#1 MARYLAND - Setting the Breakfast Bar Pretty Damn High

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single bite”. – Chinese Philosopher Laozi

Actually Mr. Laozi wrote, in second century BC, that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step but I invoke artistic license. I chose our first breakfast restaurant located only 35 miles from where we live in a town a never heard of.

Willy’s Kitchen
Ferndale, Maryland

If you google Willy’s, you’ll find that it has a Glen Burnie MD address, but customers will tell you that it is really in Ferndale. In fact, they will insist it is in Ferndale. Who is Willy you may wonder, as I did? Willy’s is named after the owner’s late grandfather who owned a local bus service company and was her inspiration in establishing the restaurant.

AMBIENCE:  Willy’s Kitchen is a small, busy, and homey place having maybe 15 tables and a small counter. We arrived on a Sunday morning and the place was just about full. Around 25% of the male customers wore some sort of Baltimore Orioles apparel. We were definitely clear of Washington Nationals territory. It became quickly apparent that this was a true “locals” place. Customers had their own personalized coffee mugs, knew the servers by name, and many seemed to know each other. The very friendly couple sitting next to us were certainly locals; their house was right around the corner. The walls had the ubiquitous breakfast place cute sayings and knickknacks. Everyone in the place seemed to have a smile on their face. Maybe it was the food or maybe it was because the Orioles won the night before.

5 out of 5 stars

FOOD:  Willy’s Kitchen is no greasy spoon. It prides itself in serving fresh, local, natural ingredients.

Being in Maryland, the menu had a number of dishes with crab – crab omelets, crab Benedicts, and something called the soft-shell crab bomb.  I passed on these, feeling that crab and other creatures of the sea don’t belong at the breakfast table. You eat crab later in the day with beer.

We made our decisions, but first they had to pass muster with our friendly next table neighbors. They wholeheartedly approved of what we chose but added that I MUST get the hash browns as a side.

I had the Liberty Delight Farm Bacon Omelet with American cheese with rye toast, and of course the hash browns.

The omelet was delicious, the toast was incredible, and the hash browns received the first Breakfast Across America Certificate of Excellence. Thank you friendly table neighbors for the suggestion!

The Healthy One ordered the Healthy Omelet which contained “3 cage free egg whites, 1 cage free whole egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach”. I don’t understand why anyone would keep eggs in a cage. Do they think the eggs will escape? She also got a side of fruit. I ended up eating her multi-grain toast.

5 out of 5 stars

COFFEE:  4 out of 5 Stars but real fresh cream on the table pushes it up to a 4 ½.

SERVICE: These ladies were professionals. They were both friendly and efficient. Kept the coffee cup filled. They didn’t botch the orders.  Reflecting their all-star status each employee had a professionally done, framed caricature hanging above the counter.

5 out of 5 stars

COST: $31.35 with tax and tip. It was a little steep but that’s the price you pay for locally sourced food as well as bacon from a hog that died with dignity.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FERNDALE:  Ferndale sits adjacent to the Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall airport. It is a community of about 17,000 and I suspect that many of them commute to work in Baltimore on the Light Rail. We walked the main drag and found that in the short space of 4 blocks there was everything a town would need to be sustainable: a tavern, a deli, a tattoo parlor, a Chinese carry-out, and a gas station.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

-          - Walking tour of Ferndale. It didn’t take long and we didn’t see any ferns.

-          - Toured the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Much, much better than it sounds.
   - Hike in Gunpowder Falls State Park

-          -Walking in circles at the Christiana Delaware Mall. Give me a break, it was 100 degrees outside.
        
        August 14, 2016

      NEXT UP: DELAWARE