The Basque restaurant La Cuchara is set to open Saturday in the Meadow Mill complex, a former manufacturing building in the Jones Falls area between the Woodberry and Hampden neighborhoods.
La Cuchara —Spanish for "spoon" — will serve the kind of food found in the Basque region's popular asadors and pinxto bars.
The centerpiece at La Cuchara is an open kitchen designed around a wood-fire grill, or asador. At La Cuchara, the grilled fare will be things like Wagyu steak with potato gratin, lamb shoulder steak with grilled artichokes and Manzanilla olives and sea bream with smoked carrot puree.
But La Cuchara's calling card might turn out to be its selection of pinxtos, which tend to be smaller than tapas. (Pronounced "peen-cho," the word literally means "spike" or thorn.) And while some pinxtos are skewered with toothpicks, not all of them are. The menu at La Cuchara lists eight pinxtos for $2 each — think smoked mussels, veal tongue and caramelized onions with Manchego cheese.
The menu also includes a sections of tapas, such as grilled prawns with saffron aioli, grilled artichoke with preserved lemon and razor clams with garlic, chilies and white wine.
The entire menu will be available throughout the restaurant, including the two 50-seat dining rooms flanking the central 80-seat bar area. La Cuchara takes reservations for the dining rooms but not the central bar.
"We want to have seats available for guests that want a casual drink or a couple pinxtos on a Saturday night," said Ben Lefenfeld, the restaurant's chef and co-owner.
A former executive chef at Petit Louis, Lefenfeld is a veteran of the Foreman Wolf restaurant group who also worked at Charleston and helped Foreman Wolf open Johnny's in Roland Park. His co-owners at La Cuchara are his wife, Amy Lefenfeld, and his brother, Jacob Lefenfeld.
La Cuchara will be open for dinner daily. The restaurant is at 3600 Clipper Mill Road. For more information call 443-708-3838 or go to lacucharabaltimore.com.