Foreman Wolf is no longer.
Chef Cindy Wolf and ex-husband Tony Foreman, whose restaurant brand has become perhaps the most celebrated name in Baltimore dining, announced Wednesday they will no longer use the “Foreman Wolf” designation to refer to their businesses.
Moving forward, Wolf will focus exclusively on her flagship eatery, Charleston, while Foreman’s attention will be on other properties, including Petit Louis Bistro, Cinghiale, The Milton Inn and Johnny’s. Those will fall under a new name: Tony Foreman+Co.
Long considered the city’s power couple of fine dining, Foreman and Wolf met while working in Washington, D.C., and moved to Foreman’s hometown of Baltimore soon after they married. They opened Savannah in Fells Point in 1995 before relaunching the concept as Charleston two years later in Harbor East. The duo continued to work together long after divorcing in 2009, opening new restaurants and even co-hosting a radio show on food and wine on WYPR until last year.
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Foreman said he and Wolf “will continue to cooperate in all ways behind the scenes” and that the new direction was the product of tax considerations and succession planning, not any personal enmity. Wolf called the change a “behind-the-scenes decision” that won’t affect guests or employees.
The news comes just weeks after Foreman, 59, launched The Duchess in Hampden, a partnership with longtime chef Kiko Fejarang, and his first concept in Baltimore not associated with the Foreman Wolf brand.
Foreman characterized the change as a formality that made official what has long been the practice. Since the beginning, Wolf’s day-to-day focus has been on Charleston. “That’s what I love and where I want to be every day,” said the chef. While she has in the past had a hand in their shared concepts like Petit Louis, “I don’t need the responsibility of running into somebody else’s kitchen.”
Meanwhile, Foreman’s passion has been for creating new concepts and opportunities for staff. “I want to focus on my people and their development and growth,” he said. In addition to Fejarang, Foreman’s partners include chef Chris Scanga, co-owner and executive chef at Milton Inn.
The new direction doesn’t constitute the breakup of a business because “Foreman Wolf is not an actual company,” Wolf said. But it is the end to a marketing brand that has been used to describe the restaurants, which each operate as standalone entities.
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“It is very unusual for a 60-year-old person to still be cooking in the kitchen every day,” she admitted. But she envisions doing so for years to come, while using her spare time to cultivate a 35-acre farm she purchased two years ago in Baltimore County.
“I would like to be the chef that’s sitting in the corner when the cooks come in,” she said, and offer direction to younger staff.
“I hope to work until I’m done.”
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