jmbrightman

that was always my experience at lunch hour weekdays at Dalessandro's, and why I don't care for their sandwich.

apology for being off the food topic, but the stunning pics compel me to ask: what camera/flash/lens are you using?

Norma's on Rt. 70 in the Barclay Farms Center in Cherry Hill for very good Lebanese food.

Last night's visit to Venuto's was another poor showing. The pies were undercooked (and expensive at almost 30 bucks for 1 plain and 1 pepperoni), and while the kids behind the counter did not appear busy, nobody seemed to think it was important to clear the tables of trash plates and napkins left by slice eaters.

why do they call it a tomato pie if it has cheese? I always thought of tomato pie as the cheeseless sheet.

they seem to be having consistency issues. my first visit was much better than the second - the second suffered from undercooking as well.

Venuto's was so busy these past couple nights the parking lot was overwhelmed, and people were waiting an hour for their orders...

That's because you apparently haven't tried Delorenzo's tomato pie in Trenton yet ← I live further from Trenton now than I did before. I may never try Delorenzo's.

why do they recommend loading a half dozen toppings on a wafer crust? I typically pass on a slice that requires a knife and fork.

The Venuto family, founders of Hollywood Tans and other franchises, are bringing thin crust pizza to South Jersey and Southeastern PA. The second store (of 40 planned to open soon, in advance of 100's after that ) opened this week in Washington Twp (08080). They use a ceramic brick conveyor oven capable of cooking a pie in 6 minutes, and a large variety of fresh ingredients for toppings. I tried a regular cheese pie (The Michelangelo) and a pepperoni pie (the Raphael). The crust was near cracker thin, and crunchy at the edges. It is the best I have tried since moving here almost 2 years ago from South Philadelphia; better than South Phila faves Celebre's and City Pizza. It was smilar to Tacconelli's crust, but without the garlic dusting the bottom of the pie. http://www.venutos.com

without meaning to hijack this thread into a fond remembrance of the wonderfulness of Silveri's, the thing that made the place so great was this - they took ordinary things like bar food and made it special - the mozzarella sticks, for instance. I had only had the typical frozen fried breaded cheese logs at every other place, and when I tried them there, I was spoiled forever. They coated the mozzarella in their own breading, formed them into these misshapen logs, and served them with mustard. I have never had better. Same for the wings and onion rings.

I made the pilgrimage to the Anchor Bar back when my sister was living in Olean and I gotta say, while very good, Silveri's on 13th St back in the late 80's was better.

I eat that "inedible" handle.

Locust Rendezvous has good wings, and pints are not expensive. Moriarty's never disappoints.

if you have the cash, you hire the best. winning is never a bad use of funds.

does the sommelier get a piece of the gross tips left at the end of the evening?

We had a great meal the other night and the sommelier's service and recommendations were a significant part of the overall dining experience. The bill for food and drink for 2 was $160, and we left a $40 dollar tip. How does one recognize the service of the sommelier? Are they paid on the wine they sell on a particular night?

We had a terrific meal there last night - the parma pizza was outstanding, the octopus good (not great), the salumi platter very good, the rabbit casolinga excellent, as well as the halibut with porcini and peaches. The sommelier was a young guy that paired Italian wines by the glass with each of our courses, made excellent choices, hooked us up with a couple half glasses as well that he wanted us to try at no extra charge, and enhanced the overall dining experience. We had no waitstaff issues to speak of. Edited to add: We sat down for dinner at 10:15, so that probably had something to do with the quality of service we experienced.

I had a pizza steak from Chick's today, and it was excellent. tasty chopped ribeye, provolone and grilled onions folded in, and a very good homemade tomato sauce on a soft D'Ambrosio roll made for a delicious, greasy, messy sandwich. My shirt is ruined, but it was worth it.

even though the room seats 40 and the party is for 70?

No, as far as I know it's only the moderators who make the big bucks... ← seems like a pretty good gig.

Editorial and advertising are separate and distinct - it is a tenet of journalism. The sales guys have a job to do, and the journalists have their own code of ethics that must guide them. In no way does advertising content invalidate reporting. If the newspaper chooses to accept ads that you find objectionable, you can choose not to pick up the paper.

In the best case, yout child sleeps through the meal. In the worst, you and your family are miserable, inflict the suffering on everyone around, then get to pay for the privilege The most enjoyable restaurant experience we had when my oldest was under a year was at La Stanza in South Philly, and for that we brought an Exersaucer. We lived in the neighborhood, were regulars before he was born, and went around 5:00. One of the worst was at Cucina Forte, where the boy flipped out and we took turns walking him up and down 8th street while the other ate. Not fun. It is a bad idea to bring very young ones to any small fine dining establishment. Get a sitter. If you can't get a sitter, stay home.

Snow White has been a great breakfast and burger/dog luncheonette for a looong time, seems like 25 years. try the milkshakes.

20m Manning was good last I was there, but that was a couple years ago. Anyone been recently?