Holly Moore

A foodie is an aspiring eater. Once a foodie forgoes the ritual and falderal, he/she evolves into an eater - the culinary equivalent of achieving Nirvana.

I'm thinking there might be work as your stunt double.

One thing that struck me while filming in Philadelphia, and as the pics above bear out, is that I could be Chris's heavier, eviler twin. Front and profile it's like looking at a mirror. Unfortunate for Chris. Maybe good for me if restaurants mistake me as the Food Network's Culinary Dectective.

Perhaps for serving lobster tail out of a lunch wagon to construction workers.

Stopped by today, around high noon when the temp was pushing the high 90s, to pick up some gelato for a friend soaking up chemo at Pennsylvania Hospital. Got three containers to go. The nice gelatorista put a few scoops of ice in one of their plastic take-out bags to keep the gelato from melting. Clever these Capogiro folk.

The reason for the few flavors is they make the custard fresh, throughout the day. The fewer the flavors the fresher the custard and the more special the special flavor.

Day one of the Philadelphia shoot is over. We hit Capogiro in the morning, Sarcone's Deli for a late lunch (one of the two cameras had to be replaced placing everything way behind schedule), on to Italian Market DiBruno Brothers and ended up at Mezza Luna. It was neat to get behind the scenes at Capogiro. The care they put in their gelatos starts there. Tried the yellow watermelon and grappa gelato - fantastic - which means of course it is the last yellow watermelon of the season. Stephanie and John went above and beyond - they had to stay a couple of hours late because of the broken camera and were facing a mega hour drive to Columbus Ohio. Sarcone's Deli was my personal mission. Had to show the LA types that a proper hoagie was more than, as one of them had put it, "just another cold cut sandwich." Sarcone's came through and they got some great footage. And lunch. DiBruno's - a camera man's delight. We were there to be pointed to one of the restaurants that uses their cheese. That restaurant was Mezza Luna. The dish - their ricotta gnocchi. The anticipation got me through the day. Really good though I had to fight the rest of the crew for each bite of gnocchi. Got a feeling we put Mezza Luna thouroughly in the weeds, but they handled it with grace. It was good seeing Chris Cognac again. Last time was in LA. He took for a night time helicopter patrol - when nothing else was going on he used the high power search light to point out restaurants I had to get to. He is taking to his role as host, though the way television works, he probably sees a lot more action in a day as a police officer than as a Food Network megastar. If you haven't been though it you don't realize how much time it takes to get the lighting, the sound, the framing just right. Then some more adjustments to make it just righter, and just righter still. Tomorrow - a very early breakfast of hot sausage, peppers and eggs chased down by a Philly Surf 'n Turf at Johnny's Hot on Delaware Avenue north of Spring Garden. Then onto Reading Terminal Market for a walk down the aisles. Finally a late lunch at Freddy and Tony's for mofongo, tostados, morcilla and more Puerto Rican eating. Figures I'd get my face time there - considering my Spanish pronunciation is just a shade better than my laughable attempts at French. Saturday - a lot of B-Roll around Philadelphia - the highlight being Chris jogging up the Art Museum steps two at a time. B Roll is the term we television types use for general footage establishing the feel, in this case, for Philadelphia. We end up at Steve's Prince of Steaks in the afternoon for a five grease stain cheesesteak. My biggest complaint about the shoot was the lack of ice until we got to Mezza Luna - it was that kind of hot, muggy day. Other than that a lot of fun, a bit of tedium, and a great glimpse into the work it takes to put a show together.

A friend returned from Newfoundland today and raved about the food. Especially the breaded and fried cod fish tongues. This friend is a military interrogator trained in deception. He likes to see how far he can string me along. I figured he was at it again until I searched the net and found a couple of recipes. But no pictures. So what's up with fried cod fish tongues? Anyone have a pic?

A solution I used before bringing a baker on staff was to outsource to local aspiring bakers - we developed a reputation for wonderful home cooked deserts that were truly home made.

My favorite cheesesteak place, for one - Steve's Prince of Steaks

My take on irate customers is that, either before the show or when one complains about how long the food is taking, he/she/they are told you're welcome to complain to Chef Ramsey if you like. The rest is improv. Ramsey did come across as a wuss - meekly wimpering "security," especially in front of the cooks at whom he has thrown plates, etc. More Ramsey-like would have been yelling at the woman to get the hell out of his kitchen and following her to the front door, yelling all the way.

Note to Katie. Tear up note to self. Three ears after a trip to Wynnorr is a bare minimum.

I only know that its half life exceeds that of plutonium.

Don't see how it could change for the better.

We interupt this thread for a brief message from the management. Please, no more "I can make it's" or "I can't make it's." They should all happen by PM or email. This thread is for planning and digestion. Thanks and we now return you to the Pizza Club.

Harry Oliveri's obituary in today's Inquirer includes a brief history of the cheesesteak which his brother, Pat, and he invented back in 1930. According to the Inquirer it took 22 years for cheese to be added. Cheez, actually. Cheez Whiz was the first to be used. It took a few more years for provolone and American to make it to the sandwich. The generally accepted truth has always been that provolone came first and that Cheeze Wiz was a mere pretender to the sandwich. Fie on everyone who promulgated this fallacy. Wiz rules and wiz wuz first.

Curious what you consider tourist trappy? I am guessing less than one in a hundred customers at the Varsity are tourists. Probably far fewer than that. I do not recommend Varsity for Chris, as it is way too famous. But if Chris hasn't eaten there he should just for the experience. The Varsity is no more a tourist trap than Pink's in LA, Superdawg in Chicago or even Pat's in Philadelphia. I see both Mary Mac's and the Varsity as Atlanta institutions, rich in heritage. I know that that is the case with the Varsity. Not current on Mary Mac's, but I suspect it still serves old Atlanta more than the tourist industry.

One of my businesses rents out mail boxes a la Mail Box Etc. As a result I have had the opportunity to deal with just about every branch and agency of law enforcement. DEA agents are, by far, the most scary. But they did look well fed.

I guess the Varsity is not all that off the beaten path. But you need to check it out even if you won't be shooting there. Beyond the Varsity, I'm partial to the Busy Bee Cafe (soul food/fried chicken), Mary Macs (the definitive old south tea room) and the Silver Skillet for Breakfast. If you want to be waited on my waitresses right out of Petticoat Junction, the Alparetta Diner is worth a visit. Good breakfast there, too. My knowledge, other than the Varsity, is about 5 years dated. A nice coincidence - all these places except the Alpharetta Diner are on HollyEats.

Summer eating officially starts for me when a Wynnoor Farm tractor hauls in the first burlap sacks of their corn which is picked within the hour. So it came to pass that last Sunday I sat down to a dinner of tiny ears with tiny niblets of steamed corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes. Wynnoor's harvest started last Sunday afternoon. Hooray. Corn's in and they promise an even better selection this coming weekend. Wynnoor Farms

Difference between reality and reality tv. A delivery shows up in the middle of turnout 1) do I tell the driver to either unload it himself or take it away, or 2) do I shut down the line to unload the truck? If I really need the delivery and it is the middle of turnout (ie the supplier is doing me a big favor) I offer the truck drive $50 or $100 to unload it or grab a dishwasher to two to take care of it. Wonder what happens if a supplier makes a mid-turnout delivery in one of Ramsey's real restaurants?

A little attention to the roll please - buttered and caramelized! Also is too much to ask that the next time you decide to make a lobster roll that you take the afternoon to drive to New England and pick up the proppah roll.

Anything that smells really good and makes your fellow passengers wish they had the foresight to pack their meals too. I find an Italian Hoagie from Sarcones in Philadelphia does the trick quite nicely.

There is a principle in business that as companies become dominant in their business sector they get lazy, take short-cuts, and compromise their product. This opens the door for smaller, more hungry companies to gain market share by offering a product better than what the fat cat company is now offering and similar in excellence or better than the product that earned the dominant company market leadership in the first place. Translated to how can all this benefit me - perhaps La Colombe in Philadelphia will decide to expand or at least open another store in Center City Philadelphia so that I can find a seat when I go there and not be driven to less crowded, now automated Starbucks.

I stopped by my handy Starbucks this afternoon. The "partner" taking my order seemed a bit down. When I asked why she pointed to the espresso machine. Rather to where the espresso machine used to be. Replacing the traditional machine, two automatic espresso makers. Why? Two reasons. Moves the line faster and some "partners" were getting carpal tunnel from turning the gizmo holding the ground espresso into the stream head. I'm sure Starbucks did all sorts of customer research. Unemotionally I might not be able to tell the difference though both the "partner" serving me and I bet I could. But all I could think of was a 7-11 espresso machine.