See a beautiful oven and eat well - in Baltimore

My daughter is an intern this summer at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, a perk that allowed us to enjoy a personalized tour of this gem of a small museum. Don't worry, there are good tours everyday. The museum is located in Baltimore, a couple of blocks from Little Italy. Lunch and a tour of the museum is a great pairing for an afternoon visit. (Take in an evening Orioles game, if you like baseball, and you have a perfect day.)

The museum tour includes two synagogues on the same block dating from the mid and late nineteenth century, respectively. In the basement of one is a matzo oven. This oven was used for the communal baking of matzo for the Passover holiday. (Yes, an oven that was used before large scale distribution of matzo across the country and the cardboard version of matzo we know - and some of us adore - today.) Matzo is on my list of breads to make and I audibly gasped when I saw this beautiful brick oven. Oh, how I wish I could use it. (No connection to an intern or even the museum director could supply that dream of a perk.)

Word to the wise: The museum is closed on Fridays and Saturdays.

Now, if you want an incredible hero or brick-oven pizza for lunch, before or after a visit to the museum, walk a few blocks to Isabella's, a wonderful small deli and pizza place in Little Italy. Go early or late because the few tables get filled quickly. I had a to-die-for veggie sub with pesto, cheese, mushrooms and maybe something else. (They were no problem when I asked to substitute ingredients.) My husband goes for a classic Italian salami sub. Yummy! If you want some good biscotti, go another block or so to Vaccaro's.