philadining

Frank Bruni of the NY Times disses Yocco's, in a piece about fast food around the country: Life in the Fast-Food Lane - New York Times

I had the good fortune to hit day two of the Mandoline DDC dinner, and enjoyed it quite a lot. Our table wasn't quite organized enough to order one of everything, but we put a good dent in the offerings. the legendary Lobster Truffle Mac and Cheese with Grilled Brioche. Duck Confit Salad with shaved fennel and sun-dried cherries in a lemon truffle vinaigrette Mussels in a red coconut curry sauce with Thai basil and lime I managed to grab a taste of the Goat Cheese Pistachio Cake - black mission fig and balsamic glaze but somehow failed to get a photo of it. I ordered the Duck salad, so mostly had that, and I liked it quite a lot, especially the play of the sharp fennel, the intense cherries and the rich duck. For entrees, our table ordered: Soft-Shell Crabs with a vegetable fricassee and pine nut anchovy aioli Grilled Venison Loin- with a five spice port reduction and asparagus BBQ Glazed Pork Tenderloin applewood smoked bacon, sauerkraut, and frites Little Neck Clams with andouille sausage over hand cut fettuccine in a saffron tomato broth. and the Coriander Crusted Tuna with a spring pea risotto and black trumpet consommé (sorry, terrible pic...) Everyone seemed to like what they ordered, but the venison in particular drew raves. I bartered for a bite, and it had a really nice flavor, and almost buttery tenderness. I also traded for a taste of the crabs, which were also quite nice. The clams were nice and fresh, and the accompanying chorizo had a bold spicy kick. I was quite happy with my Pork Loin, it was quite amazingly tender and juicy, glazed with a fairly conventional barbecue sauce, over bacon-studded sauerkraut, with some good fries. The flavors were not all that surprising, but the quality was outstanding. For dessert, we indulged in: A Hazelnut/Praline somethingorother Lemon Tart A very chocolately brownie with Olive Oil Gelato A serving of the olive oil gelato (from Capogiro) straight-up These were all really good, but the hazelnut dessert drew some serious reverence. Overall, as reported earlier, everything was quite good, and has certainly encouraged me to visit again. Service was very friendly and efficient, and I'm somewhat mystified at how the kitchen managed to get all that food out to such large parties in such an efficient manner. Big thanks to Chef Todd for making this happen, and no need to apologize, I think the birth of a child is a pretty good excuse... and equal thanks to Chef Jeff for getting the food expertly on the plates. And of course to JeffL for getting this going in the first place, and to David for hosting day 2. I'd call this a complete success, a very enjoyable dinner and a great encouragement to go back to Mandoline and try more.

http://www.phila.gov/health/units/ehs/Rest..._Inspectio.html

It's interesting, I didn't keep a copy of the earlier report, but just from eyeballing it, this updated one is MUCH different. And if indeed the earlier problem was that spreadsheet rows were getting out of line, that's a big thing, and might indeed have been painting a completely incorrect picture of who was being cited for which violations. For instance, the rather damning long lists of violations at Striped Bass and Morimoto do NOT appear on the corrected list, nothing for Morimoto, just the no hot water at some sinks thing for Striped Bass. Many of the reports are from 2004, and it's not noted whether the problem was fixed. Are we to presume that if they aren't cited yet again for it, that a place addressed the problem? There are a few reports of the same problem over and over, so I guess they go back to re-inspect when there's a critical violation?

Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I left the house...

I had failed to write anything concrete down from tarte tatin's recent post about The Full Plate Cafe, but had a vague sense that there was good food in Liberties Walk (2nd-3rd Street, a few blocks south of Girard). I never did find the Full Plate, but stumbled into Deuce and was happy I did. It seems a bit like a self-consciously hip bar at first, but there's a small dining area off to the right, and a small, but interesting menu. The top part of the menu is a bit confusing, in that it looks like appetizers, but some of the items are rather pricey and the descriptions make them sound rather large, so it could be worth asking for a description. The rest of the menu had sandwiches as well as more conventional entrees. There were 5 or 6 specials printed on the back. From the specials, I chose some ricotta raviolis with a mushroom broth. $8 might have been a little steep for two averaged-sized raviolis, but they were very good, and there was a good portion of wild mushrooms, and a deliciously earthy, dark broth, so I had no complaints. DDP had grilled shrimp tacos, which didn't seem to thrill him, but he said they were decent. Two smallish flour tortillas were folded over good grilled shrimp, crisped-up, then dressed with a spicy salsa. He was much happier with the stuffed pork chop, a generous, bone-in chop that was amazingly juicy, and oozing cheese and herbs and a bit of chile kick. It was accompanied by a cool arugula and white bean salad. I stole a taste, and I'd order it again in a flash. Excellent. I was in the mood for a burger, and they offer a "Kobe" burger for $15. Despite being annoyed by the misuse of the Kobe label, I ordered it anyway, with smoked cheddar and bacon for an extra dollar each. So the burger ended up costing the same as the pork chop. That said, I felt it was well worth it. It was a very tasty burger, with a great texture and flavor, good toppings, and an excellent soft bun. I'd asked for it medium, and although it looked more done than that, it was so juicy and tender I did not care at all what it looked like. It was accompanied by a huge heap of perfectly-done fries. They were thin, almost shoestring dimensions, looked and tasted fresh-cut, and were wonderfully crispy. A small cup of homemade ketchup accompanied. I have to say this is in the running for the best burger in town... one of the best I've had. LaBan thought the burger was mushy, either they fixed it, or I just disagree. We had to run, so didn't look at desserts. They had about 5 good local micorbrews on tap, and large bottled list. I'm kicking myself for forgetting the camera, platings were lovely. Service was friendly and efficient, including a near-instantaneous delivery of the check when we mentioned we were trying to catch a movie. Gotta love that. It's always difficult to pass-up the Standard Tap and North Third when in the mood for that kind of good, but not-too-serious food, but I'd go back to Deuce any time. Deuce 1040 N. 2nd Street (215) 413-3822 LaBan review

I'm with you stephenc: I like the Tony Luke's rolls for the wetter Roast Pork sandwich, but not so much for the Cheesesteak. Although the overall quality of a Pat's steak can be widely variable, the roll is almost ideal, for my taste. But of course I understand that this is a personal thing... If I could get a Pat's roll, with Tony Luke's meat, with Jim's fried onions, I'd be a happy camper.

Cool, thanks Victor!

I've always felt a little like a tourist at Tony Luke's, just because I don't live in the neighborhood. I've always gotten the sense that 99% of the customers are there several times a week. So no, it's not at all touristy-feeling to me. (And BTW, from his post, JeffL clearly has affection for the place, so I'm guessing his terminology was an unintentional poor choice of words...)

Bumping up this thread because Moore Brothers is open in NY as of today - 33 East 20th Street. They're really cool shops, not huge superstores but a focused collection of interesting wines. From their website: I know there are great wine stores in NY, but I think Moore Brothers will be an interesting addition.

it isn't up there anymore. ← interesting....

After some spicy food from Four Rivers, gelato was required. Orange Cardamon, and Thai Coconut Milk. They were both surprisingly subtle, but tasty nonetheless, and really hit the spot. Good portion size...

With the Penn graduation, just stay out of west Philly, stay away from Steven Starr restaurants, avoid any place overtly charming, and the swanky standards. But there are still plenty of good places that would likely be able to fit you in. Both Amada and Ansill, mentioned upthread, have food that's at least as well-made and interesting as the examples you gave, but in a more small-plate style. You could try Django, it could be mobbed on that day, but it's always worth checking. I had an excellent meal there recently. On the more casual end, there's some great ethnic food to be had in Philly, some of it hard to find elsewhere, and there'd be little chance of too much of a crowd on mother's day. Consider the Burmese restaurant Rangoon, or any of the sudden blossoming of spicy Chinese spots in Chinatown: Szechuan Tasty House, Chung King Garden or Four Rivers. Or we've got good Mexican places now, from basic and homey to nouveau. Normally I'd suggest taking a shot at some of the small BYOBs that don't take reservations, like Melograno, but it might be a tough day for that...

I suspect Shacke's suggestion might be the best one, if Tre Scalini happens to have the room free the night you want it. I assume that in order to get everyone together, it would need to be a Saturday night. As others have mentioned, if you could do it on another night, you might have more options. Occasionally a restaurant will be happy to turn the whole place over to you on a night they're normally closed, as the Dangerous Dining Club has taken advantage of more than once. I don't know if the offer still stands, but shortly after their re-opening, Jonathan at Marigold Kitchen told us they'd open on a monday for a group of 20 or so. I wouldn't assume thats still true, but it could be worth a phone call.

Hit Four Rivers on Shola's recommendation tonight, and it freaking rocked! Cold Jellyfish Ma Bao Tofu Cheng Du Chicken and the star of the evening.... Glazed Pork Shoulder The spicy stuff had a nice level of heat, but not brutal. The Pork shoulder was just outrageous, fatty, tender, sweet, just amazing all around. no doubt one of the best pork dishes in the city, and i don't say that lightly. Oh, right, we got some water spinach too, which was nice and garlicky, but i was too busy jamming pork in my mouth to take a picture. Four Rivers really doesn't look like much from the street, and the menu posted on the window doesn't look all that thrilling, but man, there's some great food to be had!!! Another visit soon. HOT POT!!!!! Four Rivers 936 Race St Philadelphia, PA 19107-2408 (215) 629-8385

I think you'll do OK, but give us some more clues, what do you mean by "good restaurant"? How fancy? How weird? How expensive?

It depends. I'm largely in agreement with Mike, of course we'd all hope all areas of restaurants are perfectly clean, but to some degree, mice in the storage room seems pretty hard to avoid in the big city... And a quick scroll through that list makes it look like it's a pretty common thing. One would hope the citation spurs the restaurant to do something about it. The ones that creep me out are places that don't have their refrigerators at the right temp or don't provide any hot water throughout the facility for employee handwashing, yikes! What's really weird is that some fairly major restaurants were cited for stuff like that. The part that amuses me is that the Restaurant School got a few citations: you'd think if there were ONE place that would be hyper about sanitation and food safety, it would be an institution teaching people about that!

Welcome, mmm_chocolate! Thanks for that post, a few eGulleteers are big fans if the High Street Caffe, but I'm embarrassed to say I haven't been there yet. Thanks for the additional prod!

Finally made it over to DiFara, and it was absolutely worth the trip. (OK, I was already in Brooklyn, but I might make the trip from Philly just for another pizza this good!) The flavors and textures were amazing, but equaly impressive was just watching zen-master Dom do his thing. Fresh oregano was adorning each pizza this evening, just before the final scattering of grated cheese. We ordered half artichoke, half mushroom, and it was a thing of beauty The Artichoke side got a touch more char than might have been ideal, with a few inches of one edge approaching pure carbon, but that was a small price to pay for the otherwise perfect crust. 95 percent of the crust was just exactly as I like it, with an assertive char, good tensile strength, but still a bit soft and chewy, not crisped-out like a cracker. Some of the artichoke side got a little soggy and floppy, but it's understandable given the density of the toppings, and the good olive oil pooling on top. The artichokes were fresh and tender and roasty - just delicious, and elevated the flavors to another level. And hey, if some of that good oil escaped onto the pan, it's getting mopped-up with pieces of crust. (And yes, that's some of the approximately 347 napkins I went through trying to keep oil off the Nikon) The Mushroom side maintained its structural integrity a lot better, and had a nice contrasting flavor, obviously more subtle, allowing the sauce and cheese to shine. I had a hard time deciding which I preferred, but my dining partner came down assertively in the artichoke camp. We both agreed that it was an excellent pizza, and worth the wait, and the $21. We hadn't really thought about beverages, so my friend did a reconnaissance around the neighborhood, and given that we were in The Glatt Zone (as a nearby business is named) I shouldn't have been surprised that she returned with an Israeli Pinot Noir: It was a very nice wine, went well with the pizza, and thankfully DiFara has good stemware: The setting and pace could be a little off-putting to some, it's a very small, basic place, and gets pretty messy out at the tables, and well, you just need to not be too uptight about that. And the pizzas get made at Dom's quiet, methodical pace, so don't be in a hurry. It probably took about 20 minutes just to be acknowledged, and allowed to order, but that didn't really bother us, we were somewhat hypnotized, standing at the counter, watching the process unfold. All-in-all a great experience, and one I'm hoping to repeat soon. It's a thrill to be able to so closely observe someone who's mastered his craft, and enjoy the results of that mastery. (note: props to my dining partner who snapped about half of the above pictures, including that great one of Dom snipping the oregano onto the pizza...)

This probably doesn't count as a real Philly sandwich for a couple of reasons, but what the heck... Dropped by Murray's in West Chester tonight Corned Beef on Rye. Very good sandwich, even though the rye's a little squishy - but it seems like everybody's is these days...

I've been staying at some pretty cheap, basic, serviceable hotels on my last few visits (all the better to leave cash for food) and while they were acceptable I wouldn't want to recommend them in particular. But I DID like the Novotel on the Esplanade (and just to keep it food-oriented, it's right near the St Lawrence Market.) As for food, I found Crush wine bar to be very enjoyable, I just sat at the bar and had a few glasses from a nicely-selected list, and munched on a good cheese plate and few other apps. I'm not sure that's what you meant by small plates, but it made for a nice afternoon interlude. And it seems to be an unpopular position on this board, but I had a fantastic meal at Susur less than a year ago. The extent of my service issues were a few mumbly food runners, but I didn't find that too much of a mar on the evening. Maybe I got lucky. I've posted it before here, and I'll accept that this is very old-fashioned and decidedly un-hip, but I can't imagine a nicer saturday or sunday brunch than having Soupe a L'Oignon and crêpes at Le Papillon. (And if you stayed at the Novotel, it would be about 15 steps from your front door.)

Lacroix has a large, and interesting, wine list. And out in Chester County, The Dilworthtown Inn is pretty impressive in that old, expensive kind of way....

So, what do you think would be an ideal serving size, especially in terms of reacting to the cure, roasting without drying out, etc... 8 oz is still one big-ass piece if fish! But do smaller pieces risk getting dried, or over-cured?

Found 2 bottles of the Kaiken Malbec at the West Chester store today... sorry, bought them both!

I went back to the Smoked Joint a couple of weeks ago. It had been a while, for no particular reason... And I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. I got a combo of Brisket and Short Ribs. I don't recall having seen the Short Ribs before, and they were really quite good: big, chunky, tender, with a sticky thick sauce. The brisket was decent, but it was a touch dry. I've had better there. The DDP had a Pulled-Pork platter, which was nice and juicy, which some good charred edges in there. The collard Greens and the Baked beans were good as always. The food was pretty tasty, if not spectacular, not quite as good as some other visits, but not at all bad. But I was left a little cold, and I think it might be mostly a presentation thing. It's not as if the dishes were ever all that swanky, but this time the food came on a plain white oblong plastic plate, with a smallish bowl holding the single side, that made the food look rather unattractive. The portions were just fine, I think, but they looked really miserly on that expanse of white, and just rather bleak overall. It just felt like "that's it?!?" when the plate got dropped in front of me. And am I remembering it wrong? I felt like you used to get two side dishes with even the basic entrees. Anyway, it just felt a little disappointing, even though the meat was pretty good, and I didn't exactly leave hungry. But I really think they need to go back to the original plates, and give more sides: both larger portions and at least two with an entree. I mean, come on, it's just veggies... The plates just felt spare and empty, not the vibe you want at a barbecue joint.