What makes a carryout better than the average carryout? According to the owners of the new Conkling Street Grill, it's when all the menu items are made fresh each day - some from family recipes.
Joe Rafferty says he's spent 25 years cooking for others as a living, including creating the street barbecue business for Andy Nelson's Southern Barbecue. But he and fiancee Lisa Tosti - of Ocean City's famed Tosti Deli family - wanted to open their own place and prove there is a "right" way of preparing classic carryout foods, such as burgers and sandwiches.
At Conkling Street Grill, they begin their day at 4:30 a.m., when Rafferty starts the process of mixing up ingredients for his brother John's hamburger recipe, and preparing his own pit beef and Memphis pulled pork.
Meanwhile, Tosti is busy creating meat and marinara sauces from her grandmothers' recipes, as well as her own sauce for a pit-beef barbecue sandwich.
"Everything is prepared from scratch - every one of our beer batters for clam strips and calamari," says Rafferty. "Even our lemonade is made from hand-squeezed lemons."
So maybe that's why in the three months it's been open, Conkling Street Grill already lists many Canton businesses among its list of regular delivery customers.
Oh, did we mention that the Grill delivers? Yep, if you live or work within a 2 1/2 -mile radius of the Grill's location at 834 S. Conkling St., and you place a $25 minimum order for breakfast, $40 for lunch.
Conkling Street Grill is open Monday through Saturday and serves breakfast (8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) as well as lunch (10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.).
Brunch times two
Sunday brunch to the rescue for two neighborhoods that haven't had many such choices lately.
Cafe di Roma - at 413 S. High St. in Little Italy for about a year - recently added Sunday brunch to its schedule. The reason?
"There's nothing else down here that does brunch," says co-owner Domenic Cristofaro. So, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Cafe di Roma offers a $12.95 brunch buffet that includes omelets, eggs Benedict, prime rib, stuffed pork shoulder, seafood Neptune and several Italian desserts.
A dearth of Sunday brunch places was also the reason Razorback's - which moved from Canton to Towson last December - is starting a Sunday brunch this weekend.
"We've just had so many customers ask [for it]," says Patty Ehoff, who owns the eatery with Biff Christmas and chef Andrea Prezioso.
The brunch menu will offer items such as eggs to order, pancakes and french toast, as well as a build-your-own Bloody Mary and mimosa bar.
Patrons also can get several of Razorback's most popular sandwiches, including the B.O.L.T. - a combo of bacon, fried oysters, lettuce and tomato on a kaiser roll. And let's not forget those famous ribs.
Razorback's, at 826 Dulaney Valley Road, serves brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Then the dinner menu is offered until 11 p.m.
Table Talk welcomes interesting tidbits of restaurant news. Please fax suggestions to Sloane Brown at 410-675-3451 or e-mail her at sloane@livetabletalk.com.