herbacidal

dammit, i missed that one when i was in bejing! sounds like i was parallel to it, on one of the streets south of it. okay, one more adventure for my next beijing trip.

yea, i liked pizza hut in hong kong, though that was 10 years ago. i would expect their japanese branches to be pretty good as well. much better than pizza hut stateside. i think they the big conglomerates put much more effort into their locations abroad. or maybe it's better b/c it's not seen as lowly a job for the help as it is in the US. I've been to KFC, Popeye's, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's in China. Sorry for the tangent.

yea, rich's pushing delorenzo's plus the nyc boards talking about difara's makes me want to try a showdown.

Jeez, is it that bad? Don't always get to choose everywhere I get to eat. But it's bad enough that you're comparing me to Shoeless Joe? Wow, that hurts.

schielke, you changed your avatar! i liked the old debonair you better!

bella doesn't have a private room. their dining room is composed of 2 connected rooms side by side , 1 slightly smaller. I imagine they would just give you 1 of them. white dog cafe's private room may be better. however, if your date coincides with penn's graduation, or just happens to have numerous penn folk in early for whatever reason, it is just as likely that they wil not be willing to accomodate you because they are likely to fill themselves with university folk in smaller groups. i'd suggest narrowing your dates down to 2, and restaurants to 3. and then just making the calls.

yea, i hear you. the hours at john's are what's keeping me from stopping by. are they open on the weekend for lunch? as far as tony luke's, i've been here all my life, went for the first time a few weeks ago. chicken cutlet with spinach. man, that was a sandwich. polished off the whole thing despite having just eaten 2 filet o fishes (Big Yellow Arches) half an hour before. i had something at their 18th st. location a few years ago, but it was nowhere near as memorable or tast.

yea, been meaning to try it myself. the one time i got a chance, was in the evening, and i just wanted a slice or 2. evidently the only do slices during the day. not a completely disagreeble business decision, but sucked for me.

really? the one time i went there service was good. it was in the first month or so they were open, possible things have changed drastically. but your service policy descriptions would make me not want to go as well.

Okay in May, I'm assuming a weeknight? Any Starr place (other than Tangerine, there's L'Ange Bleu, Pod, Morimoto, Buddakan, Alma de Cuba, Continental) would fit as far as vibe. I do think for 20 you'd prefer a private room, and I'm not sure how funky the private room would be. Alma de Cuba comes to mind as the best fit among the Starr choices, because I expect he would have kept the banquet room intact from when it was Le Colonial with cosmetic changes. More info anyone? Cuban fusion, Douglas Rodriguez from Manhattan's Chicama and Pipa (now finito??) and Ola/Ole is the chef figurehead, Jose Garces runs it on a day to day. Continuing on the private room route... actually I can't, because I haven't seen enough of them. Okay fun vibe, hopefully you'll find a good fit. Trust, Los Catrines (Tequila's name in their new location), Adriatica. Fork and Novelty would probably also be quite good. NOTE: never really eaten at Trust, nor Fork, nor Adriatica, nor any of the Starr places except Morimoto) Based on the places you called, I'd go with Novelty, Alma de Cuba, Trust, or Adriatica as the best balance between vibe, food, and functionality of space. Feel free to give more qualifiers. PM if necessary.

Hey since Craig Laban's Inqurer article, has anyone been to John's for a cheesesteak? Whaddya think? Better than the rest? Laban's article especially notable because he chose a no-name place as top dog. takes guts, but also might have been done to gain more notoriety.

tacconelli's is not within the central part of philly. in that respect it is somewhat hard. it is still probably no more than a 20 minute drive from penn by way of 676 and I-95 though. never actually been there or to new haven though, so rich and katie and others can fill in any blanks. you call ahead of time and order your own dough. when you get there and get ahold of your pizza you eat it there standing in the street (wintertime probably not so good to do this) the goodness won't last long enough for you to take it back to the house/other location. others can elaborate on toppings, but i would think tomato pie would be the choice. delorenzo's in trenton is supposedly better, but also never been. top tomato on 11th and walnut is a recent entry into the local pizza game, and by all accounts it is well liked. others with some local name include la fourno on south around 6th, lorenzo and sons on south at 3rd. i understand the lombardi's on 18th (offshoot of manhattan location) isn't as good, nor are the pietro's at 2nd and south and 17th and walnut. that's just about it for the non-franchises. hmm, i should try some of these pizzas i guess. all this useless knowledge.

i beg to differ. i've been following the debate with much interest. i would much rather listen to the opinions of intelligent individuals who have educated themselves on a topic than to academians purported to be experts on that topic. I think they bring much more to the table. i'm waiting for the right opportunity to make parallels to chinese food, culture, and immigration to the U.S.

my dad made an interesting comment the other night that applies here: chicken in the US tends to have lots of meat, but no flavor. chicken in China tends to have tons of flavor but no meat. (if you've ever seen those chickens running around, you'll understand. any of the chickens I've seen in the US are probably at least twice the size of one from China.) Raised for size, I imagine because sold by the pound. But in China, not enough healthy stuff+nutritional enhancements to grow the chickens as much. free range chicken like D'Artagnan is probably the happy medium, but I've never seen them. Never tasted them either, to my knowledge. I should actually try some D'Artagnan chicken to actually see what it's like. Of course, that would necessitate me actually ordering chicken when I'm in a restaurant, as I tend to try the more interesting meats or a fish.

yea, guess i should have added to my post. i have no problem with him not being there if the food is up to snuff. if not, more blame on him. but i don't think many of the customers would feel the same. they want to see him there b/c of that association. just a matter of expectations, raised b/c of the hype and name choice. unrealistic, but i think people have unrealistic expectations often.

june, july or august? very doable.

yea, i thought that was a problem when he decided to call it morimoto. that he would be too closely tied to it by the customers. alma de cuba is always called douglas rodriguez's place, yet i am pretty sure he is rarely there, probably at most once a week. i expect the #2 (jose garces?) to be holding things down day to day. if you end up going anyway, tell us how it goes.

you can get "ice cream bars" in asian grocery stores of taro. also, there's a sweet soup with taro chunks in it that some chinese restaurants use. i think somebody mentioned that above. i think is what i was referring to above. very tasty; like stews, it's better the more times you have to heat it (ie as leftovers).taro fries and gnocchi is what is interesting to me. sounds really neat.

nice article, holly. there's the tinge of familiarity, so it's possible i may have read it originally. at any rate, i'd since forgotten about it, so it's nice to re-read it.

a long time ago, i also used to frequent walt's. dingy little place, you reeked of everything when you left. as far as crabs in philly, the only place to really recommend is probably bonk's in the port richmond area. never been there myself, though i'm sure others can comment. dinardo's i get the feeling may not be up to par although the name is still pretty decent. others will have to elaborate since I've also never been. Bonk's on Citysearch

good job. i've been doing much the same with my travels. not nearly so extensive, as trips tend to be short. tended to be a combination of message boards, backed up with magazine and newspaper articles (which can be fine, if viewed in the right way), and restaurants' websites, etc. someday i hope to be able to comment on my dinings with the same level of clarity.

I was hoping to like Bella and I did. The most amusing part of the evening was when I saw the chef talking to the table next to me. Recognized her as being part of the same bar crowd I was a part of about 6 years ago, when I was at this particular bar 3-4 nights a week. Wish I knew then what a talented chef she was going to become. woulda had more to talk about. Anyway, tried it because wanted to go somewhere for the Dining out for AIDS benefit and heard good enough stuff about Bella, but also that business wasn't as good as could be. Thought I'd try and do my part. Although the entrance being a pair of shuttered doors was sorta awkward, it was probably a good idea, as far as keeping wind from rushing in. Great little lounge area up front, place I'd hang out in. Wandered back past bathrooms to the dining area, composed of a larger and a smaller room. Sat at a deuce in the middle of the room, not my preferred, but it'll do, especially if the house is packed. Got coffee, and dining partner (DP) commented on saucer and milk container. Former's center was raised so that any spillover coffee ran down to the side, so the cup wouldn't have to sit in a pool of coffee if spilled, as it did b/c knocking into table a few times. Very cool. Milk container was small clear vase, which I had seen before with flowers, so I wasn't as impressed, although it is still pretty cool. Didn't like the actual cup so much. Painted nice color, with words "lily espresso" on inside rim of cup. Visually nice enough, but I prefer being able to put a finger through the handle to hold the cup, and I couldn't here. Menu was very nicely designed, functionally. First courses, second courses, and nibbles, all on one side. The other side had the bar selections, which we decided not to imbibe. Especially impressed by first, second and nibble courses. Too often, people want to just try something, so a nibble is perfect. The nibbles were mostly vegetables, keeping it both cost-efficient and simpler for the kitchen, but very well thought out and executed. We chose 3 as appetizers: marinated beets, stuffed sage leaves, and octopus chimichurri. All were tasty. Wanted beets b/c I like beets (I lament that they're not part of Chinese cuisine). Had been marinated in a tangerine-tarragon sauce that give the beets a nice sour kick at the end that was hard to figure out. I couldn't tell there was any citrus, and actually thought it was marinated in some flavored vinegar concoction. The stuffed sage leaves were grilled, which suprised me. I expected them to be somewhat like stuffed grape leaves in Greek food. Pretty black and charred, but they didn't taste burnt at all. The pork inside was nice and tender without being mushy or anything like that at all. The octopus chimichurri was also tasty. I had thought the sauce was pesto or something, but we then realized it was tomatillo-based, being chimichurri. For entrees I had the pretzel cod with kale and potato discs while DP had the jerk swordfish with coconut rice and mango puree. Forgot that they were pretzels on top, I thought they were really thin croutons/bread chunks. Had to be reminded while I was finishing up the kale. The potato discs I would have probably have preferred thinner, more like potato chips. They were slightly dry. I liked the kale, may have been the first time I've had it. Nice texture, reminds me of broccoli rabe, which I ate last night. Didn't realize how salty cod is, unless there was additional salt layered on top. Haven't had it in some time, last time probably woulda been fish and chips, and that woulda been at least 4 years ago. Also doesn't keep its shape well, flaking and separting quite easily. Tasty regardless. Swordfish also tasty, the jerk seasoning was minimal. DP loved the mango, woulda probably drank it if it wa a sauce. Coconut rice was also nice, not too sweet. Small selection of vegetables of day was given with entrees. Mashed sweet potatoes, fried?? shitake mushrooms, and pureed beets. All tasty again. The mushrooms were the most interesting to us, like little mushroom chips. Very nice. Split a dessert of almond semifreddo, with a glass of porto. wish i could recall vintage. only 1 on menu though. very good flavor. semifreddo had flake of something or other (was told, since forgotten) in it for height. Sprinkled with powdered sugar, it was a nice beginning to the meal. The almond chunks were mixed in with the ice cream, which was nice. If it was too smooth, it might have been awkward, but the contrast was delightful. After the meal, we managed to have a great conversation with the owner, Ali Waks, who has posted before. A 32-year old restauranteur who has managed to jump through all the hoops and put out all the fires in order to establish such a fine place. Much props to her! I hope to stop back soon. Refer to website, bellaepicura.com for information. Okay, 'nuff said. Fingers tired. Must go now. Namaste.

never had it outside chinese food. been meaning to try it in hawaiian, poi and stuff. okay, that's next, try it in japanese. dovetails nicely with latest japanese food kick. before i ask nyc boards, any recommendations for places in nyc serving it, nimono and otherwise?

i like them as a fried cake like in dimsum. i like them in ice cream. i also like them as a dinner dish, cooked for a long time till mushy, with lap chong. I like them in a box, I like them with a fox.

wouldn't that just mean they were eating it for a thousand years without taking records?