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Originally published Winter 2007/2008

     
  

Photos by Lisa Helfert

Elkridge Furnace Inn
5745 Furnace Avenue, Elkridge, Md.
410.379.9336
www.elkridgefurnaceinn.com

Daniel Wecker works his magic in the basement kitchen of the Elkridge Furnace Inn. If the aroma of his recipes aren’t enough to lure diners in, a taste test surely will.
     For the past 20 years, the executive chef has poured his heart and soul into the restaurant’s French eclectic food.
     While preparing for a recent afternoon luncheon, Wecker moves swiftly throughout the stainless steel kitchen, stirring multiple pots, switching knives, casually chatting with passersby while chopping, cutting and slicing vegetables.
     He makes his own stocks, sauces and butchers the restaurant’s meats — and you won’t catch him with measuring cup in hand.
     He attributes his skill and perfection in the kitchen to his experience as a foreign exchange student in Australia. It was there that Wecker’s passion for cooking began in 1973.
     “I love to cook and to me eating is about the social aspect,” he said. “But cooking is a lot of sweat, time and hard work.”
     Wecker works a minimum of 10 hours a day often longer, he said.
     But with the long, grueling hours come some rewards.
     “We eat well, we drink well and we get all the free coffee we can stand,” he said with a smile and a final sip of his morning java.
     In the 1980s, Wecker and his brother, Steve, discovered and restored the inn, which dates back to 1744. They also installed a dumbwaiter to carry food from the basement kitchen to the main and upper level dining rooms.
     The brick inn has five dining rooms, each with their own fireplace, which creates a romantic and intimate dining atmosphere. The restaurant has served stars like Tina Turner and Liberace.
     Guests enter the main house by way of a front porch with cellar windows and iron bars. Once inside, colonial architecture such as wood mantelpieces, arched doorways and intricate stairways welcome guests. Original wood floors complement each dining room.
     Wecker’s specialties include beef sirloin served with Italian bread pudding, batter-fried artichokes on a spicy tomato sauce topped with pistachio butter or seared duck served over apple and duck confit risotto with carrots, a spiced apple and walnut chutney. A popular appetizer is the foie gras stuffed panini with caramelized onion, apples and brie, served with a persimmon and orange marmalade. Entrée prices range from $20 to $32.
     Wecker, 49, takes pride in offering guests a unique menu which changes monthly for dinner and weekly for lunch.
     “I really don’t understand how people can stand outside these chain restaurants with a buzzer for an hour or more and they won’t come here because they don’t want to wait,” he said. “If I made them wait that long they would never return.”
     But dinner guests and business clients alike have found this restaurant, which is nestled on the Patapsco River. The restored rooms offer a unique and historic setting for business meetings, banquets, parties and luncheons.
     “One of the reasons we are open at lunch is because I believe there’s a need to serve the business community,” said Wecker. “This is an elegant place to do a deal and this is the place that will make the deal.”
     But even when he’s not working, it takes a lot to pull the Elkridge resident out of the kitchen. The father of three enjoys using his talent to cook for his family at home and prefers his own dinner table to that of dining out.
     “My wife and I try to go out just because we need a break once in awhile but we are constantly critiquing which is different than being critical,” he said. “I find fault in my own restaurant and I’m always trying to improve by learning from things others do well.” 
 

Photo by Lisa Helfert

Photo Courtesy of Clyde’s