Holly Moore

So where did you get the scrapple? I'm guessing either the Down Home Diner or the Melrose. Then again, Four Seasons used to scrape together their own, but not any more.

I don't recall any vendors roasting chestnuts in CC. Are there any?

Depth-of-field-o-phobic here, Jeff. I have a hard enough time figuring out which pair of glasses to put on when.

Not only that, they also will not take your name for a table if you walk in, so you're basically reduced to the 'hovering' or 'vulture' seating method, where you stand around and look at all the diners till it looks like one is getting up, then swoop in. Ugh. I realize it fits with their 'snack bar', small plate, in-and-out method, but it makes it impossible to plan to go there. Which stinks, because I was there on Friday and the food was fantastic. The wasabi pea-crusted apple was particularly great. edit: I guess I should say 'supposedly they will not take your name', since I heard that secondhand. ← Since a space as grand as Snack Bar probably has a comfy waiting area, such strict adherance to a "No Reservation Policy" is not all that heinous.

20th and Rittenhouse

Country Fried Tempeh is so wrong. Especially served along side that great looking bowl of Brisket Breakfast with poached eggs afloat. It was good seeing Mary Macs again. That you got the heads up from a church and then shared a table with the pastor and some of the congregation was neat and the highlight of the show for me. Got a new fried chicken place to eat too, though I will have to compare it with Busy Bee, one of my gold standards for fried chicken.

Nothing against White Castle, and it was a sad day when they pulled out of the Delaware Valley, but if I were that deep into Jersey in search of burgers I'd keep driving to White Manna. Then again, no reason not to stop at White Castle on the way to pick up a few to quench the hunger pangs on the way to White Manna.

That's grounds for promotion, not banishment. I get to Nashville every couple of weeks where there is a White Castle way too close to my hotel. I usually head to the airport with a couple of double bacon cheese burgers, a bang of onion rings and a chocolate shake keeping me company. So far enterprise has been sufficiently tactful to not complain about the greasy steering wheel.

My approach to fraternity Hell Week was to get totally drunk just before it started. Not a great idea. Long story short - we were herded and locked into a room that, fortunately, had windows. Not unsurprisingly, after an hour or so I became rather sick. With access to a toilet bowl blocked, I chose a window. As luck would have it, one of my fellow initiates was Japanese. As I started, pardon the expression, heaving, Hiroshi began to massage my back. Wow! Made getting drunk even more worthwile. My most enjoyable heaving ever. Turns out there is a festival in Japan where men go on an eating binge - for a day I think. There is a buddy system. As one reaches his limits, he heads outside with his buddy. The buddy massages his friend's back as his friend purges in preparation for more feasting. More technique than the remedy you requested, but there have been many occasions since that I have looked over my shoulder in hopes of spotting Hiroshi.

Not necessarily in that order. Was out of town yesterday so didn't get a chance to see the Philadelphia segment until earlier this evening. I thought the city came off great. Also Chris seemed much more comfortable this time than in the pilot which makes sense. A lot less stress when it is not the first time and the show has been sold. My favorite segment - Steve's, but liked them all. Didn't realize there were other Bitar's. My TiVo's set for a season pass. Looking forward to them all.

This has come up a couple of times in the Pennsylvania forum, but my suspicion is that there are a disproportionate number of new Italian restaurant openings in most major cities. Why? Two reasons come to mind. Italian cuisine is healthy and it tastes good, most people enjoy it. Has to be more than that. In Philadelphia it seems that every other new upscale restaurant is Italian. Maybe more. Are there that many Italian chefs looking for kitchens? Is there such a great consumer demand for Italian over all other cuisines? Is it that it is a relatively simple cuisine in which to excel?

Thanks, any idea of hours? Too late for today - I ended up at Rotier's. But I'll be back in two weeks, so maybe then.

Here I am in Nashville and nowhere can I find a phone number or a listing of Martin's Dixieland BBQ's hours. Doesn't mean it isn't here or in the blog somewhere but I can't find it.

Hope somehow you can still give Bowen's its props on the segment. They'll be back.

My favorite Mrs. Bowen story is the time she chased the mayor of Charleston out of the oyster room because he was just meeting and greeting and not eating. I'm confident that, with the help of Citadel cadets and locals, Bowens Island no matter how sterile it is upon opening will, over time, evolve to its former glory.

Started the morning off with an email that Bowen's Island burned to the ground over the weekend. All the history that was Bowen's Island is gone, but the people and the tradition have survived and will rebuild. Here's the story.

Like Project Runway, this show is most likely already taped. Too expensive to keep all those people around for a week between shows. And no need since there is no audience voting. Get a feeling someone from Top Chef has been reading the Top Chef 1 eGullet thread. Tom Coliccchio made a big point of stressing that he is a judge and not a mentor. Since Tom is stricklhy a judge, maybe Top Chef should bring back Stephen as a Tim-like mentor. That would be good television.

Got me wondering. If someone is totally bald by choice or my nature and works in a commercial kitchen must that person wear a hat?

Any cake?

To stay - the Indigo Inn. A few antiques in the room, but otherwise funky and a great courtyard. Excellent location, too. Food. Bowen's Island. I repeat Bowen's Island. If fresh is the criteria - the oysters are gathered that afternoon. Totally unique - no place like it anywhere. Just bring a change of clothes and a couple of band-aids.

At the start, when Bobby was talking about how popular the cheesesteak is in Philadelphia, all the signs read "Philly Cheesesteak." Obviously that portion was taped in NYC. The cheesesteak purist in me was offended. First Bobby then Tony Jr. gunked up their cheesesteaks. Broccoli rabe, hot red peppers, and aged provolone for Tony and Cuban and jalapeno peppers, sauteed mushrooms, caramalized onions and a bechamel based provolone version of Whiz for Bobby. Tony Jr. had started out doing a whiz with, but got nervous when he saw Bobby's version. Would have been more interesting if Tony Jr. hadn't wussed out, going with the embellishments. I want to believe that a whiz with, on its own, could have kicked Bobby's ass. Both sandwiches did look highly edible though. The judges were Ben Franklin and the Food Editor of Philadelphia Magazine. It was a "blind tasting." Let's see - one sandwich had broccoli rabe and the other sandwich had a bechamel based provolone sauce. Breaths there a Philadelphian who, without even tasting the sandwiches, wouldn't know which came from the South Philly guy and which came from the fancy pants New York City celebrity chef? Nothing against the judges, who made the right choice, but a couple of dudes and wenches grabbed off the streets of South Philly would have been more credible, cheesesteak expertise wise. I never knew Tony Luke's baked their own bread. Impressive. Good thing for Bobby that he didn't go against Tony with a pork sandwich. Also good for Bobby that he didn't challenge Steve's Prince of Steaks for cheesesteaks. First time I saw the show. The hooded bicycle messenger delivering the challenge was overkill. Maybe, if Bobby immediately got into a car and drove to Philly, but instead he got a few days to mess around in the Food Network's test kitchen. Other than that though, a neat concept. Tony Jr. came off great as did Philadelphia.

Some of us Philadelphians ended up on the cutting room floor. My face time, Freddy and Tony's (Puerto Rican, the Barrio, and great food), was dropped - something about how the food came across on tape. So they say. But I'm thinking that with Chris and I looking so much alike, once Chris saw the segment he insisted that there was only room for one suave and debonair guy, and since it is his show.... Assuming nothing else has changed - Philadelphia places featured are Steve's Prince of Steaks, Johnny's Red Hot, Capo Giro (my picks), Mezza Luna and Bitars. Along with Freddy and Tony's, Sarcone's Deli is possibly scheduled for the show's website. My only real complaint is no Philadelphia hoagie, but others are probably thinking "Thank god, no Philadelphia hoagie." My original suggestion was Philadelphia's five basic food groups: cheesesteaks, hoagies, pork sandwiches, pretzels and scrapple. Not enough variety - the premise calls for sit down and ethnic eating too. Chris had a lot of fun doing this and that comes across well on camera. It's a neat approach and totally different from anything else on the Food Network.

More often than not I end up ordering the Bandeja Tipica Colombiana - which as I recall is a traditional worker's lunch, everything piled together. For trivia buffs, the reason Tierra Colombiana has both a Cuban and a Colombian menu is that the place used to be a Cuban restaurant. Then they were closed - some law irregularities I believe. The person who bought it already owned a Colombian restaurant. A deal was cut with the excellent Cuban chef. The new owner could bring in Colombian cuisine as long as the chef still got to cook Cuban too.

Episode Guide portion is not all that informative. Hope Food Network decides by next week. Neat clips though. And scary. Not sure which of us is the evil twin. My offer of a stunt double still stands.

Don't know it's name but vast quantites were consumed at a beach party in 1965, late on a balmy August evening, on a beach near Sandusky Ohio. I can still taste it. I might have gotten lucky. I don't remember. Nor did I remember the following morning.