philadining

Yeah, I'd started calling it "Good Luck getting a table" and indeed mid-evening on a saturday the dining room was completely booked. But surprisingly, on this particular saturday, 8-ish, the bar was not all that full, so we grabbed a table over in the corner by the windows, and we were quite happy there. They serve the full menu at the bar and at those adjacent tables, so there's still hope even if the dining room is booked. I'd thought much the same thing as you - that it was more bar than restaurant on weekends, but oddly, not this particular saturday. There were still seats at the bar when we left, ten-ish. but the dining room looked pretty full. I'd called Rocco earlier in the day, but they were booked for the whole night. Jeeze, I thought I could take advantage of this terrible economy and at least find an open table at a restaurant in Rochester!

I think the Food Network magazine writers got a little sloppy with their description: they say it has chili mayo and hot pickled peppers when it's actually malt vinegar mayo and roasted peppers, as Matt said. But I have to agree that it's a delicious burger. Edited to correct: Matt and I were both thinking of another condiment, it is indeed chile mayo on the burger. And the long-hots are in fact pickled. But I think they're roasted too! Oh and just to be complete, it's also got smoked gouda, caramelized onions and bacon on a really nice roll. www.foodnetwork.com/50-states-50-burgers/package/index.html I might be a little biased, I snapped some photos of one for them, and it was sheer torture just looking at it through the viewfinder for so long. When I finally finished, I couldn't resist any longer, and it was still pretty fine even after I'd let it get cold! But I might have a weird obsession with that burger now... I like the Good Dog burger, but it's kind of a different thing. The blue cheese center is interesting, but not everybody wants that, and I'm not even in the mood for that every time I want a burger. (I prefer the Royal's fries too.) I'm also a big fan of the Standard Tap's burger, and of Cochon's burger at brunch, but I do think my current fave overall is indeed the Royal's.

I finally had a chance to eat at Good Luck recently, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to do so. I'd dropped by for some very good cocktails a few months ago, but this is the first time I had a chance to have dinner. I found the food to be creative, interesting, and most importantly, delicious. (Sorry, it was a little too dim for photos - next time I'll try to go earlier!) We started with a couple of specials. One was a vegetable stew that featured asparagus, fava beans, peas, morel mushrooms, artichokes, and probably a few other green things that got lost in the swirl of flavors. A creamy sauce and a touch of truffle oil added some richness, but the overall effect was one of lightness and fresh spring flavors. The second special was one of Cardoon Cutlets. Although not an especially spring-like vegetable, this dish was vibrant, with grape tomatoes, sauteed greens, a dollop of fresh-tasting tomato sauce, and a few nuggets of pancetta atop the panko-coated crisply-fried cardoon. This had a very pleasing range of flavors and textures, and was one of our favorite dishes of the night. The other favorite was Black Cod with roasted beets and potatoes over a cauliflower purée. The fish was perfectly-cooked, nicely moist beneath the seared exterior. Accompaniments were simple but acted as good companions. I was curious about their pizza, so we ordered the Neapolitan, just a simple tomato sauce with cheese and basil on a thin, crispy crust. The crust was very dense and crackery, exhibiting good structural integrity (no tip-droop!) and while I prefer that to a limp, bready crust, it could have used a little more flavor, and some air. The whole package was good though, and while I wouldn't rank it as a destination pizza, I could easily picture sitting at the bar and eating one as a snack or a starter or even a light meal. For better or worse, the Good Luck schtick is that all the dishes are plated to share, and will be served as they're ready. This was fine with us, we like eating that way, and my dining partner and I were planning on sharing everything anyway. Our dishes came out in something resembling two courses, which worked pretty well, although in a perfect world I might have liked the dishes in a different order. Now that I think of it, I didn't ask, next time I might mention it if I have a preference. I'm not sure if it would have changed anything, but it can't hurt to ask... The biggest problem with this style of service is that some diners just don't like to share, or aren't in the mood for the same food. In circumstances like that, it can be uncomfortable if one person gets their food well ahead of the other. It's also not entirely clear how much food should be ordered: there's no real indication on the menu about whether dishes are large or small. We ordered four things for two people, and that was too much, three might have been just right. But who knows, if we'd ordered different things, maybe four, even five, might have been appropriate. There's a nice selection of wine by the glass, we found a Gruner Veltliner from Berger that matched really well with what we were eating. They also have some very interesting cocktails, and a reasonably deep bar if you want to go off-list. Their version of a Sazerac is unconventional, but tasty, so I couldn't resist getting another after first sampling it back in December. They also make a credible Corpse Reviver, and some original concoctions that bear more exploration. We didn't have room for dessert, although we might have considered it if it had been offered. That was one of the very few slips in what was otherwise very good service from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable waiter, who we also found amusingly odd, but in a good way... The tab for two ran a little over $100 including a good tip. We didn't drink much, but we did order too much food, so that might have balanced out. One could easily spend much less, or more. They're only open wednesdays-saturdays, but they serve pretty late. I'm not sure when the regular menu toggles-over to the more limited late-might offerings, or even when the last food leaves the kitchen, but they advertise that they serve "late" whatever that means. Gordon? If you can get your head around the sharing thing, and be serene with the fact that the food will come out when it comes out, I highly recommend checking out Good Luck. It's a little on the loud side, and I've sat in more comfortable chairs, but next time I'm in town I'll happily shout at my dining companion, and risk my leg going to sleep, because the food is a strong enough lure. Good Luck 50 Anderson Ave (585) 340-6161 www.restaurantgoodluck.com

There seems to be a pretty widely-accepted definition for St. Louis-Style ribs, having to do with a particular style of trimming spare ribs, as described here. And there seems to be at least a vague definition of St. Louis Style Barbecue as described in Wikipedia. But more importantly, those are terms that Dante's uses to discriminate between two very different styles of ribs. What they call St Loiis ribs are the larger, meatier spare ribs, trimmed to a uniform size, with the membrane removed, and basted with sauce. What they call Memphis ribs are dry-rubbed baby backs. It has so far been the consensus of everyone I've eaten with that the St. Louis ribs are clearly superior, at least at Dante's.

It really depends on how much you want to just drink, and how much you want to crawl... I've done the Chick's-to-Southwark crawl many times, or the reverse, or the bounce back-and-forth, they're close enough that it's a pleasant stroll, and between those two places, you can cover a LOT of cocktalian terrain. You could do very well just getting a survey of drinks at either place, or both. That said, I understand the appeal of a crawl, and depending on how much terrain you actually want to cover, I'd suggest a variation on the Yanni plan. Amada >> Zahav >>Xochitl>>Southwark>>Chick's>>James. If you can still stand, go to the Cantina Los Caballitos. That's designed for geographical efficiency, not a drink style progression or anything, and James actually closes earlier than the others, so maybe you want to do it backwards. In any case, if you can remember anything about the evening, please report back!

It's true Rich, the phone has been ringing off the hook: movie deals, agents, marriage proposals... I'm afraid I can't be bothered with you little people anymore. But seriously, while I'm sure a lot of us here would have given Han Dynasty 17 bells, Laban's 2-bell review is probably a good result. Three bells might have created an unreasonable expectation that it's a fancy, formal restaurant, and that's not what it is. Like Percy, I'm surprised to hear that Laban thought the standard Americanized Chinese dishes were so bad. I haven't tried any at Royersford, but sampled a few at the Exton branch when dining with groups, and I thought they were pretty tasty! I prefer the traditional stuff, but if you happen to be in the mood for a gloopy sauce, you could do worse! Laban's point is valid: anything on the menu should be good. But it makes a certain sense that a chef from China schooled in the native cuisine in Sichuan province might not even know what those dishes are supposed to be like. Or maybe, as Laban suggests, they just don't care that much about those dishes. Whatever the case, the message from the review is spot on. This isn't a place to visit for Beef and Broccoli and Lemon Chicken. If you like that, that's fine, there are plenty of other places around to find that stuff. Hopefully this review will bring some more folks out to Han Dynasty who are looking for the food that this place does best. I'm really happy that our collective eGullet obsession has helped focus some well-deserved attention on this place. And it really was all of us. Sure, my photos might have given Laban an extra prod, but credit goes to Katie for piquing his interest with an invite to our extravaganza, to Lauren and Percy for getting us all excited about the Exton branch way back when, to everybody that came to our big dinners, to everyone who went on their own and shared their experiences. It surely was the combination of all those factors that helped get this place on many people's radar, not just Laban.

They make it with yogurt? First I've heard of that. Usually the tarama (roe) in taramasalata is emulsified with oil, like mayo, then thickened with either softened white bread or cooked, mashed potato. ← The waitress, who was very nice, was a little confused about that. We weren't expecting it to be yogurt-based either, but it seemed a little cheesey, so we asked. And first she said just olive oil and lemon, then came back and said yogurt. I tend to believe the yogurt story, it had that kind of mouth-feel, but I'm not completely sure.

Yeah, we liked the Doner Kebab and the Adana Kebab quite a lot. We had the Tarama as an app (thickened yogurt with red caviar) which was a little blah. Way too dark for pictures. They're open pretty late (10pm weekdays, midnight friday and saturday) so I'll surely be heading back for more.

Vetri is a very good choice, because it will be be both good and impressive, and it's an intimate-enough space that you might end up interacting with the chef just by accident. That being said, if chatting with Marc Vetri in particular would make or break the experience, you should mention this when you reserve and ask if it can be arranged. Marc Vetri is much more likely to be in the Vetri kitchen on any given day than most high-profile chefs are in theirs, so your odds are good, but he does bounce between there and Osteria, and surely occasionally has other commitments, so you never know for sure. This is true of all restaurants with "name" chefs. The restaurant has a Chef de Cuisine that would surely be there, if meeting "the chef" is the goal. As for Lacroix, you can indeed get an impressive dinner there (although some recent reports have been mixed) but I'm not sure I'd call the menu "French." If that's what you're looking for, there's of course Le Bec Fin, which, for better or worse, has changed concepts such that you don't have to spend a bazillion dollars on a prix fixe extravaganza. As with Lacroix, recent reports have been uneven, but dinner there certainly would be impressive, and brag-worthy (and from your perspective, not necessarily ruinously expensive, especially if you stuck to ordering a la carte.) But some of the other ideas, like Rodizio, or high-end sushi, might be even more appealing to him, you should probably ask! If he is indeed a foodie, he might have some place he's been dying to try.

So, if they're serving ribeyes without the fat caps, does that mean we could just order a plate full of fat caps? They've got to go somewhere, right?

And also very interesting: http://www.sholaolunloyo.com/

If you go to Joe Poon, just beware - indeed you'll have lots of options, but some of them might be pretty weird...

Ahhh... that would explain why it seemed odd...

I think I know what you mean, something a little more upscale for a birthday dinner but with good Peking Duck, and... I can't think of anything downtown. We've been enjoying the Peking Duck at Ken's Seafood and at Xiao Guan Garden in Chinatown, but those places are no fancier than Sang Kee, maybe even less. Sang Kee made a disappointing showing several months ago when we did a head-to-head Peking Duck tasting, eating three in a row at Sang Kee, XG and Ken's, but we had it again more recently and Sang Kee's was very good, so I think that earlier duck was a fluke. Sang Kee serves two courses, first the crispy skin in thin pancakes, then the duck meat stir-fried with random vegetables. The other two I mentioned do just one course: the crispy skin has much more meat left on it, and they use puffy steamed buns rather than thin pancakes. Both are good, but some might quibble that the latter isn't really the traditional Peking Duck service. There's really not that much fancy Chinese downtown. There's obviously Susanna Foo, but they don't serve Peking Duck, at least not on the regular menu. There's the new Joe's Peking Duck down on Chestnut near Front St, but again, not all that fancy. The menu's a little crazy, but the man can cook a duck. Around the corner at Pagoda, they make good Peking Duck (some of the folks there were formerly at Sang Kee, so it's similar) but again, not especially fancy. Out in the 'burbs, Margaret Kuo's restaurants are usually fairly spiffy, and they consider Peking Duck a specialty. I remember liking it there, but it's been a long time. I don't think that helped you...

I agree, Sam: you've made an apt analogy, and I'll just extend it to say that even today, there are still musicians making very interesting and beautiful music with synthesizers as the focus. There are also plenty of sincere, scruffy rock bands with a synth player, and loads of synths at the core of huge pop hits. (And plenty of musicians that see them as evil.) But you're right that it's not a trendy element that everyone feels obliged to use, or call attention to. And similarly, I suspect there will always be a niche audience for a chef going full speed ahead with gels and powders and vacuums, just as there remains one for musicians twiddling the knobs of modular synths. But that narrow specialty won't be the main outcome of the movement, nor will there be outright rejection of the techniques. There'll be a push-back (we're probably in that phase already) then a quiet integration of the useful parts to the degree that we just won't think about it. But yes, I agree, probably fewer keyboardists wearing capes.

I'll add to the good words about Fork. While no one thing was so spectacular that I'd insist you drop everything and race over there, everything was very good and the meal as a whole was very satisfying. Our server was excellent (sorry, didn't get her name...) the place had a nice feel, and we like the fact that they serve the full menu pretty late (10:30 weekdays, 11:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.) We liked the selection of charcuterie, all apparently made in-house. The nut-studded Cervelas de Lyon was especially good. Perhaps even better, but not all that photogenic, was the lamb belly, which was crispy, rich, salty and lamb-y. The ribbons of tongue, and tender artichokes were good partners. We also quite liked the beet salad, especially the the cured pears that were mixed in. A crispy Striped Bass was perfectly cooked, and accompanied by a pea purée as well as a zingier sauce that perked the fish up nicely. We were a little mixed on the flavor and texture of the corned duck breast. It was very well -executed, but the jury's still out about whether that's the best treatment to give a duck breast. We were underwhelmed by the celery-root purée, but the horseradish-spiked sauce complimented the duck beautifully. Our favorite dish of the night might have been the porkchop. It was well-seared, but still juicy, flirting with the rarer side of our comfort zone, but we did say that "medium" was fine, when it was suggested by the server, and indeed it was very tasty. The chop was served over outstanding homemade sauerkraut, and joined by a small blood sausage, roasted apples, and three very nice cheddar pierogies. We had a very good, and reasonably-priced bottle of Grüner Veltliner, which went very nicely with all this food. Too stuffed for dessert. I don't think any one dish is going to lure us back to Fork, but the overall experience certainly will.

Pho Dac Biet A very delicious bowl of Pho, I'd rank it as my favorite in the city. However, depending on how important this stuff is to you, your own opinion could vary: there's not as much ability to customize your ingredients as there is at, say, Pho75; there's no raw beef, still cooking in the hot broth, like you'll get some places; the soup is a little oilier than some. That said, the broth is quite delicious, the dac biet version has loads of stuff in it (although I think it may vary depending on what's around, for instance, we didn't have any tripe in this latest bowl.) Similarly, basil was the only herb provided for adding to the soup this time, but I've gotten a variety in the past. The Bun Bo Hue was also very good. After reading the Wandering Chopsticks rant, I realize that my preference for square noodles is effectively wishing for a different soup, but hey, I've gotten it that way and just happen to like it better like that. But these round "bun" are fine, the broth is good, and the meats in there are great. The menu here is not especially broad, but then I'd be OK if they just had those two items on it. And I wish they were open later, but I'll take what I can get.

I think it's really interesting that reactions are so diverse. I'm confident that there's day-to-day variation in the product, maybe even hour-to-hour or rack-by-rack, brisket-by-brisket, butt by butt. Then there are personal preferences, and as I mentioned above, the likely unreliability of our memories... So, oh darn, more testing will have to be done! And I'd certainly like to hear from more people. From my recent visits, in my opinion, Dante's is way out in front.

Leftover barbecue is a good thing...

I'm willing to believe that it was an off night for Sweet Lucy's (it was saturday night FWIW) but it's funny, I've ben having that reaction over and over to all the old stand-by places... The first night we got Dante's, we also stopped at Tommy Gunns and Dwight's. We found ourselves saying that exact thing - that this must be an off-night because we remembered these places being much better. And of course it's possible, but it's seeming like quite a coincidence that they're all having an off night! Of course any place will have some variation, but I also have to wonder if our memories aren't that good. I know it seems extreme, but if you're interested in making the comparison, it's quite enlightening to go to a few places in a row and eat the same meats side by side.

Made another Dante's run: Memphis Style dry-rubbed baby back pork ribs. Great smoky, spiced flavor, but a little dry. Sauce on the side was pleasantly tangy, but we couldn't tell any difference between the ones marked hot and mild... Will try these again, although I think I just generally have a personal preference for the larger spare ribs. Brisket was shredded/pulled which seemed odd, but it tasted great. It manged to retain some crucial juiciness amid the crusty edges. Pulled Pork was my favorite: very moist, deeply smoky, a little crunchy here and there. We went up to Sweet Lucy's later and there really was no comparison. None of those meats tasted smoky at all. Ribs were dry, brisket and pulled pork seemed more stewed than smoked, kielbasa was good... Actually the food all tasted pretty good, but the textures were wrong somehow, and it was missing that imprint of the wood fire, it just didn't seem like smoked barbecue. The red potato salad was delicious. So I'll be sticking with Dante. Oh, and Jimmy.

The new menu is up on their website, and it looks good. It's bistro-ish as promised, but as I had hoped, a few familiar favorites seem to have made that transition (like steak frites, and mussels.) Somewhere in these recent posts it seems to have gotten lost that I've always been a huge fan of this restaurant and have often advocated for them here and in other media. So I wish them the best, and I'm thrilled that they'll still be open in Phoenixville. I just felt the need to comment that announcing a closing, and then promptly reopening seemed a little cheesey. Their new website describes the situation this way: "In direct response to the economic times, Majolica took a short hiatus to reorganize our menu and remodel our space. Still a friendly B.Y.O.B, Majolica is a singular experience unlike anything else, anywhere." Now THERE'S a straightforward statement. Can't wait to go.

I guess I am just a cynic, but then I never believe that politicians resign to spend more time with their families either... The "Heard the Rumors?' signs went up pretty soon after they "closed". I have no doubt that closing a restaurant is a heart-wrenching thing, which is why I find it even harder to believe that they really intended to walk away and then thought - oh wait - what if we painted and changed the menu a bit? Hmmm... they have a brand new, professional-looking logo, ON A SIGN, INSTALLED, mere days after "closing." I suppose they could have had a sudden inspiration and gotten all this designed and manufactured in the less than two weeks that they've been closed. Or maybe they had this plan in motion before they "closed." It's no great scandal either way, I'm just saying that stating that they were closing, and planned on reopening with a new concept, would have been a little more straightforward. But probably wouldn't have generated as much publicity. I don't really have all that much trouble reading for content, I'm just too much of a cynic to take all of it at face value. If you do, well good for you, I think I might like to live in your world where everyone is completely forthcoming at all times.

Klein has the scoop in The Insider. They say it's going to be more French Bistro-ish, which doesn't seem like a huge change, and cheaper, which sounds great. I have only good wishes for them, I like the restaurant a lot, I'm glad they'll still be there. And it's certainly possible that they really considered closing, or a more drastic re-invention that might have required a dramatic statement, then changed their minds. [edit - whoops ya beat me to it chellie! and thanks for those links.]

I don't see the connection between a restaurant being a business, and whether the "closing" announcement was contrived. Taken to a ridiculous extreme, don't you think it would get a little annoying if restaurants started announcing that they're closing every time they made a change in their menus? Obviously the Majolica situation is not that extreme, but I'm just saying that I find it strange to announce that you're closing, if you're not. And that it could quickly get tiresome if that became a common practice.