MarketStEl

Did your hosts send spies to my Christmas Eve gathering, or is this a case of great minds thinking alike?

I've tried it--this past fall, just after the Best Of... issue hit the stands--and it is damn good stuff. About the only thing I could wish for is sharp Provolone in addition to American cheese. The reason you don't see it in the online Best Of... section is that the cheesesteak award was bestowed as the result of a competition, the details of which were given in a two-page sidebar. Steaks were rated from no clogged arteries to five. Cosmi's was the only five-clogged-artery establishment; Tony Luke's received four, Pat's three and a half, Jim's three and Geno's two.

I am pleased to report that, even though the Patriots did win, it was not a typical Super Bowl ass-whupping--the Eagles gave as good as they got (and let's face it, got some divine intervention to make up for their somewhat sloppy play in the first quarter), and vice versa. As losses go, this one doesn't hurt all that much. Now T.O. can stay off that leg for a while so he can be in top shape for next season, which will be as good as if not better than this one. I watched it at a friend's aunt's house, chowing down on spaghetti with meat sauce and baked chicken wings. I brought chips, but no dip, and was somewhat distracted by attempts to fix the host's personal computer throughout the game.

You mean to tell me no one's started a discussion of cheese yet? Ever? Well, it's about time! Thanks for starting it. I'm a huge cheese lover--so much so that I really should move to either Wisconsin or France. There's a lot of varieties I haven't tried, so would be interested in learning more about them.

I hope it's good old spongy white bread. It wouldn't be real barbecue without it.

The original Continental at 2d and Market in Old City--which was indeed a diner in its former life--not only sparked the restaurant boom in Old City (which already had a handful of decent eateries at the time, but the Continental put the neighborhood on the map with an exclamation point), but it also launched Stephen Starr's career as a restaurateur with a flair for creating great scenes that serve good food. And as for the quality of the food at Starr's restaurants: What James said. None are bad, and some are very good indeed. We locals may be a bit jaded because by now, we've seen all the tricks in Starr's bag and they're getting a bit too, um, familiar, but visitors to the city ought to check them out, for they can be highly entertaining.

As I'm what appears to be the only person on this board so far who has lived in both cities, I gotta give Romney a raspberry for his cheesesteak slam. For that he deserves scrapple for breakfast and a huge bowl of pepper pot soup for dinner on general principle. It's not like clam chowder, lobster rolls, lobster with drawn butter or Vermont Cheddar cheese are low in fat and calories, after all. (Although Cabot does produce a very good 50% reduced fat Cheddar that is very close in flavor to the genuine article.) Or maybe we should really punish him? Send him a seitan cheesesteak (Mayor John Street's favorite)! I'm surprised nobody went with this pair: Brigham's ice cream for Ed if the Iggles win, Tastykakes for Mitt if the Pats do. (Out of respect for their performance these past few seasons, I will refrain from calling them the Patsies.) (Is Brigham's still in business? Or has it been bought by one of the global food conglomerates?) And while I'm on the subject of ice cream, here's a Philly-to-Boston transplant: Breyers ice cream, born in Philadelphia in 1866. (Breyers, Sealtest and J.L. Kraft's cheese company combined in the 1920s to form what was called National Dairy Products Corp. until the late 1960s, when the company took the Kraft name.) After Unilever bought the brand from Kraft, it shut down the company's West Philadelphia factory and moved all production to Framingham, Mass. So maybe we should make the bet all ice cream: Mitt Romney can offer Ed Rendell Breyers, and Ed can give Mitt Bassett's? (I think this trade would be a bit one-sided, though.) Oh, BTW: E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! (But if I have to hear "Fly, Eagles, Fly" one more time I think my brain will split...)

Top Dog Sports Grill in the Sheraton University City succumbed last spring to the picketing campaign mounted against it by HERE Local 273 from the day it opened. (The owner maintained that, as an independent operation, Top Dog did not have to honor the Sheraton's contract with the unionized restaurant workers as prior occupant Shula's Steak 2 had.) Shifting gears: I'm sure every gayborhood bar that has TV sets will have them tuned to the Supe, but the places to be will be the Bike Stop and Key West. (If I don't go to my roomie's aunt's house, I will probably take in the spectacle at the latter. They offer a free buffet for every Eagles game, and no doubt they will outdo themselves for the Super Bowl. The staff had better not switch off the volume during the commercials, though.) Edited to add: Posted this before I read Sono Motoyama's article linked above, in which she mentions the festivities at Tavern on Camac.

Count me in the latter camp with NulloModo. I like a touch of the unexplained in whatever I cook. I'll toss in a little seasoning, taste, toss in some more if I think it needs it, taste again.... Or I may vary the ingredients a little. Of course, this means that as a result, no two batches of my signature dish (chili) come out exactly alike. But what's wrong with that? As for the blunt vs. descriptive language, I would think that an engineer would go for as precise a description of the action to be taken as possible. "Mix" would not seem to be enough; "mix with electric mixer at 2500 rpm" would probably be better.

Cream cheese? If I'm not mistaken, that makes it a "Philly roll". (After the cream cheese, not the city.) I've rarely eaten sashimi, so cannot offer a preference there. As for nigiri, well, it's easier for me to name the variety I don't much care for: egg custard. Toro is probably my first among equals, though. That preference is heightened in rolls, where I love spicy tuna.

I'll say they do. I sort of feel much like the Pope must have felt when Galileo informed him that the Sun did not revolve around the Earth reading these. Okay, maybe not that outraged, but certainly this sort of discussion takes cooking into a sort of parallel universe.

just because i didnt get it doesnt mean im stupid and yes i have heard of the tv show queer eye for the straight guy and ive even seen a few episodes...however ive also known plenty of straight guys who could cook very well and on short notice and of all the gay men ive known in my life i actually only know of one who WAS NOT a complete disaster in the kitchen ..i dont believe in sterotypes and quite frankly shame on ya'll for perpetuating them as well..so just because i didnt get it doesnt mean you have to sit there and insult my intelligence either...this is a nice food forum and i love this site but what i dont care for is snobbery or belittling people and people who try to create an atmosphere for intolerance of any kind...an ability to cook well and on short notice is not determined by ones sexual preference, ones race or releigion or even gender ..or whatever it is that may make one different in some way....your comment was totally uncalled for ← I'm one of five black men on the entire planet with no natural rhythm. At karaoke night, my friends all laugh at my efforts to move in time with the song I'm singing. I'm openly gay, and my apartment is an utter mess. My dress habits make Peter Falk as Colombo look like someone who just stepped out of GQ. Outside the kitchen, I'm in desperate need of the Fab Five's ministrations myself. And all five are walking stereotypes, but I love the show all the same in part because of its mix of self-mocking humor and seriousness. I was trying to be clever, but obviously my attempt at humor misfired. Please accept my apologies.

I am pretty happy with my Chef's Choice, which is what I currently use, but feel a professional could do them better. I know the Twinsharp and used to have one, but part of it broke and I never replaced it. I think I will head down to Fantes. Thanks for all the help. Glenn ← FWIW, Chad Ward describes pull-through ceramic-wheel sharpeners as generally pieces o'crap in his eGCI tutorial, but calls the Twinsharp the exception to the rule; he says it's good for touchups--which is what the salesperson said I should use it for--and doesn't do too much damage to your blade.

When I took my knife down to Fante's for sharpening--done while I waited--the salesperson recommended me the Henckels Twinsharp pull-through sharpener, about $20. I've been pleased with its performance.

I've already mentioned one: Fresh mozzarella is commonly used as an ingredient on the better NYC pizzas. It's much, much less common in Philly, where even many of the better places use a shredded "pizza blend." Another difference is in toppings. There seem to be more Philly pizzerias that have taken a page from the "California Pizza Kitchen" playbook and offer a wide range of non-standard toppings on their pizzas. Artichokes and porcini mushrooms marinated in olive oil are not among the common toppings, I'll grant, but I've been in plenty of places where you can get both red and white pizzas topped with broccoli, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, shrimp, ham and pineapple, bacon and Cheddar, BBQ chicken, and so on. Now, this may just be because I've not eaten in enough New York pizzerias yet, for one of the Philly places that has umpteen dozen toppings is an outpost of NYC's Famous Famiglia Pizza on the University of Pennsylvania campus. (It is now the lone holdout in the all-but-shuttered food court in the 3401 Walnut office/retail complex. Rumor has it that the space will become a CVS drugstore in the not-too-distant future.) You may want to review the posts on the Top Tomato/Paolo visit in last year's Pizza Club thread for more examples of unusual pizza toppings. And, yes, there is a Philly tendency to order pizzas loaded.

Oh, you're staying at the Park Hyatt? Let me add another option to your already crowded list if you're looking for a little entertainment with your dinner: Chris' Jazz Cafe, in the 1400 block of Sansom. This place doesn't get the big name acts that pass through Zanzibar Blue (which is in the basement of your hotel), nor is its menu as adventurous, but the kitchen is certainly competent enough, the food is good and reasonably priced, and you will get to hear some of the city's better jazz musicians holding forth. (The really good local jazz is served up at Ortlieb's Jazzhaus on North 2nd and Bob and Barbara's Lounge in the 1500 block of South, but neither of these places have restaurants attached.)

Here are some more pix and comments on today's Pizza Club Brooklyn Invasion. DiFara's The artichoke and porcini mushroom pizza was as incredible as Katie said it was, but so were the other three pies we ordered. The plain cheese pizza was the best of its kind I've ever eaten, and I believe that both the mix of cheeses--aged fontina applied in slices, fresh mozzarella--a common ingredient on New York pizzas but rare here-- and fresh grated Romano, are combined over a slightly sweet San Marzano tomato sauce. The result is to die for: It's even better topped with onions, peppers, sausage and mushrooms. The 'shrooms--which have been steamed--are added after the pizza comes out of the oven. Here's the finished product fresh from the oven, with the steam still rising off the mushrooms: The crust is as close to perfection as it gets--thin and crisp, but just a bit chewy. The high moisture content in the toppings, though, makes it a little soggy, but this is not a flaw. Similarly, the half-artichoke, half-porcini mushroom pizza comes out with only the artichokes: and the porcini mushrooms are a finishing touch: Finally, we ordered a square pizza with pepperoni. DiFara's doesn't call this pie "Sicilian," though that's what it is, but the crust is a little thinner than most Sicilian crusts are: Overall, DiFara's was the best of an outstanding bunch. Right on its heels was our last stop, Totonno's This was the one pizzeria we visited that had a coal-burning oven, and the owner was not only proud of it, she was disdainful of anyplace that didn't use either a coal- or wood-burning oven. "Oh, that's just gas," she said when we told her what DiFara's uses to produce their masterpieces. "You can't make real pizza with gas." She can back up that attitude, though, with first-rate pizza based on a crust with character, thanks to that coal-burning oven. The crust is hand-tossed, topped with fresh mozzarella and Romano, and baked to perfection. The crust has a nice, slightly charred flavor to it and is a bit chewier than DiFara's. The sauce is also just a touch sweeter, but it's not tomato-paste sweetness. That sweet sauce is counterbalanced nicely by the salty anchovies on the last pizza we ordered: Rich Pawlak, to his amazement, actually liked this pie--he normally avoids anchovies on his pizza. We also had a sausage-mushroom-onion-pepper combo and a plain cheese pie (picture unavailable). The staff made us feel right at home, as did the decor, which is as unpretentious as it gets--pressed tin walls and ceiling, fluorescent lighting and walls lined with photos of the famous and newspaper clips touting the place or significant events: above our table was the front page of the Daily Mirror on the day World War II ended. In between these two sublime experiences was an excellent interlude at L & B Spumoni Gardens "L&B Pizza Factory" would be an equally appropriate name, as this picture of the pizzeria's bank of 24 pizza ovens should make clear. But L&B is also a spumoni/ice cream parlor, a sit-down Italian restaurant and an Italian take-out shop. According to Lisa's mother, on nice summer evenings, it's also a popular neighborhood gathering spot, as people come out to eat pizza, pasta and spumoni on its outdoor terrace. Even on this winter evening, the place was packed with customers, both eating and waiting to get in. Our party of 14 kept them all waiting a little while longer while we gorged on entirely too much tossed salad and a tasty Sicilian pie. The pizza was so good we almost forgot to take pictures of it (and the one I took, sadly, came out blurred). The crust was crispy on the bottom and doughy on the top, like a good Sicilian pizza crust should be. But the real surprise was the topping: what looked like a tomato pie wasn't-- L&B puts the cheese on their pie first, then the sauce. (No fresh mozarella here, sad to say. ) Katie raved about the sauce, which balances sweetness and acidity; Gary raved about the cherry tomatoes in the salad, which I thought weren't that exceptional; they tasted a little underripe to me. The lettuce, red cabbage and other salad ingredients, though, were top quality, and the lemony vinaigrette went well with it. We finished with our first dessert of the evening--spumoni, natch. But the real dessert treat came at the end, with Gary's ganache, seen here in its almost-pristine state (Charlie plucked a raspberry off the cake right after it was opened at the start of the trip). I don't think I've had anything quite so decadent, not even Capogiro gelato. This was a melt-in-your-mouth orgasm of chocolate and whipped cream that I just let roll around on my tongue with each bite. Some other highlights of the trip included a stop at an Italian bakery and butcher shop in Midwood (don't those cakes look spectacular? As for me, I couldn't pass up Boar's Head bologna at the price they offered at the butcher shop; it's a shame I couldn't wait 10 minutes for some of the shop's cheese and parsley sausage)... and a "nightcap" at Nathan's Famous on Coney Island, which was somewhat forlorn at this time of year: (Sorry I didn't get a shot of anyone eating a hot dog. I had wandered across Stilwell Avenue to get some shots of the still-under-reconstruction Stilwell Avenue-Coney Island subway terminal.) One more highlight, which won't be posted here (because the camera shook): Anna revealing her "pizza shorts" for everyone to see in Totonno's.

I love Jamaican meat patties too, but 7-Eleven's don't float my boat. I usually wait for the Penn Relays and hit one of about a dozen Caribbean food vendors who set up outside the stadium. I'll have to try that ramen-noodle suggestion. In exchange, may I suggest hot sauce on cottage cheese, a bizarre little passion of mine? (Texas Pete and Frank's RedHot work best.) I forgot about Herr's Hot Cheese Curls, the Devil's own gift to junk-food lovers. I can't open a bag of these without emptying it in one sitting either. As for chips, I prefer mine light and not too salty (Utz) or hearty and well seasoned (Kettle Chips), but if Good's were available down here, I'd eat lots of those as well.

Some specific recommendations for both the Italian Market (increasingly less Italian) and the Reading Terminal: Meats: Best quality regardless of price: Harry Ochs, Reading Terminal; Best value for money: Esposito's, Italian Market Produce: Iovine's, Reading Terminal; also, check the Pennsylvania Dutch (Lancaster County) merchants to see what they've got since you will be there on a Saturday. Also see the "Fair Food Farmstand" post in this subforum. Cheeses: Besides Katie's recommendation, check out DiBruno Bros. three doors further south on 9th Street If you like Asian ingredients, take a two-block detour west from 9th and Washington (Italian Market) and check out the Wing Phat Supermarket at 1108 Washington Ave.

Your ability to turn out an impressive meal on short notice frightens your Gay friends. ← ? i dont get it ← Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have here what may be the only U.S. citizen to have slept through the entire run so far of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

Herb's rather comprehensive list of all the good eateries within walking distance of the Aramark Tower left out another good choice for hoagies (Salumeria having already been covered), Planet Hoagie at 1209 Walnut. One block further south of the 12th and Walnut intersection and one-half block east is More Than Just Ice Cream (1120 Locust, on the street floor of my apartment building), an inexpensive neighborhood favorite for several decades. No liquor license and no BYOB, so it's probably better as a lunch choice for you.

word... ← Why restrict this to heterosexuals? (Okay, maybe substitute "chat rooms" for "porn sites" for the gay men...)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but this is just WRONG! ← Oh, I am glad someone else had the courage to say it. My reaction was the same to the bechamel idea. I wouldn't cook sauces in a microwave, but it is acceptable for bacon in my book. Bacon cooked in the microwave doesn't have as much flavor as pan-fried or oven-baked bacon, but it tastes okay. As for the excess grease part, that's not so much a function of the cooking method as it is of the placement of the bacon. In a microwave, bacon is either cooked on special pans with ridged surfaces that allow grease to drain away, or on paper towels, or both. The towels especially leave the bacon less greasy. But you can get bacon that's just as crisp and almost as grease-free by cooking it on a rack in a conventional oven. I've watched water boil in a microwave, and I've seen plenty of other liquids bubble. The difference is that the moment you stop pumping the liquid with microwave energy, the boiling and bubbling stop. Or perhaps your microwave is a lower-wattage model (power makes a difference in how fast and thoroughly microwave ovens heat foods)? I certainly don't cook as many things in the microwave as I once did. I still use it for the things it does well, or well enough.

When you consider a $15 breakfast (including tip) a bargain because those chopped chicken livers were just divine, and the conversation that came with them was just as tasty.

What about those of us who consider it the appetizer and main course as well? Cheeseheads, I guess.