New Boulevard-inspired menu items at 12 Baltimore

New on the menu at 12 Baltimore: large portions and new items inspired by Boulevard beer.

“You can’t go away hungry,” jokes Chef Jason Bowers. “If you do then there’s a problem.”

After a year and eight months at the downtown restaurant in the Hotel Phillips, Bowers — formerly of Nick and Jakes, Cafe Trocadero and Dean & Deluca — thinks the menu is a reflection of his approach in the kitchen. He’s combining the slow-and-low cooking traditions of his upbringing in Kirksville, Missouri, with the refined skills he has showcased for the past 11 years in Kansas City. 

“I’ve been hearing those happy grunts and groans — which lets me know that people are enjoying the food,” says Bowers.

Among the new editions: Bully! Porter Wings ($11) with a trio of dipping sauces — ranch, hot sauce (you’ll pick up the base of Frank’s RedHot and red wine vinegar), and blue cheese that are all made from scratch. Bowers soaks the enormous full wings overnight in the Bully! Porter before frying them, trapping the beer in the skin. When you take a bite, it’s released in the juices.

The wings are among several new menu items Bowers has developed to celebrate the restaurant’s partnership with Boulevard Brewery. 12 Baltimore is also going to start serving beer flights with tasting glasses for each of the Boulevard brews on tap.