Diann

I feel like I went once a week every week in September. It's got good al fresco seating (and you might actually be able to do that tonight, with the weather) and they have the Hitachino Nest white beer on the menu -- one of my favorites. Everything I've had (gyoza, mac & cheese, pierogi, beet salad, spring rolls) has been good -- not amazing, but pretty good. Try the burger and let us know how it is, burger man!

We're having our office holiday party there so I'll report back in December... I didn't think they were opening for regular business until year-end.

I'm up for it -- I still haven't made it to Mandoline yet.

No you dont Diann..... Did we not discuss your interest in a Pork belly creme brulee a few days ago ? ← Notice I said "ALMOST"!

Ocean trout, cranberry... jus? and vanilla pommes puree. After you mentioned "Lucky Charms" I thought of it too. But weirdly enough, it turns out that I like the combination of fish and Lucky Charms. Ha!

You typically get two kinds of sesame balls -- red bean paste and lotus (seed?) paste. I'm partial to the lotus kind. No green vegetables going around in carts, but I'm sure we could have ordered some Chinese broccoli or something.

Phil - They added some dishes to the menu this week and subtracted others. Here's what I remember: Vegetables - spaghetti squash, corn and polenta, maitake mushroom, brussels 'n truffles. The squash is new, but I don't think they took anything off the menu veggie-wise. Fruits - miso caramel wasabi pea apple (now there's a mouthful), cantaloupe/sunflower shoots/lavender salt, and figs/wine/sheeps milk custard. The cantaloupe is new. Fish - escargot, whiting, ocean trout. The mackerel is gone (temporarily, I hope). Meat - pork belly, BBQ chicken thigh, foie gras, beef gyoza. Dessert - tres leches creme brulee with churro, a banana curry thing, the olive oil financier, and the chocolate cake. Cheeses - rocastin, some funky blue cheese with a cool name, and two others. My personal faves: I love all of the veggies, but I don't quite "get" the maitake mushroom. That's a personal thing, I think. Whatever. You can't please everyone all the time, and I am ridiculously in love with every single other vegetable on the menu, so it doesn't matter. As I mentioned to mrbigjas, I'm always really impressed by chefs who get the vegetables right; at some places (Django comes to mind) I'd almost rather eat a big plate of side dishes and forget about the meat part of the plate. I like the cantaloupe dish -- very vegetal/green with the sunflower shoots. Maybe the cantaloupe flavor could have been intensified (it IS slow-cooked, after all) but that could be a seasonal thing. Foie gras was a beautiful plate -- a wide brushstroke of magenta-colored plum sauce, a cup of "Peking duck soup", and a curlicue of foie gras sitting on a buckwheat bun. Delicious, too. And finally, whiting: crunchy, crispy, smooth, salty -- really excellent. I thought the food was good the first time I went, but it's actually gotten even better...

Phil, your photos rock. To paraphrase Daniel in the STH thread, I was there, and things didn't even look that good in person. Your photos give everything a luscious glow. Serendipitous is totally the right word for cart-based dim sum. That or "fun and chaotic". My problem with carts is that I feel obligated to order EVERYTHING I might possibly want on one cart as it comes by; that way, in case the cart never stops by my table again, my bases will be covered. Unfortunately, that leads to bad timing of dim sum (items getting cold, people filling up too quickly, etc.) It was fun, though, and foodwise everything was solid, except maybe the har gow (gao?), which were a bit gluey.

I'm thinking of buying turkey parts instead of a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, as (a) I'm only having four guests and (b) we are also having steak (family tradition). Where's the best place to buy parts -- Giunta's?

20th & Rittenhouse, to be specific. I'm going tonight, armed with wine.

Karen -- they do have a liquor license -- last weekend on my way to the farmer's market in Rittenhouse Square I made a point of figuring out where snackbar is actually located (I always walk right by, distracted by the giant cheetah at Asta de Blue), and I saw the orange liquor license sign in the window.

It's Jonathan Makar's new restaurant. He was the original manager of Marigold Kitchen. Location is the former Out of the Blue / Salt space.

Try Nudy's in Wayne -- I like the pumpkin pancakes and omelettes. It gets crowded on Sundays and might be cash only, but it's relatively cheap, filling, and good.

Nope! The chopped liver on a bagel story is on that other board. I still think the Famous is the closest you can get to genuine New York deli in Philadelphia. Thank god they're around.

I've been to Ray's several times for both lunch and dinner and never found the service to be slow. They also have, hands down, the very best milkshake I've had in the area. ← Oooh... milkshake. Thanks! I'll be stopping by Ray's soon. P.S. Ladydisdain, your photos inspired me to go try Naked Chocolate Cafe this weekend and the vanilla/vanilla cupcakes were delicious.

Has anyone ever been to Ray's for a weekday lunch? I'd love a good breakfast-for-lunch spot once in a while, but I need to be able to get in and out in an hour to an hour and a half. I've heard they're a bit slow, so that's the only thing preventing me from trying the place. Thoughts?

Not when you've got someone in the passenger seat to feed it to you, it isn't... where's Phyllis A. Dining when you need her?

Slight correction: 23rd and Sansom. There was an article somewhere about it about 6 or 9 months ago I think. ← The article was in Citypaper in March: Fit to be Thai'd by Trey Popp. I am an unadventurous Thai eater, but Erawan is good stuff.

Percy -- those dumplings (xiao long bao) are a specialty of Shanghai and really difficult to find in the Philadelphia area. I ordered them at every restaurant I went to when I was in Shanghai this summer. Avoid the 100-year-old place, though. I think it's called Nan Xiang (according to R.W. Apple) and frankly, it felt like a tourist trap to me. Really good dumplings should have thin, almost translucent skins, and the filling should be tinted yellow/orange by the crab "essence" (they call it crab roe, but it's not, really)... Anyways, there is always a long line at Nan Xiang and you can see them making the dumplings as you wait, but the skins on those things seem too thick to be any good. There IS an awesome hole-in-the-wall place that I would recommend if you're ever in Shanghai, though. A steamer full of 16-24 dumplings will run you $1 US for the basic pork version, maybe $2 US for pork and crabmeat, and $8 US for the crab with crab roe version (which is this place's equivalent of the $100 cheesesteak). Back on topic -- Margaret Kuo's look pretty good. I will definitely have to try them one weekend.

Apamate (16th & South) IS good -- they've got sandwiches, salads, pintxos, croquettes, churros y chocolate, etc. Nineteen at the Park Hyatt Bellevue is also open for lunch. Spectacular room and views. I've only eaten in the lounge (good lobster salad club sandwich) but I hear good things about the food in the main dining room. If you're interested in weekend lunches, there's Cantina el Caballito in South Philly. Awesome margaritas and decent food (others on eGullet loved it, I thought it was okay).

Bill I am just done, I am as of today no longer posting in any threads about specific restaurants and what they do, what attracted me to e-gullet is just the ability to network with like minded people who are interested in cookery and the technical details. No point in creating any animousity, it's just best to avoid these situations.... Restaurant reports get too often interpreted as "reviews" and the fact is one person's opinion no matter how positive or negative is one person's opinion. Expecting everyone to agree with you is just a delusion.... ← V -- sorry you took so much crap from the kitchen at Bar Ferdinand. But (1) if you, or Philadining, or whomever, weren't honest in your opinions, you would be less trustworthy as reviewers and (2) the BF people need to stop freaking out. You're not Craig Laban or the Philly equivalent of Zagat. I know people trust your opinion, but at the same time, I highly doubt that this one post is going to make or break the restaurant. Bar Ferdinand has gotten the most buzz, by far, of any recent new restaurant -- all the media outlets have mentioned their opening, party promoters keep on talking the place up, and I've even gotten an email from a hair salon that touted Bar Ferdinand as the coolest new place in the city -- a hair salon, of all things. I think they'll be fine.

Since I am Diann, I figured I'd answer your question -- I think I was just the most recent person to ask Vadouvan a lot of questions about what he makes, how he plans dinner parties, and about cooking in Philadelphia.

I will try and head there on Friday. Corn soup may be in my future. Thanks for the bump. Do you know the hours offhand? ← Evan -- they are definitely open until 8PM on weekdays. Not sure about weekend hours, but since they are less than a mile from my office, I get there pretty often. If you want corn, just let me know... I can drop some off at your house. The cantaloupes are awesome, too. Haven't had a tomato from them this year yet, but will rectify that. Peaches and watermelons were pretty good last week, but it's not quite peak season for them yet.

Allow me to second that suggestion, PhilA. With emphasis on locally available ingredients, being able to efficiently transform what is at your local whole foods or market beyond the after work weekday basic techniques would be awesome. ie beyond the ubiquitous 9-5'er .... chicken ---> bake it fish ----> grill it steak ----> broil it vegetables ---->steam it starch ----> boil it Evan ← V, Phil and Evan clarified exactly what I meant in my earlier request. What are your pantry staples? What are some good techniques for basic proteins, vegetables, and starches? I really like that melon-cucumber soup, by the way. Do you have a good source for wasabi in Philadelphia or do you go to New York for it? Evan -- I believe the basic method for the corn soup is: soak fresh corn in whole milk for a few hours (2:1 ratio of milk to corn). Puree the mixture with a hand blender, then use the chinoise to strain it, then bring it to a simmer (or a boil?). Add salt. I think that's it. Of course, you could then go on to make mushroom and chicken raviolis and truffled foam for the soup, and source some good amaranth as a garnish... Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in my description of the soup.