Hot Spots: Restaurant Reboot
After 14 years in business, The Wine Market, the popular South Baltimore bistro and wine store closed its doors. Owner Chris Spann felt that the concept had run its course and wanted to rethink it. So after a closure of several months, he reopened with a new name and a new concept: Ludlow Market, Bar & Bottle Shop.
Inside, the space is organized in much the same way, with the wine shop up front in the first room. Walking through that, the bar and dining room space opens up – one wall sporting Mondrian-style illuminated panels – with patio seating outdoors.
The bar area is now separated from the main dining room by a half-wall, and a few high-top tables have been added.
The new food menu offers main dishes that include steaks, chops and scallops, as well as lots of smaller dishes that can be ordered for sharing.
A stand-out side dish/snack is the beef fat fries. Triple-blanched and double-fried in rich beef tallow, these golden, crispy fries are feather-light and full of rich flavor. They come with three sauces for dipping: mustard green mustard, malt vinegar aioli, and curry ketchup.
On the cocktail front, I went with the Crush-a-Lot, a bourbon-based concoction made with black tea, house-made grenadine and fruit juices.
Cheers to the reboot!
{Ludlow Market, Bar & Bottle Shop, 921 Fort Ave., South Baltimore}
