herbacidal

Okay, so give me some options for the best place to eat just off I-87 north of NYC. Cheap, good solid food is what I'm looking for. No more than 5 minutes from the highway. This is meant to be a pit stop during a road trip. I imagine a good diner to be the best bet, but I would be happy to be hear of other options.

that's fine but everyone has to come up to greenport Long Island fot the pig roast. ← Sure, how about Monday?

In the Philadelphia Inquirer , Craig LaBan wanders through the South Jersey shore and finds how the culinary landscape has changed in reaction to the Atlantic City’s new, glitzy restaurants. Rick Nichols peeps out the headquarters and sole processing plant for Ernst A Illg Meats and finds a whole lotta family making German meats galore. Vance Lehmkuhl knocks in a run with Citizens Bank Park’s new vegetarian choices. In the Philadelphia Weekly , Lauren McCutcheon finds Meze , a new Mediterranean restaurant in South Philly with tasty food but service that needs a little more seasoning. Kirsten Henri shows a new spot for vegetarians both kosher and otherwise as Mama’s Vegetarian makes its debut. In the City Paper (Philadelphia), A.D. Amorosi spotlights Michael Schulson , chef behind Pod, as he makes his way into the TV food world via Go Ahead, Make My Dinner. while Carolyn Wyman extends last week’s blurb about Buy Fresh Buy Local a little more while looking into one event’s usage of Twinkies versus hometown’s Tastykakes. In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , Karin Welzel looks at Café Euro, and finds that its combination of simple fine dining and good burgers will rightfully appeal to a diverse dining public. Karin notes the continued dominance of shrimp since it leaped over canned tuna in 2001 as America’s seafood of choice. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette , Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher tastes some great sparkling wines as cava gets sampled before a few recommendations are made. Suzanne Martinson goes out of town and checks up on Public owned and designed by graduates of Noirth Allegheny High School Brad and Adam Farmerie. Gretchen McKay shows off one more feather in Bellevue’s cap as Laughing Lizard is one of the latest additions to the tiny town along the Ohio River.

Do you mean 30th Street Station? And if so, which Carribean truck, Denise's (which I think is the pink one) or the other one in the middle of the block?

I think those of us who know James somewhat know that he is joking. I do think there is a much broader acceptance of and willingness to try sushi here on the East Coast, at least in Philadelphia, than I recall was here a decade ago.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer , Craig LaBan wanders through Atlantic City as the East Coast’s gambling capital strut their culinary chops Rick Nichols shows how truly diverse South Philly has become as the sacred tricorner of Passyunk, Federal and Ninth Streets now hosts more than just cheesesteaks. Catherine Quillman scopes the scene at a new Malvern BYOB, Alba, and finds a little slice of new American dining. In the Philadelphia Weekly , Lauren McCutcheon ventures into real Philly to find Mercer Café , a Port Richmond neighborhood boite of the type everybody loves. Kirsten Henri shows off the Buy Fresh Buy Local events showing off all the bountiful goodness the Keystone State has to offer. Neil Ferguson checks into a favorite old-school old man bars as he raids Friendly Lounge. In the City Paper (Philadelphia), Juliet Fletcher peeps the creative vegan dynamo behind Star Bars as Mary Rakowski contemplates vegan world domination while Elisa Ludwig tries out Ants Pants and proclaims it the shiznit. In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , Kimberly Palmiero samples Martini’s Woodfired as real barbeque, haute and otherwise, continues its inroads into parts of the United States without Southern drawls. Karin Welzel recommends salads as entrees as one way to eat well and stay cool in the summertime, while the rest of the staff is nice enough to provide some sample recipes from Barbara Scott-Goodman’s book, The Beach House Cookbook. In the Pittsburgh Post Gazette , Gretchen McKay shows off one more feather in Bellevue’s cap as Laughing Lizard is one of the latest additions to the tiny town along the Ohio River. Suzanne Martinson talks with Tony and Becky Pais , owners of the mini-empire of restaurants Baum Vivant, Café Zinho, and Café Zao. In the Morning Call (Allentown), Sylvia Lawler KimChee, a restaurant offering authentic Korean cuisine out of a bare-bones luncheonette space.

Well then I was wrong about him not using someone for PR. Good thing I wasn't doing anything more than speculating. He may not have lacked exposure; in fact, he no doubt got way more than anyone else in Chinatown. Whether it was the right kind for him and the restaurant is another thing. It may have been more than he wasn't in the right position to take advantage of the particiular kind of exposure and market demographics to which the restaurant was introduced. As I said, the tours made him an unofficial ambassador for Chinatown, and for that, I thank him tremendously.

I'm not suprised he's closing. I never got the impression he built a good team/organization to enable longer-term success. I don't think he uses a PR person. I don't think he put together a good FOH and BOH. He does have great marketing and PR instincts, but he was the guy doing everything. The Watermelon Carving Board and other ideas were great PR stunts, but they were probably slightly misguided and better for Chinatown than the restaurant. I don't think that kind of restaurant serving food with that style of service and pricepoint can survive in Chinatown. Too many people will just lump the food together with what they're familar with based on their past experiences with Chinatowns here and elsewhere. Simultaneously, since he didn't put together a solid cooking staff and service staff, he wasn't able to have an appropriate 2-star restaurant elsewhere. But the man is a fabulous ambassador for Chinatown. My impression overall was that the only way he was able to keep the restaurant together was with bungee cords and chewing gum.

As far as convenience stores in the US, I can't say that any are better than Wawa. Hmm, I didn't know that all of those were former Wawas, but it makes sense given their closings lately. I believe the other CC locations for Wawas are at: 20th and Locust 17th and Arch

You can also go to the Seabras in Perth Amboy. They're related, but under separate management: different, semi-warring siblings, as I understand it.

My friend has offered to take me there. Evan, tell me how it goes. Your and Greg's reviews will be useful scouting reports.

I'm a Wawa fan. And love their coffee. I'll head there for a quick breakfast long before I darken the drive-thru of any fast food joint, and their hoagies are some fantastically reliable eats from lunchtime to late-night. However, I find the hot sandwiches disappointing. Some of them profoundly so. Is it just me? Increasingly, I don't have to do without when travelling, what with their expansion into MD/VA. I just wish there were more Wawas in the city. ← There definitely should be more Wawas around, including downtown. But from a business standpoint, I can see why they don't have more. Too many other minimarts around. They've been closing their less profitable locations around the area already, probably fueling their expansion into MD . VA and parts beyond. I love their coffee too. I do think their hot sandwiches are respectable. Their meatball was solid, the last time I ate it having been years ago. Although I do prefer the McD's breakfast despite liking their coffee less. Not so much a fan of their hoagies, although I'm not so much a fan of hoagies. My feeling now is if I do have to have one, it should be nothing less than a Primo's.

Sweet Lucy's in the Northeast, which has since moved into its own more permanent digs. There's a thread around here about them somewhere.

I still think Copa is as good as it ever was, for my purposes. The 15th St. one anyway. Solid burgers 'n stuff, stiff drinks. I've never had bad service there, but maybe I missed that waitress.

He did? Hmm. Who's there now? Where's he now?

Yeah, I have seen that kind of setting before. I used to work as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant in San Diego. The owner was a Chinese-French later immigrated to America. It may be an European-oriented set up? The idea is to serve the appertizers or salad - yeah, "Chinese" chicken salad - to the customer, then remove the small plate on the top. The big dinner plate will be used for the main course. Must be cultural differences. In Hong Kong you will not find settings like this. Mostly in restaurants in Hong Kong, they give you a small bowl (with a Chinese ceramic spoon). I mean really "small". The size of what Americans consider "a cup". No plate at all. The modern ones now provide a small plate and then put the small bowl on top. You are not supposed to scoop your food on the plate. The plate is for "holding bones" only! A bit more courteous than spitting on top of the table cloth. ← I doubt it's cultural differences as much as greater attention to detail in Hong Kong and also, at any place higher end, a need to give you more for your money. So you get more things per person, as well as people doing more for you and generally more attentive. Of course, I also think that service could have ben improved at the higher-end places I was at, although they were in Guangzhou, not HK. Anyway, the two plate thing is probably an extension of what some places did/do for banquets (at least here in Philly), with removal of the top plate after one of the courses, with its bones, sauces, etc.

The one on Route 70 West is called Taco House, it's just after the Goodwill Store and before the Benihana's.

Cappy is a guy. Yea, I remember it being something related to nuns as well. Kate's Place will be/is geared towards low-income women, set up and adminstered probably by the nuns who owned it before.

I wasn't talking about backyard BBQ, I was talking about soul food. And I also don't have a smoker nor am I into doing it up that way, and I know I would do worse at home.

That'd be my own first choice, but as much as anything I'd like to hear people just throw stuff out there. No I haven't tried any of those places. I've heard of a few, but only because Rich Pawlak mentioned a few of them in relation to an article he wrote. Been meaning to, but still haven't yet.

Friday I stopped in at Buffalo Bill's BBQ in Sicklerville, NJ. menu at www.yourhometownpages.com (code#0132) I had some really good buffalo wings. Tender, not too much breading, HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING Sadly, I won't be in that area much anymore or I'd like to try a few more things there. There's also a soul food joint in the same plaza that I was told was very good, by the same person who told me about Buffalo Bill's. Also stopped by Dinic's on 168 @ Kings Highway in Mt Ephraim(?) last Monday. Roast pork with rabe and sharp prov was good, but my complaint here is the same as with a lot of sandwiches, the meat's not mixed together with the other ingredients. Tasty sandwich anyway. Anyway, other than that, there's been a really cool emergence of tacquerias around my part of South Jersey. Mexico Lindo @ 36th and Federal in Camden. There's 2 other ones whose names I can't remember, one on Route 70 West in Pennsauken, in the shopping center with Dunkin Donuts just east of the Benihana's, and another on Westfield Avenue a few blocks east of Browning Road. Anyone else???

A little birdie shouts from the mountaintops about your hush puppies, so methinks everyone in attendance would be happiest if you made them.

I must disagree with Roony and Eff about Petit 4's wedding cakes. We had one for a wedding I catered 3-5 years back and all the staff thought both taste and texture could have been better. Wish I remember more specifics otherwise. That said, it's entirely possible they are significantly better now.

I popped in on Alma last Wednesday and it was packed, not suprisingly, as I expect it to be one of the most popular CCS locales.

As you mentioned, Paul, SBa is a good place to start. There's other sources of borrowing that I'm fully confident you know about. Look into extended credit terms from suppliers also. I'm pretty sure that all lenders will want you to have 20% minimum of your own money invested in the business, "skin in the game".