Maryland’s Most Expensive Restaurant Is A Foodie Favorite

BALTIMORE, MD — If you want to impress your date or visitors with fine dining, there's only one place to go in Maryland. The Daily Meal named Baltimore's own Charleston restaurant as the most expensive dining establishment in Maryland. The eatery's blend of Carolina low-country cooking with French cuisine results in a prix-fixe dinner menu that includes cornmeal-fried oysters, white truffle fettuccine, pan-roasted magret of duck and grilled plains bison tenderloin.

Here's what the food site says about Charleston: "Restaurateur Tony Foreman and chef Cindy Wolf’s Charleston has been the go-to destination for well-to-do Baltimoreans looking for New American fare with a Southern accent since it opened in 1997. The tasting-menu-only restaurant’s prices start at $79 for three courses ($135 with wine pairings) and stretch up to $124 for six ($222 with wine pairings)."

Charleston — the flagship restaurant at 1000 Lancaster Street in Harbor East — has earned high praise for its food, wine and service. Earlier this year, Charleston made TripAdvisor's list of the Most Romantic Restaurants in America and earned AAA's four-diamond rating.

It received three James Beard Award nominations, becoming a semifinalist for "Outstanding Wine Program" in 2017 and 2011 and a semifinalist in the "Outstanding Service" category in 2011.

The restaurant is a favorite of diners and food critics. Cindy Wolf of Charleston was a nominee for "Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic" by the James Beard Foundation earlier this year. She is now an eight-time finalist in the category, which covers DC, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. She was also a finalist in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2008 and 2006.

Wolf's restaurant was founded in 1997 and features the low country cooking style of South Carolina infused with French technique.

She was born in Virginia and grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, after her father became the vice president of Ponderosa Steakhouse, an experience she told Baltimore magazine took her to fine dining establishments around the country that she credited with helping to develop her palate.

"I was born to be a chef," Wolf said in a 2015 interview with Baltimore magazine.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and working at restaurants in South Carolina, Tennessee and D.C., Wolf went on with partner Tony Foreman to found several successful Baltimore establishments, including Charleston, Cinghiale, Petit Louis and Johnny's.

The report also listed Masa in New York City, which costs patrons $595 per person before drinks and tax for its world-famous sushi, and Urasawa in Los Angeles, which will set you back $450 per person for the Michelin-rated Japanese food.

The Daily Meal didn’t include big, high-end steakhouses on the list, with the interest of keeping it as local as possible.

Related:

• Baltimore Chef Is Finalist For James Beard Award
• One Maryland Restaurant Gets 4-Diamond Rating: AAA
• Baltimore Restaurant Listed Among Most Romantic Eateries In US
• MD Venues Among Best Wine Restaurants In US
• All The Best Food In Maryland You Need To Eat In 2019