Dining Out: A return trip to BOP yields good eats, if not a nostalgia trip

by Lynn Williams
maindish@baltimoreguide.com

BOP was the first of Baltimore’s yuppie pizzerias. A true creation of the Eighties, it offered trendy Spago-style toppings and sophisticated décor—I called BOP “a deco urban fantasy” in a 1988 review that still hangs in the restaurant—instead of mustachioed cartoon pizza chefs. BOP also sported endorsements from such visiting celebs as Luciano Pavarotti and David Byrne.

Well it’s been a while, and as BOP had somehow fallen off the personal radar screen of late, it looked like time to get reacquainted.

The endorsements are still there, but BOP frankly no longer looks like the place where I once ate a caviar-and-smoked-salmon pizza. It’s less hipsterish and more conventionally family-friendly; I counted three mustachioed cartoon pizza chefs on the premises.

What hasn’t changed much, though, is BOP’s signature cornmeal-dusted, brick-oven-baked pizza crust. And while the caviar might be gone, there are still plenty of toppings to choose from; if you go the build-your-own route you can be as unconventional as you wish. (Prosciutto, eggplant and Gorgonzola? Why not?)
We went for the clam pizza ($8.95), which offered garlic sauce, a mozzarella and fontina cheese mixture, and a sprinkling of chopped clams. The clams added more texture than flavor, but this was a better-than-average white pizza.

(By the way, the house boasts a baked ziti pizza, which we didn’t try. My daughter says that she had a spaghetti and meatball pizza elsewhere, so perhaps pasta pizzas are a trendlet we should watch—if only as clear proof that Atkins is indeed dead.)
BOP also offers wraps made from the house oven-baked bread, and surprisingly classy—for a pizza place—pastas. The chicken pesto pasta ($13.95) included a large serving of ziti, bathed in a rich cream sauce with just a hint of pesto, and studded with large tender chunks of white-meat chicken. It was much too decadent to finish in one sitting. The side Caesar was merely serviceable—though it did have fine pumpernickel croutons— but we were flabbergasted at the arrival of the promised “breadsticks.” These were, essentially, another pizza, topped with cheese and sesame seeds and cut into strips instead of wedges. (See above, re: Atkins.)

We were pleased to see that BOP still features its famous chocolate pizza ($8.95), with a puff pastry crust, melted dark chocolate, and slices of banana, strawberry and kiwi.  The Eighties lives on!

The Latest Dish…
On the way to BOP we ran into Nancy Longo in front of her restaurant, Pierpoint. Naturally we wanted news: namely, what’s going on with Longo’s?  The Lutherville restaurant, opened last year, has been closed since May 2—“Shortly after getting a lovely review in Baltimore Magazine,” its proprietor said, with a touch of exasperation—and looks as if it will stay shuttered, at least for the immediate future.

Longo’s has gotten mixed reviews in its brief history, but a lack of customers wasn’t its problem. Without getting into the technicalities (or the legalities) of the situation, we’ll just say that the closing had to do with breaches to the lease, which is held by Nancy’s business partner Andrew Silverman, the guy behind City Crab, Mick & Tony’s, and other defunct restaurants at the same Greenspring Station location. Nancy is in the process of putting together a group of investors so that she can renegotiate for a new lease, in her name this time.

In the meantime, some favorite dishes from Longo’s have reappeared on Pierpoint’s menu, including the popular Balto Box, a Japanese-style bento box filled with Maryland seafood specialties. For reservations, call 410-675-2080.

BOP
Location: 800 S. Broadway
Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sun., Wed.-Thurs., 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mon-Tues., 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Fri.-Sat.
Phone: 410-563-1600
Our meal for two: $33.45