MarketStEl

After reading the Times-Picayune article--and after dredging up memories of a few encounters with New Orleans coffee houses--I'd wager that it's because New Orleanians already had plenty of really good coffee close at hand, as your comment above suggests. Starbucks opening in New Orleans is kind of like carrying coals to Newcastle.

Tony Luke's pasta place sure didn't last long, did it?

I guess Tony sold the 18th St. store? I note the web site explicitly denies any connection to what is now called "Tony Jr.'s" on 18th Street.

How true. Who was the chef who moved her cookbooks to the "Humor" sections of bookstores back in the day? Didn't do that to Flay or Emeril. I'm definitely in the "love to hate her" camp. It's fun to get into a high dudgeon, you know? ← Indeed! I think I still have my copy of Is Martha Stuart Living? magazine--though I never did get a copy of Martha Stuart's Better Than You at Entertaining. Only the truly great and the truly awful invite parody--although the truly awful often parody themselves (recent example: William Hung). I too was in the anti-Martha camp when the indictments were handed out, but as the trial progressed, I gradually became convinced that she was being punished for the sins of a whole host of other people. Not that she did nothing wrong, but that the authorities were sitting on her in a way they would not have were it not Martha Stewart on the dock. I'll also second Jason's comment on the Martha-lites, but am more than willing to cut B. Smith a lot of slack. (Is her show still on?) What will be Martha's trademark dismissal, though? Will it rank up there with "voted off the island" and "You're fired!"? Any speculation?

Nope. The whole Sundance Cinemas project collapsed along with its corporate bankroller, General Cinema Corporation.

Our Chamber of Commerce types like to throw a number at you that shows that the student population of Greater Philadelphia is larger than that of Greater Boston. But Philly sure doesn't feel like a college town, and the 15th season of The Real World hasn't changed that at all. Boston, on the other hand, does. As for the wisdom of opening the first freestanding location at Penn: I know that cereal was a big concern for students who had gripes about Penn Dining Services pre-Aramark takeover (and pre-Bon Appetit takeover, for that matter). They raised a huge stink when Dining Services removed Cap'n Crunch from the rotation--the hue and cry even made it into The Daily Pennsylvanian, the source of the story that begins this topic.

"Richfood, Poor Food?" Free associating: Oddly enough, my experience with the brands-you've-never-heard-of that the Save-a-Lot carries has been that they're not half bad. Especially the frozen veggies. And you won't get much more downmarket than this no-frills chain -- which is also now owned by SuperValu. They acquired it when they purchased St. Louis-based Wetterau Foods, which also used to be an IGA supplier, in the late 1990s.

Ahem. Hung around Penn lately? --Sandy, former employee

Belated followup: In the case of the first store at 40th and Walnut, the developer was Penn. That's a University parking garage atop the store. I was in the Office of University Relations while plans were being drawn up for the transformation of 40th Street, and I know that Penn's real estate honchos envisioned having what was then Fresh Fields open a store in the structure. They passed, and Penn went to Drexeline with a proposal. Given the nature of the surrounding communities, what Penn got in the end was far better for the neighborhood than Fresh Fields/Whole Paycheck would have been. The Freshgrocer has a good mix of higher-end specialty stuff and all the basics that everyday people actually buy. (And their deli stocks Boar's Head--always a plus.) I don't have enough experience with their private label supplier (Richfood, now a unit of Minnesota-based SuperValu) to comment on its quality.

1) There's another branch of the Genuardi family? 2) Any of them regret having sold to Safeway, given what they've done with the business? (At least Safeway did have the decency to take the words "Family Markets" out of the name, leaving them there for the Clemenses to pick up.) I've shopped at a Genuardi's exactly twice--both times pre-Safeway, at the store in Huntingdon Valley (helping a friend's elderly mother who lived in Mayfair). I remember being majorly impressed not only with the quality of merchandise and level of service, but also with the prices--which, despite the chain's reputation, were actually very competitive with other area stores. Oh, well. Live and learn. One Genuardi family tradition Safeway will probably continue to honor, though: not opening any stores within the Philadelphia city limits (the Huntingdon Valley store is just over the city line). Not while they've got UFCW Local 1776 on their case.

I have to follow myself up here to note that Rembrandt's in Philadelphia's Fairmount section also manages to pull this off. Though I think the cuisine is just a little less haute than that offered at Eleven or Brasserie Perrier.

Let me second NulloModo on the supremacy of the Sausalito, which IIRC is their huge chocolate-chip-and-macadamia-nut cookie. Mint Milanos are a close second in my book. I'll have to try the Chesapeake. But first, I've got this bag of Goldfish to finish off. Oh, wait--that's a cracker. Perhaps I need to start a thread on the relative merits of Goldfish vs. other cheesy crackers.

I know there's a bus that travels on El Centre de Oro part of North 5th. Assuming you've got accurate info, I suppose it's the 47. All I know about the 47 is that the northbound bus runs on 7th St in CC and South Philly. The 57 bus also runs north on 3rd in CC and South Philly, but it may switch to Girard at Fishtown. Having had the occasion to use the 57 twice recently, I can tell you that it goes up 3d/down 4th in CC, then at Girard, swings E to run up/down American Street through the industrial corridor. At Allegheny, northbound buses go up Front and southbound ones use 2d as far as Erie, where the line runs up Front in both directions. The 47, according to the schedule, shifts over to 5th/6th from 7th/8th at Susquehanna/Dauphin. Can't recall. Do your magical fact checking. ← It's at Allegheny. Address is 2746 North 5th. Gotta love Yahoo! Local.

Where in the Midwest? (Midwesterners are exceptionally nice and friendly--excessively so by East Coast standards.) As for veggies: Somehow, I don't recall cabbage, spinach, onions or potatoes stumping people around Kansas City. (Hey, my grandfather grew those last two.) I had heard the term "Theftway" before, but never this one for the Grays Ferry Avenue Pathmark. (Prior to the opening of the Freshgrocer, this was the closest halfway decent supermarket to the Penn campus. Penn Transit used to run shopping shuttles to it.)

There's that Philly preference for the familiar again--Don't go mucking around with our names! (Relevant but non-foood aside: Strawbridge's is actually Hecht's, at least from an operational standpoint. Same thing.) 1) Actually, I believe the address is 56th and Chestnut, but the store is sited so that you could enter the lot from Chestnut or Market. The new 56th Street El station entrance will occupy the site's northeast corner. 2) I would say that even if subsidies or incentives are involved, building a brand-new supermarket from the ground up shows actual commitment. Wouldn't you?

Well, that explains a lot, then.

Some company in Elizabeth, NJ, bought the Frank's trademarks about a decade ago, but I believe that firm has either gone belly-up or been sold. But I could have sworn I was in a store not too long ago and saw a bottle of Black Cherry Wishniak soda bearing the Canada Dry logo. (Canada Dry bottled Tahitian Treat out in my part of the country.)

Just FYI: The Continental--a former diner at 2d and Market--was the establishment that earned Starr his reputation as a showman par excellence, and he has polished that reputation to a high gloss since. Let me add another Starr establishment to the "places to go for cocktails" list: El Vez, his high-kitsch Mexican eatery at 13th and Sansom (Market-Frankford Line to 13th Street station; Subway-Surface [Green Line] trolleys to Juniper Street; 21 or 42 buses eastbound on Chestnut to 13th Street). This joint also jumps most every night, and there's room to maneuver there (something you won't find at the Continental on a weekend night). The food there has also gotten good reviews. Right across Sansom from El Vez is the best frozen dessert you will ever eat--the gelato made by the folks at Capogiro. By all means, wherever else you eat, leave room for this dessert--you'll be so glad you did. Everything you wanted to know about the Starr Restaurant Organization (Like his restaurants, this Web site is very Flash-y) Since just about every kind of cuisine Philly has to offer is an "out of the ordinary experience" for you, it appears, let me also suggest you check out the non-Italian places in the vicinity of the Italian Market--Nam Phuong, Pho 75, Cafe de Laos, Ba Le, Rio Bravo, Saigon Maxim, International Smokeless BBQ (Korean), Taqueria Veracruzana and so on. Just keep in mind that at most of these places, you will be going for the food, not the ambience. Of the places I list here, Cafe de Laos is the only one with what I would call an intimate atmosphere; all the others are either large and bright or small and plain. Rio Bravo doubles as a Mexican social hub for the neighborhood.

I'm translating this into SEPTA: Route 47 bus to 5th and Wingohocking. The cross street you'd take off the Boulevard is Wyoming Ave. I did spy El Bohio on the trip--I think at Erie, or was it Allegheny?

Your post dredged up some memories, I had forgotten the original game component of Valhalla. The Strip District is a tough, tough neighborhood for fine dining. ← Re: bar in front, haute cuisine in back: This can work if the location and layout are right. On this end of the state, we have Brasserie Perrier as an example, though I think the bar here is more sophisticated than funky. Re: Strip District: I recall seeing a 'QED-produced program on this area (I think it was called "The Great Pittsburgh Strip Show") on WHYY some time back and got the impression that this area combined grit and nightlife. Is it the grit that makes it tough? Re: Big Burrito: It looks to me like they are the Starr Restaurant Group of Pittsburgh, but more interested in the food than the concept (not that the food at Starr's restaurants is bad; on the contrary--after all, he just reopened Striped Bass). I've had nothing but fun and good food at the Mad Mex on the University of Pennsylvania campus (aside: when it opened, a Penn administrator who had some influence over retail in University-owned properties was upset over the name; she thought that it was a slur on Mexicans. So Big Burrito stuck a "4" in the logo and called the Penn location "Mad 4 Mex". The administrator having long since left Penn, Big Burrito has quietly dropped the "4" from the restaurant name). I hope all eleven of their restaurants in the 'Burgh are doing well.

Put me down for the rack-in-pan-in-oven method as well. I'm usually in a hurry, though, and cook the bacon at 400 F for about 15 minutes. You do have to be more attentive at this temperature, though, as one minute's inattention can make all the difference between bacon that's crispy and bacon that's burnt to a crisp. However: There is the advantage that you can bake your biscuits at the same time you're cooking the bacon at this temperature.

Near 79th. It's a pretty cool store. I happen to live about 6 blocks away which is a big part of why I'm a regular. ← Glad to see some things about the old hometown don't change... --Sandy, KC native (East Side, near 41st/Benton Blvd)

I don't understand where people would get the idea that a drink labeled "Holiday Spice" would taste syrupy-sweet. Spices usually add a bit of bite or bitterness to sweet foods. As the spices did to this Pepsi, IMO. I went out and bought a 12-pack after glazing the ham with about 1/3 of a 2-liter bottle (I drank the remainder). And yes, the cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg flavor is subtle, but it's there.

Well, I didn't bother with the reduction--I just poured it right into the pan, to a depth of about 1/4 inch, and basted the ham frequently with it. I probably should have made a glaze with brown sugar thrown in and coated the ham with it for about the last half hour or so, because the ham came out a bit salty, but I'd do this again--it added a nice cinnamonny/sweet flavor to the ham. (I probably could have made a nice glaze or sauce from the caramelized cola in the bottom of the pan, come to think of it.)

You're staying in one of the Penn Center apartment houses, or in the Crowne Plaza across the street from 10 Penn Center? Anyway, if you are staying in that part of Center City, you should be able to keep your car parked while you're here and walk/take SEPTA/use cabs to get wherever you're going. Pull out the car only if you want to head to Manayunk. I can't really comment on great places to dine out without dressing up, as I've not eaten at many of the recent arrivals on the restaurant scene. Though if it's a scene you're looking for, you could do far worse than to have cocktails at either of the Continentals--the Continental Mid-town is near your hotel, at 18th and Chestnut; the livelier nightlife scene is around the original Continental at 2d and Market (Market-Frankford Line to 2d Street station). All kinds of trendy martinis on the menu at both, and decent (but not fabulous) food to go with them. If you go to Old City (2d and Market vicinity), I have eaten at Philadelphia Fish and Company in the past and believe it is still as good now as it was then. (Philadelphia Fish and Company: 204(?) Chestnut Street, opposite the Customs House.) Fork and Paradigm--both more recent arrivals that have generated a lot of buzz--are in the 300 block of Chestnut.