Comings & Goings

Thai on the wild side

Between 2007—when Brad Wales and his wife, Pui, opened My Thai in Mount Vernon—and 2010—when the restaurant was destroyed by fire—Wales made his first trip to Thailand, the country of Pui’s birth. On that and subsequent visits, Wales began contemplating Thai street food: outdoor grills searing up such delicacies as beef tongue and pig brains, charcoal fires blackening grasshoppers, the snap of sauteed silkworms. “I wasn’t reluctant,” he says. “I have a pretty open mind.” When the opportunity came to open a new Baltimore restaurant, Wales wanted to be sure there was room for a grill in order to recreate that street food. The former Lemongrass space, adjacent to Heavy Seas Alehouse, seemed to be the spot. Wales installed a stainless-steel counter and grill where 15 diners can watch chefs, including Jirat Suphrom-In, Pui’s son, sautee curry-basted pork and chicken satay, or perhaps silkworms—nutty treats that come bundled in plastic bags on the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. “I wanted to bring the street food from the Thai markets here,” says Wales. Of course, the menu also includes more familiar dishes—pad thai, various curries, drunken noodles, and the like—as well as Thai beer and Asian-influenced cocktails to wash down all those delicacies. (My Thai, 1300 Bank St., mythaibaltimore.com)

Purple Pizza eaters

The Purple Pizza name actually predates the Ravens. Brothers Brad and Marc Quint, 40-something owners of Beef Brothers (the food cart and the Charles Street deli), hung out at the College Park original when they were students and Baltimoreans still pined for the Colts. But the new incarnation, adjacent to their deli in the Food Court on Saratoga, intends to fully exploit purple passion. “It just seemed like the perfect name,” says Brad. And while the purple-walled College Park hangout proffering dollar slices and such catered to an after-bar crowd, this Purple Pizza will take its name literally. “We’ve experimented with adding food coloring” to the dough, says Brad. Don’t worry, not all the pizza will be violet-hued—it’s meant to be celebratory. “You know, purple Fridays and all that,” says Brad, who hints the restaurant will be happy to cater special events like football parties. Think green beer and bagels on St. Patrick’s Day, says Brad: “At first I think it’s nasty, but when I taste it, it’s fine.” While the feast of the Irish saint only rolls around once a year, however, purple pizza will be a daily offering. (Purple Pizza, 222 N. Charles St., (443) 857-6328, purplepizzabaltimore.com)

Show starter

When it threw open the doors of its new west side space last week, Everyman Theatre served its patrons a selection of fancy hors d’oeuvres, not from an on-site eatery and not from an outside caterer. The small plates came from the truck parked outside. Charm City Gourmet, the food truck operated by David Shapiro (of Shapiro’s Cafe) and Chris Cherry (once of Polo Grill, Viccino’s, Tabrizi’s, and more), has a fixed spot on Eutaw Street, right alongside the theater’s lounge—and big plans to serve pre-theater dinners that can be eaten at tables inside. Theatergoers indicate their desire for table service by turning a card on their table to green. The regular menu, launched at this week’s performance of August: Osage County, features the food truck’s faves—smoked gouda lobster mac ’n’ cheese, baby back ribs, and seared scallops with fresh thyme, and woodland mushroom risotto—you know, the usual food-truck fare. Will the Gourmet guys match the victuals to the play? Ice cream sodas for Our Town, say, or funeral baked meats for Hamlet? They’ve already talked with another theater—the Lyric—about serving an Italian wine dinner to coincide with Italian opera, Cherry says. If there’s food involved in the play, he says, “Why not? It’ll be a quick learning curve.” (315 W. Fayette St., everymantheatre.org, @ccitygourmet)

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