Exploring Baltimore: Hot Plate, Costiera Travel, NYE Plans, and More
There are tons of opportunities to toast to 2025 in Baltimore this week. Move over cookies…it’s time for champagne. This week, Baltimore restaurants are prepping to ring in the new year and introducing some fun plans for 2025. Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
Openings & Announcements
Sotto Sopra has a new venture in the works. Starting next month, the website will include a retail section, where fans can purchase items from the restaurant’s own collection – like plates purchased in Italy.
Brunch at The Food Market now starts at 9 a.m. – good news for anyone making New Year’s resolutions to get moving a little earlier. Unfortunately, The Point in Towson announced that it will close after service on Jan. 12, with plans to pivot to private events and off-site catering. The Point isn’t the only Towson spot to recently announce a closure: Perennial’s last night of service is Dec. 28 and Nacho Mama’s will also close Jan. 12. Here’s hoping that downtown Towson sees some new and interesting additions in early 2025.
Dave does Baltimore
Earlier this month, Barstool Sports President and pizza aficionado Dave Portnoy visited Baltimore. Portnoy, who is known for his pizza reviews, stopped at a handful of local pizza joints, including Tinybrickoven in Federal Hill, where he loved the pizza. When Portnoy learned that Tinybrickoven was on the brink of closing, he put his money where his mouth (literally) is, asking the owner how much he would need to stay open. The answer was $60,000 – which Portnoy committed to providing right then and there. Definitely a feel-good story for Baltimore and for pizza lovers everywhere.
Travel Plans
If getting out to see the world is on your agenda for 2025, Costiera has you covered. The restaurant’s co-owners, Chef Brian Lavin and Bartender Sam White, are teaming up with Melody Kleeman of Aluma Travels to put together a culinary tour of Barcelona and St. Pere de Ribes. The six-day trip is scheduled for September 2025 – and booking will begin soon.
Ringing in the New
New Year’s Eve and Day are upon us – so if you don’t have reservations, now is the time to make them. At Estiatorio Plaka, the doors open at 10 p.m. for a New Year’s Eve party featuring a buffet-style dinner and live Greek music. Johnny’s will round out a month of festivities with a New Year’s Day pajama brunch, starting at 11 a.m. At Alma Cocina Latina, the New Year’s Eve menu will include the regular winter menu options plus two specials – a poached lobster dish and Cornish hen Galantine. Hersh’s – which is normally closed on Tuesdays – will be open this week, just because it’s New Year’s Eve. The Black Olive is celebrating New Year’s Eve with a special four-course meal, including options like grilled octopus salad and a whole Mediterranean sea bass. At Foraged, New Year’s Eve guests can order off the regular menu, from a three-course prix fixe or order an adventurous five-course tasting menu. New Year’s Eve specials at Limoncello include a seafood cocktail tower and a luxe surf and turf including a filet and a crab imperial-stuffed lobster. Sally O’s has a fun three-course prix-fixe menu for New Year’s Eve, with choices like Hamachi tuna crudo with chili crunch and chicken-fried lobster tail. Love, Pomelo will offer a limited but special a la carte menu on New Year’s Eve. For more New Year’s Eve and Day ideas, check out last week’s column.
Planning for the Future
Mark your calendars for:
– Jan. 5: Damn Near Beer Fest at True Chesapeake
– Jan. 16: One Swift Wine Dinner at Magdalena
– Jan. 25: Harbor Point Winter Festival
Kit Waskom Pollard is a Baltimore Fishbowl contributing writer. She writes Hot Plate every Friday in the Baltimore Fishbowl.
