I met Damian Mosley many years ago. I immediately liked him. He’s quietly confident, very thoughtful and works really, really hard. You may know Blacksauce from area farmers markets or maybe you go to their storefront in Remington – or both. The storefront is fairly new, and as you may know, they had a major fire there a few years ago that shut them down, fairly soon after they had opened the space. I remember that morning vividly, as I received a bunch of texts asking if I’d heard about the fire. It has taken Damian and his team years to get back up and running, plus with additional challenges due to the pandemic, but they did it.
One day, probably eight years ago, I dropped off some of my salted caramel brownies with Damian at the Waverly Market. They were hustling of course, working that long line of biscuit sandwich fans. He thanked me and got back to cracking eggs and assembling sandwiches. A few weeks later, I ran into Damian and with a little smile on his face, he said “Yo, that brownie is stupid”. Made my day, week, year. Done.
Anyway, when I came up with my list of folks to ask the Baker’s Dozen questions, of course Damian was on it. His answers are really interesting and insightful, just like him.
Cake or Pie? And what kind?
Cake. The simplest kind. No nuts, no sprinkles, no edible flowers. Just buttercream or boozy glaze.
Your most prized possession?
My rum collection.
What’s your favorite thing to order out at restaurants?
Clam roll. This obviously is only applicable at certain restaurants. But executed properly, no sandwich is higher on my list.
What’s your favorite to cook at home?
Nachos.
What’s your morning beverage and how do you take it?
Coffee. Black.
What’s your personal motto?
Sleep on it before responding — unless not responding in the moment is going to cause me to lose sleep.
What’s your favorite holiday and why?
Thanksgiving, because it’s about simple processes and pleasures: a meal, shared prep, shared clean-up.
Best advice you were ever given? And from whom?
Be consistent — always show up, don’t change your hours every other week, don’t be half-assed sometimes. Be consistent. Told to me by my man Eli when I arrived eight minutes late for a farmers market for the second consecutive week.
What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?
Finding a way, through hard work and luck, to be in business doing what makes me happy.
The last text you sent?
“Can we take a walk tonight?”
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Perfect happiness? Hmmm. Running a small rum bar, somewhere tropical, with two food items on the menu, serving mostly locals, my dog running around chasing lizards, all next door to my wife’s maternal health clinic.
What do you love most about food?
I love fashioning varied raw materials into beautiful comestibles for an audience. I could work with metal or wood or soil, but I’m not sure I’d have the same variety of raw materials. And I could coach or teach or distill, but I don’t think I’d have the same nearly instant gratification.
What’s your favorite place in Baltimore?
Patterson Park, in a large patch of grass about halfway between the pagoda and pond.
Baker’s Dozen is an occasional column highlighting some very talented, hardworking and kind folks in the Baltimore food + beverage community. I hope you will make a point to support their businesses.
Grandmom’s Crab Soup
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