Posts from the ‘Baltimore magazine’ Category

The Cupcake Crooks

The bizarre lives of the men behind the most brazen heist in Maryland history.

Shortly after the library of the Maryland Historical Society opened on the warm morning of July 9, two men dressed in jackets and ties arrived at the society’s Mt. Vernon complex. After registering at the front desk, they made their way to the library on the second floor. They were expected, having e-mailed a list of historic documents they wished to view days earlier.

The older man, whose dark, slicked-back hair, puffy face, and thin gray beard stood in stark contrast to his younger counterpart’s boyish good looks, presented himself as 63-year-old Barry Landau, an esteemed collector of presidential memorabilia and published historian doing research for a new book. The younger man, he said, was his nephew. On the surface, their story seemed to check out. Read more

Kosher Soul

A warm February sun beams through the skylight above the entry hall of the Jewish Museum of Maryland. On most Sundays, the building is bustling with Baltimoreans exploring various Jewish history exhibits, but today the smells of sautéed vegetables waft through the halls instead.

Stationed at a table looking out at an audience of about 100 people, Michael W. Twitty, a culinary historian who is both black and Jewish, wears a knitted black kippah, a Jewish head covering, while preparing the first of several dishes for a cooking demonstration he calls “Kosher Soul.” Read more

Holiday Spirits

This past December I covered the Ms. Claus pub crawl in the Baltimore neighborhood of Hampden (because nothing says Christmas like booze and caroling). Here’s my piece from the January issue of Baltimore magazine. Read more