I got this e-mail from one of the regulars about the new version of the pasta bar in Hampden:
Just had dinner at Grano with 3 friends. The pasta dishes we each ordered were all excellent. We decided not to get salads after but wanted dessert. They had none. This was at 8:30 (Tuesday) and they said they had run out! Bizarre. We were so taken aback we thought the waiter was kidding us. I mean, couldn't someone have run out and bought biscotti somewhere? Some little chocolates? When a place has such a simple and limited menu (and no liquor license), they need to at least be able to offer those few things they do have on the menu.
I was sympathetic, but realized I didn't feel the same way. The couple of times I ate at Grano I found I liked it not in spite of its quirks, but because of them. ...
It occurred to me that Grano might be the restaurant that will replace Martick's in the hearts and minds of Baltimoreans.
It doesn't have quite the same funkiness (I'll never forget the night I was eating at Martick's and the sink in the kitchen upstairs above our table overflowed, and my companion who happened to be sitting in the wrong seat that night got drenched), but Grano's does have that love-it or hate-it vibe that Martick's did.
The food is completely different, but owner Gino Troia, like Morris Martick, clearly has the restaurant business in his blood -- otherwise he would have retired long ago.
I saw one of the customers get up casually and pour himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the antique sideboard at Grano. I can't imagine anyone doing that at any other restaurant except maybe Martick's.
You may not agree, but if you don't think Grano is Martick's spiritual successor, what other Baltimore restaurant could possibly claim the title?
(Algerina Perna/Sun photographer)