philadining

miran topic

V, dude, you're not down with the sparkling risotto?!? Where have you been?!?

Well, that sounds like an ugly situation. But it seems to me that the argument is with the no-shows, isn't it? Written contract or no, if one arranges a dinner for, say, 50 people, and only 40 show up, that's not the restaurant's fault, is it? I'm sure the restaurant could have handled it better, but if they prepared food for the pre-arranged number, I'm not sure they're so out of line to expect to be paid for that number of covers. Of course the tax and tip thing is a different problem, and probably should have been in writing somewhere. I don't know how things are usually done for these dinners, but this might be a good lesson to always get something in writing, including a no-show policy. That said, I think Katie's right, those who RSVP-ed yes and didn't show, owe Herb money.

There was a brief discussion of a recent visit in this thread. The report was of an enjoyable, if uneven, meal. But I've had the same thoughts, should I shoot over there and have some Fritz Blank food before he skips town?

That pizza had grilled octopus, smoked mozzarella, tomato, and hot chile flakes. It was really delicious.

It was shockingly easy to get a seat at the bar right at opening (5pm) and there were still spots there until almost 6. It got pretty jammed by the time we left, all tables were full, and there were a few folks waiting for seats at the bar. I'm sure it was only more jammed later...

More hype: Antipasto (Fingerling Potatoes, Salsify, Beets, Roasted Tomato, Brussels Sprouts with bacon, Roasted Peppers, Golden Beets, Parsnips.) Pizza: Polpo Cotechino with Polenta and Egg Braised Pork Ribs and Sausage with cabbage and soft polenta Kale with Anchovy and Raisins Tangerine Zuppa Inglese Blood Orange Sorbetto, Pineapple Sorbetto, Pistachio Gelato I'm running a little short on time, so I'll save commentary for later, except to say that it was all quite delicious again, and service was very friendly and professional as well. I think the Cotechino with Polenta and Sunny-Side Up Egg was the standout for me. Or maybe that smoky pizza... or maybe those tender ribs...

Welcome to eGullet, Steven, and thanks for joining us here. I know it's hard to hear critiques when your endeavor is such a personal and emotional one, in addition to a business proposition. But I do hope that you take these comments as I'm sure they were intended, as notes that we all hope you can use to improve. I don't think anyone is making a final judgment just yet! And proper hand-slicing is indeed an impressive skill, so good luck getting everyone trained, it really does make a difference when done well, and I hope to partake of some nice pastrami soon... Thanks again for participating in this discussion, and best wishes for a successful launch of this welcome addition to the RTM.

Joy Manning from Philly Style wasn't sure whether to believe the hype about Osteria. Imagine my surprise when hitting the "hype" link, it's US! Now Joy, we may be a little hyper, but we're not hypeurs! Jeeze, Blogalicious thinks we're anti-hype, now P.S. thinks we are the hype, I'm getting dizzy...

Can I just go on the record as saying that I want to live like Alec? I mean, I do pretty well, but that sounds like a great routine!

I think it's a little unclear about what Laban actually ate, we for now only have the restaurant's claim that he was served something else, and that LaBan apologized for "the confusion." And I was perplexed for a while about how the restaurant could be so sure about what he ordered, and had at first assumed he'd been recognized. But I think that's not what happened, I now presume from the comments in the Daily News story that his order was discussed when the owner called LaBan after the comment was published. I can only presume that in the course of the discussion LaBan described what he had, and the owner determined that he had not ordered a strip steak. It's obviously problematic that the only comments from LaBan come second-hand via the aggrieved party, so I wouldn't be so sure that LaBan "apologized for the 'confusion,' admitted he did not have a strip steak and 'saw [Plotkin's] point,'" at least not in so many words... Rich, do you know what cut of meat is used for their Steak Sandwich? I'm still wondering, presuming the owner's account is correct, whether LaBan had A strip steak, just not THE strip steak. The irony is, as noted above, that I too read the blurb as more positive than negative, portraying Chops as like The Palm, with great crabcakes. The complaint about the salad and the steak read like he was surprised that this last visit wasn't up to snuff, that it was generally a good place.

Osteria will still be booked wall-to-wall on March 3, so unless you feel very lucky about being able to grab space at the bar, you might want to wait a bit...

Saw this on foobooz: Craig LaBan has apparently been sued for libel. Story in the Daily News. Obviously we're only hearing the restaurant's side of the story there, but it's an interesting concept. Does a restaurant have a leg to stand on, to sue over a bad comment from a critic? Even if it's legally viable, is it a good idea? For it to be considered libel, I believe they'd need to show both that the comments were false, and that he knew they were false. But then, I'm not a lawyer... LaBan says (in a sidebar to the Flemings review, not in a full review) he was served a "miserably tough and fatty strip steak" at a place called Chops. The restaurant says he was served a steak sandwich without the bread, not a strip steak. Whatever it was called on the menu, even if it was a breadless steak sandwich, do they really want to draw attention to its tough, fatty miserableness? Sure, one has different expectations for a strip steak than for a steak sandwich, but still... And I don't know, I suppose anything's possible, but ordering a steak sandwich without the bread just doesn't sound like something a food reviewer would do. Even if he didn't want the bread, he'd get it, just to see what it was like. Of course that's wild conjecture, but I'm just saying... And one has to wonder, was the complaint technically true? Was it a piece of strip steak, even if it wasn't the item called a strip steak on the menu? I'm not going to insist that LaBan is infallible, but I'm confident that he knows what a strip steak is... In the end does it matter what he called it? But I'm just wondering if it's a good idea for a restaurant to do this, especially in this case. It wasn't a full review, it wasn't even an outright trashing of the place. LaBan simply saying "A recent meal, though, was expensive and disappointing,..." in a sidebar seems unlikely to have a huge impact on their business. I think people overestimate the tangible impact of comments from critics. I don't think Eddie Murphy is going to sue any critics that trashed Norbit, he's too busy cashing checks...

He isn't?!? Jeeze, what a let-down...

I can't imagine it working in Philly. There just aren't that many places where it's that hard to get a reservation. Yep, Amada is still tricky at prime times. Osteria is going to be booked solid on weekends for a few months, but that will calm down. I just can't think of that many places that a service like this would help with. And I don't know anybody who would pay for it... I don't know how it works, but I'd think that restaurants would be annoyed by some outside service gaming their books, and would eventually flag those names and numbers somehow. But I'm not in the biz, maybe restaurants don't care as long as there are butts in seats.

Pizzas range from $15 for the Margherita to $22 for the focaccina, with most somewhere in the middle, 17-18 dollars. They're not huge, but indeed hand-crafted and made with fine ingredients. But it does bring up an interesting point: even many New Yorkers were taken aback by the similar prices for similarly-scaled pizze at Una Pizza Napolitana in the East Village, despite the similar justification of it being an artisan product. So how much is too much for a pizza? It's another one of those personal value assessments that's not going to have a single answer. It's probably too early for me to say for sure where it fits in my value scale. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't swooning over the Osteria's Margherita, while I was over a similarly simple pizza at Una Pizza Napolitana. (But then that's ALL they do up there, they're maniacs that make, like, 4 types of pizza for a few hours, a few days a week. It better be freaking good... ) The other types of pizza that went by me at Osteria looked awesome, so I'm eager to try those. And I'm OK paying in the mid-teens for them if they taste as good as they look and smell! Primi: Tripe is $10, there's a salad with anchovies for $10, the salumi plate is $14 (and awesome...) that platter of fried things was $14, which might be a little high for three golfball-sized treats, but they were really good, especially the arancino. Pastas are all $16 Secondi range from $24 for the braised ribs and the chicken, to $30 for the fish stew. Then there's the dry-aged steak for two at $60. I don't know what the specials were running. I'm not sure about the wine prices, I'm not sure that's even finalized. Folks, please report back! After one visit, I thought it was a pretty good bargain for what we got. I'm going back...

Crab and Scallop Terrine Oeuf en Meurette Pan-Roasted Squab, Cepe, risotto Sweetbreads Apple Crisp I think I'm in complete agreement with shacke about the dinner, in that the terrine didn't do much for me, the Egg I liked a lot, the Squab was outstanding, the Sweetbreads were very good, and I especially liked the potatoes that accompanied (sweetbreads and potatoes, who knew?) and you know, bacon never hurts... and the Apple crisp was fine, but nothing thrilling. But all in in all, it was a really great dinner. The food was very good, and there was a crowd of serious wine enthusiasts bringing out some big guns for this event. The dishes did indeed seem to be oriented well toward what we were drinking, which was basically gallons and gallons of Pinot Noir. Big thanks to shacke for putting this together, and to the Pumpkin crew for the very fine dinner, especially under these circumstances (it can't be easy pounding out 14 identical plates at the same time in that kitchen.) And big thanks to everyone in attendance, I was lucky to partake in some fantastic wines, not the least of which were several from the Inman Family Winery, which has been added to my list of favorite wineries... Thanks especially to Kathleen Inman for her wine, and insight, and braving an especially ugly Philly snowstorm. That dinner definitely made me want to check Pumpkin out again, and try the regular menu.

Oh, and back to your original post, you'll notice that none of us has mentioned the White Dog... That place has been a long time favorite of mine, and I have always liked the vibe, and the philosophy, and usually, the food. I ate there fairly recently, and it was fine, although not mind-blowing. There's been a bit of churn in the kitchen, and it's even been reported that the owner and main driving force, is planning to sell it to employees, or some such thing. That said, it's not as if it's gone all to hell, it's much like it has been for years, a pleasant, slightly funky, comfortable space, serving good food with a consciousness of trying to use local providers, or other ethically-oriented suppliers, etc.. It's just a little less solid these days because of the various changes. But you'd likely have a pleasant meal there, if you're intrigued by it. Service is always a little spotty, but rarely outright horrible. A decent fall-back is to just go to the bar, they always have great local beer on tap, and some interesting wines, and they have some very tasty lighter food on the bar menu, if you just wanted to make a pilgrimage without burning a dinner opportunity. But again, the meal I had there recently, from the main dinner menu, was fine, just not transcendent.

Diann's list is excellent, and gives a good crossection of what's especially good in Philly right now. I'll just add a couple of things: for Mexican, consider Mocajete Mixto as well. (I just got another glowing report from a friend.) Philly has a surprising number of Malaysian restaurants, if that's intriguing at all, Check out Aqua (7th and Chestnut), Penang or Banana Leaf (both in Chinatown). Perhaps even better, and more unusual, is Rangoon, a Burmese restaurant also in Chinatown. If you like Thai and Indian food, you'd probably like Burmese. It's not exactly like either, but has some similarities to both. And along those lines, if you like spicy, authentic Sichuan food, not easily found everywhere, we're lucky to have two good places within a few hundred feet of one another. Szechuan Tasty House, and Chung King Garden are both in Chinatown, on Arch street, near 9th. Many of us have long had a mission here in this forum to help convince people that the real Philly sandwich is the Roast Pork, not the cheesesteak, and if you get a chance, you should try one from DiNic's in the Reading Terminal Market, or Tony Lukes, or John's Roast Pork. And what the heck, you're here in Philly, you should probably try a cheesesteak just to say you did. But as with the pork sandwich, it may not be practical to travel all over creation just to find the elusive "best" sandwich. You could get a decent one at the big three tourist joints: Jim's, Pat's or that other English-only joint (yeah I stopped going there too...) and even if those spots may not serve up the ultimate sandwich, they DO offer authentic experiences, plenty of neighborhood folks go there and stand in line, and put up with the attytood from the guys on the line, and drip grease and cheese on their shoes. (And you know, sometimes those steaks are delicious.) If you have a car, the time, and the inclination, sure you can try to make it out to Steve's Prince of Steaks, way the heck out in NorthEast Philly, or down to John's Roast Pork during the 15 minutes they're open each day, or way down in deepest South Philly to Tony Luke's. But depending on your schedule, you might just want to try a decent one without devoting an entire excursion to it. Whatever you do, don't get one in the hotel restaurant, don't try a random cart on the sidewalk, don't get one at a diner. Go to a place that concentrates on cheesesteaks. Sadly the convenient place in the Reading Terminal seems to get generally bad reviews. If you're touring around South Street, Jim's is easy to find, at 4th and South. If you go to the Italian Market to look around, just keep doing down until 9th intersects with Passayunk and you'll find Pat's and Geno's. (Although if you're down there what you really should eat is a Taco...) If you're in Old City, near the historical stuff like Independence Hall, Sonny's on Market, near third, is decent. In any case, enjoy, and if you need more tips, give us more details about what you might want. I really like the advice to cover the bases: get a cheesesteak, a roast pork and a hoagie for lunches. For dinners, try a BYOB like Matyson, Melograno or Pif, or if you'd prefer a place that serves wine and other drinks, try Ansill, Amada, Osteria or M. Then try some of the ethnic stuff that's especially good here: Mexican or Chinese or Burmese or Malaysian. You won't go hungry here...

That's the "focaccina" and not only does it sound good, but that lardo improv sounds like an excellent customization! This is going to be tricky, this really is a rare menu where I pretty much want to try everything. Bummer, might have to go back a few times... soon...

Shacke, I think you have some deep-seated primal issues with shreds of green on your food. First the cilantrophobia, now this?!?! Did you have a traumatic confetti incident as a child? Well, OK, now that I look back at the pictures I suppose you have a point, it does kind of look like almost everything just got an automatic spray of parsley, but I can testify that it was an accent, not a distraction, at least from a taste standpoint.

Thanks to Katie for the heads-up: Elisa Ludwig does a dim-sum survey in the City Paper. Her conclusions seem to generally square with those in this topic (at least so far, we haven't had many reports from South Philly yet...) I'd only argue with her diss of the baby bok choy at Lakeside. I almost always get that, and it's always been great when I've ordered it.

http://www.osteriaphilly.com/ not much info yet, just a phone number and a map.

Tripe Trip!!! Tripe alla Parmigiana I don't feel strongly one way or another about tripe, but this stuff was delicious! It was cooked to a tender texture in a rich tomato sauce, with a little gooey cheese on top. Scoop a little on a crunchy crostini... man that's good. We enjoyed a salumi plate while lurking around the bar, which I didn't manage to get a picture of, because we were balancing it precariously in a jostling crowd. But everything was excellent - from home-made lardo, to paper thin prosciutto and porchetta, to hearty salami. I'm not sure I'll be able to resist getting this every time to start. Pizza Magherita This was very good in that simple, straight-ahead way. I know it's a fine line, too much sauce and the crust loses its texture, but I feel like this one could have used a little more, it was a little dry out toward the edges. Still, a nice crunchy crust in the classic Napolitana style, and excellent cheese and sauce. Pizza Lombarda Baked egg, bitto, mozzerella, cotechino. I actually didn't manage a bite of this one tonight, but I'm getting it next time! Arancini, Spiedini di Mozerella, Tuna and Chickpea Fritters, olive oil poached tomatoes. The crispy, deep-fried rice balls were awesome. The crispy, deep-fried cheese might have been even more so.... Tuna fritters were good too. Should have dabbed some poached tomatoes on those crunchy things, but we inhaled them too quickly. Bacala Great texture, mild, but present, cod flavor. Good stuff. Capon Tortellini in Brodo Ok, it's Italian wonton soup, or maybe more like a Kreplach... the pasta had a great delicate texture, and the broth was intensely chickeny. Great on a winter evening. Osteria was, not surprisingly, totally jammed on its first saturday night. And this place is so good, I expect that it's going to be for quite some time! It's a really nice space, all the food we had was delicious. We would have tried a few other pastas, but they'd sold-out. There were a couple of intriguing specials, but they'd sold out too! But more importantly, there's almost nothing on the menu that I don't want to try, so I'm eager to go back, probably on a slower night, or hmmm... maybe I'll even make a reservation! Despite Osteria's somewhat trailblazing location, on Broad Street north of Spring Garden, the crowds seem not to be daunted. And rightly so, this is a very comfortable, pleasing space, with great food. If you're not willing to go a few blocks out of your normal orbit for that, well, I think you've stopped wanting to enjoy life. I'm getting back up there as soon as possible!

M.