entrepreneurship : Buzz

Berger cookies' expansion into Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia can only be a good thing, right? 

Not according to a Baltimorean who says the cookie is so linked with Baltimore, it can't possibly be truly appreciated by non-natives. 

"Can a city like DC boasting so many five-star restaurants really value this simple cookie?" Andrew Reiner asks in the September issue of GO:AirTran Inflight Magazine. 

"First, there's the look of the Berger, as it's often called, with its leviathan mound of hand-dipped fudge icing atop a cakey wafer. 'A chocolate delivery vehicle,' is how one cyberspace foodie refers to it. The fudge icing is just that ponderous— and inconsistent."

Read the rest here. 

Bryan Voltaggio paired up with his brother Michael Voltaggio of Los Angeles’ Ink to present “Hungover with the Voltaggios” to the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival.
 
The crowd enjoyed the two brothers for both their culinary skills and comedic relief, according to a recap in Los Angeles Magazine.
 
The Voltaggios exuded the same personality and cooking style as fans saw on Season Six of Top Chef when Michael won and Bryan, owner of Frederick's Volt restaurant, was second runner-up. “Bryan seems happy to play it straight while Michael engages in all manner of wild and eccentric experimentation. Hence, the coffee cake," LA Magazine writes. 
 
The best part about Bryan’ cinnamon swirl coffee cake and dollop of bay leaf ice cream and Michael’s egg yolk gnocchi and bacon is that they’re things you can replicate at home, Bryan tells the magazine.

That is of course, if you have superb culinary skills and liquid nitrogen.

Maryland isn't a bad place to start a business if you're a woman, according to a study commissioned by American Express OPEN.

The report puts Maryland No. 7 on its list of states that had the most growth in the number of women-owned firms and their  economic clout between 1997 and 2012. Maryland didn't fare as well as our neighbor Washington, D.C., which came in at No. 1. Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and North Dakota rounded out the top five. 

In a similar ranking for cities, the report put Baltimore No. 4, after Washington, D.C., San Antonio and Houston.

The study relies on data from the U.S. Census. You can see the entire report here. 

Baltimore came out on top in more than one Battle of the Beltways. 

Not only did the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals but the city bested its rival at A Taste of Two Cities, a food truck competition held Saturday at the Westport Waterfront. It was organized by food truck owner Damian Bohager. 
 
First place went to Baltimore’s Gypsy Queen food truck, followed by the Red Hook Lobster truck of D.C. in second and Baltimore’s Miss Shirley’s truck in third.
 
A panel of six judges, three from each city, determined the winner. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a big supporter of Baltimore’s food trucks, presented the Mayor’s Cup to Gypsy Queen.
 
The People’s Choice awards, which were decided by competition visitors via text, went to D.C.’s the Cajunator and Baltimore’s Souper Freak. 

Read more about it in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post. 

Did you ever watch an episode of Ace of Cakes and think "hey, I could do that?"

Well it's now time to put your hubris to the test. 

The so-called bad boy of baking Duff Goldman is opening Cakemix in Los Angeles. It's DIY for the bakers, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

"Cakemix is for anyone off the street who wants to go wild with a tube of buttercream. By decorating a cake, that is," the Times writes. 

You get to choose between a 6-inch or 9-inch cake and then get fondant, buttercream, edible spray paint and the help of an on-staff decorator. 

Cakemix is opening this month next to Charm City Cakes West, his L.A. outpost of the Remington bakery featured in the Food Network show.  

You can read the entire story here. 

Forget Silicon Valley. There are loads of other cities throughout the U.S. that have a promising tech scene. 

That's according to Fast Company, which says Baltimore is of "15 Tech Scenes in Places You'd Never Think to Look."

Phoenix, Charleston, S.C., Salt Lake City and Cleveland are some of the other towns on its list. 

"Baltimore has a startup market pumped full of youthful energy," Fast Company writes. "These burgeoning entrepreneurs can tap into a slew of resources, such as Accelerate Baltimore, a business accelerator, and Innovate Maryland, which forges partnerships between schools and tech companies."

You can read more about Baltimore's tech scene here. 

The photo includes a picture of Baltimore Sun Tech Reporter Gus Sentementes, who was featured last month in Fast Company for creating a home renovation app. 

Baltimore Sun tech reporter Gus Sentementes is used to writing profiles of emerging tech companies. 

But this time, Sentementes is the subject of a profile himself in Fast Company after creating an iPhone app called NestPix. The app allows homeowners to track how much money they are spending on renovations. 

"'People are looking for ways to protect the value of their home,'" Sentementes tells Fast Company. "'This can give them some kind of comfort.'"

You can read the rest of the story here. 

A subsidiary of growing Cardinal Financial of McLean, Va., has opened a Lutherville office, reports American Banker.

It's the third office it has opened in Maryland in the past month  as it tries to win business from larger banks that have scaled back their home lending. 

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Baltimore startup Parking Panda is shifting into high gear. 

The company, which rents out parking spaces in private garages and driveways and was highlighted in a Bmore Media feature in November, got some good ink in the Wall Street Journal.

"While some high-tech companies got their start in garages, a new crop of business founders, including Nick Miller of Baltimore, is giving fresh meaning to the term 'garage entrepreneur,'" the Wall Street Journal writes. Parking Panda is expanding to San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia after having closed $250,000 in funding from angel investors. 

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Facebook took its investor pitch on the road and made a pit stop in Baltimore, according to the New York Times. 

It also hit Boston, San Francisco and Chicago prior to its prepares to go public May 17 or 18. It's on track to raise nearly $11 billion with a market valuation of $86 billion, the Times writes. 

You can read the rest of the story here. 

An old-time Baltimore beer's revival was featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Tim Miller of Easton bought the trademark rights for National Premium beer in 2010 and plans to produce as many as 100,000 cases in the next couple of years. 

His story, along with those of other entrepreneurs looking to bring back old brands, was highlighted in the April 18 issue of the Wall Street Journal. 

Miller tells the paper that he has lined up two distributors and hopes to start selling the beer later this year. You can read the story here. 

Baltimore's reputation as a beer town has spread across the pond. The BBC has a big feature on the renaissance in Baltimore's beer industry. 

"Beer is flowing back into the city, thanks to a combination of young beer enthusiasts, cheap real estate and the persistence of local brewers," the BBC writes.

Max's Taphouse, Pratt Street Ale House, Clipper City Brewing Co. and the Brewer's Art all get a mention in the story. 

Still, we can't help but be flattered that the BBC followed Bmore Media's lead. We wrote this story on the growing number of Baltimore brewers. 

Nine Marylanders made the Forbes' list of wealthiest individuals.

With a net worth of $1.1 billion, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank made the cut for the first time. He came in at No. 1075. Steven Bisciotti, Baltimore Ravens Owner and founder of staffing firm Allegis Group, came in at No. 913 with a net worth of $1.4 billion. 

Hoteliers Richard Marriott and Bill Marriott Jr. also made the list. 

You can see the complete list here and a snapshot of the Marylanders on the list here. 

Baltimoreans finally got to see the long-awaited "Kitchen Nightmares" episode featuring Cafe Hon Owner Denise Whiting and her controversial move of claiming ownership of the word "Hon."

And it was as dramatic as expected. 

Whiting was stuck with a public relations nightmare after the trademark. Critics said she was trying to profit from a word that has become synonymous with Charm City itself. 

It was all documented on the show hosted by British chef Gordon Ramsay, who convinced Whiting to give up her trademark.

"In the show’s final segment, Television Chef Gordon Ramsay and his 'team' of culinary experts literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, transforming the iconic 36th St. restaurant and 'persuading' its insufferable proprietor Denise Whiting to give up her claim to ownership of the trademark 'Hon,'" writes Alan Z. Forman in his Voice of Baltimore news site. You can read the rest of his summary and analysis of the show here. 

Baltimore has a number of chocolate makers in town. And one has earned national recognition.

Complex, an online lifestyle magazine for 20-something men, has named Glarus Chocolatier the sixth best in the nation. 

"Baltimore's Glarus Chocolatier uses traditional Swiss recipes for each of their handcrafted creations," the website writes. "Think a small craft brewery, but with chocolate covered strawberries rather than pilsners and lagers. Got it? We feel drunk already."

It's the only Baltimore chocolate company to earn a spot on the list.