Holly Moore

FG, you say milk shakes aren't the strength of NY Milkshake Co. Do they do anything special with their shakes to live up to their name? Any reason to buy a shake there?

Craig Claiborne, Jack McDavid (though I have to call him as no one has been able to do a cookbook with him), and Camille Glenn in "The Heritage of Southern Cooking." I second both John Taylor and Edna Lewis. Not all that big a fan of Natilie Dupree. I also second the women groups' cookbooks. Can't pass them up.

Wow, Fat Guy. Donuts, milkshakes, corn dogs, chili dogs, all manner of dogs in fact, and wafer fries all in one day and I'm guessing before dinner. Well done. No worry about achieving your MDR of nitrates and cholesterol today.

My answer to the question of what should be banned is corporate family oriented chains such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden - not only for setting culinary mediocrity as the norm for non-urban America - but for Walmarting many of the small family, locallly owned restaurants our of existance. However I take exception to one of the items on your list. Cheez Whiz: Normally yes, but it is an essential ingredient of a Cheese Steak. There's something about pairing the grease from the steak and the fried onions with the chemicals from the Whiz that approachs gourmand nirvanna.

Go where no gastronome has gone before. Pick a direction, get off the interstates and parkways as soon as possible and make it a point to return by a different route than you departed on. Drive through the small towns, stop at the farm stands, roadside eateries and anything else of gastronimical interest, follow alluring road signs, and, most importantly, report back to eGullet with your discoveries.

As Jim said. There wasn't much difference in texture, in fact the pear was firmer than I had expected it would be. Think it could have used another 15-30 minutes of smoking. But the smoked flavor was all through the meat (pulp?) of the pear, but it enhanced and did not overpower the pear/s flavor.

The recipes were Raichlen's, the cooking Jack's. To date, Bobby Flay and Jim Coleman (and maybe one other) are the only Cook Book authors Jack has allowed to work his kitchen. Welcome to eGullut Jim. Jim has authored a couple of excellent resource cookbooks, "Sorbets!" about sorbets and "Marinades" about marinades.

My suspicion is that Le Bec-Fin does not have a faxable version of their wine list; that the person answering the phone was not assuming that, being a women, you would find the wine list too expensive to order from. She did the right thing in putting the sommelier on the phone with you. Can't ask for better service than discussing the wine selection directly with the sommelier. I'm surprised at the sommelier's response. Did he end up suggesting other champagnes? I'm not doubting you. Rather I suspect some form of miscommunication. This just doesn't sound like Le Bec-Fin.

Yo Joy- Tony Lukes rocks. Great grease. Some of the best grease in Philly. I want to eat my way through the whole menu, but always end up with a variation on the pork sandwich - usually with greens and aged provolone. My only complaint - Tony Luke's keeps track of orders by first name - yells your name when your order is ready. Tony Luke's is deep in South Philly, way deep. Most of the orders are from guys named Vito, Frank, Gino and such. I'm a guy named Holly. I can usually deal with being a "Boy Named Sue." But at Tony Luke's - lest, upon learning that I'm a "Holly," the Vito's and Franks ridicule and bully me and steal my hat and toss back and forth, out of my reach - I lie and tell the counter person my name is Joe or Ant-ny.

Center City Philadelphia may be the most walkable city in the U.S. Consequently cabs are readily available only when one doesn't need them. The Ritz Carlton, at Broad and Sansom, is in the midst of everything, a city hotel. Beautiful lobby, used to be the principle banking office of a major bank. Easy strolls to the Walnut Street Restaurants, the performing arts, Reading Terminal Market, Rittenhouse Square, and the Can Do Copy Center. Hearty walks to South Street and the Historical area. The Ritz Carlton also boasts a Baths Butler and something like a chocolate sommelier. If you anticipate requiring a bubble bath with choice of scents or a cup of cocoa assembled to your specifications, the Ritz Carlton is your best bet. The Four Seasons is on the northern edge of Center City amid a park-like setting. A pleasant walk to the Parkway museums. Everything else is pretty much a hike or a cab ride. Their priniple restaurant, the Fountain, though no longer under Chef Lacroix's stewardship, is still highly regarded. I particularly enjoy breakfast in the Fountain room. Closest I've come to a perfect hotel breakfast. Sunday breakfast is extra fun, watching the chefs assemble Sunday Brunch. If you are of the Sunday Brunch ilk, the Four Seasons version is the one to seek out. If the hotel is the thing I'd choose the Four Seasons. If convenience is king, the Ritz Carlton. One other hotel should be in the mix. The Rittenhouse, a five diamond hotel, is directly on Rittenhouse Square, as walkable a location as the Ritz, and now home for Chef Lacroix. The Rittenhouse Hotel might be my first choice.

Dining or sleeping?

More so than in previous years, this is going to be the year of the Barbecue for Jack McDavid of Jack's Firehouse. He's helping to organize the Liberty Bell Barbecue Festival. Jack bought himself a big ol' new cooker and he's planning on making the rounds to a bunch of BBQ festivals and contests. And last Thursday he hosted BBQ Cook Book author Steven Raichlen for the Book and the Cook. For those not familiar with The Book and The Cook - over a couple of weeks every March the City of Philadelphia pairs cookbook authors with restaurants. Depending on the author's skill as a chef, he takes over the kitchen, works with the hosting chef, or works the dining room. The menu was all barbecue. Started with "Kansas City Sweet and Smokey Ribs." Jack gets his ribs from New York City. "I take what the Chinese restaurants don't want." Jack gets the best part of the rib. Had to be the meatiest ribs I've ever gnawed. The meat was fall off the bone tender, the sauce, as promised slightly sweet, slightly smokey and lightly applied keeping the focus on the meat. Next course - Sichuan Spiced Loin Lamb Chops with Chili Mint Jelly. Baby chops, cut thick, cooked medium rare. The Sichuan spices were a dry rub. Chili and mint work play quite well together and were a great compliment to the lamb chops. The main course - Mojo Marinated Pork Tenderloin - mojo in this case being orange juice, lime juice, garlic and some other stuff Jack didn't mention. The pork tenderloin was done medium/medium rare and served atop a grilled onion. The Mojo marinade mixed quite nicely with the pork juices. Dessert - Smoke Roasted Pears. Just that, filled with a cross between apple crisp topping and pumpkin pie seasoning. Smoking is a very good thing to do to a pear. In the cup along side, Chipotle Creme Brulee

A couple of other differences between Mamsters and mine that I didn't pick up the first time. I too use basic cabbage as opposed to Savoy. I use whole sausages (smallish links) which I brown in the oven while the potatoes are boiling.

A long time Moore winter staple with this variation. Three layers. The third is sliced, just boiled potatoes. Cabbage, sausage potato, salt and lots or ground pepper. Repeat. And repeat again. I use a big caserole dish. Leftovers are even better than first time out of the oven.

Greetings and welcome to eGullet. Jack serves his pulled pork sandwich at the Down Home Diner too. Calls it the Poor Man's Special. Think, there, $7 gets you the sandwich and a bowl of hog jowl soup.

The First Annual Liberty Bell BBQ Contest will run June 20 and 21st at Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium. The event includes the PA State BBQ Championship (the winner goes to Kansas City for the American Royal Barbecue Invitational), the American Waterworks BBQ Challenge for local chefs and amateurs and the "Iron Chef" (contestants all recieve the same tray of ingredients to prepare). On May 10, Paul Kirk (the Baron of BBQ) and Philadelphia's Jack McDavid (Food Network Grillin' and Chillin' and chef owner of Jack's Firehouse and the Down Home Diner) will conduct Baron's School of Pitmasters. Fee is $195. For full details, go to the Liberty Bell BBQ Contest Website

Back in 1995 I had the chance to spend a day with the guy who was buying fish for the Striped Bass. Here's the resulting column. "Fuckin' fresh," proclaims a Striped Bass kitchen worker as we lift a shimmering swordfish, still dripping blood, from it's bed of crushed iced. "Top of the trip," Tony McCarthy proudly boasts. Tony's been around fish since 1978 when his high school principal allowed him to graduate two weeks early so he could help his father open a fish market. Seven months ago, Neil Stein, co-owner of the Striped Bass, saw Tony cutting fish at Hopkin's Seafood wholesalers. Liked his work so much he offered Tony a full time job buying and butchering fish for the Striped Bass. Tony, who's been hanging out on the docks "forever," has the rare privilege of selecting the Striped Bass's fish as they come off the boats. This cuts out the middle man, the fish distributor. A few complained so Tony set up his own wholesale company. Only two customers so far. Tony handles all the fish for the Striped Bass and air freights softies (soft shell crabs) to Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe. He about ready to take on a few more restaurants. "Top of the trip" is fisherman lingo for "fuckin' fresh." Fishing boats set out to sea for two weeks at a time. Their catch is stored in a refrigerated hold. Fish caught early in the journey wind up at the bottom of the hold. During the trip, the hold fills up. The last fish caught, the freshest fish, end up on top - the top of the trip. Tony and I spent the morning at the Viking Village dock at Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island selecting the fish that would be featured on that evening's Striped Bass dinner menu. A couple of "long-liners," the Provider and the Marion Frances, had docked the night before and were unloading their catch, mostly tuna, along with a few swordfish and mahi-mahis. "Long-liner" refers to the single 30 mile long fishing line with 1,200 hooks that the boat sets each evening. The line, baited with squid, drifts overnight. The next day they haul it in - typically catching only 30 to 40 fish, sometimes less. Come evening they repeat the process, and keep doing so until they run out of either bait or fuel. Smaller boats like the Provider and the Marion Frances will head home with, maybe, 10,000 pounds of fish. "It's a democratic process," Marion Frances skipper and long liner Mike Schaub observes. "It's up to the fish whether or not they bite the hook." Today's catch is mainly tuna. Mostly small yellow fins that weigh in between 30 and 70 pounds. The Provider also landed a good number of big eye tuna (100 to 125 lbs.). Tony says big eyes make the best eating. There is also one and only one blue fin tuna. Blue fins start at 300 pounds and can weigh in much heavier. Yellow fins, as their name suggests, have yellow tips at the top of their fins. Then again, so do big eyes and blue fins. Go figure. Conservation laws limit fishing boats to one blue fin tuna a voyage. Any others accidently hooked, dead or alive, are thrown back - crab bait. Commercial fishermen pretty much agree that it's a stupid regulation. The fishermen are pushing to allow any additional blue fins caught to be hauled in and donated to Second Harvest, a nationwide food bank that feeds the homeless. Makes sense to me. The yellow fin tuna are unloaded first. One crew member, down in the hold, passes a fish up, through the fish hole, to a guy above deck. He rolls it on a conveyor off the ship and onto a scale. There, a fish grader whacks the tail off each tuna, checking it for fat content, freshness and color. Saul Phillips who pretty much developed the premium tuna export trade to Japan, grades a good portion of the fish that comes through Barnegat Light. Later in the morning Dave Henderson, aka Big Bird, takes over. I figure Saul got tired of all my questions. If a tuna is over 50 lbs, Saul also takes a thin hollow tube and sticks it through the gill, into the upper body. He pulls out a small core of flesh which he examines closely, looking to see if the meat is red and clear - the more red and clear the better. He's also checking the blood line that runs through the sample. It should be a bright red, not black. Fish by fish, Saul calls out the weight and, if over 50 pounds, a grade - "one" is considered sushimi quality, "two" just as good, but better suited for grilling. Inferior tuna is graded "chocolate" because of it's brown color. "Chocolates" died on the fishing line and partially cooked in the ocean water before they were hauled on board. Saul's always looking for export quality tuna - superior, fatty tuna that are destined for an evening flight to Tokyo where they are individually auctioned in one of Japan's twenty wholesale fish markets. Of the 180 tuna on the Provider, Saul only selected three for export. From the remainder, Tony found just two big eyes worthy of the Striped Bass. There were a lot more ones and twos which will end up at the regional wholesalers. Next off, after the yellow fins, is the single blue fin - a whopper that weighs in at 493 pounds. All of a sudden Saul is the center of attention. Everyone stops talking, gathering around as he grades the blue fin. If export quality, that one fish will bring $20,000 to $30,000 dollars. Saul hacks off the tail and examines it. Slices off a little more for a second look. He pulls a core sample. "Two." Not export quality, but it still will command a good price. "Big steaks." "Money fish." Chris Einselen's ears perk up whenever Saul pronounces a fish export quality. Chris, owner of the Provider, has already turned a large bucket upside down and haas placed a hacked-up piece of plywood on top - a cutting board. Saul hands him the tail from an export tuna. There's still good meat to be had. Chris cuts a thin slice of tuna from the tail, dips it in a sauce of wasabi (sharper than horseradish) and soy sauce that he carries in a yellow cup, and offers it around. Same premium sushi that's sold in expensive Japanese restaurants except it's three days fresher than when it will be served in Japan - and the price is right. When Tony gets back to the Striped Bass his day is only half over. He's already stopped at a couple of Philadelphia seafood wholesalers to pick up soft shell crabs, a bag mussels and jumbo lump crab meat. Now he has to butcher all the fish that will be served for dinner. Striped Bass sous chef John Anderson checks in Tony's fish. He opens every container of lump crab, smells it for freshness. Inspects each layer of softies by running his hand over their stomachs. If they're ticklish they're alive. If they don't move, they won't be served. He even pulls his own core samples from the two big eye tuna that Tony had selected. I leave Tony as he's filleting a big eye tuna. Tont carries his own knife. Sharpens it on a stone before butchering the fish. Cuts off the skin; then trims and quarters the fish. Slices each quarter into fillets - 11 steaks per quarter, only 44 steaks to a 65 pound tuna. What the Striped Bass considers to be scraps are used for tuna tartar, seafood dumplings and staff meals. Tony does the filleting in the Striped Bass's small, crowded prep room where four or five cooks are busy cleaning vegetables, whipping up cold sauces. One cook stops and carefully takes in Tony's knife work. "That's why I work here. Just to see Tony butcher a fish."

Scotch Old Fashioned? Oh Holly, say it ain't so. Tis so. Give it a try. Hmmmm. Time to venture further; dare I suggest a scotch and tonic, a scoth bloody mary, a scotch manhattan? Nah, I'll just have a Rob Roy.

Actually I thought that was one of the more humorous and to the point posts on eGullet today. It's refreshing to see an opinion so effectively communicated in three words as opposed to 30 paragraphs. Plus Fat Guy's from New York City. That's the way New Yorkers talk, at least in the movies.

Yes. You can get to Philadelphia by Amtrak. It's risky, of course, as is any adventure o'er the Hudson and into the wilds of provencial America. Many New Yorkers prefer to take a cab, clinging to a bit of the old sod as they set out into the unknown. The Mutter Museum is in Center City (Philadelphian for Mid Town) just south on 19th from Market. The train depot (we Philadelphians, aspiring to New York City scale, presume to call it a train station) is at the end of Market Street, across the Schuykill River from Center City Philadelphia. You'll be glad to know we have cabs here, too, and some can be found at the train station/depot.

Long ago I used to hit the Top of the Sixes whenever I was in New York. The first visit was during the hotel school senior trip. We were introduced to the Wheeler Special Old Fashioned (at least I think it was the Wheeler Special, named for the manager at the time). What made it special, Scotch instead of Rye or Bourbon. Was quite good... I still order a scotch old fashioned on occasion. BTW, is there still a Top of the Sixes? Still owned by Stouffers? If so, any good? Edit: I went in to change "Old Fashioned" to "Old Fashion. Then I saw the topic heading. Is it an Old Fashioned or an Old Fashion? Any idea the origin of the name?

Tommy wonderred: Of course we work. But we also have our priorities in order.

Section 29 looks like great seats to me.

Piker!!!

Wow. Tommy Does Philly. Welcome. Where to stay: Best location/quality mix is the Ritz Carlton on Broad Street by City Hall or the Rittenhouse Hotel on Rittenhouse Square. A bit away from things, but perhaps the best, the Four Seasons on the Parkway. Breakfast: Four Seasons again for as good a hotel breakfast as I've found anywhere in the U.S. Jack McDavid's Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market. Authentic down home except for the red eye gravy which is Yankee-fied. Carman's Country Kitchen in South Philly, 11th and Wharton - A must eat!!! Lunch: True South Philly - Shank's and Evelyn's where one elbows their way through the market workers for a pork sandwich or cheese steak with greens. The aforementioned Monk's - Sorta Belgian. Mussels and Frits, great burgers, incredible selection of Belgian Beers. Cheese steaks - Pat's and Gino's are across from each other at 9th and Passyunk. Get one from each (Order a "wiz, with") and join the dialogue on whose is the best. Dinner: Pork Jowl Dittos on Jack's. Others will give you all the in restaurants. A couple of other places you might want to consider: Tequilla's on Locust just west of 16th. As good a Mexican dinner as you'll find this side of the Rio Grande. Regional Mexican - meaning way, way beyond border fare. Great Decor. La Familia for Italian. Haven't been there for a while but still hear it's one of Philadelphia's finest. Timing: Not sure how soon you'll be coming to town, but Philadelphia's Book and the Cook runs from March 14 - 23. Top cookbook authors are paired with Philadelphia restaurant. Can be a lot of fun on those occasions when the author gets very involved in the meal. Here's a link with the schedule: The Book and The Cook Free Time: Reading Terminal Market. Go between Thursday and Saturday when the Amish portion is open. Must tries: Pretzels from Fishers, Ice Cream from Bassetts, Tony DiNics pork sandwich with greens and aged provolone, a couple of Famous Deli Chocolate Chip Cookies, some bread or other baked goods from Metropolitan. The Italian Market: Saturday morning is the best. It's pretty much closed on Monday. A lot of disappointing produce - priced cheap, but not cheap enough. Good stops: Sonny D'Angelo's for all manner of game from all continents and for his specialty sausages; Fante's, a great cookware store; Claudio's and DiBruno's for Italian meats, cheeses, oils and such; and George's for a genuine Philadelphia style tripe sandwich. Eat well. Let me know if you need a tour guide.