By Megan Rose
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
It is hard to browse Charm City Table’s social media feed without getting hungry. It is even harder to leave the page without discovering something new about Baltimore’s multicultural food scene.
The food blog was recently highlighted in a snippet on The Drew Barrymore Show in September and Baltimore Magazine’s 2021 Best of Baltimore in Food and Drink in August. The blogger behind the brand is Simone Phillips, an introverted influencer still warming up to the spotlight.
Though she has tens of thousands of followers Phillips keeps a low profile, a down-to-earth food lover focused on creating quality content.
“I’ve always been one of those people that when I start things, I really want them to be of substance and have value,” she said. “I don’t want to start something that feels like half assed.”
Phillips is not a free food seeker, nor does she publish arbitrary self-promotion. Instead, she focuses on uplifting small businesses and diverse local cuisine.
“I think that’s what does help it reach so many people,” her sister, Mariah Phillips, said. “It’s because real people like real people, and everybody’s a person. A persona eventually burns out.”
Mary Miles, a public relations digital strategist, has worked with and watched Phillips flourish over the past years
“She’s not just doing it for the attention or money. She’s doing it because of this feeling of service,” Miles said. “She genuinely wants to help, and she genuinely wants to give her audience great information. And I think that word – genuine – is really the best way to describe what she does.”
The sisters, who talk to each other every day, are constantly amazed at community members who credit the blog with saving their life or making them want to move back to Baltimore.
“People say some really powerful things about her food blog being in existence,” Mariah Phillips said. “Sometimes we’re just like ‘oh my goodness, like I didn’t even know it had such a big impact on people.’”
Mia Lattrell, owner of Bakeology Baked, remembers her first real encounter with Phillips at a holiday market. She had been too busy helping other customers to notice the blogger showed up to support. It was not until later, amid a sea of notifications, that she realized her baked treats had been featured on Charm City Table.
“She literally just didn’t ask for any discounts, didn’t announce herself or anything. She just walked up and bought like four hot chocolate bombs,” she said. “Didn’t message me prior, she just made the video, and tagged me in it. And, yeah, it was pretty dope.”
Stories like this are why Phillips’ work has been so rewarding, the blogger said. They are what help her get outside of her comfort zone while operating a behemoth-level blog. Still, there has been a challenge measuring up to that presence in real life, between “being that person verses being the person that just wants to crawl under a damn rock,” she said.
Her sister never imagined her building a business centered around food. Growing up it was rare that the Phillips family ate anywhere but home.
“I didn’t eat out a lot–like, at all,” Simone Phillips said. “Like, if we did eat out it was some terrible chain restaurant.”
It wasn’t until college in Richmond, that she got a real taste of a city food scene during happy hours, special events and neighboring foodie festivals in D.C.
“I really think cheapskate-slash-foodie-lover Simone fell in love with the idea that you could get fancy shit for half off,” she said, laughing.
After graduating, she moved back to Baltimore, where she spent her post-work evenings exploring the city, scoping out food spots and highlighting the city’s vibrant menus.
“It just kind of took off from there,” Phillips said, reflecting on her successes with the 5-year-old blog.
When the pandemic hit, her platform became a crucial resource for the struggling food and beverage industry. Amid the public push to support small businesses, she created an interactive map for people to find authentic and minority-owned restaurants in the area.
“I feel like Charm City Table was most useful at that time–to be that specific voice for local restaurants,” she said. “A one-stop shop.”
At this point, if she were to let it, she would probably have one or two events a day. Between emails, meetings, content creation, research and outreach, Phillips estimates that she puts as much effort and time into her blogging as her full-time job.
“Sometimes I take breaks and just cancel them all, to be honest with you,” she said. “Sometimes I just get really tired of social media.”
Recently, her focus has been on offering exclusive tastings and events through Patreon. No matter what, it can be certain that she will give it her all.
Whether in the spotlight, or in the backlight, Simone Phillips is as real and genuine as it gets. When it comes to local food recommendations in Baltimore, Charm City Table has residents and visitors covered this time, and the next.