Holly Moore

Pure genius. French fries fried in duck fat, short ribs in a rich gravy and cheddar cheese sauce browned off in a cast iron skillet. Incredibly good.

No stars and define the column's mission as seeking out good places to eat. Especially in a large city, too many good restaurants never get ink because the reviewer squanders column inches on bad experiences. If readers know the review is going to be about a restaurant that the reviewer liked, stars become less necessary. For those without the patience to read a thousand words about the place, an "executive summary" that condenses the review into a single paragraph.

Point? Nah. Having a point all the time is way too limiting. What is your point in asking about my point? My motive, on the other hand - I found it amusing and wanted to share. I know the TV show. I also was curious if someone was actually marketing crab caught on the boats from the show or if it was just the Four Seasons chef being clever. Either way, I liked the concept, but mostly just found the idea amusing.

Just got a tweet from the Philadelphia Four Seasons promoting "Roasted Grouper Fillet w/"deadliest catch" king crab spring roll, gingered acorn squash, light curry sauce." Not sure if "deadliest catch" is a designation or a brand but figure, either way, the crab costs at least a few bucks more a pound. Crab from a voyage where a crew member is maimed or killed - right up there with the finest sushi grade tuna.

Wonder if the show will resemble the holiday Yule Log on TV, a close up of an oven showing cake baking. For variety, an equally tight shot of a proofing cabinet.

I probably should have taken plane geometry a third time.

Part of the cupcake resurgence seems to be many decorators departing from cupcake frosting tradition and piping a swirl of frosting onto the center of the cupcake, leaving a quarter inch of its perimeter unfrosted. This bothers me as it lacks precision and leads to an inconsistent frosting to cake consumption ratio. Is there a benefit gained by departing from the logical spreading of the frosting over the entire top surface of the cupcake? Does it speed production or make for less messy cupcake boxing? Buttercream icing is a wonderful thing. In a proper cupcake it should be spread edge to edge in all its silken glory.

Haven't seen the renovation, but the Astral Plane bar, which preceded Fish, was always chatty and awkward during busy services - taking up most of the room, just a few seats, and, being the entrance to the restaurant, a jumble of people entering, checking reservations and coats, being seated and ordering drinks.

Picked up another chicken potpie from Griggstown today at the Headhouse Market. Forgetting high school plane geometry, a course I liked so much I took it twice, I decided to try the five inch pie instead of the typical 10 inch pie I usually purchase. It sold for $9.50, about half the price of the 10 inch pie. This evening, pulling the pie out of the carton en route to the oven, I realized just how small a 5" pie is. Then I did the math - or at least as much as I could. (pi)r2 5" pie = 78 sq in of pie. 10" pie = 314 sq in of pie. Wasn't sure how to extend the relative areas to volume - a cylinder is simple, but the pie's edge is tapered, so it is more the segment of a cone. Would have made me feel worse anyway. Worked out to 12 cents a square inch for the 5" pie vs. 6 cents per square in for the 10" pie. I ended up with half the pie value and no leftovers for tomorrow through Wednesday. Lesson learned.

Serious Eats NY exploration of cheesecakes has increased my food cravings by one. Any NY City caliber cheesecakes in Philadelphia? Nothing fancy, just a classic New York cheesecake. I like Famous Fourth's but my sense is that it is too giant a portion to be a great cheesecake too.

Didn't know that either. Good thing I didn't leap in with my typical knee-jerk defense of Bookbinders.

Delivery died off for the same reason doctor's house calls died off. Inefficient. Far less costly to roll a semi-trailer up to the supermarket. Also, just a guess, but perhaps agra-business food scientists where able to give dairy products more life so daily or every-other-day was not essential.

Anyone else remember Alderny Dairies out of Whippany NJ? Grew up on their milk and ice cream - always hand dipped. Went on to spend a summer dipping it at their old dairy store which had become Sip and Sup Drive-In - Corner Rte 10 and 202.

Any of the subsets you list could rock, but could just as easily crumble into dust. I'd pick "small restaurant by someone who loves to cook" as the most likely to get off to a feeble start. Almost guaranteed if the "someone" has only cooked out of a home kitchen. All depends on the experience, skills and personality of the staff. Sure I've seen restaurants start of good and go downhill over the next few months. But I've seen a lot more restaurants start weak and evolve to strong over time. I've also seen a lot of restaurants start off good and stay good - at least for a year or two, often longer. I'm fine with your suggestion as long as the suggestee knows and accepts the risks. Edited to add: In my above post I used emphasize instead of empathize. Let me emphasize that I meant empathize.

Done that, ate the food - eventually. No matter the size restaurant, most often the timing just won't be there during opening days. That leads to food slow from the kitchen, lukewarm food that has been sitting at pick-up until the order is complete, mistakes, dishes arriving at different times and, often, short tempers all around. Might be ok for a quiet opening that no one knows about - but might not. Having only a few diners makes timing easier, but not so much for an inexperienced kitchen staff. Problems will be compounded by mass confusion if too many people take the above advice and a small place is swamped. Hitting any restaurant during the first week is a gamble. No reason not to if one can relax and emphasize. But demanding diners should probably wait a few weeks.

Grits are the aborio rice of the southern United States. What works for risotto should work for grits.

Orange juice adds sweet to even the most savory breakfast. In the best of all possible worlds I would live in a small town in South Carolina, an easy walk from a shack of a restaurant specializing in breakfast - anything from country ham to local sausage to livermush with a couple of eggs, grits, biscuits and, for a touch of sweet, peach preserves the owner put up last summer. Just past the cafe, the town druggist, well stocked with Lipitor. A bit of sweet is always nice, but, if forced to choose, savory.

A restaurant owner's lot can indeed a lonely one. Unpopular and soon to be literally screwed and chefless. Maybe he will be forced out of business. That will teach him. At least he will have a few crepe recipes to nourish him through his misery. Pete Seeger said of a folk musician who adapted one of his songs, "He just stole from me. I steal from everyone." Restaurant recipes, like folk music are handed down and passed around, with the occasional improvisation. Except for some of the molecular innovation going on, just about any "new recipe" probably has been previously prepared by someone, somewhere, at some time.

The era before corporate farming, when today's heirloom produce was everyman's produce. McDonald's as Ray Kroc intended it. The Fulton Fish Market and the original Sloppy Louie's Jack McDavid cooking breakfast at the Down Home Diner. Howard Johnson's

Just found out today that a longstanding deli in my neighborhood, Pinky's NY Deli, is now the Buttercup Cafe. With the change come the best, most creamy grits I've happened upon in Philadelphia. Their scrapple is good too. Eggs cooked perfectly. Raisin bread toast. Breakfast is now served on the 1800 block of South.

Then it will not be as special. Thanks for putting up with my constant lobster roll whining. Great continued success wherever you unroll your knives.

And Subway shall flourish in the valley of the hoagie. For the fast food generation fodder wins over flavor.

May your five grease stains follow you throughout your career. Just don't lose your recipe for oyster stew with double cream and sauteed fennel.

I wonder if they will be open at 3 am. That's when beignets seem to taste best. I'm also wondering if beignets offer the opportunity for creativity - a variation with dark chocolate could be habit forming. An exciting addition to the market.

Joe had to twist my arm a few times - but he finally convinced me to try their brisket sandwich. Better than the pork sandwich? Probably not. But DiNic's brisket plus aged provolone is awfully good.