After it’s closure in 2004, I regret never dining at Maison Marconi. It was of a dying breed, and so were its geriatric customers. Continental cuisine was slowly dying across America from its heyday in the 50’s. Marconi’s was a 84-year old institution in Baltimore, famous for being the dining spot of H.L. Mencken as well as being the oldest restaurant in Baltimore. After being purchased by the Orioles owner Peter Angelos, it was immediately redecorated and shuttered, with promises that it would re-open in a new location. That was four years ago, everytime I think of a nice restaurant to go to, I kick myself because I didn’t know/think about going to Marconi’s and supporting “the grande dame of dining” (Zagats 2001) in Baltimore. If anyone has any menus or old reviews of Marconi’s, please with haste, send them to me, because I am trying to build up a page on Marconi’s and other Baltimore restaurant institutions, and I am only getting so far.
From Dining in Baltimore
From The Baltimore Sun
Page one from The Baltimore Sun Dining Guide
Page two from The Baltimore Sun Dining Guide
From The Baltimore Sun
Maison Marconi’s on Saratoga street close to Cathedral Street/Maryland Avenue
A closeup of Marconi’s entrance. Note the cast iron detail around the window and the Marconi’s plaque on the right of the door. The white sign on the door reads: “Maison Marconi: This is to inform you that Marconi’s Restaurant will be closed for the summer. Gift certificates will be honored at Perring Place Restaurant. Thank You”
However, Marconi’s never reopened from the summer and that sign is years old. Peter Angelos, owner of the Orioles and Marconi’s said he would move it to Charles Street, but nothing has materialized as of now.
Here are some of the options available on the menu when Marconi’s was open:
Seafood newburg
Poached eggs florentine
Sweetbreads Sarah Bernhardt with a sauce of mushrooms
Lobster cardinale: sautéed lobster meat, folded in sherry seafood cream sauce, returned to shell, broiled
Ham and chicken livers
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken Tetrazzini
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Shrimp scampi
Ice cream sundae with homemade chocolate sauce
Calves liver
Hearts of iceberg
Jellied consommé
Oysters, sole, rockfish, salmon, trout, and shrimp
Spaghetti with Chicken livers
Spaghetti with Marinara sauce
Spaghetti with fresh mushrooms
Creamed spinach
Fried eggplant
Lyonnaise potatoes
Chocolate Ganache
Chicken à la king
Minestrone Milanese
Lobster Creole
Lobster au Gratin
Eggs Bellevue
Seafood au Gratin
Salmon Bonne Femme
Eggs Duc.
Oysters Pauline with Lobster Sauce
Tetrazzini
Back-fin omelet
Crab omelet
Fresh asparagus
Strawberry Melba
Broiled Lamb Chops with Mint Jelly Italian Jelly Fried Oysters Italian Salad: Iceberg lettuce, parsley, hard-boiled egg, celery, tomato, anchovies
Veal roman style: scallopine of veal with sauce of tomatoes and peas Creamed spinach
Poached eggs
Maryland Crab Cakes
Sole Florentine
Ragout of beef jardinière
Spaghetti Caruso Chicken
Veal scalloppine
Antipasto: lobster meat, small shrimp, salami, celery hearts, cole slaw, anchovies, pimientos
Fruit cocktail
Shrimp cocktail
Jellied consommé
Vichyssoise
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