Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
June 16, 2025 June 16, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
June 16, 2025 June 16, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
Leisure is the section where we highlight the intriguing, exciting and all-around fun events and activities happening in Baltimore over the weekend.
The first time I encountered the term “soul food,” I was in the sixth grade. Our Spanish class was on the way to a Salvadorian restaurant to practice ordering in Spanish, and the storefront next to our destination read “SOUL FOOD” in all caps.
I’ve long lamented my struggle to find a solid Mexican food fix in Baltimore. I know it’s not a matter of whether there are good tacos and tortas in Charm City, but instead whether I take the time to burst my personal Hopkins bubble and seek these spots out.
What happens when a bunch of vegans, a crew of baseball cap–sporting Filipino cooks and a few dozen beer fanatics walk into a bar? Nope, this isn’t my most recent atrocious food-themed bar joke, but instead a pretty apt description of Atchara’s pop-up this past Sunday at Suspended Brewing.
Down an alley behind The Avenue in Hampden is not where you would expect to find one of the newest and most popular restaurants among Hopkins students. But the path less travelled is exactly where you will find the second location of Ekiben, a Fells Point Asian fusion restaurant most known for its baos.
Baltimore isn’t exactly teeming with craft cocktail bars. There are a few overpriced hotel-adjacent spots with decent execution down near the Inner Harbor, but if we’re being honest, they usually aren’t worth the trip out of shuttle range.
I have been searching for a nice slice of pizza ever since my brother brought it up over the dozen egg omelettes we ate during the holiday season. Everyone has been talking about One Bite, and I wanted to watch “Davey Pageviews” review Baltimore pizzerias, but he has never done a review in this city. I didn’t get any closer to having insight on the pizza joints near me, so I decided it was time to take action.
José Andrés has plenty to be proud of. The Spanish-born chef’s restaurant empire, ThinkFoodGroup, includes 31 concepts, which span from the group’s home base in Washington, D.C., across the country to Los Angeles and way down to the Bahamas. Those spots — with offerings ranging from the haute plates at D.C.’s Minibar to open-fire paellas at New York’s Mercado Little Spain — have garnered a pair of Michelin stars and heaps of critical praise for the celebrated culinary entrepreneur.
I think most of us have a pretty good idea of the places where you can obtain provisions from near campus. Call them what you will: restaurants, food places, institutions, gastronomical adventure zones, eating rooms, nourishment chambers, nomz. These dining establishments are a key part of the student experience here, and ranking them is a job not to be taken lightly.
Recently I’ve been craving some good tacos. Last weekend my taco craving, lack of groceries and hunger all seemed to line up at the same time, so I explored my options.
As some of you may know, this past weekend marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, a few friends and I sought out Chinese food that we would normally be unable to find in the city. We settled on taking an Uber to Chopstix Gourmet, a dim sum restaurant in Rosedale.
As I’m sure many of you can relate, I wasn’t as productive as I should have been over Thanksgiving break. This past Saturday, I got back to Baltimore and wasn’t particularly in the mood to get started on the papers and projects with looming deadlines the following week. So, as the master procrastinator that I am, I hit up my friend and asked if she wanted to grab dinner somewhere near campus.
After a long 12 weeks, we are finally here. Thanksgiving break and the last issue of The News-Letter. This year, since Thanksgiving came so late in the semester, it seemed that many of us needed the break more than usual. Personally, I was exhausted from the unsustainable schedule I had established that usually works in other school years.
In this issue of The News-Letter, Your Weekend brings you a special theme: Taste of Home. In the other article, you will hear from Aubin, who has found a warm comfort in the homey stews and fried plantains from the newly opened Sobeachy Haitian Cuisine in the renovated Cross Street Market. I, on the other hand, will revisit one of the places I have loved to hate in the two-and-a-half years of my Hopkins undergraduate career: Orient Express.
Food is a large part of our lives, cultures and identities. Each culture has its own set of unique ingredients, cooking techniques and dishes that distinguish them and set them apart. It is those elements that let us feel closer to our families and ancestors. It is also the taste of those things that give us a sense of belonging and home.
