philadining

Most of those problems are from the computer being insufficiently lubricated. I find a little bacon on the keyboard helps. I want to apologize for my part in the unwarranted harassment. I think it's insulin rebound overshoot that makes me tell cruel lies about Gary and impugn your moral fiber and auditory acuity. I should stop myself from posting so soon after these dinners, really. For the record, I thought you were invited as eye candy.

I have about 17 previous commitments on saturday, so I'll have to miss the formal goodbye to Lombardi's from Pizza Club. While in town tonight I decided to make my farewell run. 1) They're not slacking off in their final days, they still make a darn fine pizza. In fact this was one of the best ever: crust very dark, almost burnt, but not quite. 2) they got rid of the old menus and are pretty much just making three salads and pizzas. Which is fine. 3) I'm really going to miss this place. 4) There's a (slight) reprieve! They're staying open until May 22. So maybe there's still time for one or two more...

A good friend of mine LOVES The Farmhouse, and it got a good review from LaBan in the Inquirer, but I haven't been there yet. Emmaus would be a pretty easy half hour drive down route 78 from Easton. I think it would be worth it. (I just followed the link in the above post, and see that it quotes the LaBan review... so, you knew that already! Nevermind...)

rhubarb gastrique! OK, I never would have come close to guessing that, but it was a nice touch. And the gnocchi didn't hit me as gnocchi, or smoked, but they were good, so who cares? And you're right, I probably was thinking Mexican chorizo, there was a red tinge that made me expect a little more spice. I didn't notice a distinct flavor of anything from that layer, not just heat. But again, it really could have been my own palate overload at that point. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice dish, it might just have been a little subtle after the intense cheekiness of its predecessor. We were actually discussing that very thing in the car afterward, I would have been perfectly happy with the rabbit as my entree if I stopped by there for dinner some night. It just got overshadowed, for me, by some of the other courses' fireworks. Still, all in all a fabulous meal, thanks again for putting it together. And if they have forgiven our boorish table manners, please do try to book some future events like that at the Marigold.

Hey!! Who told you slackers you could go to sleep before posting every intimate detail of each bite of your dinner?!?!?! OK, I too am a little sleepy, and full, and wine-soaked, but I do want to post to thank Capaneus for putting together this little shindig for eleven of us eGulleteers, both he and Katie for wine wrangling, and the fine folks at Marigold, especially chef Steven Cook, for preparing a truly special meal. Most of us had not been told what we'd be eating, so each course was a nice surprise, and they just kept coming..... We started with a silky green-garlic and mussel soup, in which were suspended tiny fried oysters and "chicken oysters". The degenerates over at the kids' table had developed all sorts of perverse theories about the origins of chicken oysters, while the rest of us just ate them and decided they were darn fine fried chicken. The soup itself was luxuriously creamy, with just a hint of the sea, stripes of vivid green garlic puree appearing like phantom brushstrokes as one's spoon traversed the bowl's bottom. Or maybe I hallucinated that, it was pretty rapturously good. Halibut with a carrot-miso foam, wild mushrooms and asparagus made me rethink my cynicism about culinary foams. It helped compose a lovely plate, but more importantly gave a tangibly distinct texture to the sauce, an airy lightness, from, you know...the air in it... there was a bubbly, energetic mouth-feel to it that I hadn't experienced with other Adria-tic sauces. Even without that effervescent lift, the delicate fish paired nicely with the sweet carrot and salty miso. Beef cheeks were misidentified as "Beet cheeks" by a certain someone taking pictures (it's an easy mistake to make) but don't be fooled if he puts a red filter on the photo, these did not grow in the ground. The fine shreds of rich meat, and pearls of potato(?) were bathed in a dark reduction, with a drizzle of something sweet and honey-like, perhaps a reduced vinegar? Whatever the mystery components, it was delicious. Full yet? Yep..... the servings were really quite generous... Next came rabbit wrapped in chorizo, a rabbit rillette topped by pickled ramps, and a cluster of fava beans and morels. The rabbit and spicy sausage was a nice flavor combination, although I wasn't getting a lot of kick from the chorizo, it was a more subtle presence than I would have expected. I hit a couple of tough spots in the rabbit meat, and the rillette struck me as a touch over salty, but I think I was also getting picky because i was so full! I still thought this was quite good. But we weren't done, a refreshing intermezzo of a small crisped chunk of pineapple, huckleberries and a bright sorbet indeed knocked us out of our torpor, and gave us the courage to face dessert. A small, dense, soft-centered chocolate cake was topped with candied walnuts, and accompanied by a fig stuffed with Epoisses, another piece of the cheese alongside. Even though I had long-since run out of room for food, I managed to just about lick that plate clean. Each of these courses was accompanied by a well-matched wine, the specifics of which I will leave to our hero: sommeliere to the masses, bargain beveragiere (if that's not a word, it should be), Katie Loeb. This was a special tasting negotiated by Capaneus for our group, so you are not likely to find any of this on the menu any time soon, but then again, who knows? I'd encourage the chef to consider adding any of these offerings to the standard menu, they were all quite delicious, and not too intimidating for the general public. This experience just reaffirms the general consensus that this is one of the most imaginative and assured kitchens in town. This is no secret, and scoring a table is getting increasingly challenging, but it's worth the effort. Thanks again to Capaneus for securing the seats, and helping map an off-road adventure. edited for typos

Victor Fiorillo does a short take on Sweet Lucy's in the MayPhiladelphia Magazine (this link is a "this month" link, so it's going to point to the wrong article after May 2005, I'll try to remember to delete it...)

LaBan gives it 3 Bells in the Inky Lauren McCutcheon reviewed it in the Weekly a month and a half ago. Heeeeere's Sono in the Daily News more to come, no doubt....

Ahh but don't underestimate the power of the Amish-Quaker axis.... you'll note that zippers are still illegal in Pennsylvania. And we are all required by law to sit quietly for a few hours on Sundays. OK, I could be wrong about those. But there has to be some reason that one can sell shoofly pie without a sucrose-overdose warning label. I suspect it's the Amish-Quaker axis....

Wow, you got ALL the desserts! Your crew knows how to dine out. Much respect.

Not sure I'd call that "props." More a "journalist's" simplistic, cliche putdown of a medium she doesn't get. ← I read that as light teasing and an actual "getting-it" acknowledgment that the web folks are out front on a lot of things like this. But it's certainly open to interpretation. Of course you're right that there's loads more info here than in the papers, but they're still reaching a lot of people that never stop by eGullet. As for the relative "journalistic" merit of the various media and their contributors, well, that's fertile ground for debate!

Right, sorry, I was typing too fast, you'd need to bring your own wine to Matyson, although, it's not so terrible to eat at these places without wine. And yes, of course, Sansom Street Oyster House would be an excellent choice, a very Philly place to go, given that they're in Philadelphia and all... Happy hour oyster deals, nice place, fine management! Heck, go there for a drink and some shellfish even if they've decided to go somewhere else, they've got time to kill. SSOH, 1516 Sansom Street, 215-567-7683

Actually, Jas is right, it's not significantly further into Center City by cab than into South Philly, you have a pretty big window to get into town. The trick if finding anything "nice" that's serving before 5. But if you do just walk in right at opening time, you could get into Melograno, a nice Italian BYOB. As recommended, Matyson and Fork are both good, and remove the problem of looking for wine, if that was desired. They don't have LOTs of time give that they need to get back to the airport by, what, 8-ish? (security lines can be unpredictable) But Brasserie Perrier does nice bar food that's probably fairly quick. I guess they do have almost 2 hours, if they get someplace right at opening, they could get a good meal at Striped Bass, Passion, The main dining room at Brasserie Perrier, all of which are a bit pricey and elegant, but nice. Places like Southwark, or Fork, etc, are pretty typical of Philly, good solid stuff with a bar. The BYOB scene is the most exciting right now, but might be a pain for a quick stop. Southwark 701 s. 4th St. (at bainbridge) (215) 238-1888 Fork, 306 Market St., 215-625-9425. Brasserie Perrier, 1619 Walnut St., 215-568-3000. BYOBs: Melograno, 2201 Spruce St. (215) 875-8116 Matyson, 37s 19th St. 215-564-2925 Pif, 1009 S. Eighth St. (near Christian St.) 215-625-2923 Good luck to them!

Pif? French Bistro, I've never been, but heard good things. It's a BYOB, which is a pain in this circumstance. 1009 S. Eighth St. (near Christian St.) Philadelphia, PA 19147 215-625-2923 probably doesn't open until 5 at the earliest.

In the course of an article about Japanese Robata joints, the Times reports that the Korean barbecue restaurants Kom Tang Soot Bul and Gyu-Kaku are still using charcoal in Manhattan. the article

Yeah, well, having them transcribe that ENTIRE Wine Spectator review was pretty hardcore, man. Especially in that location. I still think you shouldn't have had them ink-in that full glass of cabernet, but hey, it's your body. Hope the swelling has gone down.

Ludja, thanks for the link to the the article, it's good that the improvements here are getting notice elsewhere. We here in the PA forum are pretty big fans of Jonathan Newman, and the new PALCB. In fact, a bunch of us, looped on a few too many bottles of bargain Cakebread declared our devotion by visiting the tattoo parlor: I hope we don't live to regret this....

I'm going to pretend that I don't know what you mean, but, ahem, given their name, I wouldn't be surprised! Hmmm, a tightly-packed bowl of macaroni and cheese?

After a night of transcendent Indian music from Ravi Shankar at the Kimmel Center, one naturally thinks of barbecue. OK, maybe not. But we were hungry, it was late, The Smoked Joint was close. So we dropped in at almost 11pm, and thankfully, they were still serving. (The website just says they're open until "late night" so I don't know what the real last call on ribs is.) I had been curious about the pastrami ruben, and I'm happy to report that it's good, the smoke really melds well with the pepper and cured-tang. A couple of folks at my table got chicken, and they said even the breast meat remained surprisingly juicy. And ribs got the thumbs-up as well, although I would have lost one of mine if I had tried to nab a sample from one of their plates, so I'll have to take their word for it. So, my experience so far has been pretty consistent, it was a little shaky on my first visit, but that was very shortly after opening. The subsequent three meals have been solid.

Nice review in The Weekly, even giving some passing props to eGullet and Chowhound for pointing her that way.

I don't really have anything to add to the posts above, except that I liked it very much back in January, and despite the ownership change, it hasn't gotten any cheaper since 2000! We spent over $300 for two, but almost half of that was (one bottle of) wine. And when I was there, Christopher Lee seemed to be very much in charge. I think Portale still has a presence, but our server implied that it's largely been handed off to Lee. It's pretty cool that the Beard awards gave Christopher Lee best rising star, and Mark Vetri best chef Mid-Atlantic, but how the hell are we supposed to keep complaining about Philly being overlooked all the time?

Is the metric buttload larger or smaller than the Imperial buttload? I'm taking a different tack and measuring for the extra wine storage I'll need in the remote mountain cottage I'm fleeing to, in order to avoid my latest credit card statement. I think they shouldn't take credit cards a the Wine Specialty shops, it's only asking for trouble.... If you find yourself rolling in with a wheelbarrow full of cash, you might pause to think about how much Burgess Cab you can really drink in your lifetime.

On behalf of my fellow phillyphiles, I'll apologize for the digressions. We were trying to disabuse Daniel of the notion that Tony Luke's, and by implication your Tony Luke's on 9th Ave in Manhattan, was seen as making a second-rate cheesesteak in the city of that food's origin. In fact, it often is rated much higher than the better known UR-cheesteaks. Of course, being from Philly we do this by publicly insulting and denigrating our own institutions, and then arguing amongst ourselves. We'll try to behave, really.

I hear ya man, I've had good steaks at Genos, but this is a common opinion in Philly: Pat's and Geno's are iconic, but not universally loved. Neither fared well, even as Tony Luke's was considered the best of the well-known spots, in the Philly Inquirer's Cheesesteak Project from a few years ago. I personally have never placed the Tony Luke's Cheesesteak all that high in my own rankings, although I do love their Roast Pork sandwich. Given that you guys have a Tony Luke's now, Daniel, you need to make a sacrifice and skip the Pork, get a steak, report what you think.

I don't know if The Weekly did deep detective work on it, but in one of her posts, now purged from chowhound, McCutcheon didn't quote the message, just implied it was distasteful, and said it appeared that the email came from the sender's account. So who knows who sent it for real, but it supposedly wasn't just from an anonymous free email account, she implied that it appeared to have originated from a traceable source. Now, emails can be hacked, busboys with a weird sense of humor can jump on company machines.... it's hard to say for sure who sent what. But if that was the official company response, I'm thinking they might have wanted to chill a little before hitting "send". (edited for spelling)

Thanks for that vivid account, I was starting to feel stuffed just reading it! Many of the small touches sound really nice: saffron ice cream with the mussel, two different preps of squid, tomato sorbet, three kinds of baklava... it seems like a lot of food with variety, not just more for more's sake. I know you said it didn't really work, but what was "potato taffy" supposed to be? Your post has got me wanting to check this place out, thanks again.