Chef Cindy Wolf's New Menu Format Takes Dining Experience To A Higher Level

Baltimore, MD, May 20, 2003  With the ongoing drive to bring her cuisine to a higher level, Chef Cindy Wolf introduces two new prix fixe menus at Charleston highlighting her favorite and seasonal dishes. The five and six course tasting menus ($64 and $79 respectively) are fine-tuned daily to incorporate only the freshest and finest ingredients and allow diners to explore Chef Wolfs elaborate execution of her signature cuisine. The two themes will constantly change; currently The Southern Table and My Favorites are the focus of the new menu format.

The Southern Table prix fixe menu allows me to draw myself back to the original concept of the restaurant, explains Chef Wolf. Guests will notice typical dishes and ingredients from South Carolina and Louisiana such as Gumbo (a classic Southern dish), Lump Crab & Green Tomato Salad, and Sauteed Fresh Crawfish Tails. Referring to her Favorites prix fixe menu Wolf adds, I focus on my favorite things to eat or make. I love, for example, making a Cornmeal Fried Softshell Crab, and I enjoy eating Butter Poached Medallion of Lobster and Seared Sea Scallops. I am personally passionate about these dishes and want to share them with our guests.

In Charleston restaurants five-year evolution, Chef Wolf has always included the option of a prix fixe menu, but this is the first time that she has brought this format to the forefront. Im always pushing myself, evolving my cuisine. This format challenges and inspires me, as it involves more steps in the execution, careful pacing, and complicated ingredients. My great team in the kitchen, Wolf adds, is also challenged, as they are forced to produce more courses and more involved dishes.

While the restaurant now highlights these multi-course menus, Charleston diners still have the option to choose a la carte dishes. Further enhancing the prix fixe menus is also an optional cheese course featuring a selection of more than two dozen artisanal cheeses presented by the resident Fromager. The ultimate complement to the dinner, however, is the pairing of selected wine with each course. As Tony Foreman, co-owner and wine director of Charleston Restaurant explains, I have chosen specific wines to interact with the flavors in the dishes. We want our guests to be stimulated and excited, Foreman adds, to take a break from reality  a 2 = hour gastronomical vacation.

Charleston restaurant opened in November 1997 and features Chef Cindy Wolfs dynamic, soulful menu incorporating regional ingredients, Southern tradition, and classic French technique resulting in a style that is uniquely her own. Charlestons wine collection boasts more than 600 selections of fine wine at a variety of price points -- from a rare California boutique Chardonnay and single-vineyard Cote Rotie to excellent purchases from Spain and Argentina. Located in Baltimores Harbor East, Charleston offers four beautifully appointed dining areas (The Wine Library, The Piazza, The Palm Room and Chefs Dining Room) with dicor that echoes the tones and patterns of the Carolina coast. Dinner is served Monday  Saturday starting at 5:30pm.