The Wren has joined the short-but-prestigious list of Baltimore eateries that have been recognized by The New York Times’ America’s Best Restaurants list.
The Fells Point pub was the only restaurant from Maryland to be included on the 2025 list, which the Times published Tuesday.
It’s the third year in a row that a Baltimore establishment has made the list, after Little Donna’s in 2023 and Ammoora in 2024.
“We’re over the moon,” said Rosemary Liss, who co-owns The Wren with her business partner and chef, Will Mester.
The Wren occupies the space that was previously home to Birds of a Feather, which closed in 2024 after 44 years in business.
After Birds of a Feather owner Alicia Horn Merritt announced she would be retiring and selling the building, she found eager buyers in Liss and Mester, owners of Le Comptoir du Vin restaurant in Station North.
The Wren opened in early 2025, with Mester’s wife, Millie Powell, serving as manager.
Liss said she hopes to “continue to do right by [Merritt’s] legacy by creating a convivial space for the community.”
That has included maintaining the “great whiskey program” Merritt started, and adding a great menu with Mester in the kitchen, according to Liss.
“We didn’t keep Birds of a Feather; we made it our own,” she said. “But to keep the ethos of that business alive, it was really important for her to see it go to people that would keep it a small business, keep it in the family … and we couldn’t have done it without her.”
Times writer Eric Asimov paints a delightful picture of an intimately sized pub that is so much more than initially meets the eye.
“With just 20 bar stools and a cozy lounge for drinks, the room looks like any other dim, welcoming Fells Point tavern. But Will Mester, the chef and an owner, working with a couple of induction burners and a small convection oven, produces lovely, seasonal pub fare,” Asimov wrote.
The Wren’s ever-changing menu entices diners to return again and again for new and delectable dishes.
Asimov described his meal “on a cool April evening” as one that consisted of “rich, tender duck rillettes served with a pile of gherkins and thick-cut bread, smoky grilled leeks blanketed in tangy anchovy butter, a soft spring onion omelet oozing with Lancashire cheese, and a full-throttle beef-and-ale pie with a rich lard crust and buttery mashed potatoes. For dessert, a flowery, light apple cake and perhaps a wee dram.”
As word spreads of The Wren’s accolade, Liss said they will be “making sure that our team is prepared for all the new customers and that we can do a good job and take care of everybody in the way that we’re good at.”
