Holly Moore

Northstar told me they would be at Rittenhouse starting sometime in August, come apple picking season.

For train service the food was top notch, comparable to a very good but not great restaurant. The only choice available on the menu was from two entrees at dinner. Wines were good, could be purchased by either the bottle or glass. I'm not all that knowledgeable on wines to get into particular characteristics, but the oenophiles around me seemed impressed.

A valid long-term concern, Sandy. But I don't see how Tony Luke's over Rick's is going to influence producer survival. Only thing Tony Luke's might do is take some business away from other lunch merchants. Trading dollar for dollar is only good for Tony Luke's. The other lunch merchants will suffer.

Day two lunch, after we returned from Penang Caesar salad with tandoori roasted chicken, thai caesar dressing. It can not be escaped. Caesar salad with chicken is everywhere. Followed by Mixed seafood on lemongrass risotto, accompanied by fragrant Siamese yellow curry bouillon For dessert - Mango and passion fruit creme brulee. Dinner the second evening led off with Goose liver won ton with Thai asparagus in truffle bouillon For my entree - Medallion of lamb with pan fried garlic-scented Chinese mushrooms and taro puree. Dessert - Peanut butter and chocolate delice with candied popcorn and fruit coulis The third and final lunch, after rafting the River Kwai started with Tom-yam flavored leek and potato veloute Then Confit of Duck with braised ginger cabbage and Hong Kong kailan Dessert - Fruit tartlets Finally, a few views along the way Summed up - I think this was one of those once in a lifetime experiences. Definite worth doing, but think that on my next trip I'd rather spend more time in Bangkok of Chiang Mai. I was able to pick up a special deal - $2200. Normally a pullman single cabin goes for for about $2,800.

Meal service on the Eastern and Oriental Express includes three lunches, two in-cabin continental breakfasts, two in-cabin teas, and two dinners. The capabilities of a non-AMTRAK dining car kitchen has always amazed me. Fist continental breakfast: and the second: The first afternoon's tea service: and day two: Lunch and dinner were served in the dining car. Day one lunch, just after boarding in Singapore: To start, Terrine of vegetables in light tomato and chili jam with baked cherry tomatoes: Followed by Singapore chicken curry with curried potato, spinach and chick peas and rice pilaf: For dessert: Mascarpone gateau with candied lemon coulis Dinner the first evening: An amuse to start: Then Pan fried sea scallops with lemon and vanilla dressing and cauliflower puree Two entrees to choose from. I went with Medallion of beef in a red wine reduction with fricassee of crisply cooked vegetables, deep fried lotus chips. Dessert - Gingered pineapple tarte tartin and macadamia parfait with mango sauce and Petis fours with coffee service

As part of a recent jaunt through SE Asia I treated myself to a three day journey between Singapore and Bangkok on the Eastern and Oriental Express. Like the more famous Orient Express, the O&E defines luxury rail travel - "The interior walls are cherry wood and elm burr paneled, adorned with decorative marquetry and intricate inlays." I opted for a pullman cabin - the smallest and least costly - a sofa that converts to a bed in the evening, minimum walking space, and a more minimal sized bathroom - posh, efficient, and enough space even for a person of my size. Evidently I didn't snap any pics of the stateroom - check the website - a pic of morning juice gives a feel for the cabin's decor. Once cabin fever sets in, time can be passed either in an open air observation car at the rear of the train A bar car complete with piano player and of course, the dining car - formal wear or dark suits are encouraged for dinner Stops between Singapore and Bangkok - Butterworth Malaysia for a ferry ride to Penang and the River Kwai. Penang was pretty much limited to a rickshaw ride through the city - The River Kwai includied a trip down the river ending at the memorial and cemetery for WWII POWs who did not survive the Bridge over the River Kwai's construction. Next post gets into the meals.

I don't understand why people drive all the way to the supermarket for hot dogs when all they need do is call Usinger's in Milwaukee and have the country's best dog FedExed to their doorsteps. Good excuse to order a box of Usinger's fresh brats, too.

At the very least, Rick should be able to tie things up some in court. Good for him. When did "too high profile to pass up" become a keystone of the Reading Terminal Market's mission statement? And Walmart doesn't fire an employee who tries to unionize one of its stores. The Inquirer didn't observe whether Feeley managed to say this with a straight face. If so, I hear Attorney General Gonzalez is looking for a new press spokesman.The board vote was 6 to 1 in favor of ousting Rick's Steaks. Anyone taking bets that the one board member voting in favor of keeping Rick's was the lone merchant's representative on the board? Evidently RTM board could not come up with a more typical reason for not renewing Rick's lease - reasons such as disobeying market rules, health violations, poor sales, missed rent. They had to invent a brand sparkling new reason. "Higher profile." Let's see, John's Roast Pork is the darling of Laban and won a Beard award. Time to get rid of DiNic's. As someone else pointed out, Capogiro gets all the ice cream press. Bye bye Bassett's. I'm thinking a Tastykake retail outlet instead of Termini's. And, in a while, when the time is right, some golden arches can carve just a small chunk out of the Amish section - nothing higher profile than that. And those Amish don't cooperate with the market management - only opening Wed through Sat.

"Sorry Frankie, it's just business." Gunshots. One man falls to the ground, dead. Two men walk away into the night. Outside of the mob, "It's just business," translates to "I know it is not the moral thing to do and I want you to know that elsewhere I am one heck of a nice guy, but we're closing the factory, or we're laying you off, or we're not renewing your lease." More simply put, "It's just business translates to 'it's not fair, it's not right, but it's legal and that is all that matters to me.'" A scarier cliche, "For the greater good." "For the greater good we are condemning the home you have lived in for forty years so big developer person can build a shopping mall." "For the greater good we are taking away the right of habeas corpus so 'they' don't attack us over here." For the greater good of the RTM we are getting rid of a booming business run by long term tenant to bring in a more famous business that may attract more people to the RTM. Even that logic is lame. Assuming Tony Luke's is able to transpose the quality and personality of their South Philadelphia operation to the market, where is their business going to come from? Primarily, the same customers who patronized Ricks. Secondarily, existing customers who are lured away from the other sandwich shops, cutting into the sales of those shops but not bringing any more overall revenue or customers to the market. And way back in a distant last place, Tony Luke's may bring a few new customers to the market. The availability of Tony Luke's over Rick's will make absolutely no difference in a visiting conventioneer's decision to eat lunch at the RTM. The availability of Tony Luke's over Rick's will have little if any influence on a meat, produce and/or fish shopper deciding to shop at the market rather than Whole Foods. I'm not sure even area office workers will lunch at the market more often just because Rick's has been replaced by Tony Luke's. Ousting Rick's at the end of the lease is either political payback and maneuvering, an ego trip by a puppet master reshaping the market in his image, or management revenge for either Rick's power as head of the merchant's association or his refusal to pay a percentage of gross lease with the resulting auditing of his books by management. Otherwise it just does not make business sense to not renew the lease of a long term tenant who has run a good operation. Yes, to do so is legal. But it is dumb business to replace a known, long term positive tenant with a new tenant just because the new tenant has a bigger name. Not only does it expose management to the unknown performance of a new tenant who may not adapt well to the Market's rules. Such an action also creates a "who's next" fear, dampening the morale of the remaining tenants. Such cold management tactics may work well for a regional shopping mall. They are a slap in the face to the tradition of the Reading Terminal market.

Rick's business has to be coming from somewhere - tourists, people who work in the area, people who shop in the market. Sales don't seem to be an issue. Rick's isn't on HollyEats. Good reason. In my 30 years as a Philadelphian I have never eaten there. I don't know if they serve a good, great or lousy cheesesteak. I'm not sure I will ever get a cheesesteak there. I doubt I will eat at a Tony Luke's in the market either. Historically Tony Luke's has never been able to duplicate their South Philly experience. I don't see that changing within the walls of the market. There are too many other places that interest me more than Rick's or a Tony Luke's at the market. All that is moot. Rick's has been a contributing part of the market for years. They have successfully filled the cheesesteak demand. They have evidently lived up to their lease responsibilities. Above all, Rick's is a part of the Reading Market tradition that must be respected for the role they have played in the market's history and the market's turn-around. It is that simple.

The guy's name is Olivieri, as in he is related to the inventor of the cheesesteak. Olivieri has been in the market for twenty five years. He was sufficiently respected to be president of the merchant's association. There do not appear to be significant lease violations. And he is being kicked out just because Tony Luke has expressed an interest in coming into the market --- because Tony Luke's is a bigger draw??? Total bulls..t. Total lack of loyalty to the longterm merchant tenants whose presence helped to turn around the market. It is the RTM board and Stenike that should be kicked out. Not Rick Olivieri.

Because given a choice, an AP story is cheaper than a staff written story. Last week the Inquirer ran a story on the lines for the iPhone and used an AP photo of a New York City store with a waiting line rather than sending a photographer to a local one. So many times the Inquirer, even under its new local ownership, will run stories with local angles and simply run the AP story and pics.

I always figure premade sandwiches are going to cheat me on the ingredients. With crafted-to-order sandwiches the sandwich maker's human nature kicks in and my odds of getting an over-sized sandwich double.

Here's a pic of the Asian greens: : Farm eggs: Miles of berries and cherries:

A couple of friends and I did the short drive to Hendrick's Farms and Dairy this past Saturday. We went there for cheese. We left with cheese - and amazed by their automatic cow milking contraption. When we arrived they asked if we'd like a tour. I was expecting barns and stuff. Instead they lead us to the robotic milker. The milker was going through a sanitizing cycle. More than a dozen cows were patiently waiting in line for their turn. There is always a line. The cows like that milker - or maybe the sweet syrup they lap up while being milked. Once the milker was sanitized, its entry gate opened and one cow passed through. Each cow wears a computer readable id tag around its neck. The milker reads the tag and determines if the cow has waited the required 6 hours since its last milking. If insufficient time has passed, the exit gate opens and the cow leaves, unmilked. If the cow is hesitant, a mild zap to encourage the cow to move out. Rules are rules and the errant cow must go to back of the line. When a cow qualifies for milking the robotic milker glides into action. First orange and white roller brushes clean and sanitize the cow's udder. Once clean the milker uses laser technology to individually locate each teat and attach a milking tube. After all four milkers are attached the pump cycles on and the cow is milked. A view from the open side, away from the milker: The milking process is somewhat quicker than the old fashioned, hands-on way. Cows seem to prefer the robot - no human contact. The milker has a capacity of about 80 cows, four times a day. Hendrick's give tours of the robotic milker during their store hours.

Wow! Not Green Market yet (as in Union Square Green Market in NY), but we're getting there. Maybe twice the number of vendors I've seen at the area Farmer's Markets. Lots of people too. Most of them hovering over the free samples.

It all came to pass in the late 70's and Philadelphia's original Restaurant Renaissance. A few from that era are still around. Along with Le Bec-Fin, there is the Astral Plane, Friday Saturday Sunday, the Restaurant School and ... I can't think of any others. Among the departed, La Panatiere (which I have no idea how to spell), Frog, The Commissary, Knave of Hearts, Judy's, and the Fish Market. Some funky upstairs place at 18th and Sansom too.

I'm not getting this. Usually it is pretty easy to understand why a restaurant is closing. Not so with M. The kitchen is excellent. The bar is Katonian. The outdoor dining is as Charleston SC as it gets. There should be a line out the door every summer evening. Only thing I can come up with is location, location, location. Philadelphians blew this one.

Spent five days, including Chinese New Years, in Hong Kong and two weeks in Thailand split between Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Puckett. I'll get around to posting some about those places too. Tourist class - I'm guessing the scraps from the first class plates. Actually I believe Singapore Air does a good level of food service and general service at all fare levels.

BekkiM - Singapore Air offers their Book the Cook pre-order menu for both First and Business Class from most of their departure points.

Peter, The flavors were there, spot on. The wine selection was probably as impressive as the champagne choices - I had one or two selections with every meal and they paired well - just didn't keep track of them and don't know wines all that well to recognize the good from the great. I wasn't complaining about the Thai Air meal - amazed they could pull it off on a full plane and a one hour flight. A US airline would have been lucky to swing a bag of mini pretzels in that same time period. US Airway's first class attempt was just pathetic. Steven, There were a number of Asian alternatives - I often had Asian apps and the lobster soup before landing in Hong Kong was great. But as I was eating Chinese in Hong Kong and Thai throughout Thailand I probably used my Singapore Airline flight entrees for breaks from Asian fare. Samples of the Asian cuisine included a Thai breakfast porridge with chicken, smoked Cantonese duck with plum sauce, Nasi Padang (beef rendang with grilled chicken and steamed fish souffle) Lychee Bay Style Congee, and such. As to grease stains - an airline seat, even a Singapore Air first class compartment like seat, isn't the greatest for tidy dining. If my shirts are any indication, each meal was at least 5 grease stains.

Finally some other airline meals en route: US Air First Class - Philadelphia to San Francisco - Dinner: Chicken Parmesan with salad and cheesecake, oh my! Thai Air - Business Class - Chiang Mai to Bangkok - a one hour flight and a great breakfast. And finally an plug for the Elephant Nature Park outside of Chiang Mai where I had the privilege of hanging out for a day with 30 plus rescued elephants. Fed them a couple of times, bathed them in the river too. Here's a couple of younguns in the mud pit.

Frankfurt to JFK New York Breakfast: Fresh Fruit Plate Fruit Yoghurt Grilled pork sausage with roasted tomato, sauteed mushrooms and roesti potato Light Meal: Appetizer: Marinated lobster with tomato couscous and balsamic reduction vinegar Entree: Halibut roulade with pinenut crumb, wilted spincah, salsa rosa Dessert: Soft center chocolate cake with orange ganache, vanilla sauce

Singapore to Frankfurt Germany Light Meal: Appetizer: Duck liver terrine with smoked duck breast, fig compote, baby lettuce and mustard dressing Main Course: Warm focaccia with roasted beef, tomato and sharp cheddar panini Dessert: Ginger creme brulee with assorted fruit salad Dinner: Canape: Satay with cucumber and spice peanut sauce Appetizer: Chilled malossol caviar Soup: Shredded dry scallop and crabmeat superior thick soup Salad: Caesar Salad Entree: Grilled marinated lamb chops with black peppercorn sauce, roasted vegetables and mashed potato Dessert: Warm pear frangipane flan with Macedonia nut ice cream with raspberry coulis

Hong Kong to Singapore - Lunch Appetizer: Malossol caviar with crabmeat salad Soup: Cream of asparagus soup garnished with Parmesan crisp Salad: Caesar salad Entree: Braised Short Rib of Beef with root vegetables and celeriac-pear puree Cheese Plate