reggie_212

I'm going on a date with a great woman who unfortunately for the next week has a restricted diet. She can't eat dairy, can't have salt, and can't have soy products. I have no clue where to take her. Does anyone have any decent suggestions for restaurants where there would be dishes conforming to her diet? Thanks in advance.

Starting with the basics...Bayside Milk Farm on 35th Ave and Bell is probabaly the best option for cold cuts, bread, and prepared foods. It's a bit pricey but their turnover is quite high and it's pretty good. As for pizza, I am partial to Jack's down in Bay Terrace. HOWEVER, I suggest you don't order pies fresh as for whatever reason, the pizza by the slice is much better. Maybe it's like wine and gets better with age. The best gyro is at gyro corner on Francis Lewis and 33rd or 34th.

With all due respect....is it possible that for someone named "Fat Guy" the imposition of a couple of blocks might not if anything be a benefit?!?!?

SIGH....Since I've moved here from NY I’m loathe to recommend it but I think your requirements are filled by the Berkshires of Massachusetts. If performance arts are something you're looking for, the Boston Symphony has their summer home here in Lenox (www.tanglewood.org) and there are several other performance ensembles (Jacob's Pillow). There are also some surprisingly some excellent museums in the area (Mass MoCA, Clark Institute, the Norman Rockwell Museum). Besides the cultural attractions, the Berkshires are made up of several charming, quaint New England towns with Main Street charm. Stockbridge, Great Barrington, Salisbury, CT all would be nice to visit. In terms of dining there are several options including decent sushi (Bizen), American bistro (Pearl's), and an okay steakhouse (the Dakota). It's only a two hour and 10 minute drive from the city as well if you don't leave prime time.

OOPS, forgot to add one interesting thing. Could someone confirm for me whether or not there are open container laws in Philadelphia? On New Years day there was a clown parade and it seemed like Bourbon St or the Las Vegas Strip, the only two other places I know of where open alcohol is permissable. Is it that there are public alcohol laws and the city just turns their head for this particular event or are there no laws to speak of.

Just to share some of the food experiences from my weekend in Philadelphia, I took the advice provided and headed over to the Reading Terminal Market on Friday around noon. It was a chilly but sunny day so the walk over from Rittenhouse Square down Walnut was actually enjoyable. When we arrived the place was packed with it seemed both locals and tourists alike. Whoever said we in New York have nothing like it was exactly right. How jealous I am such a market exists in a city not my own! After walking around a bit my girlfriend and I decided on Tony Dinic’s (sp?) for both a roast beef and roast pork sandwich. When you’re waiting on the line you can see them scoop out the simmering slices of meat onto the bread and I have to admit, it didn’t seem too appealing when they were prepared. While they were better tasting than I would have thought given the preparation (and I preferred the roast pork to the roast beef), I thought it was a decent hero but nothing to go out of my way for. The meat was a bit on the gummy side and the roast beef didn’t have any distinct flavor. Maybe because I enjoy typical Italian deli rare roast beef thinly sliced, but the “braised” roast beef there wasn’t very flavorful. We picked up some shellfish from the seafood vendor right next to Dinic’s (the shrimp turned out fabulous) and some produce from Iovine’s (sp?). I would have liked to have tried the seafood frying stall on the south-west corner of the building but seating there was limited. Seating was also a tough deal everywhere it seemed and if possible, additional seating areas would greatly enhance the market. On Sat, we went over to DiBruno’s and I thought it was a pretty nice place. One quick note, On 18th Street I believe, we passed by this boarded up store that had a DiBruno sign and I thought I had been had by some clever egulleters who were trying to play a prank on the New Yorker! But it turns out they had moved around the corner. As advertised, they had a fantastic cheese counter and their salumeria and prepared food counters rival anything I’ve ever seen. One slight criticism though, It was hard figuring out which line was for what being how crowded the market was. So I got stuck behind this one guy and other people began cutting me. Add into this the salumeria guys really do…let’s just say: “take their time.” I understand the pace of life I’m used to is much quicker in NY but with a store full of people, you would think they could put the pedal to the metal. Would it hurt to put a number counter up either?!??!! Also, by the time we got there on Saturday they had run out of bread so that was annoying. I guess on New Year's eve you can't expect exceptional service or quality, so this might be an outlier observation. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend and all the suggestions came in quite handy. Thanks!

Thank you all for the wonderful tips and suggestions. They are much appreciated. The reception here is much better than what I would have expected given my previous experience with Philadelphians, but then again that is just from attending Flyers-Rangers games at the formerly appropriately named F-U arena. It is especially difficult shopping for the right ingredients if you're either new to an area or just visiting. I have noticed though a proliferation of "gourmet" type shops opening up in several cities. When I was in grad school in Chicago, Fox & Obel (http://www.fox-obel.com) had just started. Not that it's really gourmet, but a manifestation of this is Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Who would have shopped at these places ten years ago!?!?!??!

Menton1, Thanks for the tip. I will definitely check it out during my visit. I was hoping though for a broader selection such as a butcher and seafood counter.

I'm spending New Year's with my girlfriend at her apartment by Rittenhouse Square and never having spent much time in Philly, would anyone have any suggestions for a gourmet market in the area? We're planning to stay in and cook and I'm used to having a Zabar's type store around me.

The best way to stay sober is to drink when one of the guests is a minority. I swear you would think he was filming in Nebraska with all the white people he's entertaining.

I'm originally from Queens and grew up with a White Castle a mere 4 blocks from my boyhood home. Fast forward a decade later and I found myself in Chicago with a White Castle within close proximity. If someone else can verify this for me, why do the White Castles here in NY put ketchup on the burgers but the Chicago White Castles don't? Or is my memory flawed? Also, a girl I dated recently was a big fan of the chicken rings.....Could someone tell me what part of the chicken might I find "the ring" from?

I agree with everything FG had to say....But if you're an avid purchaser of generic brands and prefer cost savings, I doubt Citarella and its ilk would be suitable substititutes. That's like inquiring about the kinds of undewear Jack's 99 cent store sell, and then reccomending a trip to Bergdorf's....

Glogg, with the umlaut above the "o" is a traditional holiday drink that is typically only served in the several parties leading up to Christmas. I've visited Sweden several times (what can I say, I have a thing for hot blonde women ) and have never had it in any other month than December, from St. Lucia day and on. You would never find it off-season in a restaurant in Sweden. Basically, it's red wine that's simmered with cloves, cinammon, and a few other spices.

No one's mentioned this yet but how has that oil spill affected both the region and the seafood?? It's been about a year and a half since the tanker sank and I'm wondering whether this has had any adverse effects that I, as a tourist, would experience. The most palpable issue I think would be price increases in seafood but I haven't noticed a marked increase in other Spanish cities like Barcelona or Madrid.

Well, this might sound kind of pedestrian. But I've had some excellent comfort food at the Georgia Diner on Queens Blvd in Elmhurst. It fulfills the under $30 requirement. Plus, in my mind I think it may be the best diner I've ever been to. Even after discovering this particular diner, a girl I was dating and I were driving past the Georgia Diner, and she points at it and says: "My parents come all the way from Manhasset to eat here." Of course, I understood why.