Brass Elephant is classy, elegant

Brass Elephant

924 N. Charles St.

Phone: 410-547-8485

Price: $15-$20

Location: Mount Vernon

Hours: Mon.-Thurs.: 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

Fri., Sat.: 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.

Sun.: 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

Website: www.brasselephant.com

The Brass Elephant restaurant offers some of the fanciest, classiest dining in Baltimore. Located among many other Mt. Vernon eateries, Brass Elephant seems somewhat out of place. But the restaurant does its best to make passers-by aware of its class and style. Large windows that stretch from the ceiling to the floor allow onlookers to see beyond the large elephant emblem and get a peek at the elegant ambiance and service that Brass Elephant provides.

The Brass Elephant has a variety of dining rooms, including the formal main dining room, which is viewable from the street, and an upstairs dining room that is more quaint and private. Either way, those who dine get the same service and may order from the more than satisfying menu.

For appetizers, choose from crab chowder, grilled shrimp, stuffed mushrooms and mozzarella en carrozza, among others. The mozzarella en carrozzaz is your basic fried mozzarella, but a plentiful, delicious portion. The dish consists of two fried wedges of Italian bread, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and rolled with romano cheese, served in a sea of tangy marinara sauce. It definitely beats your average mozzarella stick appetizer at most local pubs.

For a salad course, Brass Elephant offers a Caesar salad, spinach salad and a proscuitto salad. The Caesar salad is traditional, including actual anchovies and grape tomatoes. The spinach salad is tossed with tomatoes, Danish bleu cheese and cashews in a sweet, spiced vinaigrette. And the proscuitto salad has toasted English walnuts and a roasted fig vinaigrette.

For the main course, some of the choices include grilled Atlantic salmon, grilled beef tenderloin and chicken piccata. Vegetarians actually have two options (as opposed to the one offered at many restaurants). Brass Elephant offers "Angel Hair Pasta Basilico Cepellini," a pasta tossed with basil, yellow squash, olives, roasted tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. They also have a "Vegetarian Phyllo" which is curried flavored eggplant, tofu, wild mushrooms and Israeli couscous. It's served with wilted spinach and tomato sauce.

I've partaken in the meat of the menu -- namely, the beef tenderloin and the pork chop. The beef tenderloin is quite savory and stacks up against the finest beef dishes at other area restaurants. It comes with "Yukon Gold mashed potatoes" which is basically just a fancy name for a side dish that tastes mostly like mashed sweet potatoes. Standard veggies also accompany this entrZe. The bottom line is that this dish is yummy for the red meat and potatoes person. The pork chop is also juicy and delicious. It's a large chop, so you'll definitely get your fill. The side dishes with this entrZe are far more interesting. Next to your chop, dig into the Danish bleu cheese potato hash (blows the Yukon Gold mashed potatoes out of the water) and the standard tasty veggies.

Desserts are nothing to get overly excited about here except for one: the cr?me brulZe. This creamy sweet is better than most and is definitely worth it.

Brass Elephant is a swanky place but not grossly expensive for the quality. EntrZes run from $11.50 to $19.95 and appetizers and salads run in the $3 to $7 range. Be sure to call ahead for a reservation a few days in advance (especially for a weekend night) or you won't get a table. One neat feature of Brass Elephant is the online reservation option, which can be taken advantage of online at their Web site.

If you're not in the mood for the wait, you can take advantage of the upstairs Tusk Lounge, which has a full bar and small tables. Here you can order from the regular menu, so long as you don't mind the less elegant atmosphere.