Holly Moore

Do they offer this chicken for take-out?

Petit St. Vincent Resort is a private island that welcomes sailors. Excellent bar, decent dining room, and a beautiful location to drop anchor. Much of the island is reserved for guests but there are areas a visitor can wander and explore. Everything is casual.

I'd recommend Bessinger's more for burgers than barbecue. I've always been surprised at the lack of barbecue in the low-country. My last visit was three years ago, so perhaps things have changed. I would also suggest that a BBQ-aware Texan not squander his Charleston eating time on mediocre barbecue. Too many other good things to eat. For SC barbecue head to either the aforementioned Sweatman's or the politically controversial Maurice's in Columbia.

Most essential restaurant equipment, including freezers, dishwashers and ice machines, only go down on Friday, usually in the evening. Ice machines also go down on New Years Eve.

Got back to Pub and Kitchen this afternoon for a late lunch - one of those second most hated of all customers - someone who arrives at a restaurant a minute before opening (3:59). Most hated - a minute before closing. The good news - the Windsor Burger is still one of the best burgers in Philadelphia. Sad news - onion rings are only available for weekend brunch. Guess too much pressure in turnout. Same old gripe - shoe string french fries. Lots of shorts and bits and pieces. Some cooked ok, some over cooked - too crisp. Can't wait til these go out of fashion. Can't happen soon enough. New gripe - the manager type, "You can't park your scooter here (along side the restaurant) neighbors complain." "Where should I park it?" Fair question In a grating, parent/child manner, "Where do you usually park it?" Uh, thanks, that was helpful. It was too cold to answer, "From now on anywhere but here," so I parked at the end of the building. Peeve - I was the lone customer. A few minutes past opening, all the stools went up on the bar and were dusted off. Think that might happen when there are not customers. There was a pork appetizer special - cheek, shoulder and trotters iragout style, over wide noodles. Sounded great, but I needed a burger.

Not sure about creamed cheese. Maybe a mustard tartar sauce.

A bit more info. I was doing some rare house cleaning Sunday and happened upon Elaine Tait's 1981 Book - a listing of her favorite Philadelphia Restaurants. Each listing included a review and a sample of the menu. What I posted above was our menu, scanned from her book. The logo was the creation of Zsuzsa Johnson. The design, replicated in neon in our front window, set the tone for the cafe. Elaine Tait was the Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant critic for many years and had given us a great review a few weeks after we opened. She also celebrated her birthday one year with a small party at the Upstairs Cafe. That was when I first met her in person. She was as responsible as anyone for recognizing the Philadelphia Restaurant Renaissance of that era. Holly Moore's Upstairs Cafe was located on the northeast corner of 18th and Sansom just a half block off of Rittenhouse Square. At the time we were across the street from Neil Stein's Fish Market and a half block from Steve Poses' Commissary. A great location, though the second floor (kitchen 3rd floor) had its issues. Rent was cheap - access made us more of a destination than an impulse restaurant. We didn't get much street traffic. Many who climbed the stairs liked the idea that, in one's mind at least, it took them away from the hustle/bustle of Center City Philadelphia. Only half the menu was reproduced in Elaine's book. The other half was sandwiches on toasted english muffins - fancy sauce, protein, melted cheese finished under a cheese melter - ham and cheddar with honey mustard, turkey and gruyere with remoulade, crab imperial, etc. The chili was adaptation of Chasen's (famous in Hollywood CA for its chili) - we added cheap red wine. Nadine Gearhart was our baker - made all the desserts from scratch including Linzer torte, Sacher torte, german chocolate cake and a lemon cake that for some reason she chose to decorate with marzipan ducks. The only exception were Mother Wonderful Cheesecakes (Mother Wonderful's recipe, her maid, Sally's cooking). We also had a heavy duty espresso machine, with flavored lattes and such. We got one to two additional turns on Friday and Saturday - after movie / theater / concert for dessert and espresso drinks. In the best of times we had lines down the stairs after theater. These are good memories. I'll write some more from time to time.

What Rich says re John Fox. He is my go to for times when bluster won't do and I need to cite actual hot dog facts. John guided me to many of the hot dog places on my site though we have yet to have met in person.

In other words, the ends justify the means.

Not bad for 1980

Blue In Green comes darn close to a Chicago Style hot dog including the Vienna Frank, poppy seed roll and neon green relish. This one is from Portillo's in Chicago, for a comparison Biggest difference are the pickle spears vs the slices. Only issue I had was the regular dog. Blue In Green has to invest in some brown mustard and forest green relish.

Worked at 17th and Market when I moved to Philadelphia in 1977. Dewey's on the corner, Onasis in the middle of block (S. 17th Street), same block a sandwich place where all you saw were the hands making the sandwich - the rest of the counter was a wall and, at least once a week, Kelly's of Mole Street, though as I recall it wasn't really on Mole Street. Toss in the Commissary at 17th and Sansom for breakfast - life was good and calorie filled.

Kitchen Bouquet adds flavor too and is easily recognized when over used.

It is all about the end product and how it tastes. Think Cheez Whiz and cheese steaks. I am not a fan of Kitchen Bouquet because so many unskilled cooks often use too heavy a hand when adding it to a gravy. And it is not the sort of ingredient one expects in a three star kitchen. But I'm sure there are long-standing family restaurants with recipes calling for a dash of Kitchen Bouquet that are passed from generation to generation.

A rep for Gorden Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares contacted me. They are casting in Philadelphia, as well as Boston, Southern California, Florida and the NYC area. Restaurants interested in spending a fun-packed week with Gordon Ramsey and camera crew can call 866-266-2226 for more information. An application can be downloaded at The Conlin Company. Restaurants have to have been open for at least a year and should have 35 or more seats. Though Jack McDavid manages quite well without Gordon Ramsey's input, I'd pay good money to watch them go a few rounds.

Sirio Maccioni, owner of Le Cirque versus the New York culinarily aware. A clash of generations, father versus his sons. A wonderful HBO documentary sharing the evolution of Le Cirque - location, cuisine, customers, NY Times stars. I rooted for Sirio but New York City's thirst for the avant-garde seems to have won, or at least eked out a minor victory.

I like Chicago hot dogs. But I don't really think of them as "hot dogs." More akin to weekenders at a dude ranch - fancied up, over-embellished cowboys, but not real hot dogs as in grilled, mustarded and relished. Tasty, but exotic, like an island resort umbrella drink in lieu of a shot and a beer. As with cheesesteaks and Philadelphia, it is rare to find a place outside of Chicago that can replicate a true Chicago dog. Will be giving Blue in Green a try in the very near future. In the mean time, while doing a Turkish eggs and pastrami brunch at Cafe Falya on South Second I saw a sign in their window, "Best Turkish Hot Dog in town." Probably a safe statement.

Walts, may it some day return, was on 2nd Street, approaching Christian from South. Not sure of the exact block though I think of Walt's every time I pass the building.

Maybe ten years ago, at Snockey's, I received the most antagonistic service I have ever encountered. As Greg pointed out, Snockey's is perhaps the only of the old seafood houses remaining, so I wish I could convince myself to return. Instead, I'll wait to see how the Mink family reincarnates the Sansom Street Oyster House. Until then, all the more reason to return to New Orleans and Casamento's.

Going to a bank for financing for a new restaurant by a first time restaurateur was a waste of time in boon years unless one didn't need the money in the first place. In the best of times the bank may have accepted the collateral in one's house. Someone told me today that in the current situation, that won't happen. A restaurant's take on sandwiches can be tricky. I had a restaurant in Center City where one of most popular sandwiches was a sliced turkey sandwich with remoulade sauce on a toasted English muffin with Gruyere melted over it A few months after selling the restaurant I took over a concession in Bala Cynwyd, a suburb on the border of Philadelphia and introduced my fancy Center City menu. Got all sorts of complaints about the funny tasting green mayonnaise. I disagree on quality of ingredients. In South Philadelphia, hoagie shops such as Sarcones and Chickie's do so well in working class areas specifically because of the quality of ingredients. Quality is always a good method to hedge one's bet, as long as the end product makes sense and is fairly priced. At the same time Subway does quite well in the Philadelphia area, even Center City. Has to be price. And advertising. Not sure I would want to go against Subway's mediocrity in a small town, even with top notch quality. Double that if said town has a sizable tourist industry and college students raised on fast food. You don't talk about your restaurant experience. A support structure is nice, but I'd suggest that a person who opens a restaurant without experience is akin to the proverbial lawyer who defends himself. Hands on service and kitchen management experience is essential. Restaurants are one of the few industries dealing in perishable products that take the product from raw ingredient to the consumer. So much can and will go wrong. Restaurants don't come with training wheels unless one's pockets are extraordinarily deep. Edited to add: Was writing this while Qwerty was attempting to focus the discussion on menu. At the same time, the key to a great sandwich shop is an owner who knows how to run a great sandwich shop.

The sandwich as served at the St. Mary's County Oyster festival

Depending on the time of the year, Carl's Frozen Custard in Fredricksburg VA Maybe a bit more of a detour than you planned. Consider getting off I-95, heading to the Skylight Inn in Ayden NC for barbecue, keep going to Rte 17 and follow that south through Wilmington and Calabash NC, Charleston SC (with a detour to Bowen's Island for a few shovelfuls of roast oysters), then down to Savanah where, if you must, you can again pick up I-95. Rte 17 through the Carolina's is a beautiful drive with many opportunities for more detours.

Most raves I've heard are for a Mediterranean restaurant Olivia Also on my list for this trip - Qubano for Cuban and a small spot, El Publito, near the south end of the island for Mexican home cooking and a great "Aztec Soup." Baseball Tacos has moved to La Gloria. M&J Cazuella may be back at its original location by the time you get there or it may still be in its temporary location on Hildago in the same complex as the gelato place, La Coppo del Mundo. And the HSB bank on Isla no longer exchanges dollars for pesos. To avoid paying excess exchange rates at the change bureaus pack an ATM instead of hard currency. Have a great trip. If this is your first visit to Isla, you're going to come away hooked.

Back in the day of Holly Moore's Upstairs Cafe we served all of our desserts with the option of "mit schlage" We did not add sugar both because we believed the classic version was just whipped cream and because we thought the unsweetened whipped cream would balance the sweetness of our desserts.

Umm, Bookbinders?