MarketStEl

Now that it's all over but the shouting, which may or may not get louder in the next month or two, I think it safe to comment on the public-relations aspect of this issue. As should be clear by now, I have a more benign view of the current Market management's approach to operating the institution than I believe Holly does, though I acknowledge his point that "mall management" could just as easily damage this precious gem as polish it. But I do believe that management -- especially the current General Manager -- understands the market's special mission, and that its actions are by and large taken with that mission uppermost in mind. Which brings us to the public-relations debacle. Part of the problem began with a public justification for the non-renewal that just about everyone could see through: there was clearly something else going on besides "an opportunity to strengthen the market" by bringing in a Big Name. I harbor no illusions that the management could have avoided an outcry with a different PR strategy -- given the stakes and parties involved, that would have been impossible. But the lessons I take from similar PR debacles is that more, and more detailed, information is always better than less, and that a more honest explanation of the issues is better than an excuse. (Edited to add: The gold standard in crisis communications remains Johnson & Johnson/McNeil's handling of the contaminated Tylenol problem.) Not knowing the details of what had been going on over the past few years leading up to this event, I cannot presume to second-guess the people who made these decisions, but it does seem to me that a more plausible and defensible explanation for the action could have been made by referencing the Market's mission, and the importance of having it remain a source for fresh food in general and local fresh food in particular, explicitly -- and how the leases the management advocated would advance that mission. My former employer got a lot of heat from some quarters, including many members of its own staff and faculty, for the moves it made to reshape University City over the past 15 or so years, but in general what Penn has done since ~1990 has been far better received than what it did in the 1960s because they could place it in a context of neighborhood stabilization and renewal. RTM management, to be blunt, did a pretty poor job of placing the Rick's non-renewal in a larger context that could have made sense to some people. But this is all Monday morning quarterbacking. What's important now, as Bob said, is for the Market management to rebuild trust and harmony with its merchants. I hope that this task can be completed in time for the 2008 Pennsylvania Dutch Festival.

Um, I think Sandy means non-resident historian . . . Seriously, I'm glad the expats are weighing in because I am certainly not a native. Although I did just realize today, over lunch, that I have now called the KC Metro my home longer than my place of birth or the place I went to college for, um, 14 years. Yikes. ← The same can be said for me and Philadelphia (25 years) compared with Kansas City (18). But as I've said a million times, I wouldn't trade growing up in Kansas City for growing up anywhere else in the United States. The pictures dividend has shared with you all fail to give you any idea just how green Kansas City is. The people who bequeathed the city one of the nation's loveliest park and boulevard systems in the 1880s -- Kansas City Star founder William Rockhill Nelson, who campaigned hard for parks and other municipal improvements in the paper's pages, chief among them -- left it an irreplaceable, yet living, gem that millions have enjoyed over the decades since. Until I laid eyes on Seattle, I never thought I'd see another city that green. There are those who argue that the Northland is a city unto itself. But aside from the cities of North Kansas City, Platte City, Claycomo, Liberty, Excelsior Springs, Parkville, Riverside, Lake Waukomis, Weston and Gladstone,* the villages of Glenaire and Avondale, and the four villages on Gladstone's southern border collectively known as the Oaks, the incorporated part of the Northland is all legally part of the City of Kansas City, Missouri, whose 316 square miles make it one of the country's largest in land area. *I've probably forgotten or left out a few other municipalities in Clay and Platte counties.

FWIW, I ran into an acquaintance who works for a Market merchant earlier this evening. While this person is not privy to all the details of the game, one possibly salient point I picked up in the course of conversation is that many of the merchants are supporting Rick not because they are fond of him -- apparently some of his fellow merchants think as highly of him as the RTM board appears to -- but because of the principle involved. That principle being that absent a breach of the lease, existing tenants should not be evicted without first being given an opportunity to re-up.

...processed cheese spread... --Sandy, gettin' all 36 CFR 130-whatever on ya; of course, this revision applies only to Velveeta, unless you're using those really cheap American singles

That produce looks gorgeous! (FWIW, one of the unofficial fringe benefits of working in Old Main is that I get to take home wonderful zucchini, enormous cucumbers, several different kinds of peppers and super fresh Jersey tomatoes all through the summer, thanks to the administrative assistant to the Associate Provost, who has a garden on her South Jersey property. And it's all free! But none of it is as colorful as those carrots, though the full-size tomatoes hold their own with yours; she doesn't grow cherry, grape or pear varieties). But now I have to ask another question: And your avatar is also a sunflower, of course. But you live in Missouri. I think. The state line is not quite the divide it was back in the days of "Bleeding Kansas", but there are still some cross-border rivalries, Tigers-Jayhawks being one of them, and usually a Missourian has to have a good excuse to display the state flower of Kansas. My mom was a Jayhawk. What's yours? That looks like the original location on Brush Creek^W^WEmmanuel Cleaver II Boulevard just east of the Plaza. Looks like they've retrofied it since I last set foot in it decades ago. (When I ate there, it was all chocolate brown plywood walls and acoustical tile ceilings--very 1970s coffee shop, IOW. I like this look much better.) Is this the original Winstead's? The burgers look exactly like I remember them. Winstead's is a thin-patty establishment, but they're very good thin patties, and certainly worthy of the praise Calvin Trillin lavished on them (he wrote that this place served the world's best hamburger in Life magazine sometime around 1973). (Edited to remove the photo of the Cherry Diet Coke -- I had meant to leave the photo of the burger in.)

Yeah, I remember Silveri's too. Used to live a block down from it. I also remember when a local s***bag took it over and ran it into the ground. That was a big loss. Their wings were fabulous.

Resident historian reporting for duty... The annual livestock show we now know as the American Royal began in 1899 as the National Hereford Show. Somewhere in its early history, a visitor compared it to the Royal Livestock Show, part of Britain's premier agricultural exhibition, and the exhibition was promptly dubbed "The American Royal." It remains the nation's largest livestock show. Over the years, a horse show and rodeo were added, but for food lovers and 'que aficionados, the barbecue competition is now the main event. The American Royal has traditionally been one of the big events on the Kansas City social calendar; the Future Farmers of America used to hold its annual national convention to coincide with the show, and there was--still is?--a grand parade to mark the event. The city's American League baseball team takes its name from the show. American Royal Web site

Nothing else, really, as far as the quality grade is concerned. The carcasses are also classified according to maturity. Within the quality grades, there are degrees of marbling, as the table on this Web site explains. You will note that all the quality grades have a high, middle and low range, though these are usually not disclosed to retail consumers.

That I didn't know, James. I've no problem with that, as long as the retailer doesn't try to pass off ungraded beef as a certain grade level. Which gets us into a terminological thicket. The word "Prime" itself is not a trademark, and AFAIK, there is nothing that prevents a merchant from using this word -- or, for that matter, "Choice" or "Select" or even "Good" -- to describe what he sells, just as long as the letters "USDA" don't appear in front of the word unless the beef sold bears that grade. Unfortunately, what this also means is that Joe's Prime Quality Meats may sell beef that lacks the marbling required for a grade of USDA Prime. That may not be that big a deal, especially if the flavor and freshness of the beef live up to the "Quality" part of the shop's name, but it still gives one slight pause.

Are you perhaps referring to this passage from the story in today's Metro? If the impression I get from this passage is accurate -- namely, that Oliveri had managed to negotiate general lease terms both the merchants and management could live with, then balked at adopting them for his own stand -- then I'm afraid that the management's non-extension of his month-to-month lease was not only defensible but perhaps the only tool it had at its disposal to "force the issue," so to speak -- and it's abundantly clear that it did that. If my impression's not accurate -- for instance, if there were still objections to lease terms on the part of a majority of market merchants that were significant enough to cause them to hesitate to sign leases, or if leases were offered to some merchants before all the details were agreed to in the larger talks between management and the Merchants Association -- then we might still have a problem. Edited to add: I do have some further observations on the PR aspects of this fracas. But I will hold off on expressing them until either there is a denouement (which appears a bit more likely today than it did a few days ago) or until everything breaks down completely (which I pray does not come to pass).

First and foremost, Moriarty's (1116 Walnut, next to the Forrest Theatre). Their wings are everything a good Buffalo wing should be: huge, meaty and tangy/spicy. They're also not dry, which is a good thing in my book. Since Moriarty's is so close to me, I haven't felt the need to explore the other good wingeries in the area, though I can tell you that the Midtown II's wings are decent enough and will do after everyplace else is closed. Perhaps this thread from the summer of 2005, following Metro's exploration of the city's best wings, might be of some use to you.

That's perfectly all right -- you're excused. I have a rather arch reply for my clueless brethren on the East Coast who respond with "Kansas" when I tell them where I grew up: "If I were from Kansas City, Kansas, I would have said so." (And that statement also accurately describes local usage. Still.) However: Mom was a Jayhawk through and through. The state line remains more blur than line drawn in the sand.

Forgot to mention my favorite quote in the book, from their section on my hometown: "What other city can say it has 'the single best restaurant in the world' -- and it's not even the best in town?" This, of course, is Arthur Bryant's, which Calvin Trillin famously referred to as "The Single Best Restaurant In The World" in a New Yorker essay many, many, many moons ago, reprinted in American Fried, I believe.

Actually, I'd love to be able to convince the other members of my household that a faucet filter or filter pitcher will produce great drinking water and spend the $6 every other week on something more interesting than bottled water, but they're not buying that. Since I carry coffee I brew in a travel mug to work, I've already beat you there, but partner goes out for Charbucks on the weekend. Those four cups might make for better beef. It also seems to me, though, that most of you are saying it's worth it to patronize a good butcher regularly so that he can get to know your preferences. Maybe I need to strike up a few more conversations with Joe Giunta.

Agreed, GlorifiedRice -- for the most part; I can think of some food products for which I can find absolutely no justification whatsoever. However, even some of those, like boxed macaroni & cheese dinner, can be turned into decent--sometimes even great--eats with proper doctoring. Speaking of macaroni & cheese, that is Velveeta's highest and best use. I keep it as far away from my hamburgers as possible. I'll put pickles on my burger, but prefer the rest of the salad on the side, please. On the burger itself, I prefer A nice soft but crusty bun Barbecue sauce OR ketchup, in that order Mustard, preferably Dijon or spicy brown deli style A slice of cheese, in order of preference: Cheddar (extra sharp, New York or Vermont preferred), Swiss, Muenster; if I'm feeling adventurous, Pepper Jack or Port Salut For a change of pace: Cooked bacon slices Crumbled blue cheese -- anything but Treasure Cave is fine by me I also like to mix in Worcestershire sauce and onion powder with the ground beef. I'll also mix in either seasoned salt or Old Bay from time to time, despite what I've been warned about putting salt in raw ground beef.

Now that's an "only in Kansas City" Sprint ad! (I like the current neon-colored TV/print ad campaign. (--Sandy, Sprint PCS customer)

I wasn't referring to yours -- I was referring to mine. I've known Paul Steinke since he was at the Center City District, before Penn tapped him to run the University City District, then in (re)formation. (We met when he overheard me talking transit trivia one night at Woody's several years ago. He recommended me for an opening on SEPTA's Citizens Advisory Board. I didn't get the opening.)

Count me in! You both know how to reach me. Yes, I remember where we went with Sam.

Hamburger Helper? <ducks to avoid frozen ground beef hurled at his head> I just had a recapitulation of this thread on the sidewalk in front of the Whole Foods Market near me this past Sunday. My conversation partner is a lovely, spirited woman who posts to Phillyblog regularly and will no doubt enter this discussion once her 30-day waiting period is over. She said much the same thing everyone here (including myself) has said about buying cuts of beef. Her choice is Harry Ochs in the Reading Terminal Market, which is without question one of the best retail butchers in the city; I tend to patronize two shops, Giunta's Prime Shop in the RTM -- mainly on the strength of a positively mind-blowing ham I bought there shortly after it opened; I figured that if they found such a good source for ham, they'd do just as well with their beef -- and Esposito's on 9th Street, which is a good-value-for-the-money butcher that supplies some of the city's better restaurants. (I think, but do not know, that what they offer the restaurants is of higher quality than what they sell at retail, but their retail meats are pretty good.) But in trying to square a $70 weekly budget for three people and two cats, including household supplies in that figure, one finds one cannot always buy the good stuff, so supermarket beef on sale has been on our plates often enough. However, since I've seen good cuts of beef for not that much more than regular supermarket prices at the butchers I patronize, perhaps all I really need to do is shuffle my purchases around from week to week.

I guess what makes this much less clear for me than for Holly -- besides personal connections -- is that it does take place against a backdrop of some major changes in management philosophy that had been made clear starting not too long after the current GM assumed his post, and that while they may not have liked it, most of the merchants have adapted to the changes, however enthusiastically or grudgingly. From all outward appearances, it sounds like Rick Oliveri was even more grudging in going along than his fellow merchants were, though in not offering him a new long-term lease, management made a PR blunder by not giving him an opportunity to either confirm or refute suspicions. Had they done so, and had Rick dragged his feet, the issue would be a lot more clear-cut than it has since become. The other items reported in the most recent posts on this thread IMO continue to demonstrate the management's commitment to the long-term health of the Market and its merchants even after the change in philosophy. Given what I know about how Philadelphians react to change -- which is usually none too well -- I'm still willing to give Paul Steinke and the Market board the benefit of the doubt. Certainly none of the actions they have taken up to this point have hurt the Market's operations or driven business away; rather, they have built on the previous efforts of many longtime merchants and the Reading Company in its last days and have made the market stronger, even if the ratio of fresh food vendors to other businesses has fallen over that period. And it has. Which is why these new leases were structured as they were.

Where on North 5th? Address, please? I'll supply my own SEPTA directions.

Whaddaya know...two (three?) people divided by common barbecue! That's an absolute requirement for a Kansas City blog, and I'm definately going to take you guys to two of my favorite places. Ask a dozen people around here where the best BBQ is and you'll get a dozen different emphatic answers, and I'm no less emphatic in my own preferences. On most topics I'm content to respect people's opinions, but I simply don't understand some people's preference for hyper-sweet BBQ sauce. I dislike the fact that sickeningly sweet sauces like KC Masterpeice are marketed nationwide because that's the opposite of the BBQ I love. Great BBQ sauce has got to have spice and tang at the forefront, with sweetness as a balancing background note. So given my preference for thick, spicy sauce, and great burnt ends, I'm going to the original Arthur Bryant's on Wednesday. That would probably be my pick if I had to name a single favorite, and Calvin Trillin did call it the best restaurant in the world. I'm also going to Oklahoma Joe's at some point, for pork and sausage and best fries in the known universe. I don't eat at Gates very much anymore, although I salivate every night as I drive by the Main Street location (I love the great food smells I get on my drive to and from work), and their sauce is a staple in my fridge. For further reading, Here's a discussion about Kansas City BBQ from the Heartland forum, and here's a thread specifically about sweet BBQ sauces. So that should sort of give you an idea of why I subtitled this blog "My corner of the midwest." Because I'm not going to claim to show you THE BEST ______, just my favorite things. Oh, and moosnsqrl, I might need someone to eat brunch at Bluestem on Sunday - know anyone who'd be interested? ← As a participant in one of those two barbecue threads and the initiator of the other, I cannot begin to describe the ecstasy I experienced as I read the opening post of this foodblog. I really must read the teaser thread more frequently! Since I now live in an apartment with no outdoor space of any kind, I am seriously grill-deprived -- I am going to resort to borrowing a friend's rear terrace and Weber kettle sometime in September so that I can reassure myself that my barbecue chops haven't gotten all rusty. In the meantime, I can live vicariously through this blog and maybe keep the wolf at bay for a little while by heading up to a place in the Northeast called Sweet Lucy's, which everyone assures me has the best 'cue in Philly -- which may be okay, but remember, I do live in the Great Barbecue Desert, even though there are Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned cook-offs in the area. Since I made my own preferences crystal clear in the opening post of that sauce discussion, I won't repeat them here except to assert again that Rich Davis has indeed trashed the KC barbecue sauce tradition with his creation. However, I expect a full and gorgeously illustrated report on your repast at Bluestem. The New York Times' writeup on off-the-beaten-path culinary scenes did right by ChefCAG, and I've made a mental note to check the place out on my next trip Back Home. As I think I've also said in a couple of discussions on the Heartland forum, this isn't the same Kansas City I grew up in, of which it was said by one wag, "The best meals I've ever eaten out were in the homes of Kansas Citians." And yet that sentence may hold a clue as to why the city has developed a robust dining scene that outstrips those of other cities its size and even a few larger ones, such as the city on the opposite end of the state. After all, if people know how to cook well, I'd think they'd expect no less in the way of quality when they're paying someone else to cook for them. Of which speaking, I trust we will experience some of your own cooking in the course of the week? Trust me, I know exactly what you mean. (Scroll down to the newspaper front pages in this post. Further elaboration of the silliness comes later in that foodblog.) As for the bars closing at 3 am, I had understood that this closing time does not apply statewide. I had heard that this was a law that applied in "convention trade zones," said zones covering entire counties that chose to define themselves as such. IIRC, Jackson, Clay, Platte, St. Louis, and St. Louis City all promptly did so. I thought that the law was a creative approach to finessing the urban-rural divide and the cultural divide between the two big cities that is as evident in the state that I call home now as it is in the state of my birth. Okay, I've rambled on enough. Carry on -- please, ma'am, I want more!

Albertson's "Blue Ribbon" = Acme "Lancaster Brand." (Albertson's [now part of Supervalu] tried introducing the "Blue Ribbon" label in its Philadelphia operation, but apparently it didn't take.) Maybe it's a Philadelphia thing, but you can in most cases still find the grade printed on the supermarket beef labels hereabouts. In general, regular Lancaster Brand meats these days are USDA Select, while the "Lancaster Brand Steakhouse Choice" cuts are USDA Choice Angus beef. Frankly, it was hard to tell whether your supermarket steaks were Select or Choice; even the USDA Choice steak you got from Wal-Mart didn't look all that much more marbled than the non-Prime steaks, that rectangle of fat at the center right of the cut notwithstanding. But beef "enhanced with a...solution" of any percent would automatically be suspect in my book. But I wonder: Would following the label instructions and marinating the steak in an herbed balsamic vinaigrette have made that Wal-Mart steak any better?

I'll give you the minimalist preparation, but having been brought up on Kansas City 'cue, I'd probably have to be restrained lest I put sauce on the meat. And there are certainly as many variations on sauces as there are rubs! One of these days, I'd like to visit one of those places in Alabama where the barbecue sauce is white -- based on mayonnaise. But: "...steaks are cooked in the same way..." They don't slow-smoke steaks, do they? That would be unique indeed, for I've always understood steak as requiring high heat to sear and direct heat to grill. I will allow that Texas 'cue is damn fine eatin'. Any distance beyond that, I'm not willing to go. Speaking of minimalist, though: You managed to pack a lot of content into one of the shortest blogs in post count I've yet read. I guess a picture really is worth a thousand words. The photos were gorgeous, and it was fascinating to learn that Chinese and African-American culinary traditions are closely related. Thanks for a most educational and efficient blog!

Legal footnote to philadining's post: Rick's establishment is called "Rick's Philly Steaks" because Steve Iliescu has trademarked the phrase "Prince of Steaks" for his shop on Bustleton Avenue in the Northeast, which many argue serves the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia, period. BTW and FWIW, Steve has a real snazzy Web site, with all sorts of Flash-y stuff goin' on. The more this goes on, the worse I feel for all involved. The law is stacked against Rick, and if it does get to that point, the fallout will be worse than anything that's happened up to now. Just because something is legal, or even right for the long run, doesn't make it fair, though, and it's the fairness angle that Rick has been able to exploit. Perhaps a bulk order of Roger Fisher's Getting to Yes is in order for the merchants and the management?