Holly Moore

Yes. Buy it boned.

Yes I've had a burger and shake at the Wilmington Charcoal Pit. They are classics. It's on my site. And I agree, In and Out and Steak and Shake are still great. In grad school they taught something called the Wheel of Retailing. The theory is that everything is cyclical. Someone opens a hamburger stand selling just hamburgers. The competition and the market compels them to expand their menu, add seating, fancy up their decor. Once this happens there is a gap 180 degrees away. Someone needs to open a hamburger stand that just sells hamburgers. But it's not just the fries. It's the limited menu and the cooking fresh, as close as to order as possible. McDonald's was still going strong with frozen fries. It's when they bolloxed (? sp) up their menu that they screwed up production and could no longer serve fresh, hot food.

Ya did good lad. But next time bring home some for the rest of us.

You left out Wetson's - my second summer restaurant job after washing dishes at the 5 Star Diner. I think it is the freshness of the finished product more than freshness of the ingredients that makes the difference and that has been lost. I was one of the two people running McD's conversion from fresh to frozen hamburger patties. The ones we settled on; you couldn't tell the difference. I agree on the fries - the fresh ones were better. When McDonald's started there was the 10 to the pound burger, the 4" hamburger bun, mustard, ketchup and pickle. There were four sandwiches on the menu - hamburger, cheeseburger, double hamburger and double cheese burger. All built with the same patty and the same bun. As I remember, batches of 16 at a time, as many as four batches on the grill at one time. Finished burgers were always turning over, always fresh cooked off the grill. Every time a new product was added to the menu production got a little harder to plan. The Filet o' Fish and the Big Mac were relatively easily absorbed, but still increased the complexity of the operation. The Filet o' Fish required a separate fryer, a steamer for the buns and tartar sauce. The Big Mac required a second bun, a special toaster to air toast the center portion of the bun, shredded lettuce and Big Mac Sauce. Also a collar in which to assemble the Big Mac. A grillman's life was no longer simple. Then came hot apple pies, the Quarter Pounders, a series of failed Whopper rip-offs, McNuggets, salads, the Egg McMuffin which evolved into a full breakfast line-up, McRibs and just about anything else that could be fried or grilled. What started out as a streamlined essentially single sandwich operation has evolved into a full menu restaurant trying to be all things to all people. What got lost in the process was the focus of production that kept everything fresh and hot off the grill. There are now too many different sandwiches and entrees to keep track of. Too many to anticipate production. Too many to adhere to 5 or 10 minute holding times. Then, to compound an already screwed up back of the house, Burger King made "Have It Your Way" an issue and McDonald's had to figure out a way to work customization into their operational system. Fresh and hot off the grill was/is no longer an option.

Right city, right chain, wrong Hilton. Two out of three isn't all that bad for me. The only thing that achieves a higher temperature than napalm is the filling of a McDonald's Hot Apple pie. Probably ended up being de-menued by the legal department.

It appears that you contradict yourself within the course of these three sentences. What greater commitment to fine dining than the use of 100 year old grease? !!!

In which I answer my own question. Alas: Four Way Restaurant

I really liked a place in Memphis - The Four Way Grill. Some of the best fried chicken and peach cobbler in the South. Last time through Memphis, a few years ago, it seemed they had closed. Then someone told me it is open. Anyone know, open or closed?

From here in Center City, Blue Bell is indeed the countryside. But thanks for the better info.

I'm sure someone has better info, but I read somewhere that she has a place in the countryside outside of Philadelphia. A friend also told me last week that she has also opened up a hamburger restaurant in the same area.

The official corporate answers was and maybe still is "North Atlantic White Fish." I pretty sure it was cod, but it could have been whatever landed in the nets.

A bit more McHistory. Pre Burger King "Have It Your Way," McDonald's did what they could to discourage special orders. They were grudgingly permitted but clandestinly handled. Whenever a customer asked for a "burger, no pickle," the order taker would write it down on an order form and pass it back to the grill man yelling "Grill." Logic was that other customers wouldn't know what a "grill" was so they wouldn't realize that they, too, could order burgers as they liked them. The word "special" was not in an order-taker's vocabulary for fear it would encourage mass orders for customized burgers, defeating the McDonald's production system and slowing down service. Back then, the McKnowledgable fast food eaters would always order a custom burger, guarenteeing that said burger was totally fresh, prepared with the next batch of burgers to come of the grill. I was Regional Marketing Manager for Burger King's Metropolitan NY market when "Have It Your Way" was introduced. There were literally tears of joy in a few of our eyes when the agency presented "Have It Your Way." Finally we were agressively taking on McDonald's. "Have it your waY" has to have been one of the most successful fast food, if not overall, advertising campaigns ever.

We were testing veg oil shakes as far back as the late 60's when I worked McD new products. They were wretched then. Had a slimey mouthfeel and a chemical aftertaste. Technology has improved since them, I'm sure. It would have to to make them even a bit palatable.

I've never done this, but I'm wondering if you called mid afternoon for that evening's specials, if Django would be willing to reserve your entrees along with your table. That said, I'd probably just share Herb's hope that if the menu was somewhat depleted, the chef (risk - he already may be gone for the night) might offer to cook "just for you."

As I recall from Organic Chemistry 215 (I got to take it twice), both cooking and curing denature the protien. Had I taken the course a third time, I'd probably remember what denaturing involves - something about making the flesh more edible perhaps.

I was at this place called the Upstairs Café in Philadelphia back in the early '80's. It was Friday lunch and the place was packed. The main dining room was split level, most of the tables were on the sunken level. A row of three tables were elevated, window level, running the length of the dining room and overlooking Sansom Street. Tables 1, 2 and 3. Prime tables. Seated at Table 1, two women, late 30's as I recall. One of the women could be described as "ample." All of the sudden there was a shriek. A really loud shriek as only an ample woman can make. I looked over, as did everyone else. A water bug had achieved mid outer calf and was continuing it's arduous trek up and up. (A water bug for those who don't live in urban areas is a giant, humongous cockroach like creature. Harmless, but scary and very, very ugly, at least to those of the human species.) The lady stood up and frantically brushed off the water bug. The equally frantic water bug made a run for it. Alas, escape was not in its future. An alert waiter stomped the water bug. The "squish pop" the stomped water bug presented was so loud and hung in the air for so long - it could have been drawn by a cartoonist and suspended from the ceiling. Did I mention the floor covering was a shag carpet? Not the easiest surface from which to surreptitiously remove a squashed water bug. Actually, "Upstair's Cafe" was but part of the restaurant's name. As I recall the neon in the window read something like "Holly Moore's Upstairs Café".

I'm still game to set something up for late July then. August is pretty much out for me. As to driving from NY, it's a realistic 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours if the traffic out of NYC isn't too backed up. You might consider the train. It would be easy for a local to pick you up at 30th Street on the way to Studio Kitchen which is just a few blocks from the station.

If seven other local or not so local eGulleteers are interested in putting Studio Kitchen to the test, I will be glad to set up a meal. I know they are booked somewhat in advance. And I'd prefer to do this on a weekday. If you are so interested, why not confirm here with what weekdays in May you can not make it.

Paraphrased and editorialized from this week's Nation's Restaurant News... McDonald's, as do all corporations from time to time especially when their sales suck, is going back to basics including returning to the original versions of their Big Mac and Tartar sauces. Supposedly the Big Mac sauce changed approximately 10 years ago when McD's was being beat up about cooking with animal fats (25% suet in the fry shortening) and other high cholesterol product transgressions. No info as to when the tartar sauce was changed. The sauce used in the Filet 'o Fish, when first introduced was very labor intensive and had a short shelf life. It was the colaboration between McD founder Ray Krok and the then executive chef at the Conrad Hilton hotel in Chicago. The sauce was delivered to the stores in two separate #10 Cans. One the maynoaise base, the other the pickle mix. The sauce for the day was prepared each morning. Combine the two cans and add freshly diced bermuda onion. Any sauce not used that day had to be tossed because the fresh onion overpowered the sauce after 24 hours. My suspicion is as McDonald's grew and the green eyeshade types had more influence, the decision was made to switch to a purely canned product. "Tartar sauce is tartar sauce." The other change to the Filet o' Fish is that McDonald's stopped steaming the buns and switched to toasting. In the creation of the Filet o' Fish, everyone prefered a soft, fluffy steamed bun over a toasted/caramelized bun which would have been much easier to prepare and would not have required a separate piece of equipment. The steaming also reduced the holding bin time of finished sandwiches. And the steamers were high maintenance, got clogged and broke down quite often. (There were few things less tasty than a Filet o' Fish that had been held longer than 10 minutes. I only ordered the Filet o' Fish during rush hours when I knew they were turning over fast.) Again I suspect that the bottom line folks out-voted the quality oriented types (those that were left), and got rid of the steamers and switched to a much easier to produce toasted bun.

Thanks. Now I know. I am also happy that Easter Bunnies are no longer fodder for the sacrificial altar.

It's either been too many years since my last Easter Egg Hunt, or at that point in my life I was more interested in the ends (amassing mass quantites of eggs) than the means (why eggs, why a bunny?), but does anyone know how and why Easter Eggs came to relate to Easter Bunnies?

If only we could get a decent lobster roll or whole belly fried clams in Philadelphia.

Definitely do give The Turkish Restaurant a try. Here's a link with phone and address: The Turkish Restaurant

I kind of agree with you. A hoagie roll with tuna salad, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced onion is nt really a hoagie. But a tuna hoagie the way Chickie's in South Philly builds it - hoagie roll with tuna meat, roasted Italian vegetables, aged provolone and olive oil is a hoagie. It's not a classic Italian Hoagie as described above, but it is a hoagie.

The fish camp's I've come to know and love are on the North/South Carolina border outside of Gastonia NC. They started on a river - set up a grill and cleaned and fried fish for the fisherman. Over time they evolved into vast eatting halls serving heaps of fried fish, cheap. Now there are 6 of them in a two mile radius. I mention this because I am not familiar with Mary's and I'm wondering if the place has been influenced by the Gastonia Fish Camps.