The Tilted Row restaurant has a new décor, a new Southern-tinged menu and a new young chef. Now it wants new customers.
Located at the corner of Eutaw Place and McMechen Street, at the ground level for the Jordan Apartments, The Tilted Row opened for business shortly before the pandemic shut down businesses across the country and left the hospitality industry reeling. The pandemic changed eating and going-out patterns for many families, leading scores of restaurants to permanently close in Baltimore and around Maryland.
“Carryout kept us afloat, and we still get a lot of carryover, very nice food orders going into carryout bags from customers who discovered us during COVID,” said Derrick Reed, 31, the restaurant’s new chef de cuisine. He recalled one regular carryout customer who called to say she’d be leaving town for a couple of weeks, lest she be missed by the restaurant staff. “That’s unusual, and we appreciate it.”
He says the restaurant depends heavily on customers from Bolton Hill, Madison Park, Reservoir Hill and Mt. Vernon, “our neighbors.” Although some people come from across town, “we’re not likely to get a lot of walk-in business at our location. We depend upon word-of-mouth recommendations, and they serve us well”, he said. The restaurant is open at dinner hours Wednesday through Sunday and has a special Sunday brunch menu that is centered on what Reed calls “breakfast skillet and home-style dishes, not the usual boring French toast and pancakes.”
As prices for most things have gone up, Tilted Row’s wine list of about 20, mostly European wines, includes several bottles under $50. Beers and Ales, some Maryland-produced and others mostly foreign, run $7 – 10, with bar manager Julian Berry also offering craft cocktails and alcohol-free concoctions. Adeleke Sneed manages the service staff.
Tilted Row closed around Labor Day for a reboot of its interior and its approach to food. The new look features iconic Baltimore photographs and artwork and a new, quieter and softer-lit dining area. There continues to be tables in the separate bar dining area for those who choose it. They also offer limited chef’s counter seating for kitchen watching and occasional bites that are off the menu. Reed hopes to start a guest-chef program in the warm-weather future, if business allows.
The seasonally adjusted menu relies on local growers and providers. It tilts toward seafood dishes like jambalaya, a catch of the day prepared to taste, and bourbon shrimp and grits, with crab-themed dishes, as well. A vegan menu is available.
Reed is a Dundalk native who attended Patapsco High School Center for the Arts and studied classical French culinary techniques at Stratford University before heading to Los Angeles, where he worked in Japanese and French-themed kitchens. His family’s North Carolina roots lead him toward stylized southern dishes that emphasize freshness, not batter and fats.
The restaurant is owned by Ziad Maalouf, a longtime Baltimore restaurateur who also operates the Mediterranean Café Fili on Cathedral Street.
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