night. Before he left, he patiently answered questions, while munching on grapes the whole time.

Here are some tidbits about his new wine label, a restaurant with rocker Sammy Hagar, and what he thinks of Anthony Bourdain:

Personal: The 39-year-old chef—who was born in South Carolina but lived most of his life in New York—is married with two children, ages three and one (his daughter will be two on Sunday). (He evidently has another child, but he didn't mention him.) “My wife is a saint,” he said when asked about how he handles being away from home for his many ventures. “She understands.”

New TV show: He’s host of The Great Food Truck Race, which starts Aug. 15. “It made sense,” he said. “The collapsed economy is the reason why food trucks are so big right now.”

On the Food Network: “I wouldn’t be anyone without those guys,” he said. “I really love what I do.”

On Anthony Bourdain’s disdain of the Food Network: “He can’t cook. … Les Halles [Bourdain’s former restaurant] is terrible.” (Ouch!)

New cookbook: “Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better” to be released Oct. 12. This book, with 250 recipes, will have about twice as many recipes as his other cookbooks. Tyler said he’s gotten better at compiling a cookbook. In the beginning, it would take him about 18 months. Now, he puts it together in about six weeks.

Wine: Yes, there will be Tyler Florence wine! He’s paired with Michael Mondavi to release four varietals soon.

Restaurants: Of course, he has restaurants. He opened three in the past year—Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco, Tyler Florence’s Rotisserie and Wine in Napa, CA, and El Paseo with partner/rocker Sammy Hagar in Mill Valley, CA.

Next food trend: “Pie will be the new cupcake,” he predicted.

I’m sure Rodney Henry of Dangerously Delicious Pies will be glad to hear that.

Who won the crab competition at B&O American Brasserie, which was supporting a good cause and celebrating its first anniversary last night? Read on to find out the winner.

I had the honor of being a guest judge at the Crab Bash along with other food-loving folks: Jamie Costello of WMAR, Reagan Warfield of Mix 106.5, and blogger Dara Bunjon. Our delicious task was not easy.

The dishes from seven local and visiting chefs were great. Here’s a rundown:

Jason Ambrose, Salt: sriracha sauce, avocado crab ball with corn and tomato salad.

E. Michael Reidt, B&O American Brasserie: smoked crab cake with creamed corn and tomato and liquid ravioli.

Jay Silva, Bambara, Cambridge, MA: sweet corn and crab ravioli with chorizo chips and basil oil.

Christian deLutis, formerly of Alizée and The Dogwood: sweet corn and crab salad with plantain polenta and diced guacamole.

Guillermo Tellez, Square 1682, Philadelphia: blue crab salad with heirloom tomatoes, pickled beets, and candy fennel.

Paul Healey, Domaso, Arlington, VA: crab spanakopita with charred red pepper aioli and micro basil.

Dave Newman, The Brewer’s Art: Maryland crab cake, popcorn sauce, and beer.

The 200 guests, who were keeping score, too, for people’s choice awards, spread out among the restaurant’s two floors sampling the food, while also enjoying a complimentary drink—back-porch lemonade with citrus vodka—created by B&O head bartender Brendan Dorr. It was quite the spread for $10 a person.

All the money went to charity. The sold-out event raised about $2,000 for Great Kids Farm, which helps city school students learn about food—from seed to table.

Finally, Jamie, Reagan, Dara, and I compared notes and reached a consensus—though we really thought all the dishes were winners.

The results: overall winner, The Brewer’s Art; honorable mention for presentation, Salt; honorable mention for flavor, Square 1682; and honorable mention for creativity, Christian deLutis.

Congratulations to all. The best part? B&O will do it again next year.