Baltimore has been abuzz with Keith Lee sightings. The TikToker’s visit to Rooted Rotisserie in Hollins Market had the restaurant’s reservations completely booked last week.

A fresh wave of customers would be welcome news for many local restaurants this time of year. Unless you’re on the waterfront, summer is a notoriously slow season for Baltimore’s dining spots.

One North Baltimore restaurant recently came close to closing but has been revived by a social media campaign of its own — for the moment, at least. I have more details here plus updates on a new Fells Point bar and a lawsuit involving a James Beard-nominated chef.

Smokehouse out of the doghouse, for now

A few weeks ago, George Marsh wasn’t sure whether Heritage Smokehouse would survive another few days. He’s still wondering what’s in store for the future.

The barbecue restaurant in Govans had a slow start to the year and has suffered from even slower business this summer.

“We just weren’t able to keep up, and were getting to the point where I thought maybe we were done for,” Marsh said. So he fired off a Facebook post updating customers on the situation: “I thought I would just let people know that if they want us to be around, they need to come out.”

The last-ditch call for support ended up bringing in “droves” of diners for lunch and dinner. Heritage Smokehouse sold out of food each night, sometimes by 6 or 7 p.m. The wave of business helped Marsh pay off some important bills, order new inventory and keep the doors open for now.

“It was amazing,” he said last week. “We really needed it.”

But the restaurant is not quite out of the woods yet. Marsh said Heritage Smokehouse, which he owns with his wife Jenny, will need several weeks of sustained business to stay afloat. In the meantime, he’s trimmed the menu to remove a few items that were slowing down the kitchen, like hushpuppies and French fries.

Heritage Smokehouse opened in 2021. Marsh, previously the head chef at Spike Gjerde’sParts & Labor in Remington, said he wanted to create a casual, family-oriented spot with lower prices.

Heritage has had busy bursts during its time in business, he said, but has also grappled with establishing a consistent volume of sales. Marsh thinks part of the reason might be that the city’s restaurant scene is becoming crowded.

“Population-wise this is not a growing city, and there’s more and more restaurants opening all the time, which is fine,” he said, “but the market is a little saturated, I think.”

Menu cost has also been an issue. Meat isn’t cheap, and the barbecue restaurant has to price accordingly, Marsh said. If Heritage Smokehouse could buy in greater bulk, he would be able to lower his prices — but that would require consistently higher sales.

Marsh said he hears from many fellow restaurateurs in the same boat: “We’re not the only ones. I know a bunch of people in the city who have excellent restaurants who have been going through slow times.”

For now, he’s planning to ride the wave of renewed attention for as long as he can. He is staffing up to better manage the rush, and plans to smoke as much meat as he can in advance. Heritage Smokehouse also recently started serving lunch, and he hopes to gain a foothold in the realm of catering, as well.

Ultimately, Marsh said, the restaurant will need sustained support from local diners to survive. He hopes to avoid a similar fate to Parts & Labor, which closed in 2018.

“I don’t want to see that happen again,” he said. “It was hard enough last time, and this is actually my money, or money I owe to the bank.”

Alma Cocina Latina lawsuit

A James Beard-nominated chef is suing the Station North restaurant where he earned his acclaim.

In a lawsuit filed Aug. 1, David Zamudio alleges he was defrauded by Alma Cocina Latina owners Mark Demshak and Irena Stein after they claimed to have awarded him a one-third partnership in the Venezuelan restaurant but didn’t follow through on giving him an official stake.

Zamudio, a native of Venezuela, worked his way up from a sous chef position to become the executive chef at Alma in 2021, the same year the restaurant moved from Canton to its current location at 1701 N. Charles St. The chef worked six to seven days a week to get ready for the opening, painting, cleaning and installing shelves in the new space, according to the complaint.

At the helm of Alma Cocina Latina, Zamudio’s cooking won glowing reviews from local and national publications, and Stein and Demshak praised his work in emails, text messages and even a letter of recommendation for an O-1 visa, reserved for “individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement,” the lawsuit says.

In July 2021, Demshak sent Zamudio a letter congratulating him on his success at the restaurant and rewarding him with 33% ownership of Alma, according to the complaint, which says Demshak and Stein referred to the chef as a “partner” and “owner” in texts and emails, and also held regular partnership meetings with him.

But Zamudio’s stake was not reflected in the company’s articles of incorporation, which listed Demshak as a 40% owner and Stein a 60% owner of the restaurant as of February 2023.

In January, Zamudio was named a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category of the James Beard Awards, the restaurant industry’s answer to the Oscars. By that point, however, he was no longer working at Alma Cocina Latina. According to the lawsuit, Demshak and Stein had sent the chef a termination letter “suddenly and without warning” on Dec. 30, 2023.

Zamudio, who is now working to open his own restaurant called Josefina in Harbor Point, says in the lawsuit that he passed up other professional opportunities because he believed he was a part-owner of Alma Cocina Latina. He is asking for punitive damages of $2 million, disclosure of Alma’s business records, attorney’s fees and a 6% post-judgment interest.

In a letter to customers, Stein and Demshak denied the lawsuit’s “baseless accusations” and said they are “strongly contesting the case” but couldn’t comment on the specifics “due to legal constraints.”

“While we are extremely disappointed and frustrated by the false claims being made by someone who was once a respected member of the team, it is important for us to resolve it in a manner that reflects the values we hold dear,” they wrote. “As we navigate the ongoing situation, our focus remains on maintaining the high standards of food, service and hospitality that you have come to expect from us.”

New bar ‘saunters’ in to Upper Fells

The corner space at 1801 E. Lombard St. has been home to numerous concepts over the past few years: Food Social, Bar 1801 and, most recently, a tiki bar called The Jungle Room.

Next up: Saunter Corner Bar.

The new concept comes from artist and teacher Martha Robichaud, who is teaming up with local bar operators Michael Cohn, of No Land Beyond, and Matthew and Molly Steinberg, of Kenwood Tavern. It’s a prelude to bigger things to come, the group said in a news release.

Saunter, which opens this week, will serve classic cocktails, craft beer and “customizable burgers and fries,” according to the release.

In early 2025, the neighborhood tavern will transform into Meander, an art bar offering activities like charcoal drawing, watercolor painting, clay modeling and Lego building.

“We knew the community missed Bar 1801, and we needed to activate the space right away,” Robichaud said in a statement. “This gives us the opportunity to make Meander exactly what it should be while filling the neighborhood cocktail bar void.”