MarketStEl

Stephen Starr's restaurants are perhaps the only places where describing the effect of their design as "atmosphere" is an understatement.

I'm noting the wide variations in prices both within the United States and from store (category) to store (category) within a single metropolitan area. Buying in bulk really does save a bunch of money, as the Costco-vs.-supermarket comparison illustrates. But is doing so practical if you're a single person or a two-person household? Prices in the US and Australia seem comparable, but how did butter get to be so cheap Down Under? (I've not seen it for less than $2/lb in Philadelphia for quite some time. Regular supermarket prices hover around $4 to $4.50/lb, and sale prices around $2.50-$3/lb). I'd like to add a couple of notes about my price reports when they occur: The Reading Terminal Market is the price/quality leader when it comes to produce in the area. Prices at its regular produce stands are consistently lower than supermarket prices, and the quality is higher. (The RTM also has stands featuring Lancaster County produce in season, several area family farms in rotation from Thursday through Saturday during the growing season, and a stand specializing in organic produce [see the "Fair Food Farmstand" topic on the Pennsylvania board for info]. These are consistently higher in price than the supermarkets, but you're assured of getting locally grown produce that is as fresh as can be.) The 9th Street produce merchants are the absolute price leaders, bar none, but the quality is uneven (many of those rock-bottom bargains are on produce that is pretty close to expiring, which makes these items bargains only if you use them the moment you get back from your shopping trip). Nonetheless, the Italian Market is popular with shoppers of modest means--even the meat vendors beat the supermarkets on price, and one of those vendors, Esposito's, offers better quality than is often found in the supermarket meat case (they also supply some of the city's better restaurants).

I'd like to second her endorsement of the Kyocera ceramic slicer, which also comes in a julienne version. (I have one of each.) At $25, it's also inexpensive. Where did you find one in black? The slicers I picked up at Williams-Sonoma were yellow (regular) and green (julienne). Not that I don't like the colors, but I think black is cool.

So where's the post? ← Just posted on ISO ← and did you get my PM?

Good, because as Ive been pointing out, there is essentially no difference in the BGH content of milk whether it came from rBGH supplemented cows or not. Every glass of milk you ever drank had had BGH in it, no matter who produced it and what production techniques were used. ← I think that the statement Whole Foods Market prints on its "everyday value" brand of milk, 365, is a good example of an informative label that does not mislead. It states that while no research has shown (or the FDA has not come across, I forget which) any danger to humans from consuming milk from cows treated with rBGH, WFM uses milk only from dairy farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone. (I'm not quoting the label verbatim--this is the substance of the message, though.)

A comment and a question. First, the comment: --Over on the Pennsylvania board, a lot of us got a good laugh, or mighty steamed, or both, when we took a look at the producers and manufacturers who were certified as PA Preferred. Among the "preferred" producers in this state program intended to promote local agriculture and locally produced foodstuffs is: Sysco Foodservices of Central Pennsylvania, LLC Nota bene, folks, that one of the "Core Values" listed on the home page is "Using PA-sourced products." --Isn't (wasn't) Cattlemen's Barbecue Sauce a Sysco product? I see that you can get this sauce in supermarkets now, and that it does have a fan base among a certain segment of barbecue aficionados. Probably the exception that proves the rule if it is (was).

You'd be surprised. Want me to elaborate on the difference between "cheap" and "inexpensive"? You will find a good number of boring and shoddy products--and maybe even a disgusting one or two--in the former category. (Though from where I sit, what's really disgusting is the practice of producing overpriced products where the producer gets to collect a status premium for a product that is really no better than a similar one with a less-impressive brand.) God bless you, Pontormo. Of course, you realize that you are fighting a rear-guard action all the same. Sandy, off to see if there's a restaurant nearby that offers economy drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette

I understand your point about choices and agree. But I think you inadvertently hit on the reason why so many restaurant patrons cavil about wine markups and ignore all the other markups in the two sentences I italicized above in your quote. Now, if you're eating in a fancy restaurant, it won't--or shouldn't--be such a big deal that you will also spend $50 or more on a bottle of wine to go with the two $50 entrees you ordered. But if you are someone of more modest means--a group that in this case includes the merely affluent as well--you may feel it when you can't find a good wine value on the list to go with the two $20 entrees you ordered. If the only choices are a $25 (based on your statement above) wine that you saw in the regular section of the State Store for $9, a more interesting wine that will cost more than you spent on both entrees put together, or a generic house wine at $5 the glass, you may well feel more pain over the cost--or the Hobson's choice you've been presented with--when you contemplate the wine portion of your tab. And what if you're not in the mood for the food served at that wine-by-the-glass place? What if you want pan-Asian rather than Italian? "Just spend a little more" is precisely what the diners who fall into this category don't want to do. Even though the markup may be lower, the total cost remains higher, and it's that that the diner is focusing on. Shifting gears just a little bit: Yes, we are all agreed on the anticompetitive nature of the Liquor Control Board regime (emphasis added). But we still have it not only because the employees' union has some clout in Harrisburg, but also because many of the residents in Pennsylvania's 62 other counties aren't as concerned about the issue--and some of them even prefer things as they are now.

Where in the area do you live, Rich? Like most big-city dailies, the Inquirer prints earlier editions for home delivery in further-out suburbs and later ones for delivery and street sale in the city. I get the next-to-last edition printed (weekdays)/last edition printed (Sundays) delivered to my Center City apartment building. Earlier editions may have stories that are dropped for breaking stories in later ones--but since this story is a feature and not "breaking news," it is a bit puzzling that it would be Page One in a later but not an earlier edition. Unless: a) I've got the geographical hierarchy mixed up, b) you purchase an Early Sunday Edition (published on Saturday for street sale during the day and now distinguished from the regular editions by a different front-page flag with "Sunday" in Franklin Gothic where "Philadelphia" otherwise appears and a full-color above-the-fold photo on the front page), or c) the story had been slotted for all regular Sunday editions but missed the early-edition deadline. The interesting thing here is that if I'm still right about the geographical hierarchy, it hasn't changed a bit even though the printing plant is now in Conshohocken.

I've tried this product once. It doesn't have an artificial or chemical taste, which is good. I could see where this would come in handy when traveling, but can't figure out what I'd want it for at home, where I can keep real lemons or reconstituted lemon juice on hand. (Well, it would save storage space vs. the latter.)

Figures I'd follow Ellen into this exercise. This is the first of several posts you will see from me on this subject, as I don't buy all of these staples on every grocery trip and don't always pay attention to the prices of the ones I do buy. But I will advise you as to location and type of price. Prices will be expressed as per Chris' instructions. My main shopping venues are, in order of frequency of patronage: --A Super Fresh supermarket at 10th and South streets, the closest major supermarket to me. --An Acme supermarket at 1400 East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia, about a 20- to 25-minute walk from me. This store is part of the dominant supermarket chain in metropolitan Philadelphia and usually has better (or at least more) sale prices than does Super Fresh. The two stores' regular prices are comparable. --The Reading Terminal Market, three blocks north of me at 12th and Filbert. I refer you to the ongoing "Reading Terminal Market" thread on the Pennsylvania board to get a feel for this emporium, one of America's finest public markets. --The Ninth Street ("Italian") Market, which I can go through on the way to the Acme or from the Acme to the Super Fresh and Whole Foods. If you saw the first "Rocky" movie, you've seen this bit of authentic Philly. --A Whole Foods Market across 10th Street from the Super Fresh. They don't call this chain "Whole Paycheck" for nothing. Today I bought: bacon $5.98 (Acme, store brand, sale price) coffee $5.36 (Super Fresh, Maxwell House French roast, sale price) juice $1.38 (Acme, Langers, strawberry-peach/strawberry-watermelon blend, sale price) Yesterday, I picked up (*observed the prices on) the following items at the Reading Terminal Market: carrots $0.98* (loose, large carrots; all prices Iovine's Produce unless otherwise noted) garlic $5.98 mushrooms $3.98 (plain white button mushrooms) $5.98 (Crimini) $9.98 (shiitake) tomatoes $1.98 (US dry quart [volume], grape variety, O.K. Lee Produce, sale price) More dispatches from the field on the next shopping trip.

I know we're all here only for the food, but I thought maybe some of you might be interested in what one reviewer said about the design. Especially since most of you do not read The Philadelphia Inquirer. Here's what their architecture critic, Inga Saffron, had to say about Morimoto NYC in last Friday's "Home & Design" section.

So where's the post?

You're in the industry and I'm not, but that 300% figure sounds like something I've heard before too. A bottle of wine that costs the restaurateur $5 and which she sells for $20 is marked up 300%. Based on my reading of wine list prices and what I see comparable wines selling for in State Stores, I'd say that most wine markups are at least 100% (double the cost to the restaurateur). 30% markup for most retail also strikes me as about right--but restaurants aren't most retail. (Edited to add: For starters, they're far more labor-intensive than just about any other retail sector, and even at restaurant wages, labor is still the biggest share of total costs--which is why restaurant wages are what they are.) And there are certainly retail items that are marked up more steeply as well. I'm not surprised that costlier wines aren't marked up as much. You can mark a more expensive wine up by a lower percentage and still make a higher dollar profit on it. I had been led to believe that--whatever the markup on food may be--alcohol is a far more profitable item for the restaurant.

Greg--Okay if I ask if you're around if I make it over there soon?

I read the eGCI knife sharpening course but didn't bother to try the exercises myself. I did go down to Fante's in search of a sharpening steel. On the salesman's recommendation, I purchased a Henckels Twinsharp sharpener ($20) for honing my chef's knife. I do not hone religiously, though--I pass the knife through the sharpener about every third time I use it. The Twinsharp does a good job of maintaining the edge. Once a year, I take the knife down to Fante's to have them sharpen it. They don't charge much for the job--about $2.50 last time I had it sharpened.

<blush>Thanks.</blush> Didn't Bob Evans originate in Ohio? How does the home version stack up against the restaurant?

Just a minor note about California: It may not be the legislature that's taking the initiative there. For example, the aggressive posture that state's attorney general takes towards food labeling is the result of a voter-approved initiative. (If you read the article, it refers to Proposition 65, an initiative that required manufacturers to warn the public about potentially dangerous toxins in food.) California abounds in these--it's easier to get a legislative question on the ballot in that state than in almost any other in the Union, including the other states (like Missouri) that permit initiative and referendum, or "direct democracy." The prevalence of voter-passed laws in the Golden State is a legacy of the days when the state legislature was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Stacky's Sandwich Shop 225 Concord Avenue (at 3rd Street) Chester, PA 19013 Phone: 610-874-6430 Fax: 610-874-5300 Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The shop is one block off of Second Street/Industrial Highway (PA 291), about 1/4 mile W of Chester City Hall. Closest SEPTA service: Bus Route 113 runs along 3rd Street and stops at 3rd and Concord. Catch it Marcus Hook-bound at 69th Street Terminal (Market-Frankford Line), Darby Transportation Center (Trolley Routes 13 [peak hours only] and 11) or Chester Transportation Center (R2 Wilmington/Newark Regional Rail line). Edited to add: The Special really is all that, but the bag of chips is extra. Thanks. Actually, the shirt is striped too--it doesn't show well in this picture. I also have a lavender dress shirt that I wear with a necktie patterned after Van Gogh's "Irises". That combo gets approving comments from my co-workers.

You mean to tell me that I've been committing a major culinary faux pas for all these years? I'm mortified, I tell you. I'll just have to cover the soy sauce dish with my overcoat while I engage in illicit activity henceforth, I guess. (So what am I supposed to do with the wasabi, anyway?) Anyway: I live in the neighborhood, so I guess it's way past time for me to stop by and check it out. Maybe I can convince a fellow PGMCer to join me after tomorrow's performance. (I've been invited to Zanzibar Blue by a fellow second tenor after tonight's.)

Okay, folks, I'm ready to nail down a calendar date if you all are. Looking at how the money flows into and out of my wallet (the reason I couldn't join you all in Newark last Saturday ), it looks like the date that would work best for me to start the "Best of Philly Review Tour" would be Saturday, April 8. If nobody has a problem with that date (please reply to post if you do), I'd like to put this up on the eGullet Calendar for Pennsylvania. I'll wait a week or so before asking Holly or Katie to add it, though. In the meantime: Wolfgram Memorial Library has Philadelphia on microfilm. I'll start researching other Best of Philly winners to put together some more tour stops. If any of you can recall past winners off the top of your head or from recent visits to same, maybe you could list them here and save me some research?

When I was on Lipitor, the pharmacist slapped a label on my pill bottle reading "Do not consume any products made from grapefruit." This strikes me as just as effective, if not more so, than slapping the label on the grapefruit or juice.

Today: my second car tour of Chester, courtesy of our Vice President for Government and Community Relations, who gave me a completely different perspective on the city from the one I got from a Student Services staffer on my first tour, even as we covered much the same territory in both. I got to see an eye-popping event space that isn't relevant to the topic at hand, but I sure hope to be part of a catered dinner in it someday. (Maybe I'll post the pix to my own blog later.) Then we went to a place the VP for G&CR told me and my überboss, the Vice President for University Relations, had the best sandwiches in town: The guy in the shades holding the door open is the VP for G&CR. The woman walking in past him is the VP for UR. Before we sat down to eat, I got to meet someone that it will probably be useful for me to know: That's Mayor Wendell N. Butler, Jr. (Rep.) on the left. Then we got down to business. All three of us ordered the "Special," which--like all the hoagies this place serves--can be had cold or grilled. We had ours grilled. It consists of ham, cappacola, roasted hot and sweet peppers, sharp Provolone and prosciutto: It was as advertised--the best sandwich I've had so far in Chester. And the shop--a couple of blocks from the Delaware in a somewhat rundown neighborhood southwest of the forlorn downtown--was bustling all the time we were there. We all agreed that if this place were located close to Widener, it would do a land-office business.

My sentiments exactly. Così Squagels are basically thick pieces of Così bread. And these look for all the world like Così Squagels. But FWIW, Così bread is what I imagine matzoh would taste like if you were allowed to add yeast to the dough.

Thanks for letting us into your life for a week, and good luck getting your sons to develop more adventurous palates. Hope your move to the Pacific Northwest goes smoothly!