The Baltimore Sun Jacques Kelly column

Source: The Baltimore SunAug.迷你倉出租 30--I put a question to one of Southeast Baltimore's busiest restaurateurs: What is the secret behind the steady growth of so many Latino restaurants flourishing along the old commercial corridor in Highlandtown?"People are looking for portions, price and quality," said Carlos Cruz, the owner of Carlos O'Charleys, a place that now qualifies as an Eastern Avenue Latin-American institution.Diners are likely looking for a comfortable place to do this, in a traditional neighborhood that, well, looks very Baltimore. I'll nominate Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown as one of Baltimore's undisputed recovery acts. It ranks up there with Hampden's 36th Street and Hamilton-Lauraville's Harford Road as a place that has built on newly found strengths.And I'll bet these customers divide into two camps -- those who want the foods they knew at their native homes and those, like me, who are curious and heard that Highlandtown was the place to get the authentic thing, at an affordable Baltimore price.Cruz came to the states from his native El Salvador when he was 14 to get away from the civil war. Now 51, he was called in to help out at Tex Mex Grille in Harborplace, where he met Orioles players. This led to many Orioles friendships and, as one of his current jobs, he helps feed the Orioles in the clubhouse. He retains his Orioles ties but branched into the burgeoning Highlandtown Latino community seven years ago.My mouth was watering for some of the Peruvian roasted chicken that people have been whispering about. And since I can no longer get sweetbreads at Marconi's, I thought, why not also try a roasted beef heart as a kebab?A few weeks ago, Cruz and his partner, William Coronado, opened another location, a restaurant that I'll translate as Aunt Julia's or La Tia Julia, which is a chicken place or polleria. I'd heard this was the place for the roasted chicken.This is a Peruvian establishment (3821 Eastern Ave.), and it hopes to serve South American customers, along with the rest of us. Even though it opened earlier this month, I saw迷你倉that its menu was attracting the Central and South American families who are such a part of the Highlandtown revitalization agenda."We are educating people as well as feeding them," Cruz said of his mission as food ambassador.So in the next few minutes, I got a food education from the extended Coronado family, including William's sister, Karina Santiago, and his chef and cousin, Martin Vidal, who came to Baltimore from Lima. I learned the extended family lives in nearby Dundalk and the men often do construction and carpentry as well as cooking.The real Tia Julia is William Coronado's grandmother, who died some years ago. She was known throughout her Lima neighborhood for her cooking and her way with spices. She was everyone's Auntie Julia. I thought to myself, what better way to have a family-centric restaurant than to name it after grandma.I spoke at length with Chris Ryer, director of the Southeast Development Corp. We discussed that Aunt Julia's is doing a good job of serving the people who are already familiar with its food and understand its menu. Those of us who did not grow up with its offerings will have a hard time fathoming some of the delicious dishes.Ryer suggested that Southeast Development get a bilingual staff member to write descriptive paragraphs for the restaurants in the area, which could help those of us who are unfamiliar with Peruvian dishes.I am food adventurous. I like to point and await the consequences.My finger touched a picture on the Tia Julia menu. What arrived was surprising, a ceviche -- a powerful lime soup laced with fresh fish and milk, served as a drink in a glass, garnished with toasted Peruvian style corn, whose kernels are much larger than ours. (A little secret: As a rule, I am not a fish eater. I made an exception and loved it.) I was told people order it to cure hangovers."Things are changing," Cruz told me. "And we'll see a better Highlandtown."jacques.kelly@baltsun.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Baltimore Sun Visit The Baltimore Sun at .baltimoresun.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉