Page 9 - Visit Baltimore - 2019/2020 LGBTQ Visitors Guide

Why do you love Chesapeake cuisine?
Chesapeake cooking is about a sense of place and this amazing array of ingredients that are native to our region and readily accessible. I like that it’s simple — taking the best, the freshest that there is, and just letting those flavors shine.
Where do you go for great crabs and crab dishes in Baltimore?
I go to Mr. Bill’s Terrace Inn Crab House. It’s cool, it feels like you’re
in a club basement and they have crab fluff, hard-shell crabs and everything you can imagine. There’s another restaurant called Pappas Restaurant, which is owned by a Greek family, and they do a really good crab cake. Conrad’s Crabs up in the Parkville area does the best steamed crabs that you can pick up to go.
How has Baltimore’s culinary scene changed since you opened Gertrude’s?
Over the last 10 to 15 years there’s been this whole change in cooking here. There are so many young people who have opened
restaurants, pop-ups, food trucks.
It reminds me of when I first started cooking while living in Berkeley, California in the ’70s. None of us went to culinary school, we just had a passion for food — and that’s what I’m seeing here.
What are some of your favorite new Baltimore restaurants?
The Food Market, Birroteca and Alma Cocina Latina are ones that
I like. Also, a place in Remington called R. House. It’s this big [food hall] with all kinds of stands in it and a communal bar, and it’s so much fun. There’s a Mediterranean stand, a vegan one, a place that does Venezuelan arepas.
Besides the food scene, what do you love most about Baltimore?
I like the arts scene — obviously, my restaurant is in an art museum! I love the American Visionary Art Museum and think it’s one of the coolest museums in the world. And there’s Peabody Institute in the Mount Vernon area; they have all kinds of free concerts with the students in a beautiful theater.
DRINK TO THAT
If you’re in the mood for coffee or
a cocktail, find your way to one of Shields’ favorite spots for sips and conversation.
BIRD IN HAND
11 E. 33RD ST.
This café-bookshop in Charles Village serves a mouthwatering menu of baked goods and farm-to-table casual fare.
THE DIZZ
300 W. 30TH ST.
Though its name has changed through the decades, Shields’ go-to corner bar has been a gathering place for locals in the Remington neighborhood since the 1930s.