Sometimes restaurant work gets in your blood and there's nothing you can do about it. That seems to be what's happened to Michael Marx, who opened Blue Agave in Federal Hill and then sold the Mexican restaurant and tequileria because he was tired of the grind.

A little more than a year later he was back, opening Rub, a Texas barbecue place in South Baltimore.

Not content with that, Marx started making plans for another Mexican restaurant, and a few weeks ago opened Miguel's Cocina y Cantina (1700 Beason St., 443-438-3139, MiguelsBaltimore.com) in Silo Point. He can't be too burnt out - he's in the kitchen working the line, at least for the first few weeks.

Miguel's sounds a bit more casual than Blue Agave. The focus of the menu is small plates, with dishes such as grilled skirt steak empanadas, shrimp in tamarind-ancho sauce and squash blossom quesadillas, for $5 to $9. People can order three of four for a table of two, says Marx, and "get out of here for $15 a person."

About 20 percent of the menu is entrees, from $11 to $17, which include dishes such as pumpkin seed-crusted salmon with mole verde and carne asada.

The house drink at Blue Agave was tequila, but to Marx's surprise, at Miguel's the best seller is turning out to be the sangria.

"You better have it by the vat once outside seating begins," one customer told him.

Marx had his designer create the restaurant interior from photos of the restaurateur's trips to Mexico. It has an open feel, with a 26-foot high ceiling.

"It's warm [in spite of] a lot of glass and concrete," Marx says. "It's not sterile."

Other highlights are the metal bar and Day of the Dead vinyl graphics.

Miguel's seats 22 at the bar and about 90 in the dining room.

It's open daily at 11 a.m. except Saturday, when it's 5 p.m.), Sunday through Thursday until 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.

Once the weather gets warmer, by the way, you'll be able to get to Miguel's from Canton and the Inner Harbor by water taxi.

Pazza Luna changes hands A big change in Locust Point. Riccardo Bosio, owner of Sotto Sopra in Mount Vernon, has sold Pazza Luna (1401 E. Clement St., 410-962-1212, PazzaLuna.us) to a former Sotto Sopra chef, Davide Rossi, and a former server, his wife, Christa.

"In this economy," Bosio says, "small businesses have to have ownership on the premises, and I couldn't be both places."

He sold it to the Rossis, he says, because he knew they would do "a fantastic job."

Chef Rossi is from Milan and has introduced a new menu for the restaurant, which opened under the new ownership this week.

"The menu is completely different," says Christa Rossi. "Our own recipes, tastes and flavors."

Pazza Luna will be open for dinner only for the present with entrees running from $15 for fresh pastas to $27 for rack of lamb.

The new Pazza Luna won't continue with the Restaurant Week menu, but they are willing to be flexible: "If your heart is set on one of the menu choices ... we'll be happy to accommodate your request," the announcement of the change said.

Bakery closures This week's closings of the week are bakeries, not restaurants, and they are as different as they can be: from old-fashioned to the latest and trendiest. CakeLove in the Can Company in Canton closed its doors Jan. 31. (What could be trendier than cupcakes, its specialty?) This was celebrity baker Warren Brown's baby, one of several locations in the area. It opened only two years ago.

Then Friday, New System Bakery in Hampden closed. Many wouldn't agree with me, but I think of it as a Baltimore landmark, even though it had had new owners for the past 10 years and had moved to a new location off The Avenue.

In a bit of good news, though, Puffs & Pastries bakery in Hampden (which has won my heart by only using butter) expanded into its second floor a few weeks ago. A number of customers wanted to eat its sandwiches and delicious pastries on the premises; but before the expansion, seating was limited to one table inside and some outdoor tables when the weather was nice.

Clarification In last week's Table Talk column, I gave the wrong Web address for Facci Ristorante in Laurel. Although it's named Facci Ristorante, the correct URL is FacciRestaurant.com. My fault.

Deal of the Week Where: Crush, 510 E. Belvedere Ave., Belvedere Square

The Deal: half-price appetizers in the bar only. Half-price bottles of wine with $20 food purchase anywhere.

When: Mondays

Call: 443-278-9001

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