philadining

Good points Tim. I'm not really so bothered by Ms Cowan, more mystified by what her local sources were telling her! She did a logical thing for a journalist to do: she contacted local journalists. So it's just kind of weird to see the gaps that resulted. The folks she mentions surely know Philly's strong-points, perhaps they were trying to stay true to her list before she'd given up on it. We may not have anything quite like the Pegu Club, even we Philly boosters complain about that, but what other cities do? Even NY didn't have anything like the Pegu Club until recently... Even so, she did make it to Southwark, which mixes some excellent drinks, albeit classics. If she'd looked at the cocktail lists at a few of the places she did visit she could have found quite interesting nouveau libations at Xochitl, and James. A quick stop at the Cantina los Caballitos, or M, to mention some places that are well-known to the local media, would have unveiled some creative concoctions, none of which involve Tang on the rims. So it's kind of strange to just abandon any expectation of decent drinks. But as Katie and Tim pointed out, the more appropriate response to any cocktail disappointment is to say - wait, but check out our craft beer scene. And around that scene has grown a rather sophisticated gastro-pub presence. It's hard to imagine that none of the local contacts pointed that out. Maybe Ms Cowan just ran out of time, and places like the Standard Tap are among those places she wants to try on her next visit. Hope so... And some more of our stellar BYOBs... and...

Holy crap! Rich has been Rachel Ray-ed!!! It's time for an intervention!! Who's got a van and some duct tape?

I think you make a good point Matthew, it is indeed nice to have a national publication not dismiss Philly as a quaint second-rate town, where the only notable food is some odd thing called a cheesesteak. My "parking in the middle of the street" comment was meant metaphorically: I like the fact that she embraced Philly for its Phillyness, not how it stood up to NY on a NY-centric scale. But in a more literal sense, simple street food is indeed part of a city's dining scene, and that food can be just as exciting and attractive to visitors, even Food and Wine readers. I've never thought of that magazine as especially snooty. The Chicago Hot Dog is part of that city's dining scene, a Mission burrito part of San Francisco's, a pastrami sandwich part of NY's. Heck, one of our local eG crowd has flown to Montreal just for a smoked meat sandwich... It's great that there's lots more she wants to try in Philly, and I hope that when she comes back that will include upscale "destination restaurants" but also Sarcone's for a hoagie, DiNic's or Tony Luke's for a Roast Pork, maybe a taqueria or two, or Rangoon, or some of the other little places that contribute just as much to making Philly an exciting dining destination as the glittery expensive places do.

...and I might argue with a few points. This seems to have been more of a consensus reached by her local consultants, rather than a conclusion reached in her travels. While Philly doesn't have an Alinea, WD-50 or El Bulli, much has been made of the weird science happening at LaCroix these days, and it's hard to miss the influence of that experimental scene at snackbar. Even the chicken skin bound to sweetbreads out at Marigold Kitchen is an extension of the "meat glue" transglutimase experiments Dufresne's been doing at WD-50 in NY. Do we have anyone out on the bleeding edges of experimental cuisine? maybe not, but last time I checked, Chicago was the only place where those chefs seem to thrive in any number, and with the exception of Achatz at Alinea, it's debatable whether any of them play a significant role in making a "Great Food City." re markets: DiBruno's Center City is referenced as by a local, no less. Hey, I like DiBrunos, but it's far from all we've got, in fact I almost never shop in there. Downtown Cheese, Claudios, much of Reading Terminal Market, not to mention the numerous seasonal farmers' markets we're chatting about here, all provide viable alternatives/compliments to DiBruno's. re wine: as Capaneus is likely to mention, there's a weird upside to the "Stalinist system" of the PLCB. The frequent bargains at State Stores and ubiquity of BYOB culture has enriched my drinking life. And thanks to the Moore Brothers, referenced in the article, and some energetic sommeliers working within the PA system, we're privy to a fair amount of excitement in the wine world, I don't feel all that deprived. Often broke after ordering wine in restaurants, yes, but not bored... re Artisans: good calls to highlight Capogiro and La Colombe, but what about Dave and Kira's chocolates (or Eclat if you want to widen the zone,) Artisan Boulangerie, the pastas and salumi at Osteria, Hendricks Farms cheeses... that's just off the top of my head. It's great that she ends up with a positive spin on "destination restaurants" even refining her definition of what those might be, but even that conclusion seemed to be reached a little too casually, from a bite here, a quick stop at the bar there. Still, it's nice to see that she was receptive to the charms of Philly's dining scene, which are indeed not the same as the attractions of many other cities. I give her a lot of credit for being willing to abandon her rules, and see that sometimes it makes sense to just park in the middle of the street, and eat things whiz-wit. Holly's right that she missed some of the best food in town: the simple sandwiches and casual fare, but hey, next time she's down...

Well said, Holly. I think that soul is a strong point of Philly dining, from "low" to "high." There's a certain folky funkiness in much of the best food here, no matter how buffed. I thought it was an interesting outsider's perspective on the city. It felt a little random, putting rather a lot of weight on the opinions of people she happened to sit next to, but it's hard to say whether that's more of a literary device than a literal account. But it's nice to have a sophisticated diner leave happy and intrigued for a change, not just traumatized by the addytood at our cheesesteak counters.

Here's the article>>

Fascinating thread Johnny, thanks! Is there any downside to de-bearding them at this stage? For some reason I thought I'd heard that it was best done at the last-minute, but that might be an old-wive's tale...

Matt reminded me that Sovalo does BYOB on mondays.

It's funny, in making some plans to go soon, we were just thinking the same thing, that we actually like having a few different glasses of a few different wines at Ansill, and that the prices aren't bad there. That said, BYOB night just seems like a good random motivator to go to a good restaurant.

Just received my 8 quart cocotte ("eggplant") and it's a thing of beauty! I just need a forklift to help move it around now... Can hardly believe Amazon shipped it for free.

Yesterday, they were pretty much packed-up by 7pm, but I saw people with produce not much before that. Those people shall go nameless, just so that the Fentons don't have to fight off hungry eGulleteers that heard rumors of rhubarb pie. Oh, wait, ooops...

Looks excellent Gordon! It's hard to tell from pictures, but I was wondering about the overall scale of it. Sometimes too much is too much, you know? Were you greeting each course with eager anticipation, or thinking that they might be trying to kill you?

Thought I'd bump this thread, as it's getting more and more common for licensed places to have a BYOB night. As of May 2007: Ansill does BYOB on tuesdays. Brasserie Perrier does it on Sundays. where else?

Poked my head in Ansill tonight and noticed two things: 1- Tuesday is BYOB night. 2- This particular Tuesday, it was not especially full (at around 7pm.) Something is wrong with this picture! It occurs to me that we ought to get our frugal asses in some chairs...

Got the Eggplant Puffs, because I was grabbing takeout for just me, and couldn't bear the thought of some of the Golden Coins going soggy... As Rockhopper reported, they're the same as the Golden coins, just fewer of them, and a basic soy dipping sauce. Only moderately dangerous to eat in while driving. And an order of Chicken in Spicy Tangy Sauce. Big slices of tender chicken, some carrots and snow peas, excellent sauce. A little spicy, a little tangy.

"Stunned" is the right word for our reaction to the cocktails at David's Mai Lai Wah, not that they were bad, just that they were basically Old-Fashioned glasses filed with rocket fuel. I can't speak to the rest of the menu, nor swear that my judgment was intact after even one sip of that drink, but I recall the fried dumplings indeed being mighty fine... Basically all of Chinatown is pretty close. Banana Leaf has been good for me lately, and you could stay there until about a minute and a half before showtime if you wanted. They serve beer. I'm a huge fan of Rangoon, and everyone I've taken there has loved it too, so that's a good choice. They have beer and wine too. The Szechuan Tasty House is just down Arch a block or so, and as we've reported over in that thread, there are plenty of things to eat that aren't crazy spicy, and many that are, depending on your mood. It's BYOB. Hard to beat the barbecue platter at Vietnam for a group munch before a show. They have cocktails. Lee How Fook, Shao Lan Kung, Sang Kee, there's all sorts of good choices. I'd scan the Chinatown Highlights thread and just find something that looks good to you...

The Italian place on Chestnut right around there is La Castagne. I've never gone... There's also Miran the next block up on Chestnut for decent Korean. Other than the places already mentioned, you won't be far from Tria, if that counts as dinner. Tough to get a space on a saturday evening... Ahh, not so long ago you could have gotten a pizza at Lombardi's, but now there's just a big hole in the ground...

You know, I didn't even notice the price on the pork special, but I suspect that it was the same as yours, or thereabouts, because with the pasta special, etc, the final tab got, ahem, up there... I don't want to start that debate again either, but I have more than once been kind of surprised at some of the prices, yet perfectly comfortable with most of them. I think it's primarily the secondi that seem a little out of scale sometimes. re Octopus - I'm with you, the one I had recently was right up there with the best in town, actually significantly better than the latest one I had at Dimitri's. Other reports posted here said it was a little chewy, but not mine... I've almost always sat at the bar, I just like it there, and one generally has one bartender to deal with, so I can't comment on the roving gangs of servers. But incidentally, especially at slower times, service at the bar has been excellent. We got very friendly attentive service from both the bartender and the sommelier, which really added to the experience.

I discovered that one of my frequent dining companions hadn't made it to Osteria yet, so, you know, I kind-of had to go... Pizza with clams, mussels and ramps. I'm liking their pizzas more and more as time goes by, I don't know whether it's the oven settling in, or the chefs fine-tuning recipes and techniques, or what, but I just feel like they're getting better and better. And this is a great topping for a pizza too, I don't now how much longer they'll be able to offer those ramps that give a perfect garlicky undercurrent to the tender seafood, so go get one of these pizzas, like, now. Mozzarella Carozza Creamy mozzarella and even creamier bread in a crunchy crust, what's not to like? Yet... we didn't actually love these. The cheesey interior was lovely, but the fried surface had an odd texture. I think they were "correctly" done, we just weren't digging them, although applying a smear of the saucy roasted tomatoes that came with it made it much more balanced. Salumi: Prosciutto, Porchetta, Testa, Salami Awesome, as always... Lasagne with Taleggio and Asparagus This was a special for the night, although we were told that it shows up on the lunch menu frequently too. It was absolutely delicious, if a little on the rich side! I don't know if that was butter or just the taleggio melting oily goodness out the edges, but it was pretty slippery, in a rather delightful way! The snappy asparagus pulled it back from the edge of too dense, and we could almost pretend that were were being healthy by getting some vegetables... Slow-roasted Pork Leg with Favas This was another special of the night, with remarkably tender slices of pork, infused with a strong herbal rub, served over tender fava beans. I thought this was amazing. Halibut with Bottarga This might have been the winner of the night, the moist, mild fish amped-up by the salty bottarga, brightened by tender, sweet roasted fennel. Perfect. Had several really nice wines: a few glasses and lots of tastes of other things being poured. A glass of that Bardolino Rosato was a nice starter (and they have another nice Rosato by the glass too, and another coming on soon, all perfect for the summer... ) Also had a nice bright Verdicchio that matched nicely with the clam pizza, although we tasted a splash of a Kerner (Abbazia di Novacella) that was even better... They were also pouring a biodynamic Barbaresco that was really tasty (Colle del Venti) probably a bit too heavy for what we were eating, but I didn't care, it was so delicious, I had to have a glass! But the revelation of the night was a Copertino Riserva, a gentle, yet complex, full-bodied red that went great with the Halibut. And at $8 a glass, a bargain too... I think there was more...we were there for a while... Anyway, great meal, WAY too much food for two people, but hey... you only live once...

LaBan seems enthralled with the risotto we were discussing a while back: hmmm... I really need to try this risotto that manages to maintain the effervescence of the wine. That's some fancy cooking. Or was the implication "bright with (what was at one time) sparkling prosecco..."? As for the review overall, I don't have any big arguments with it. I'll agree with Alcibiades that it's overly gushy, but I quite liked my one meal there, and felt it was more than a two-bell experience. That said, I'm not sure it hit me as any better than some other places that have gotten only two, and not as good as some three-bells, but I think that has more to do with the blunt-instrument of the bell-key rather than the merits of the restaurant itself. But that's an argument for another topic.

There's a surprisingly helpful compendium of media reports on the Menupages blog. They condense the major publications' stories and do a few other thematic roundups. Or if you want to get even more meta, there's outside.in and their list of philly tagged items...

I searched through this forum, and I didn't see any central clearing house for this info, lots of talk about suburban Indian, that occasionally strayed into downtown, and a few topics about specific places. So, let's talk about what's good IN the city. Two interesting bits of info in the Citypaper today in Feeding Frenzy. First: Palace at the Ben is finally open at 9th and Chestnut. It's related to the other Palace of India restaurants, which have been, in my experience, excellent. Looks expensive. Second, the owners of Desi Village in King of Prussia (one of my faves in the burbs) have bought Dahlak on Germantown Avenue (not the original on Baltimore Ave). They supposedly intend to keep serving Ethiopian food, and add the Indian/Pakistani food from Desi Village. The mind boggles. Beyond those new developments, what do we like? Word is good about Tiffin. Where else?

Dang Dang Noodles Cold Chicken in a Spicy Sauce It's actually more sweet and gingery than spicy, like the dumpling sauce... This is significantly milder, and a bit more elegant, as in better chicken, more thinly sliced, than across the street at Chung King. Golden Coins (of course) Pork in Garlic Sauce Twice-Cooked Pork (of course) Shredded Duck with Ginger and some complimentary fried bananas at the end All of it was rocking good, and this particular selection wasn't especially spicy, for those of you worried about frying your taste buds. Probably the spiciest thing was the peppers in the twice-cooked pork, and even those were not incendiary. The back table was indeed rowdy and loud, but thankfully there were no bottle-fights. We'd brought a couple of 750ml bottles of Peche Lambic, partly as a good match for the food, but partly because we thought they'd be good self-defense weapons if something serious went down...

I'm voting with mrbig...

I just have to say that the term "Scrapple Sashimi" sent a queasy shiver up my spine. the description of it as scrapple + sashimi made it (slightly) less disturbing.