I know my Southern food well. Growing up in North Carolina and frequently traveling to such culinary capitals as Charleston has introduced me to all kinds of Southern cooking. Classic Southern staples such as grits, fried okra and biscuits have been a key part of my upbringing, so I was more than thrilled to see similar offerings on the menu at Miss Shirley's Café and Bakery. This eclectic, gourmet home-style restaurant offers southern-inspired breakfast and lunch daily.
Miss Shirley's sits along a row of several respectable restaurants on Cold Spring Road near Loyola College. The area is about a five-minute drive from campus, or a short walk from the Loyola Collegetown Shuttle stop.
Miss Shirley's is named in memory of Shirley McDowell, a local cook who specialized in fresh Southern cuisine. She was a crucial part of The Classic Catering People, a restaurant group owned by the Dopkin family, who also opened this restaurant. The restaurant aims to reflect "the sassy charm and sheer joy in preparing food" that Miss Shirley possessed. The head chef, Bridgette Bledsoe, has worked with the Dopkin family to create a menu emulating McDowell's passion.
The restaurant's interior is tasteful and comfortable with bright walls splashed with red and yellow. Tables and booths are scattered throughout the rather large dining room.
During my visit, the room was decorated with Christmas wreaths and holly. "Silver Bells" played softly in the background. The open kitchen showed that Miss Shirley's has nothing to hide in terms of food preparation and quality.
The service at Miss Shirley's was excellent. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, and our food was ready in a timely manner. No complaints in this department.
I found the lengthy menu overwhelming at times, but nearly everything sounded delicious. The breakfast menu offers items ?? la carte, such as benne seed biscuits, chocolate chunk scones, gooey cinnamon rolls, apple-wood smoked bacon and fried green tomatoes. Fried green tomatoes are a delicacy in the South. I was excited to spot a taste of home!
The menu also offers house specialties, which include eclectic dishes such as coconut cream-stuffed french toast, which sounds incredibly rich, and a grilled breakfast kabob, comprised of turkey sausage, red potatoes, bacon, apples, tomatoes, mushrooms and bell peppers with a mango glaze. What a combination of flavors!
The menu goes on - there is an entire section of offerings dubbed "Cakes off the Griddle," with imaginative options such as marble swirl pancakes or cinnamon Danish pancakes or waffles.
And what breakfast menu would be complete without omelettes? Miss Shirley's offers several specialty omelettes, such as the Maryland omelette, which includes jumbo lump crab, tomatoes and Swiss cheese (be forewarned of the ever-so-pricey but scrumptious local crab meat). After nearly 20 minutes of menu perusing, my companion and I finally reached a decision. We started off with a plate of savory grits. These grits are mixed with apple-wood smoked bacon and served with diced tomatoes and chives as a garnish. Grits are made from finely ground kernels of white or yellow corn. The key to tasty grits is using yellow corn or a combination of the two colors. Miss Shirley's yellow grits were packed with flavor and were deliciously thick and creamy when combined with butter and heavy cream (rather unhealthy additions). They are the best I have tasted in Baltimore.
Amy's Bagel, a house specialty, is a three-layered bagel sandwich with smoked salmon, cream cheese, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, capers and Bermuda onion (I withheld the capers and onions).
There is no way anyone would ever finish this dish. The smoked salmon met my standards, but its flavors were somewhat masked by the overwhelmingly large piece of cream cheese. Yes, cream cheese is a necessity with smoked salmon, but the Swiss cheese probably could have been left out. The presentation was creative, served on a bed of field greens, diced tomatoes and a sweet, tangy vinigarette.
