Holly Moore

Just curious: such as? How many grease stains would you give their pastrami sandwich, for instance? ← Never had it. I would rate their breakfast 3 grease stains. And their cookies were one of the first to receive a coveted 5 grease stains.

I'm glad for David. Anyone who has put in the hours he has needs some time off. I disagree that Famous "blew," though I will be interested in what Cowan does with it. I'm a fan of Kibitz. But Famous 4th Street is/was an institution and did some things very well. Many of the people there are "institutions" too. And their chocolate chip cookies are the world-wide gold standard.

I've gotten two emails over the past week that Anthony Wayne may have closed. I'm hoping it may just be seasonal, though that hasn't been the case in the past. Can anyone confirm Anthony Wayne's status?

My problem with John's is way too much cheese. Throws off the balance of the sandwich. Good sandwich though. I rank Steve's No. 1. No. 2 is a tie between White House, Delessandro's and Silvio's out in Hatfield. Just a little greasy. That is too bad. White House must have been off their game. Usually White House does not hold back when it comes to grease.

Actually I view the Melrose as an extremely well run diner.

"Cole" or "Cull" ? If "cull" it just means you are buying the warriors, the ones who have lost a limb, usually a claw, in combat. Nothing to do with freshness or quality of the meat. As much as I admire a warrior, the claw meat is my favorite so I'd be loath to settle for a lefty or a righty.

Today's Inquirer included a special section - "Where We Live - South Philadelphia". Page two was a summary by Inquirer Food Critic Craig LaBan - a sentence or two on a bunch of South Philly restaurants. LeBan did ok. A nice little list for a relative newcomer to Philadelphia. But the omissions are glaring. Most obvious, the Melrose Diner, South Philadelphia's town square where the neighborhood comes together for breakfast. Others that should have made the cut: George's Sandwiches in the Italian Market, Carman's Country Kitchen, Plaza Garabaldi (as much as I like his favorite La Lupe, Plaza Garabaldi outcooks La Lupe by a mile), Marra's, Texas Wieners. Pat's and Gino's. Pat's may not build the best cheesesteak but they invented it and serve it with the most authentic South Philly 'tude. Geno's too is all about South Philadelphia.

Lombardi's Pizza on 18th Street, Philadelphia, along with much of the local neighborhood has been in an ongoing battle of sorts with condominium developers who purchased most of the buildings on that side of the block and plan to tear them down to build another Rittenhouse Square hi-rise. Looks like the developers have won. Surprise! For a while Lombardi's was looking around for a replacement location in Center City. Turns out that nowadays retail rents in Philadelphia are approaching New York City rents. So May 15 will be the last day for Lombardi's Philadelphia. I'll miss the place. One of Philadelphia's best pizza's. Ran circles around New York City's other coal oven pizza place with a Philadelphia outpose, Pietro's.

I'm glad you enjoyed your meal there, but PLEASE, don't think of this restaurant as even ONE of the finest restaurants. Capriccio is a throwback to the late 70's-early 80's days of fine dining. It is NOT indicitive of the Providence dining scene at all. ← That's the point that got me waxing way too philosophical. "Throwback" does not mean bad. I'm sure Providence, like any major city, has its share of sleek and trendy restaurants serving all the latest foods. But that doesn't mean that a restuarant which prepares it's style of cuisine extremely well using top quality ingredients and offers professional service including tableside preparation isn't an equally fine restaurant just because its cuisine is from another era. I have not done any other fine dining in Providence (I'm assuming New York System Hot Dogs and Stanley's don't rate as fine dining thereabouts), but have done quite a bit so elsewhere. I'd wager that while Capriccio is anything but avant garde it qualifies as one of Providence's best restaurants and believe it would do the same in most any city.

Greetings all. Please don't use this thread for setting up a Studio Kitchen dinner. That's what the ISO thread pinned to the top of the PA Forum is for. Thanks

Friends in Providence, naively hoping to wean me from grease and nitrates, ushered me off to Capriccio, one of Providence's finest restaurants - perhaps the finest. I had a great time. It was like stepping back fifty years in time and tagging along with my parents to the country club or a top north Jersey restaurant (in our case the Harbor or Llewellen Farms) to celebrate their anniversary. Service staff in dark suits or tuxedos. Table side service. Flambes. Tall back chairs. Piano Bar. Candle light and mirrors. A continental menu boasting dishes like Oysters Rockefeller, Tenderloin Strips Stroganoff, Steak Dianne, Chateaubriand Bernaise, Veal Oscar, Crepes Suzette - old friends long forgotten, not really missed, but so good to see again. Some modern dishes too and Capriccio's Italian heritage is well represented with pastas, scampi, and an assortment of veal dishes. But the hits for me, at least, were the menu items from the past. Service - impeccable. Little things like my water glass never more than three sips empty before being refilled. Table-side cooking - the maitre' d standing tall, mentoring his assistant standing at his side and whispering a suggestion about an overlooked ingredient. Around the table we had prosciutto and melon, oysters Rockefeller and lobster bisque for apps; Long Island duckling, tournedos Rossini, and a veal cordon bleu like special with crabmeat. All perfectly prepared. Alas the experience got me waxing way too philosophical. Progress has to be good, and chef's like Grant Achatz have taken me on wonderful adventures. But the cost has been the loss of wonderful dishes that nowadays would be laughed off the menu of most restaurants as boring and unimaginative. Whereas music's golden oldies are respected and revered, fining dining's blasts from the past are almost always scorned and rejected.

They seemed to have the crust down pat when I was there last week - but all I got was one slice, reheated.

Reservations need to be made the day of your meal. Best to call between 9 AM and 10 AM. Seating is catch as catch can. Depends on the time and what is available when you arrive. Either four of you around a smallish table, or four side by side at the counter. People seem to have a good time either way. Last Sunday they put a party of seven at the counter.

Two Red Boots Louisianna Style Pizza. It is like Popeye's got in the pizza business. This is not a chain though. Just someone who got creative with pizza. The basic tomato sauce has a cajun kick to it and topping possibilities include BBQ shrimp, crayfish, andouille, tasso, creole chicken and jalapeno. They also have blackened catfish and blackened chicken sandwiches served with cajun slaw, jambalaya plattter, and fried catfish. I just stopped in for a look, tried a basic slice. Very thick pizza crust, nicely cooked and I liked the hot tomato sauce. I'll be curious to try some of the other toppings. Not sure how crayfish will hold up at pizza oven temps. They are at 2104 Chestnut Street, open daily.

Just a reminder, this thread is for the discussion of The Book Book - interesting events and pairings of chefs and restaurants and a discussion of any events after the fact. Please use the ISO thread pinned at the top of the PA Forum if you are looking to find others to attend a specific meal with you. Thanks.

Maybe I can revive my "who wants to cook on a real restaurant range" scam. When I first got it, I'd throw parties and folks would offer to do all the cooking cause they wanted to try out a professional stove. Best parties ever. All I had to do was a bit of clean up afterwards.

This is embarrassing, but I'm looking for one for a while, hence my post. Running three businesses right now so shopping and cooking have become a low priority and I'm getting tired of carry-out/delivery/slopping food together.

Anyone have any experience with local personal chefs that come to one's home, cook up a supply of meals and then depart gently into the night?

Thanks for the clarification, and the reassurance that I am not approaching senility, not that there's anything wrong with senility.

Went back today for the Oyster Poor Boy. Excellent. Lots of oysters, perfectly cooked. Came with fries and slaw. Slaw was mild, ok. Had the fries with no seasoning. Better. But this time they were shoestring cut. Now I'm wondering if I was looking at the fries with wishful eyes, hoping they were cut larger, or if the heavy seasoning last time doubled the appearance of the fries' size.

Rick Nichols beat me to mentioning Grace Tavern on Grays Ferry at South (See the PA Forum Media Digest). I was there last week and had an excellent Jambalaya. Huge portion for something like $10 washed down by sour ale that went surprising well with the Jambalaya. Also tried a side order of fries. They are twice fried, like Monk's (Monks owner Tom Peters is one of the partners in Grace Tavern) but, hallelujah, they are not shoe string cut. Considerably thicker - just the way I prefer them. When Monk's first opened I convinced Tom to switch from shoestring to a 1/4 inch cut fried similar to the Belgian fry. Lasted all of two days. Customers overwhelmingly wanted shoestrings. Next time I order the fries at Grace Tavern, though, I'll order them just with salt, not the spice mix that normally comes with them.

Thanks to Herb Lau for taking on the responsibilities of a Media Digest for eGullet's Pennsylvania Forum. Herb is starting with the major Philadelphia and Pittsburg papers and will be expanding to other media over time. Media are encouraged to contact Herb directly with items they would like Herb to cover in the digest. The digest is for the media summary only. If you would like to discuss any topics covered here please start a thread in the general Pennsylvania Forum. Thanks.

Are there many variations on shrimp and grits? Most commonly I've had it where the shrimp is in a "gravy" and served on top of a plate of grits. But I've also had a version that was more like shrimp scampi, with the shrimp pan sauteed with butter and garlic and served along side the grits.

Had lunch at the Balkan Express today. It was great. Especially as I was semi-rain soaked. Needed this kind of food. I started with the a cup of the Serbian Bean Soup. The owner smokes his own meats and this was jam packed. Good smokey flavor to the broth, too. Then on to a lunch special, Sauerkraut Caserole. As the name implies, the base is sauerkraut, again made from scratch ie cabbage, and very mild. No bite at all, which is the way I prefer sauerkraut. More of the same smoked meats. Again, plenty of meat and a hearty portion. I managed about 3/4s of it. Finally dessert - an Ottoman version of the baked apple. The core is filled with a chocolated baklava like blend of nuts and raisins. It was topped with canned whipped cream and a red cherry - not needed and commercialized it. But a good dessert. The dinner menu looks great. They serve dinner Wednesday thru Saturday. All manner of Balkan fare - more pork dishes than anything else but beef and and a single seafood special. I think they do a few other specials - for sure on Fridays - maybe the rest of the week too (Open for dinner Wed - Sat). I just saw Aliwak's write-up above - my experiences so far have all been for lunch and breakfast and I've been very happy and very satisfied. Could be they were just starting up their dinner service and didn't have it all together. Anyway I'll be giving dinner a try soon. The Balkan Express reminds me of some of the start-ups during the Restaurant Renaisance of the late 70s. It is very mom and pop - in fact mom and pop do most of the cooking. None of the polish of a typical 21st Century restaurant opening. Somewhat "homey," informal service. All of which is fine by me. In fact I like it that way.

and here is a picture of the Superdawg hot dog "restaurant veritae" as it arrived on the tray, after it was removed from the box: Still ate great.