Presence

The rumor cicuclating over the last days of Pesach was that both The Brassiere and Cafe 921 are in dire straits. The Brassiere's plight is probably due to a combination of heat from the recently-opened Accents, which is closer to the community, more affordably priced and ostensibly family-friendly, while Cafe 921, despite having the fealty of the 16 and under crowd, might be reeling from lofty overhead expenses for their staff and location.

As callous as this may sound, I care very little as to the fate of 921; apart from that tasty salad dressing, there's not much in culinary terms that I feel beholden to. Combine that with the fact that the place is disorganized beyond belief and whenever I go there, I'm out 20 bucks and still hungry, and I'm fine to see it go.

The Brassiere, however, would be a real loss if it were to shut down. It's the one place in town to go for a special occasion that you get a nice, waitered meal without spending more than is reasonable for an economically depressed town like Baltimore. More importantly, it's still relatively taboo to bring kids there, making it one of the few places one can get away from all things under the age of twelve for a short period of time. Also, the DelMonico steak is amazing.

As sad as it would be should The Brassiere go the way of Buzz Berg's Bison herd, it's quite understandable, given the community demographics. The Baltimore community is family-oriented; the average household size is probably between four and five, and people are going to opt for the more affordable and kid-friendly establishments five times out of six.

This also underscores the need for higher-end establishments to market outside the "kosher" community. Despite the fact that the community has grown significantly over the past few years, we still seem to be unable to support more than a certain number of eating establishments. Pulling from the non-kosher community could allow us to move beyond this bottleneck, assuming there's a willingness to sacrifice a more parochial atmosphere for more variety.

At any rate, I'd be sad to see the Brasserie go, so here's what we're going to do. Call it a lunch time flash mob, if you will. Let's all meet at the Brasserie for lunch, this Wed. (May 11, I think), at 12:00 PM. If you like, spread the word, RSVP in the comments or just show up. More than likely it will be just me, but it could be a nice gathering of folks. We'll eat, drink and be merry and perhaps postpone the inevitable for just a while longer. See you there.