Petit Louis Bistro on the Lake in Columbia is shutting down at the end of next weekend, to be replaced by a Roman-style trattoria dubbed Lupa.
Tag: petit louis
Petit Louis’s Columbia Location to Close, Reopen as Roman-Style Concept
Just Listed: Huge Roland Park Condo In 1920 Beaux Arts Building
6 Upland Road, Unit S-4, Baltimore, MD 21210
Large apartment in European style brick and stucco Edward Palmer building, circa 1920. Four bedrooms, two baths over 2,585 sq. ft. Entrance foyer, 30’ living room with wood burning fireplace, formal dining room, 33’ glass sunroom with marble floor and views over Roland Park. Hardwood floors throughout, large bedrooms, updated baths, kitchen with butler’s pantry. Two storage bins, one deeded garage parking space, elevator building: $374,900 (+ $1,851/mo. HOA fee) Offer pending
Tony Foreman, People Person: Big Fish Q & A With Baltimore Restaurateur
Tony Foreman has changed the face of Baltimore’s food scene. In 1995, when he moved back to Baltimore to open the restaurant Savannah (with his then wife, still business partner Cindy Wolf) the top restaurants in town were Tio Pepe and The Prime Rib — both of which had been around for nearly 30 years.
Since then, Foreman Wolf has opened six restaurants — Charleston, Petit Louis Bistro, Pazo, Cinghiale, and Johnny’s in Baltimore, and a second Petit Louis in Columbia – all of which they own. Along the way, they have churned out a few Baltimore food stars — Charm City Cakes’ Duff Goldman and Josh Hershkovitz of Hersh’s Pizza & Drinks to name a few — and countless trained waitstaff, raising the bar for Baltimore’s restaurants.
Dine New Year’s Eve at Petit Louis
Still wondering what to do for New Years? You’re not alone. Making New Years plans can be tricky, particularly if you’ve waited until after the Christmas madness to start considering your options. It can be a bit like going grocery shopping while hungry: just not a wise idea. You’ve already attended more holiday parties than you can count, dressed for every occasion, and cooked and cleaned for guest after guest. Which is why, by now, many of us can feel more than eager to spend New Years Eve in our Snuggies, on the couch, watching those with more energy than us celebrating in Times Square. But there is a better way.
Baltimore’s Coziest Bars and Restaurants
When the temperature starts dropping, you have two choices: Stay inside, crank up the heat, and huddle under the covers… or venture outside in search of one of Baltimore’s many restaurants and bars with cozy fireplaces. Here are a few of our favorite places to warm up around town:
The Last $30 Supper: Busy Baltimore Restaurant Week Pays Off
Above, D.C.-based novelist Maud Casey prepares to dine on grilled salmon with heirloom tomatoes, grilled cucumbers in a caper vinaigrette, preceded by a cup of vichyssoise (cold and creamy potato and leek soup) — at Petit Louis in Roland Park.
For the first time ever, I took a bite out of Baltimore Restaurant Week this year. Every three-course meal at every fine participating restaurant only $30.12, with special discounts on wine.
"Sally’s Purse" Pulls the Strings
All the big shots showed up last night to wish community leader Sally Michel a happy birthday and to give Roland Park a shot in the arm at “Fill Sally’s Purse,” a fundraiser for the Parks & People Foundation at Petit Louis Bistro. Governor Martin O’Malley, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore Community Foundation President Tom Wilcox, Abell Foundation President Bob Embry, Maryland Institute College of Art President Fred Lazarus and more filled the restaurant to capacity.
The event was conceived by Michel after she and a friend were robbed of a purse last month outside the popular eatery in the typically low-crime neighborhood of Roland Park. Following the theft, she told The Baltimore Sun, “This is ridiculous, with all the other things going on the city…I love that restaurant, and I don’t want it to be damaged. It’s just some little old community volunteer and some little old principal, and we got robbed, and we’re doing fine. I don’t want this damaging the community that I love.”
A source from the foundation said she was inspired to initiate the event to encourage people to return to her beloved neighborhood and the restaurant following the crime. It also happened to be her 74th birthday.
Petit Louis donated 20 percent of all checks last night to Parks & People, where Sally is co-founder and head of the board. No word yet on how much money Sally’s many friends raised, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know.
Police kept a close watch on the restaurant after the January 31 holdup. Last night, some patrons noticed “a large presence of under cover police at the entrance with buttons in their ears and many cop cars patrolling,” as one emailed to me this morning. Despite the intrigue, rumor has it that it was just routine security detail for the governor.
Your Comments Hold Nothing Back!
Thanks for more good food for thought, readers. A diverse array of writing brought a diverse cluster of smart comments this past week.
On Friday, Michael Yockel’s post, “NYTimes Stamps O’Malley 2016 Presidential Contender,”
saw thumbs point up and down, with Morris 701 posting on the site, “Is this an example of the Peter Principle? Really…President? I don’t think he could survive that close up…what are his accomplishments?” Courtney Gilbert Middleton put it more simply on our Facebook page, “Barf.” But Barbara Wilgus and Alisha George gave the notion a “like.”
Marion Winik’s latest, “I Believe, Hon: An Ode to Exit 9A,” which describes her thorny journey from Pennsylvania until she finally crowned Baltimore the hometown of her heart, tugged at local and out-of-state readers’ emotions and invited vicarious I-Love-Baltimore praise.
“Hi Marion,” wrote Laura Hirschfield, “Thanks for the memories! I grew up in Roland Park, double parked at Eddie’s, scraped up our old Buick station wagon in the post office parking garage, walked to that library and worked at Morgan and Millard’s (now Petit Louis). Now I live in Austin and get off at the Bee Caves Rd exit! LOL! I totally agree about the exit sign. Even now, 26 years after I moved away, that Cold Spring Lane sign still gives me a happy jolt of ‘home’!”
Meanwhile, Jen cooed, “Great and insightful, as always. Thanks for making me want to stay! I’ve been in some phase of ‘leaving’ Baltimore for more than five years. But sometimes, like you said, what you need is right under your nose.”
Betsy Boyd’s short report, “Police Presence Persists in Roland Park,” said thanks to the local officer who stood watch over the Petit Louis intersection several chilly nights in a row. (Susan Dunn had first shared the holdup crime scoop.)
“MMW” wrote, in reference to both stories, “I know it isn’t the best tactic when faced with a gun threat, but I’m lovin’ that one of the gals refused to give up her purse. Not to be too glib about it, but when faced with the concept of having to rebuild a stolen purse and (worse still) dealing with getting a new license at the DMV, it is arguably worth the risk.”
Added “ACS,” “Hoping the Petit Louis kitchen is keeping the officers fed with a steady supply of their famous frites! Merci, Baltimore P.D.!”
“[Here],” a short story by Michael Kimball, sees through the eyes of a boy who suffers abuse at school until he learns to stand up for himself in a most inventive manner — the piece was widely read, with Julie Gengo noting “What a brilliant story. I love this! You have such a great sense of life. Thank you for putting it out there.”
“The Boys and Girls We’ll Always Be,” a Lit Cafe entry featuring two of Leslie Miller’s saucy soon-to-be-published poems, garnered this compliment from “Stoop”: “That Jimmy’s naughty. Easy to like these two poems. Great rhythms.”
And Charm City Cook Amy Langrehr’s post, “The Source,” a celebration of the expert support she receives with “adult-beverage” selection at the Wine Source in Hampden, brought additional applause for the wise wine and spirits staff.
“He has rarely missed with us, that’s for sure! I believe that the Wine Source in general and Ian in particular has been one of the foundations of my happy marriage. Nicely written, but I was sorta hoping you’d share the name of the box wine you like, cause I’m ready for a change,” wrote MMW.
Not missing a beat, Charm City Cook typed back, “MMW, I’ve enjoyed Yellow+Blue Malbec and Le Petite Frog Picpoul de Pinet is also great (especially with shellfish!).”
Now we know!
Community Leader Robbed in Roland Park
We were sorry to hear yesterday that two Baltimore institutions — Sally Michel and Petit Louis — were in the news for all the wrong reasons: The indefatigable civic leader Mrs. Michel was robbed outside the esteemed French bistro Petit Louis in Roland Park.
After dinner Tuesday night at the restaurant in the 4800 block of Roland Avenue, Sally, founder of the Parks and People Foundation, and her 60-something former principal friend — who prefers not to be named — entered a car parked on the street at about 8:00 p.m. They were then approached by a man demanding their purses. (Despite reports that they were “robbed at gunpoint,” he threatened to have a gun, but never showed it.) He got one of the ladies’ purses but not the other.
By yesterday afternoon, swarms of police cars, TV crews and reporters descended on the neighborhood responding to the crime. Yet both victims had recovered by then, neither worse for the wear. Michel told The Baltimore Sun, with characteristic pluck, “This is ridiculous, with all the other things going on the city,” she said. “I love that restaurant, and I don’t want it to be damaged. It’s just some little old community volunteer and some little old principal, and we got robbed, and we’re doing fine. I don’t want this damaging the community that I love.”
Sally lives not far from the restaurant and her daughters live in Roland Park too.
Good thing no one was hurt. Maybe today things will click back to normal. For the sake of all involved, we hope so.
