AROUND THE PARK AGAIN By Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Fishpaws Marketplace
Our return visit to Severna Park’s newest restaurant, Garten by Preserve, was a revelation. We’d last seen the property in July when it was in the exterior painting and construction phase. Touring the beautifully landscaped grounds last Friday, we could easily understand the air of expectation we sensed while taking a peek inside during a staff meeting. Newly hired waiters were paying rapt attention to absorb every detail ahead of the restaurant’s soft opening Wednesday and official opening tomorrow, Friday, October 7th.
The renovation and construction work begun by proprietors Jeremy and Michelle Hoffman following Preserve and Harmony Hospitality’s purchase of the former Cafe Breton in June is now complete and their vision of the property as a modern European-style biergarten has become a reality.
All lies in readiness, from the lovely facade to views of the biergarten and flower-filled gardens at the back.
It’s what lies behind the Wine and Beer Shop door and the restaurant’s garden gate, however, that will ultimately draw customers.
Patrons interested in picking up wine and beer can enter a door marked Wine & Beer Shop from the parking area. But most will want to amble through the vine-covered archway pictured above that leads to the main entrance off the gardens.
We stepped inside the restaurant and were impressed with what we saw but, not wanting to interrupt a meeting in progress, we did not walk through. While it wasn’t yet set up for serving diners, the interior renovations seem to have opened up and updated the appearance of the restaurant capturing the same European beer garden feeling as the outdoor spaces.
We also had a look at the menu which is now posted on Garten’s website at Our Story — Garten (garten-eats.com) and on their Facebook page at Garten | Facebook. Its owners consider the restaurant a natural wine and beer garden and source products for their menus locally and sustainably from local partners like Binkert’s Meat Products out of Baltimore, Lyon Bakery in Hyattsville, Annapolis’s Chesapeake Smokehouse, and Pherm Brewing in Gambrills.
The Hoffman’s, who are also owners of the Annapolis-based Preserve restaurant, wanted to carry Preserve’s farm-to-table concept, with its emphasis on in-house pickled, preserved and fermented foods, to Garten. At the same time, they wanted to implement a modern take on Northern French or Alsatian region beer garden food. They chose, as Chef De Cuisine, Greg Anderson (who has worked at Preserve since it opened) to carry their vision through.
Chef Anderson has come up with a flavorful menu with a diverse array of starters and salads and sandwiches that may intrigue beer garden fans. Among others, there are Schnitzel sandwiches, G Burgers with griddled bratwurst patties and all the trimmings, and Garden Brats featuring plant-based sausages.
Entrees include dishes like a Sausage Platter with a choice of two sausages, a Chicken, Bacon and Corn Potpie or a Brown Butter Trout Fillet. Reservations are now being taken through Garten’s website listed above. We also learned that a Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting celebrating Garten’s Grand Opening will be held October 12 at 10:30 am.
Walking back through the gate pictured above to the back side of the property, we found a gardener transplanting cool weather vegetables in four or five raised beds of what will eventually be a fully functioning kitchen garden supplying fresh produce for Garten’s farm-to-table cuisine.
Diners with time to spare can walk through the gardens which, at the moment are filled with blooming flowers, bird houses, and even a beehive personally tended to by self-appointed beekeeper Michelle Hoffman.
The beehive, the first of more hives to come, was interesting to observe. The bees flew out over the fields of poppies to collect pollen or nectar and returned to the hive through the opening at the bottom. Hopefully, the honey they are making will be delicious and nutritious.
Diners can look downhill from the gardens for a view of the restaurant, its tasteful landscaping, and the newly constructed fences and biergarten.
The biergarten wraps around two sides of the building creating a wonderful atmosphere for alfresco dining while expanding the number of customers to be served.
Realizing that their new restaurant, at 849 B&A Boulevard, is located in a residential area that has expanded greatly since its earliest years under other ownership, the Hoffman’s are sensitive to the business’ interaction with the surrounding neighborhoods.
Baldwin Hall Craft Fair draws steady stream of shoppers in spite of rain
When board member Janice Crowe noted in Baldwin Hall’s advertising that the organization’s 2nd Annual Craft Show and Flea Market in Millersville would be a “rain or shine event” taking place October 2, she never expected to be experiencing successive days of rain associated with Hurricane Ian.
Originally slated to be held outdoors as well as indoors, the event had to move entirely into Historic Baldwin Hall.
“Since the terrible weather forced us indoors, the show ended up being mostly Craft Tables,” Crowe said. “Our food truck cancelled on Saturday night so everyone had to get food on their own. We had a steady stream of shoppers, but it could have been better. The rain did put a damper on things.”
Built in 1861, the beautiful hall was a nice setting for a craft show on a rainy day. There was room for quite a few tables.
The wide array of crafts available included jewelry, candles, artificial flower arrangements, toys, games, artwork, Christmas stockings, honey from a Crownsville farm, and much more.
The craft show was a good fundraiser for Baldwin Hall last year and did well enough this time that the board plans to try it again in the spring.
Jing Ying Institute Halloween Party and Silent Auction upcoming
Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi in Arnold will host it’s free annual, family-friendly, Halloween party on October 29 from 3 to 4:30 pm with a costume parade for people of all ages. According to owners Nancy and Billy Greer, the costume parades are always great fun.
There are costume categories for children, teens and adults and each person who dresses up and marches in the parade will get an entry in Jing Ying’s grand prize drawings. They will also receive a ticket to enter a raffle.
There will be refreshments, games, giveaways and contests. The event will also mark the beginning of Jing Ying’s Silent Auction for the local charity Good Neighbors Group. Silent auction donations are welcome up until December 10 and the auction will run until December 17. For more information, visit Best Martial Arts Program in Annapolis, Severna Park (jingying.org).
Around The Park Again is brought to you this week by Fishpaws Marketplace, 954 Ritchie Hwy. – a family-owned business that carries fine wines, spirits and beers plus gourmet foods and specialty items great for autumn entertaining or perhaps a Halloween party.
