herbacidal

Thanks, their own website mentions a change in focus to the NYC outpost, but not about the actual closing of the original. That article is only accessible to subscribers, by the way.

the Philadelphia Inquirer Craig Laban pops in on Estia. Rick Nichols visits Trenton’s other burg and finds Blue Danube. Coffee travels through the world’s many cultures before settling in at the city’s coffeehouses galore. Philadelphia Weekly Kirsten Henri checks out the classic Italian trattoria that opened on Sansom Street in 2005, Gioia Mia. Neil Ferguson travels to Conshohocken only to be letdown by Carol’s Place. Kirsten Henri checks out a hookah at Shouk. City Paper Philadelphia Maxine Keyster visits Mio Sogno as chef Joe Polutro brings back old South Philly. Elisa Ludwig wanders into the latest neighborhood center for alcohol abuse, the Sidecar Bar & Grille. Gary Kramer finds his Top 5 Small Plate Places full of tasty treats. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Bruce May highlights a personal favorite, bourbons and visits the Old Rip Van Winkle family of bourbons. Elizabeth Downer highlights the latest comfort food made good as grits becomes trendy north of the Mason-Dixon line. Pittsburgh Tribune Karin Welzel finds a haven of seafood amidst the city of three rivers as Rico’s Restaurant continues its tueleage under longtime chef Dennis DeLuca. Karin Welzel teaches us how to make tasty vegetables and grains during this season of sacrifice. Morning Call Allentown Susan Gottscchall finds the Fairways Tavern & Grille not quite as tasty as can be.

Nah, that tour is a little longer, at least a 7day, 6nighter. It could be done Hollywood style, a la celebrity-home tour. "See, when Katie worked there, it was actually a restaurant. And now we move on from Pompano Grille, to the next stage of her career..."

The one I went to, wherever it was, ye those many moons ago, I thought it wasn't good enough, considering it was (trying to be (in my estimation) a step up from McDonald's.

Hey, I resemble that remark. I even am flattered. But I was so born. Just not in snyc with the music. Too busy enjoying my thumb and my diapers. Or maybe that was the other way around.

I'd very much like to see an upscale buffet in NYC or Philly, similar to those they have abroad (I'm thinking of Hong Kong and major hotels in cities in China, although I believe there are more than a few in HK that exist outside of hotels; I wonder if they exist outside of Asia.) I suspect they do exist here in the US only in hotels (Aquavit was a suprise in this respect, I'll have to visit) and will probably not emerge outside because they do suffer from a "brand image" point of view because of all the so-so buffets for the masses, in the same way that one of the obstacles the better Chinese restaurants have to wider respectability and gourmet status is the many, many Chinese takeout and delivery joints that dot the urban and suburban parts of the (and rural??) United States.

Just wondering, but is the original Parisian branch closed?

Does that mean that the rapidly aging bottle of Kikkoman in the back of my fridge is worth consuming? ← Definitely. I double dare you.

Let me back philadining up and say that Katie does not work for PLCB. She is most definitely not a Trojan shill. As mentioned, no one is arguing that a state run system is superior, either for liquor and alcohol or anything else. Personally I do feel in some cases and industries, I would say that may be true. But that argument will be made by me in person and not here. I read sentiment on this thread to be saying: BYOB's are the very well-received byproduct of having a state system that is set up as it is. The less well-received results include: prices that were out of line with prices in neighboring areas service that often was not the most customer-friendly and random others I can't think of right now And the two less well-received results mentioned above have been drastically improved in recent years, which is of course part of the current praise given towards the PLCB. We do need to distinguish between a state-run system and an expensive liquor license system. They are not necessarily one and the same, although in this case they are to an extent. If my information is up to date (which may well be false) NJ liquor licenses are approximately 10 times as expensive as what I believe the current Philadelphia County liquor license price is, approximately $65,000. IMHO, they're the reason behind the BYOB growth in South Jersey, and also the reason why any restaurant that does have a liquor license is huge compared to a BYOB, even more so than in Philly. Can Rich or anyone else give an accurate statement as to the current NJ license price?

Herbacidal maybe its a goose egg but have you checked the new asian supermarket near your office? They have lots of stuff, including a great bakery section (although its too much MSG for my brain). I can also check TJ here in the burbs - my wife is there at least once a week and I can have her look for you. Evan ← Yea, been there. Bakery is solid. I like the lunch counter thing too. Offers a nice contrast to Han Ah Reum.

Yea, I should've thought about Nuts to You. I have to remember to pop in their Walnut St. location next time.

1. Because she writes about just about every significant new place that opens. So it's hard to see what leeway she's exercising. 2. If you want to be of use as a critic (of anything), I don't see how you can post only favorable reviews. How can anyone else gague their tastes against yours if they don't know what you don't like, and why? (I think this goes even for posters on message boards, let alone pros like AS.) And don't you sometimes (often?) find unfavorable reviews to be even more useful than favorable ones? ← 1. That doesn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to leave some out. Just because her selection of restaurants includes all the hot/cool/important/new/whatever places doesn't mean she should be required to comment on all of them. 2. There's some merit to this, but that doesn't mean that she should be drawn and quartered for not giving out negative reviews. While they would add and strengthen her overall credibility, their relative paucity just means that she is less of a voice than she might be otherwise. For my purposes, still one voice out of many that I listen to. Yes, I sometimes find the unfavorable reviews useful in their own way. But I can't criticize anyone for not posting/publishing them. At least not anyone who is not making a direct profit off the posting/publishing. I have little doubt her emails and the reviews help her get more writing assignments, but that's indirectly profiting in my mind. As opposed to a certain magazine which only seems to publish positive reviews of restaurants in the Philadelphia area, yet accepts advertisements for many different things including restaurants. I'm not personally put off by this, the business being what it is. But I'd prefer it were different. Perhaps this should be split off into a separate thread.

But only real players think of that and are willing to carry chess pieces around. Most people just have the nice board out on the table so it looks nice.

I knew I left something out. I fourth you, Greg.

Celebre's is a place I definitely want to try. I've never thought of there being a Philly style pizza in the same way that there are several superb Philly sandwiches and Philly-style sandwiches. Late-night stuff downtown isn't what I would call horrible, but late night "street food" downtown isn't as good as what I've seen in Hong Kong and NYC. However, that's an unfair comparison, and I've always told people that Philly is not to be compared to those "international cities". Any further comments on this deserve to be in another thread.

Hmm, I'd say an hour isn't enough because any household I've been in has usually cooked it at least two, and I have the (perhaps false) childhood memory of it being cooked for at least 3-5. That said, cooking it with stock and water mixed might reduce the necessary cooking time. Keep in mind, I don't cook very much. Yes, it's a major character flaw. Also, do you mean 10 parts liquid, 1 part rice, plus whatever ingredients you choose?

I post about some of my meals. I don't post about others. Why isn't she allowed the same leeway?

I'll agree entirely. The economics of it are entirely valid, and reflect my own past experiences. I can't say I've met nearly as many waitstaff as passionate about food and wine as Katie has, but I have no doubt they're around. This I'll also agree with, although I'd say that I wouldn't doubt that this might be next on the agenda. If I were fixing the PLCB, I would most definitely fix the consumer end first. Sales may or may not have a greater chance of increasing through changes in the business & restaurant area than the consumer end, but the changes in the consumer end are worth far far more in terms of positive public relations, and possibly political capital as well. Let's hope that Mr. Newman and others know that this is the next area ripe for improvement, and I wouldn't doubt increased sales as well. I feel the same way. Currently, I prefer BYOBs, primarily because of cost considerations. Down the road, I may change (much like young Democrats often change into older Republicans, so the joke goes.) That's also why I think the number of restaurants and bars that allow smoking in any given geographic area should be equal to the number that do not. Or perhaps the percentages should be based on the percentage of the national population that smokes vs. those that do not. In the long run, the market should decide. But that's just my opinion and an entirely different issue.

Hmm, maybe it's not a generally good chain. Maybe one of their outposts is really good (for whatever reason) and the others mostly suck for different reasons.

The original NY thread said TJ's had them, then stopped carrying them. Greg, how recent have you spotted them there? I suppose that will give me another reason to stop by when I can. Hot chocolate and wasabi cashews.

PW originally bought the kosher caterer A Catered Affair (I think that was the name), and I because its service standards weren't as high as PW at the time, was trying to use that to build up its kosher division. Along with the purchase, they got their separate building.

I hope it's not one of those cases where the farthest outposts of a generally good chain suffer because of their distance. The Clifton Heights and Glen Mills ones are the only locations in PA in the area, although their only NJ location is on 168 in Mt. Ephraim relatively close to me.

Or wasabi nuts, for that matter? somebody mentioned them in a NY thread in a Trader Joes and also a ShopRite, but has anyone seen them around here?

Well, that's what I understood from talking to one of my former catering compadres a few weeks ago. It's possible her info is older than yours. How was their service and food?

That makes sense historically, and also seems to jive with what I've seen through the years on campuses.