Holly Moore

Anyone have any idea how well these travel when packed to go?

Charlie, Among other considerations, I am looking at this from the point of view of an entrepreneur who has owned a business, a copy center, in Center City, for the last twenty one years - almost as long as Rick's has been at Reading Terminal Market. If all of a sudden, predominantly for reasons of spite, my landlord were to refuse to negotiate a new lease, threatening both my livelihood and my equity (both pecuniary and sweat), I would want others to support me. Rick has done nothing wrong. He does not appear to have violated any of the terms of his lease. His only transgression was, as president of the RTM merchant's association, to strongly represent the merchants in negotiating RTM management's revisions to the market's leasing structure. This concerns a lot more than whether Tony Luke's or Rick's gets to sell cheesesteaks at Reading Terminal Market. It is mostly about whether the RTM management and board get to arbitrarily close a man's business after twenty five positive years of operation and contribution to the RTM's growth and success. RTM's action towards Rick Olivieri is blatantly unfair and of questionable motivation.

That's great. Both for DiNic's and for Holly - More opportunities for pork sandwiches for me and maybe a chance to try their brisket sandwich. The timing though is interesting. As Saturday Night Live's Church Lady often observed, "How convenient." Side note: A couple of months ago I was a big fan of RTM and, by association, its management and board. Now, though still a big fan of RTM, I find myself viewing any action by the RTM management or board with suspicion. However the Rick's Steaks controversy turns out, I now will probably always question the motives of the overseers of an institution I had once totally supported and trusted (at least once I got over my concern with the Convention Center's potential impact on the market).

As I understand it RTM management asked Rick's Steaks for the meeting. It seems a good sign except for some confusing quotes from Kevin Feeley in Sunday's Inquirer article about the rally being canceled: In the past few days over fifty of the approximately eighty market merchants signed a proclamation in support of Rick's Steaks. The Amish merchants unanimously agreed to cancel the popular Amish Festival in support of Rick's Steaks. A rally was scheduled for 10 AM Saturday to protest the ousting of Rick's Steaks. Thousands of market visitors have signed a petition to support Rick's Steaks. This all leads to a cheesesteak half remaining or cheesesteak half eaten dilemma. Did RTM management ask for the meeting to seriously negotiate a new long term lease for Rick's Steaks. Or did RTM management request the last-minute meeting to get the looming rally at RTM to be called off and at least postponed until much of the public and merchant pressure died down. One hopes it is the former, leading to a happy ending. If it is the latter, just a delaying strategy, then RTM management and its board is second only to the Bush administration in its arrogant ability to ignore the will of its constituents. I have always been an optimist. Here's hoping for a serious and successful long term lease negotiation.

You're the short order. The restaurant closes at midnight. It is now 11:30. Business is slow so you start cleaning up - including scouring the grill. Make it all nice and shiny. Then some rube comes in at 11:50 and orders a burger. Your choice - dirty up the grill or cheat and use the fryer. Burger patty goes in the fryer. No breading, of course. Been there, done that. Been there, ate that.

I'm afraid this has become a case of face for the RTM board and management. They had no idea of the broad resentment their ousting of Rick's Steaks would inspire. Now that they surely realize the totally negative impact of their actions, they are evidently trapped by them. Rather than back down and negotiate with Rick's Steaks they have gone out and hired a big shot lawyer. One hopes that behind the scenes there are talks going on but it appears the RTM board, right or wrong, believes it must stand firm, or appear weak in all future negotiations. All this is not doing the market any good and it is not doing Tony Luke any good. Tony Luke's image is evolving from "good guy" to "conniving guy." This would all likely end if Tony Luke did the right thing, bowed out and waited for his turn like everyone else. If RTM management is to be believed, then, Tony Luke dropping out of the deal means Rick's stays.

Excellent re the Daily News. There is also a rally at Rick's tomorrow at 10AM to support his lease renewal. I'll be there. EDIT - THE SATURDAY RALLY HAS BEEN POSTPONED. A new date may be announced.

It is neat that we have achieved a plateau on eGullet where we can dissect a restaurant even before it has opened. Michael, is it not "for duex" or "pour two"?

Big time lawyers may be hired because they are the most efficient or have the most intimidation power. Or they could be hired because the defendant has a lot of money to spend (think dream team) and the defendant is guilty, guilty, guilty!

As I see it hiring Attorney Sprague demonstrates RTM's management's uncertainty over the outcome of Rick's Steaks' challenge or recognizes the validity of Rick's stand or both. Would/did RTM hire such a high-powered attorney if Franks-A-Lot had challenged their eviction? If this is such a cut and dry case could not their traditional attorney handle it? As to having the cash, the RTM board has a fiduciary responsibility to spend a not-for-profit organization's funds judiciously. I'd question whether hiring one of the most expensive lawyers in the city for a landlord v. tenant dispute is the best use of their funds.

If Rick's attorney needs some pro bono photocopying, etc., I'll do it. We do legal copying all the time. Wonder why the RTM had to hire such a big time lawyer? Wonder if that is the best use of Reading Terminal Market funds?

Steinke is locked into "Regional-Shopping-Mall" think. He is trying to drag the Reading Terminal Market into the 21st Century. He is doing it with rental formulas. He is doing it with tenant selection ie Tony Luke has more draw (magnet store) therefore get rid of a very successful lunch merchant who has been there for 25 years but doesn't have a national name. And he is doing it with operating hours - wanting all vendors to be open whenever the RTM is open. Lunch merchants have always closed early. Market regulars know that and accept it. It makes business sense. Other than a few odd birds like myself, people eat lunch at lunch time. They don't buy lunch at 4:30 PM. There just isn't enough business at that hour to keep food fresh and to break even on the labor cost. That is the way it has been for as long as I have known the market. If we were talking about the RTM during its bleak years I would not be so opposed to Steinke's master plan. But the market of the 1990's and the 2000's is a booming success and there is no indication that will change. What is good for a regional shopping mall may not be good for a historic and traditional market place. The hardest thing for some ambitious managers to learn is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Think "new Coke." We don't need a new "Reading Terminal Market." Again from the Bulletin Article: Just how is the market not competitive now? It strikes me as overwhelmingly successful. The only logic supporting Feeley's statement leads to the conclusion that a McDonald's would make the market even more competitive than Tony Luke's. In terms of the Market's mission, as I asked once before, how does replacing a long time, good standing and well respected merchant serve the market's mission. Is not honoring and sustaining the market's historic tradition a crucial segment of its mission? Tony Luke's should be treated like anyone else wanting to open a stand in the Market. Wait until space becomes available. I'm a great fan of Tony Luke's in South Philly. It is one of my favorite Philadelphia places. And no matter how this turns out, I'll still be a fan. But I am thinking less of Tony Luke for his part in this scheme. I hope he will do the right thing and drop out of the negotiations - at least until Rick Olivieri is offered and declines a lease comparable to those offered other lunch tenants.

Now, tell me how this isn't personal again? ← Out of curiosity I checked out the list of RTM board members. Paul Madden, Esquire represents the RTM's Merchant's Association. He is the sole voice of merchants on the board. I'm guessing that his quote is intended to communicate the thinking of the other board members rather than to state his own feelings. Another news item from a CBS Channel 3 item on its web site: Edited to ad a quote from the Evening Bulletin:

OK, I've got a complaint. There is never an empty stool at the counter on Saturday afternoons. Other than that, DiNic's is my favorite pork sandwich. Then again I wouldn't kick a pork sandwich from Tony Luke's, John's or George's off my table.

While I'm at it a corn question and a corn observation - The question - I always buy a couple of days worth of corn, but I'm not sure whether or not tomorrow's corn should be refrigerated? Observation - I'm not sure if they are now able to breed clinging corn silk out of corn, but with today's yellow corn all the silk came off with the husk.

Made my first trip to Wynnorr Farm this season. Their corn is in. Yellow and mixed was their's - white was from Jersey - Nice strawberries and tomatoes too.

For dinner it was strongly recommended - a few people showed up in sports coats and it didn't seem all that uncomfortable for them. I'm not sure what would happen if a man showed up without a jacket. As I was on my own, I shared a table with one or three other travelers - some from the US. Some from the UK. Seating is assigned and changes every meal. Good conversations there and in the bar car, so not overly stuffy. There is the option of disembarking at Penang (Butterworth) and laying over until the next train comes - three days or a week, depending on the season. But for those continuing on it was too short - maybe three hours. And if one elected to take the included rickshaw tour there is no time to one's own. The River Kwai stop was much less structured other than the barge ride down the river.

Good point about auditing sales. That's what we used to do in the franchisor business to make sure we got our percentages for fees, rent and advertising. However as I understand it, Rick has never been offered a lease to sign and percent rents are not an issue at this time.

Stopped by to sign Rick's petition today. While there, snapped a picture of the line. It loops in the foreground to the door than back along Ricks and then left to order and pass down the line. Rick's was packed and had the longest line in the RTM at that time. Help me understand again? What exactly is broken about Rick's that needs fixing by Tony Luke's - Other than Rick's lack of subservience to RTM management that is?

Are the new leases requiring audited sales information? Has the RTM management imposed percent rentals on renewing merchants? I don't know if that is or is not the case?

← An illogical conclusion (and spot-on wrong) if I have correctly unobfuscated Rick Nichols' closing paragraph. If Rick Nichols is opining that Rick Olivieri (too many Rick's here) is fighting against the interests of the market, his fellow merchants, the customers and the City of Philadelphia, I'd ask Rick Nichols to detail the thinking that led to such a conclusion. I fail to see how Rick Olivieri trying to save his business of 25 years does any damage to the interests of the market et al. ← You call it as you see it, Holly. But one can acknowledge the logic of your conclusion (that keeping Oliveri's business would not harm the market) while still asserting that bringing in someone else might strengthen it. You obviously don't agree with that interpretation, but it has as much logic as the one you posit. ← How does Rick's ejection, and his being replaced by Tony Luke's, help the market? Will the signs now read, "Reading Terminal Market, Featuring Tony Luke's?" Will the lines at Tony Luke's become longer with customers who would only come to RTM because Tony Lukes is there. Will the new Tony Luke's attracted customers pick up a bunch of beets and a pound of fresh shrimp to take back to their hotel room or office? What seems logical to me is that most of the incremental customers standing in line at Tony Lukes will be existing RTM lunch users switching from the other lunch merchants - taking away sales from established RTM lunch merchants. The new RTM customers that visit the market to specifically eat at Tony Lukes aren't going to be roaming the aisles for produce and poultry. They are going to eat and run either back to the convention, back to their office, or onward to the Liberty Bell. Tony Luke's will not raise the RTM's public image. It is already a 5 star tourist attraction. Tony Luke's is not going to significantly benefit the fresh food producers. The new customers Tony Luke's attracts will being going to the RTM specifically to but a cheesesteak. Only two parties will benefit from the addition of Tony Lukes to the market. Tony Luke who will make a bunch of money and the RTM management who will get rid of a respected, vocal merchant that does not always see eye to eye with them, with the added benefit of instilling a little more fear in those merchants who might oppose one of their actions in the future.

← An illogical conclusion (and spot-on wrong) if I have correctly unobfuscated Rick Nichols' closing paragraph. If Rick Nichols is opining that Rick Olivieri (too many Rick's here) is fighting against the interests of the market, his fellow merchants, the customers and the City of Philadelphia, I'd ask Rick Nichols to detail the thinking that led to such a conclusion. I fail to see how Rick Olivieri trying to save his business of 25 years does any damage to the interests of the market et al.

Sounds good. But there is something in my inner being that objects to screwing up one of the world's greatest sandwiches with cheese and a fried egg. Especially in the summer with vine ripened tomatoes.

My only concern would be the restaurant paradox - the less full the dining room, the slower the service and the greater the potential for kitchen error. Illogical but all-too-often true.

If you're Ramsey, with whom do you want to share a photo shoot? Wasn't all that tough a decision. My only goal this season is to see Waffle House cook outlast the harpies who wanted to get rid of her earlier because they had ever so much more fine dining experience.