Topside at the Hotel Revival is still a great spot for stunning city views, excellent handmade cocktails, interesting craft beers, and exquisite food. The latter is now courtesy of new executive chef Scott Hines.
I attended a tasting there recently to sample some small plates and entrees from his new spring menu.
First up: cocktails. I sampled two, the Peacemaker and the Sunshine Daydream.
The Peacemaker is comprised of Vida mescal, amaro, grapefruit, tequila, lima, agave and a dash of hot sauce.
The Sunshine Daydream consists of Dickel rye, Carpano Bianco, suze, honey, lemon and chamomile. Both are delicious.
The small plates menu offers new items like hand-cut tuna tartare with tiger sauce, hearty lamb ribs with tamarind-orange yogurt (pictured), confit duck wings…
…crispy octopus with chorizo (pictured), a fun chicken & foie gras “corndog” with rhubarb ketchup and spicy mustard…
…deep-fried oysters…
…and “Grilled Piggy”—brown-sugar cured pork belly with fermented coconut, mango and pickled mustard seeds.
New entrees include gemelli pasta with morel mushrooms, English peas, ricotta and sorrel pesto…
…rockfish with wild mushrooms, ramps and baby corn…
…a crab cake served with lemon potatoes, asparagus and avocado-celery slaw…
…catfish & chips served with fries and malt aioli…
…and classic mussels in broth.
Definitely worth a stop-by for grazing or a full meal.
And the view of springtime blooms in the stately squares of Mount Vernon is an added bonus.
{Topside, 101 W. Monument Street, Mount Vernon}
Sloane Brown
Baltimore's longtime fashion and social scene reporter, Sloane is the founder/managing editor of Baltimore Snap.
