The Wild Tomato Restaurant Opening Near Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — A new restaurant is coming to the Bel Air area. Wild Tomato American Kitchen is opening by the end of the month in the Rock Spring Shopping Center.

The scratch kitchen restaurant will make all of its dishes, from pizza dough to apple pie to blue cheese dressing, according to Wild Tomato owner Steve Sumner.

"My philosophy is I want to bring a little bit of the city to the suburbs, so you don't have to go down to the city to find a great drink and a great meal," Sumner said, adding that there is plenty of parking at the location too. "We want families to feel comfortable coming in; they will not have to go to Philly or Baltimore or D.C." for ambiance and quality ingredients.

The menu is designed to incorporate ingredients from around the U.S. as well as some specials. Appetizers, salads, subs, pizzas, pastas and desserts will be offered at Wild Tomato, which will be open for lunch and dinner every day except Monday. Dishes will be grouped by region — think New England, Maryland, Midwest and West Coast.

Here are some of the items that Sumner says will be on the menu:

• New England wedge salad with slow-cured bacon crumble, drizzled with balsamic glaze
• Maryland crab pizza with creamy crab sauce and Old Bay
• Smith Island cake
• Fried chicken and gravy pizza
• New York Italian cold-cut
• Detroit deep-dish pizza
• Idaho au gratin pizza with potato chips
• Alaskan Kodiak salmon sandwich

There will be a "New Haven pizza" with baked clams, bacon and cream sauce. Sumner said the goal was to create dishes that "you're not going to find anywhere" and present a tour of the U.S. on the menu.

Save room for dessert: Sumner, who baked desserts and breads in Little Italy before starting his own restaurants, will be serving up Smith Island cake, personal-pan apple pie with strudel, homemade bread pudding, milk chocolate panna cotta, beignets and New York cheesecake, to name a few.

Appetizers will include unique dishes like a fried green tomato with blackened shrimp and Creole gravy and an 8-ounce meatball with sauce and fried egg. Staples such as antipasti and crab dip in a bread bowl will be on the menu too.

The restaurant will sell beer and wine, with options for wine on tap, by the glass or by the bottle. Craft beer, including local brews, will be featured.

There will also be a kids' menu with antibiotic-free chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, pasta and meatballs and pizza.

Sumner owns two other restaurants that have gained popular acclaim.

The Founders Tavern and Grille in Pasadena is always packed and was recently named a finalist in The Gazette's 2018 Readers Choice Awards for best burger, best bartender and best vegetarian restaurant. His other eatery — Wild Tomato Pizzeria & Catering in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — was ranked No. 4 in the nation on USA Today's list of best gluten-free pizza for 2018.

The Wild Tomato American Kitchen in Harford County is designed to be more about the culinary experience across America, not just pizza, according to Sumner. His business partner and mentor Marty Lane came up with the name, which he said "gives us a little more flexibility. It’s not pizza centric."

His wife, Janet Sumner, decorated the restaurant. She has the ability "to surprise people" with elements that make people say: "'Oh, that's neat; I never saw that before,'" he said.

"We're focused on the experience, and that's why we do what we do, from the drink glasses to the way we’re going to approach the tables," Steve Sumner told Patch. "What it all comes down to is making the time out you go out to dinner a little more special, from the service to the food."

He said the best feeling is seeing someone in one of his restaurants "bite into a sandwich and pass it on, saying, 'You've got to try this.'" Said Sumner: "That's what keeps me going."

When it opens, Wild Tomato in Bel Air will be dine-in only; it will eventually offer carryout.

"We definitely are going to do carryout," Sumner said. "What goes on in the four walls we can really manage. We want people who are coming in to enjoy themselves, and we know what our capacity is."

With carryout, a restaurant may end up having to make food for an additional "40 seats you never expected at dinner time," he explained. "The last thing I want to do is disappoint a lot of people," said Sumner, who told Patch: "I'm not trying to be greedy. I’m trying to be here for a long time."

Wild Tomato is at 1433 Rock Spring Road in Bel Air. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; and 11 a.m.-10 p.m.Friday and Saturday. The restaurant will be closed on Mondays.

Photos courtesy of The Wild Tomato.