Est. 2016 · Quarry Lake
Four decades,
one standard.
Charles and Susan Levine spent a lifetime perfecting hospitality in other people's rooms. In 2016 they built one of their own, on the water, and gave Baltimore a place to come back to.
The story
Charles Levine learned hospitality the old-fashioned way, on the floor of the old Pimlico Hotel, where a room full of guests was a promise to keep. What he took from those years he turned into a calling: his own off-premise catering company, formerly Charles Levine Caterers, built one event at a time.
Over forty years the company served something close to fourteen thousand events across Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia. The guest list read like the century itself, five U.S. presidents, the NFL, the Rolling Stones, Oprah. The rooms changed every night; the standard never did.
In November of 2016, Charles and Susan Levine opened Citron Restaurant & Bar and The Cove at Quarry Lake, a 300-seat waterfront restaurant and event venue, to stand alongside the catering business that made it possible. For the first time, the standard had a permanent address on the water. Two years later, the industry took note: in 2018 Charles was one of five restaurateurs nominated by the Restaurant Association of Maryland for Restaurateur of the Year at the Stars of the Industry Gala.
In the kitchen
A seasonal, scratch kitchen, led with intent.
Executive Chef Mary Hersh runs a Modern American kitchen that cooks with the seasons and from scratch, Chesapeake dishes drawn from the bay, prime steaks, day-boat seafood, house-made pastas and desserts. A full sushi bar rounds out the room, built to stand on its own.
- Modern American
- Chesapeake & the bay
- Prime steaks
- Day-boat seafood
- House-made pastas & desserts
- Full sushi bar
Wine & spirits
An award-winning list, and a top shelf to match.
The cellar has earned the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence every year since 2019, through 2025, a list built to travel with the menu rather than sit apart from it. Alongside it runs an extensive selection of top-shelf spirits, poured for the celebration the night calls for.
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · 2019–2025
Recognition
A decade of standing out.
- Wine SpectatorAward of Excellence, every year 2019–2025
- Best of BaltimoreA city favorite on the water
- OpenTable Diner's ChoiceVoted by the guests themselves
- Restaurateur of the YearCharles Levine, nominee · 2018
The long story short
Four decades, told in five moments.
- 1980s–2016
A catering heritage
Charles Levine founds his off-premise catering company and spends four decades setting Baltimore, DC, and Northern Virginia tables.
- Nov 2016
Citron & The Cove open
A 300-seat waterfront restaurant and event venue rises on Quarry Lake, a permanent home for the standard.
- 2018
Restaurateur of the Year
One of five restaurateurs nominated by the Restaurant Association of Maryland at the Stars of the Industry Gala.
- 2019–2025
Wine Spectator, seven times
The wine program earns the Award of Excellence every single year, without a gap.
- Nov 2026
Ten years on the water
A decade of dinners, weddings, and celebrations at the lake, and counting.
Charm City, on the water
Baltimore raised us. Pimlico taught us. Quarry Lake is home.
The roots run through the old Pimlico Hotel and four decades of Maryland celebrations, Preakness weeks, blue-crab summers, and the kind of hospitality a city only trusts to its own. We are proud to be Baltimore's table.
Come see for yourself