Famously grumpy and sharp-tongued chef Anthony Bourdain should have fit right in with Baltimore during his recent trip here.
The TV personality and best-selling author filmed scenes in and around town Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for an episode of his Travel Channel show “No Reservations,” scheduled to air in July. Look for a Q&A with Bourdain in Pan&Praise closer to the Baltimore show’s air date.
Unlike previous host cities for “No Reservations,” Baltimore didn’t offer an eyeball off a bloody seal carcass lying on a kitchen floor or a desert lizard or public ear-canal cleaning. Instead, Bourdain stopped at The Roost, Chaps Pit Beef and Mo’s Seafood.
Dance the night away Ladies, you don’t have to worry about being impregnated while making your way through The Ark’s dance floor.
“It isn’t a place for the ‘hump-and-bump,'” as dance instructor Grace Badillo puts it. “It’s for people who just love to dance and don’t want to disrespect themselves or others. The crowd is 25 to 55 years old, well-behaved, intelligent, and of every faith, size and race. It’s the best crowd you could ask for.”
Every Saturday night inside the elegant venue formerly known as Gardel’s Super Club, Badillo, who taught dance at Gardel’s, will offer a beginner’s salsa lesson at 8 o’clock, followed by two dance lessons for more experienced dancers. At 10, the lessons stop, and the practice or free dance starts.
“We rotate ladies during the lessons so it’s a little like speed dating,” Badillo said. “By the end of the class, you’ve already danced with 20 people so you feel comfortable at 10 when a guy asks you to dance. It creates a less stressful environment for people to enjoy themselves. And it’s not a meat market. The people here want to dance.”
Badillo bills the weekly dance night as The Ark because the name reminds her of Noah’s Ark, she said. “People come two-by-two or leave two-by-two.”
After working up a sweat on the floor you can only quench your thirst with nonalcoholic beverages, but Badillo may acquire a BYOB permit.
Expect a live band once a month and a DJ the other three Saturdays. A buffet every first Saturday of the month will be available. The buffet, dance lessons and entry cost $20, unless you come after 9:15 p.m. Then admission is $12.
On Jan. 3, the first Ark-organized night attracted 400. For more information, visit www.dancingwithgrace.com.
Keep your hands to yourself No more stopping short on your passenger in city traffic.
A car that stops itself from striking another car if going under 9 mph is on the market and will be available to test drive through an obstacle course from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at Bill Kidd’s Volvo in Cockeysville and Tuesday at Annapolis Volvo in Annapolis.
The City Safety feature, available in a XC60 from Volvo, is designed to help a driver avoid or reduce the effects of low-speed impacts, common in city traffic. According to Volvo, more than 75 percent of all accidents occur in speeds below 18 mph. For more information about Monday and Tuesday’s events, visit www.volvocars.us/XC60Tour.
– Jessica Novak
