There's a new place downtown that invites you to wake up and smell the coffee - and drink it as well.

"We use 100 percent arabica beans," says Michael Egerton, co-owner of PJ's Coffee & Tea Co. "We pride ourselves on always keeping our coffee freshly brewed."

Egerton and partner Samuel Hershey opened Baltimore's first PJ's a week and a half ago, at 200 E. Lexington St. Aimed at busy Baltimore business folk, PJ's is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.

The menu reflects the appetites of people on the go. There are the usual coffee and espresso drinks, along with teas, chai, frozen coffee concoctions and Italian sodas. Food-wise, the menu lists a selection of pastries including bagels, filled croissants and muffins. There are also seven sandwichs, including loaded turkey, roast beef and tuna salad, and four salads, including chef and Greek.

There's seating for 30, but much of PJ's business is take-out.

This is the first appearance of the New Orleans-based coffeehouse chain in Maryland, but Egerton and Hershey are hoping that it won't be the last.

"Starbucks owns the suburbs," Egerton says, "but we want to take over Baltimore, as far as coffee goes."

Donna's in Howard

Staying on the java track, the Baltimore-based Donna's coffeehouse/restaurant chain is staking some claims in Howard County. In mid-April, owners Donna Crivello and Alan Hirsch opened a Donna's in Clarksville - at the intersection of Routes 32 and 108, in the Clarksville Square Shopping Center. And next week, the newest Donna's will open for business at 5850 Waterloo Road in Columbia.

Hirsch says both restaurants sport a new look for Donna's - "airier, roomier, still contemporary but warmer, with more wood, and lots of outside light." The menu remains the same - loads of salads, sandwiches, rotolos and burgers.

Seasonal changes

Courtney's of Timonium is getting a menu overhaul. Sous-chef-cum-executive-chef Andrew Smith has been reworking both lunch and dinner offerings to include more light dishes to better suit summer appetites.

Managing partner Phil Forrester says the new menu should debut any day now. It will have more salads, including one featuring prime rib and another with crab, as well as an assortment of specials - soft-shell crab dishes, for instance, whenever soft shells are available.

Courtney's, 106 W. Padonia Road, is opens seven days a week.

Back in the kitchen

Spike Gjerde - who with brother Charlie owns Baltimore's Spike & Charlie's, Joy America Cafe and the Atlantic - is back in the kitchen and happy to be there.

Gjerde says that while he's overseen the kitchens at all three restaurants, it's been a while since he was totally hands-on. But three weeks ago, he took over as executive chef at Atlantic, 2400 Boston St. in Canton.

"I just felt the excitement and energy had gone out of the place, from the food standpoint," Gjerde says. "For me, it's been really exciting to get back to day-to-day managing the kitchen and working with the team and the great ingredients we use here."

Gjerde says he's completely redoing the menu. Although it still focuses on fresh fish and other seafood, Gjerde says it now offers more variety in prices and food choices, with the addition of more small dishes, sandwiches, poultry and meat.