Fells Point is a Polish-style sausage and a heavily frosted cookie, a shot and a beer.
It is also a locally sourced, smoked crab cake and a finely crafted slider, an exotic Greek fish-roe spread and artisanal-honey pastry.
A new Baltimore food tour hits the town's well-worn culinary cliches and rarified foodie niches alike.
It might start with an Ostrowski's sausage and Berger cookie served on the sidewalk, but it winds down with The Black Olive's white tablecloths and taramasalata, Meli's cafe tables and baklava.
"It's a fun way to see an area," said Jeff Swedarsky, who launched Charm City Food Tours this summer. The venture builds on food tours he has offered in Washington since 2007 under the name D.C. Metro Food Tours.
After getting established in Fells Point, Swedarsky hopes to add tours of Federal Hill, Little Italy, Lexington Market and Mount Vernon. Federal Hill tours could start in a matter of weeks.
The tours run for about 3 1/2 hours — participants are encouraged to wear sensible shoes and to bring their appetites — and cost $53.
"Join us as we bring you through a town of narrow rowhouses, cobbled streets, and fantastic local cuisine, encapsulating three centuries' worth of charm," reads the tour's promotional material. "See what makes this former port town so unique and delicious."
That was enough to whet the appetites of six women one day last week. The tours typically draw a mix of out-of-town tourists and local residents seeking a closer look at the city, and this group was no different. They hailed from New York, Virginia, Ohio and Owings Mills.
The out-of-towners did not come to Baltimore solely for the food tour. Some said they had been on food tours elsewhere — in France, New York City, Savannah, Ga., — and had started seeking them out wherever they happened to travel.
"Now I always look for one," said Debbie Gundersen, of New York's Hudson Valley.
The swing through Fells Point began in front of Broadway Market, with a warning from guide Celeste Corsaro that what they were about to see inside was not the height of Baltimore cuisine.
"It's pretty dilapidated, pretty barren," said Corsaro, who used to put out the magazine Baltimore Eats. (She brought along a guide-in-training Max Di Pettusanto, a linguist who said he could do the tour in seven languages.)
After strolling by empty market stallscases, Corsaro stopped to show plans on display for revitalizing the market. After that happens, the tour might have more reason to tarry in the market. But as things stood, with just three vendors, the group quickly moved on to the herringbone sidewalk outside Stuggy's hot dog restaurant.
A sign out front might have led a true gourmand to flee the city. "Baltimore magazine's best dessert: fried Oreos." But the group was spared that local delicacy. They were served Ostrowski's sausage and half a Berger cookie instead.
Half a Berger was plenty for Mary Salant of Garrison, N.Y., who doesn't have a sweet tooth. But she declared the sausage "delicious."
The group moved on from there to Kooper's Tavern, where they not only ate sliders, but learned how they're made with custom-ground muscle meats mixed with pan drippings that are deglazed with Flying Dog Gonzo Porter. They also heard a bit about the McDonald's bun-baking magnate who operates the nearby H&S Bakery.
"He owns everything, and he still eats breakfast at a Greek diner every morning, and he's a humble man," said Bill Irvin, a managing partner at Kooper's, told the group. (The group was spared any mention of John Paterakis Sr.'s guilty plea to campaign-finance violations last fall; there's only so much local color tourists can take.)
After that, it was time for a beer at The Wharf Rat, where they heard about a 1907 duel, downed Oliver Ale and waited out a thunderstorm.
From there, the group moved on to Pierpoint. Chef Nancy Longo served them a lightly smoked crab cake at the bar and described her style as " Maryland cuisine, modernized."
She went on to discuss how she uses only Maryland crab when it is in season. She also shared her grave concerns about the fish supply in light of fishing-industry practices and the Gulf oil spill.
"We don't know what dispersants do to you," she said as her guests cleaned their plates.
Next up was One-Eyed Mike's, which claims to have the world's first Grand Marnier club. Patrons shell out $175 for a whole bottle, which is kept at the restaurant under lock and key.
To gain access, the group learned, the owner must provide name, bottle number and the secret answer to a previously popped question. And no, it's is not the standard mother's-maiden-name variety question. More like: "What's your favorite sexual position?"
"That was the creme de la creme," declared Caroline Szep of Strongsville, Ohio, at 88 the oldest person on the tour, after downing her shot of Grand Marnier.
From there, the group strolled to The Black Olive, where owner Stelios Spiliadis spoke about his passion for organic, high-quality ingredients and elegant table service. He served the women bread, a selection of Greek dips and feta made in Northern Greece with sheep's milk.
"There is feta cheese, and there is feta cheese," he said. "There is feta cheese made in Mexico."
The last stop was Meli, a restaurant and bakery-cafe. It was there that the tour hit its first snag. After leaving The Black Olive, the group bumped into Spiliadis about a block away from the restaurant, in front of his house on Shakespeare Street. He invited them to take a peek inside the historic home, which once belonged to Admiral Fell, who, he noted, was not really an admiral.
The unscheduled detour took them from a stone-walled basement with a pool table — "This is how I make my money," he said — to a rooftop deck with an expansive view. It was surely the highlight of the tour for many, but it put them behind schedule.
By the time the group got to Meli, the area where the tour usually sits was occupied. After a bit of confusion, they were seated in sidewalk cafe seats. Since it was hot out, the baklava was paired with iced coffees instead of the usual espresso. Everyone was happy.
"It's all about improv," said Corsaro, the guide.
Maribeth Sherman, a teacher from Owings Mills who took the tour with her 19-year-old daughter and her Aunt Caroline, the 88-year-old Grand Marnier fan, said it was a great way to entertain an out-of-town guest. Szep is a world traveler who was not going to be interested in Inner Harbor chains.
"She just took a cruise of the Canary Islands, so how can I put her on a harbor cruise?" Sherman said.
Szep greatly enjoyed the tour, even though it forced her to violate her lifelong policy of always leaving the table a little hungry.
"That's more than I eat in three days," she said.
laura.vozzella@baltsun.com
If you go
The tours take place from 3 p.m. to about 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. They begin at the north "shed" of Broadway Market. Reservations can be made by calling 800-979-3370. Go to baltimorefoodtours.com for more information.