john b

After our second trip to the new DeLorenzo's on Friday (my son's b-day dinner request), we've decided that it has to be a "more than once or twice a year" destination. It is phenomenal.

No photos, but I had my first Chink's experience on Saturday (what a good weekend--DeLorenzo's on Friday and Chink's on Saturday). I now have a new favorite cheesesteak. It pretty much perfect--warm roll, crisp on the outisde and soft on the inside, really good (sliced, not chopped) meat, the perfect meat/cheese ratio (most places use too much cheese for my liking, since you can barely taste the meat). I don't do onions (it's a texture thing), but they looked and smelled really good on my buddy's steak--a nice mixture of the really brown and crispy, carmelized onions with the lesser cooked white onions. They use syrups to make cherry, vanilla and chocolate sodas (no prefab cherry Coke). Yum. I'm guessing by the looks of the place that things haven't changed much since it opened in 1949, which is a very cool thing.

Is it a hoagie if you use mayo, and not oil/vinegar? I say not--it's a sandwich on a hoagie roll.

I wish I knew the secret to their tomatoes. They are incredibly full of flavor. I really like the room, too. The various pictures on the wall of the Hudson St location are a nice touch. ← It's no secret John. They use a combination of redpack whole tomatoes and "six in one" hand ground tomatoes out of California. I've been buying six in one by the case for about ten years now at a local distributor (Bova Foods in Chalfont PA) It has a nice thick consistancy and makes for a great red sauce when combined with a good quality San Marzano.. I've been using Bova's house tomato which is La Regina DOC. I'm not sure where you live but if you're up in North Jersey, I suspect you could check the website of Escalon Packers in California to find a local distributor of six in one. I've posted about these tomatoes previously on this board and the story of how Gary once showed me exactly what he does to create this perfect tomato pie. By the way he uses Maggio (commercial size) cheese and Pilsbury's bakers best flour. So there you have it now go find these tomatoes! ← Plain old Redpack?? Chalfont is probably an hour away (I'm just over the Tacony bridge). It looks like you can buy the 6 in 1 right on Escalon's website for $3.33/can (28 oz. can). We've been using the Nina San Marzano's from Costco for our pasta sauce. I'm thinking that the Nina's plus the 6 in 1's (what ratio do you use??) would work.

I missed you by a day. We finally made it there yesterday, in the midst of the storm, and it was definitely worth the drive and getting wet. Table for 3 was a 20-30 minute wait at 5 PM. My boys and I shared a large tomato pie. My oldest proclaimed it to be the best thing he's ever eaten, so now we're headed back in a few weeks for his birthday. I wish I knew the secret to their tomatoes. They are incredibly full of flavor. I really like the room, too. The various pictures on the wall of the Hudson St location are a nice touch.

Someone needs to invent a container or process which, once a take out pizza is boxed, would allow steam to escape yet still keep the pizza hot. I'm sure it's possible, but probably not economically practical.

Which SEPTA line will get me there?

My backyard is my favorite. Sweet Lucy's when I don't have the time to make BBQ at home.

Grey Lodge Pub. I get 'em almost every time.

One of the better brew pub meals I remember was a wurst platter--three or four different types, with a side of homemade kraut, mustard and a pretzel. No rolls for the wurst, but knife/fork was an option. I'm good with the idea of no rolls, but from a "give the customer what they want" perspective, consider keeping a stash of rolls on hand to take care of requests. What can you tell us about the beer?

Flying Fish California Grill Jiko Artist Point

I've heard that Little Thai Kitchen in Marlton is good, too. I've been to the place near the Acme in Voorhees and can't recall its name, either, but the food was really good. Unless I'm confusing it with another Thai place in the area, the last time I ate there, the owner was telling us about her family's fish sauce business (and all of the gory details of the process ) back in Thailand.

I've always been pleased with the quality of their meats (though I'm not quite sure that they're actually selling prime beef), but there's really nothing to compare them with. There aren't many butcher shops in the area. Ralph's, in Moorestown, is another good one. They're primarily a deli, but with a little butcher shop in the back.

You might be thinking of Arnold's Prime Meats. He has two locations, Rt. 38 in Cherry Hill and Rt. 561 in Cherry Hill (in the Centrum Shops, across from Winner Ford). His restaurant, now closed, was in Voorhees.

Pacific Grill is gone. http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs...420/1004/living Ditto on the Dolce Crema suggestion. If the OP is into the steakhouse thing, The Chop House, in Voorhees, is pretty popular. I'm pretty sure that their wine list would meet the "not entirely populated by $10 supermarket wines" criteria.

Here's one I found on a BBQ newsgroup a few years ago. I've never made it, but it got lots of good reviews from those who did. Chef Juke's Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce NOTE: This is a slight variation on the classic Kansas City Barbecue sauce from the KC Barbecue Association, for those who like their BBQ Hot & Smoky! 6 Tbls. packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup molasses ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbls dark rum 2 Tbls yellow mustard 1 Tbls pure chili powder 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 2 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. ground allspice 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/4 cup Chipotles en Adobo 2 cups ketchup 2 cups Raspberry Preserves (I use Wall's Raspberry preserves from Costco) Kosher or sea salt Pepper In large saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, molasses, honey, Worcestershire, rum, mustard, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, allspice and cloves. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, until all ingredients are dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat slightly, add raspberry jam and 1/4 cup chipotles** and gently simmer sauce, uncovered, until dark & thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often. Use right away or transfer to jars, cover, cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Sauce will keep several months. Makes 5 cups or 20 servings. **Add the chipotle peppers to taste. Since simmering will bring out the heat in the peppers start by adding ¼ cup of chipotles and cook for the 30 minutes THEN taste again and add additional peppers if you like it REALLY HOT.

That's what I thought.

I'm liking the "coming soon" locations in Cherry Hill. Have you tried Maruca's?

Are there any real water ice places in the Cherry Hill/Haddonfield/Moorestown area? Real, as in no artificially flavored syrups (i.e. the ubiquitous Rita's).

Ditto on Voltaco's. We have their # in our cell phone, and call when we get close to OC, then pick up our hoagies so we have them for lunch later on.

As far as the more upscale Disney restaurants go, we've had our best meals at Flying Fish, at the Boardwalk. The menu is dominated by seafood, usually with a steak and maybe a veal or chicken entree', too. Here's a recent menu: http://allearsnet.com/menu/menu_ff.htm

You can't leave us hanging like this...

From todays Table Talk: The opening of Fuji (116 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield 856-354-8200) has been pushed back to April 24.

I didn't make it over to Fuji's new location today (couldn't pass up a free lunch at Siri's ), but I did hear that there was a fire in one of the stores in the mall where Fuji is supposed to be opening, which closed a few places down (I don't know for how long). I don't know if this will have any effect on the new Fuji spot.

I'm going to try to do some "recon" on Friday, since the new location is dangerously close to work. Having it close to home (its original location) was better, but it'll be very convenient for lunch now.