Holly Moore

I'm hoping I'll find some Italian or French bread that comes in a paper bag. It won't be Sarcone's South Philly bread, but it won't be all that bad. As to sausage - generally I can find a local brand of summer sausage or Thuringer. When all else fails it's to the cold cuts case and Oscar Mayer Cotto Salami or, per chance, some Lebanon Bologna. I'm of the opinion that it's getting easier to find decent food in the less than urban supermarkets nowadays. People are living longer and retiring, moving from the cities, bringing their tastes with them.

Kinda kidding about the editor thing, Jason. I know it is wrong. I know it is unfair. I know it is detrimental to my writing aspirations. But I am driven. I can not help taking a poke at editors whenever inspiration and opportunity present themselves.

I've found that editors, while often an impediment to the writing process, do serve one useful function - that of a reasonably intelligent spell checker where none other is available. Perhaps there should be an eGullet editor, with no power to rewrite (devistate) opening paragraphs or anything else, and only able to correct spelling errors. So much for my freelancing efforts.

Might as well confess here. Once or twice a year I have a craving, probably paternal, for a Big Mac. I buy one, I eat it, I regret it. Not sure what's different but the 1969 ones were a lot better. Also, on occassion I stop at Popeyes or KFC. I buy a couple of thighs and a couple of biscuits. I like to make sandwiches of the crusty skin in the biscuits with just a bit of the thigh meat. I do this usually on 700 mile days when I'm burning pavement and don't want to take the time to scout out real food. Also I don't avoid all national chains. There are some that seem to care about flavor or allow their people to add their own personality to the place. I am speaking about chains like the Waffle House, Steak and Shake, White Castle, Krispy Kreme and the Palm. There are also a number of good, local chains with four or five restaurants. The chains I object to are the ones that bland out their food and/or make their people come across as autotrons. I also object to the forced cheerfulness some chains force their employes to petrate on customers My overall objection to all chains is that they have Wall-Marted many of the good local restaurants out of existence.

I've driven through most of the country and am fortunate to report that I've never found myself in such dire straits as to be forced to assemble a "pick-of-the menu" dinner from fast food row. To me that's like putting together a baseball all star team from Pittsburg and Tampa Bay. Cursed with such a quandry, I'd find the nearest supermarket and assemble a loaf of pseudo italian bread, Cracker Barrel aged cheddar, some sort of sausage and then seek out a bottle of red wine. Or I'd keep driving. There's always a decent diner or truck stop or buffet or local eatery within the next 500 miles.

It's Hot Dog Johnny's. Was there last week. Good, but no Rutt's Hut or Syd's. Beautiful setting though. Very green, very shady. I grew up further east on Route 46 and remember stopping at Hot Dog Johnny's en route to and from college. The pre-Water Gap stretch of Rte 46 was always the favorite part of the drive. Interstate 80 was just happening then. Because Rte 80 cuts straight across to the gap, rather than dipping down and following Rte 46, I think it has kept that portion of Rte 46 pretty much the same as how I remember it some 30 years ago. We also stopped a bit further up at King Cole. Another nice setting, but the dog was two hours stale. It was about 4PM though. Anyone else know the place and if it's worth a second visit at a busier time of day? (Edited by Holly Moore at 10:07 am on Sep. 3, 2001)

Every time I think I've eaten my last North Jersey dog people keep coming up with more and more places. I'm really getting tired of the three hour drive for lunch.

Alas I don't know of or remember any of them. I'm a rather recent arrival to Philadelphia - 1977 I believe - so don't know much about things before that time. If anyone knows if any of the places Sandra mentioned are still up and running let me know and I will immediately log out and head their way.

Greetings Doug, Where else did you eat and how were those spots. As I recall you put a great deal of research into you trip to Philadelphia, both here and on other forums.

At a place called the Blueberry Ranch, way north along the Maine coast in Machais, I had a unique clam chowder that I hadn't seen before. It was close to an oyster stew approach. Whole clams were sauted in butter and added to a milk base seasoned with clam broth. Some pieces of boiled potato were thrown in, making it a chowder. Not a traditional New England Clam chowder, but very, very good.

Super Duper Wienies are very good, but I thought mine was gunked up too much. I went for the New Yorker and found it too heavily garnished and too much bun. So far my favorite Connecticut dog is from Rawleys, also in Fairfield. I liked the dog. I liked the ugly presentation. I liked the crusty guy behind the grill. I even liked the 20 minute wait cause I got to watch the crusty guy be crusty. Rawley's dog is gunked up a lot too, but it's a more haphazzard garnishing that adds character. All that said, I haven't found any Connecticut dogs that measure up to Syds, Rutt Hutt or the other great North Jersey Dog Houses.

I wish I had listened better or at least remembered more from my college food chemistry classes. My little bit of recall says that potato use is dictated by specific gravity - hi and low. Low specific gravity potatoes, and I believe red bliss is low, are best for boiling and pan frying. High specific gravity potatoes, such as Idaho russets are best for baking, french fries and potato chips. In a perfect world an "Idaho Baker" would be an Idaho russet. But in today's supermarket, I'm assuming that Bakers are not russets but some off-breed that the all-powerful Idaho Potato Council will not permit to be called russets. I worked corporately in new products for McD's back when they shifted from fresh to frozen fries. Simplot was the frozen potato supplier who developed the McDonald's frozen fry. They went to point of replicating the McDonald's blanching process of blanching the potatoes in 25% lard shortening prior to flash freezing. It took a year of testing and refining, but the result was a frozen shoe string potato that McD heavy users couldn't tell from fresh. My guess is that Katherine is correct and that boiling in water, which can not get higher than 212 degrees, can not pull the moisture out of the fry. It is probably also not hot enough to start the crust that forms on a shortening blanched potato. I'd be willing to bet that a twice fried potato has less shortening absorbtion than a once boiled once fried potato and is in fact a "liter" potato.

Sorry we didn't meet, but I'm not there as often as it might appear. I am usually there first thing in the morning - a mere customer at the table by the kitchen. I'm also a guy and am currently between assistants. If "my assistant's" name was "Carman" you did fine. It's her place. You might have met SaraLee. She's usually the server on Friday. Also an incredibly talented artist. Sorry about the sour milk and surprised there was no apology. I'm sure Carman would have taken care of it if she knew. As to the price - tain't cheap. But everything is fresh from scratch, best ingredients and since the place seats about 18 jam packed she's not going to cover expenses on volume. Glad the overall impression was favorable. Pancakes are good. So's the omelette. And the other specials. They change every Saturday and run through til Friday.

Blanching is more commonly used for water blanching, but I am referring to blanching in oil. The goal is a limp fry that is still white. This cooks the fry through. The finish frying at a hot temperature crisps the skin and makes the fry golden. I do things the easy way when I can and for me a basket is easier. So I use a basket. Also means I can drain the fries all at once. Re straining shortening. Try straining through either a coffee filter or a paper towel. Two ways to tell if the shortening is shot and can't be re-used. Taste - it's rancid. Or smoking. It shouldn't smoke at 375 degress.

I have been trying to make a great home french fry for quite a while and am getting close. I started off with three purchases - a home appliance deep fat fryer, a deep fat thermometer and a potato cutter that makes 1/4" fries. The fryer ended up on the curb the next trash day. Very, very slow recovery time (the time it takes the oil to come back to cooking temperature after the items to be cooked are placed in them). I kept the last two items - both are essential. I now fry the potatoes on my gas range using the thermometer to zero in on the proper temps. As Yvonne stated a two step process is the best. Fry the potatoes at a low temperature (275 degrees) for 4-7 minutes. Ths is the blanching process. You want them to turn soft and limp without browning. Drain them and let them cool/settle for at least an hour. Then finish fry them. 1 - 2 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown. Serve immediately. It is better to cook a few fries at a time (1-2 servings). More than that and the oil won't recover its temperature fast enough. As to potatoes, Idaho Russets are best. YukonGolds are OK. Cut your potato 1/4" and 3/8". Shoestring style is too thin to achieve a truly great french fry.

Any of these places or others do a good job with either pan fried chicken or chicken fried steak?

Alas 861728 my use of the term "tron" was a satirical reference to some restaurants that have adopted waitron in an attempt to degenderize their references to waiters and waitresses. I was having fun (amusing myself at least which is all the fun I often need) by expanding that terminology to diners too as in dinertron. The gist of my peeve was not to complain about any communication with servertrons. A good rapport often makes a meal even more enjoyable. Rather I object specifically to that forced bit of intrusive intercourse, "How is everything." That question became necessary because of the increasing scarcity of professional servers who can tell how everything is without asking and who are enough of a presence in the dining room that they can be easily summoned if there is a problem. 10-15 years ago such a question was a rarity, not the rule.. Judging by your humorless, hypersensitive interpretation of and reaction to my peeve, I have a feeling you need not worry about ending up in my favorite waiter or waitress or waitron category, nor does it seem likely that I will appear on your favorite dinertron list. P.S. Holly is a "he." P.P.S. Kind of intriguing 861728 that you object to the use of the term tron but refer to yourself as a number. :)

Yo ! That's what I said - "keeping the orders straight." :)

As I recall White Manna sits about 10 at the counter, another 8 or so across the windows and, when I was there, a packed Saturday afternoon, another 10 or so standees. Part of what impressed me was the grillman's ability, under such pressed conditions, to keep everyones order straight and to still carry on conversations with a number of customers.

I'm not swayed. I'll still avoid most chains, no matter what. For me, finding restaurants is much of the adventure of travel. I'd rather risk a bad meal at local spot that could also turn out to be good to great, than play it safe for mediocre chain fare. True I'll often end up suffering a bad meal, maybe one even worse than Olive Garden though I'm not sure that's possible. But sometimes such places are so bad that they are fun. And once in a while I end up discovering a hidden treasure, and there are no hidden treasures to be discovered in chain dining.

I've been taken to task by a few visitors to HollyEats that some of the food doesn't look appetizing and why don't I take a course in food photography or something. I call it restaurant veratae - what I got is what you see. But I submit that when it comes to great roadfood, be it a couple of White Manna Burgers or Rutt Hut Rippers or whatever, between the layer of grease on the walls and eye appeal's lowly position on the grillman's totem pole, you have to check your eyes at the door.

Got to admit I like the premise that chains exist to keep the surbanites out of the good independents.

And here's a pic of the White Manna burgers, themselves: That's a single on the left and a double on the right. Not the prettiest burgers around, but... And here's a bunch of them admist steam, sizzle and splatter. (Edited by Holly Moore at 6:58 pm on Aug. 13, 2001)

Yeah I've got a pet peeve. A bunch of them in fact but for now I'll limit myself to the one that tends to make me most peevish. It's the infernal policy of restaurants everywhere that requires servers to stop by, 5 minutes into the meal, to ask, "Is everything OK" or some similar querry. First, like a dog with a steak bone, I tend to growl and occasionally snap at anyone who interupts my meal. Second, I will summon a server if there is a problem worth mentioning. If not, I hate having a gratuitous "Everything's fine" dragged out of me. Third, most times the question is totally perfunctory. Servers could care less, they just have to ask because the manager told them to ask. Finally, because waitrons resent being forced into any additional communication with dinetrons than truly necessary, they will take their revenge on the diner, not the restaurant, by waiting until the diner's mouth is full before posing the question. I once did a column on this subject suggesting that waiters should maintain eye contact with their customers rather than walking the dining room as if they were cast in "Night of the Living Dead," oblivious to all in their trek from kitchen to tables to kitchen. I will signal if I need them. Later that week my favorite waiter at Jack's Firehouse assured me that the service team there had taken my column to heart and spent the entire afternoon practicing eye contact.

Yes I really do think that - especially suburban and rural kids, many of whom I believe grow up without any exposure to non-chain and non-fast food dining out.