shacke

Sounds like a fanstastic evening. I hate being on the jealous spectator end PhilaD, those pics are great. Evan

While perhaps not the greatest italian food ever, we have always enjoyed Tre Scalini and we have always thought the best part about it was the friendly service. I am sad to hear of the poor experiences there with respect to the service. My favorite item is the tiramisu. We have never had a bad meal there and I have been there quite a few times! Evan

(Insert loud banging of forks and knives on table here)

The fact that it is nearly 10 o'clock the next morning and philadining has not posted details about our ethereal dinner at Studiokitchen last night is a testament on its own to the sheer breadth of the meal we experienced. Although I am only barely awake at this point as well, I had to drag my sorry self to work this morning. And so life trudges on.... I am sure if I looked back at this long thread I would see repeated posts (by me) that this or that meal was the "best" ever at SK but this may have been the best ever. Experimental courses, culinary "ridiculousness" in a grand and positive way, great wine and lots of it, meeting egullet folks for the first time and seeing the regulars again. All these pieces made the evening once again far greater than the sum of its parts. This is what overall makes SK on par with no other dining experience. I look forward to the photos to relive it again. I was pretty sure when I woke up this morning that eating cauliflower ice cream was not a dream I had last night. I did eat that ... right? Evan

Got my fix at Dibruno's thanks. Also got a spanish sampler of cheese along with those sickengly good honey roasted pecans. Looked for bomba rice for paella and they didn't have it. I could have sworn it had been there before in a little canvas sack. Looked for Lisa to say hi and inquire. The cashier said she was around somewhere but oh well...... Evan

After several days of looking in vain, I can come up with no recipe for paella on egullet or recipe gullet. Seems bizarre... If someone has a tried and true one, please post it here for posterity. I am forced to switch gears to Louisiana for my dinner guests tomorrow. I would hate to trust my paella to a blind google search.

I checked the search function and recipe gullet to no avail, surprisingly. I am interested in making a paella and am looking for a gulleteer worthy recipe. I have a paella pan already. Tips and tricks are also welcome. Thanks Evan

At least for me the "sound" of a steak joint is the smacking of the spatulas onto the grill as the guys mince the daylights outta the meat. What else does one here on line at Jim's for instance but the klinking of the spatulas and the sizzle? OK maybe some back talk but usually Jim's is pretty civil. Those steaks look excellent BTW, Jason! Next time get the jug of whiz - it will probably last for 25 years - sitting out open on the driveway even. Evan

Perfect. I was hoping to pick some up in CC and I think I will hit Dibruno's or RTM. Could be a record for quickest open-closed egullet thread.... good night and luck.... Evan

Spanish

I need to pick up some good, authentic chorizo. Anyone? Thanks Evan

We went with the house chosen accompaniments with each course, each of us waving the white flag at some point to stop the madness. Evan

Well said. Evan

Maybe I am missing the point but it was 4 am. Isn't it kind of acceptable logistically to not have a fresh fry policy at that hour? I mean, at 4 am I suspect most people ordering are drunk and not picky palates at that hour. I will also go as far as to say that non-picky palates like the frozen variety better. For all I know they woke some guy up to make Daniel's fries! Maybe I am too forgiving........ Evan

It was pretty quiet today at the RTM. Most vendors were open. Since it is so rainy, I opted for a mixed bag of turkey necks, backs and wings for a rainy day one pot dinner.... Evan

When I was in Italy a few months ago, we saw these machines everywhere and in beautiful styles. They were so prevalent that we figured we could get one at home. wrong! Any idea where to get these online? I have searched but perhaps don't know the proper terms to use. It is essentially the same idea as the stovetop caffetierra silver thing we use daily but this is kind of a platform upon which sit 2 cups and a spout pours a dose into each one simultaneously. There is one at the website for Fantes but I was hoping for other options. Thanks Evan

I have had my eye on the Manni oils. Do elaborate.... Evan

A small group of us immensely enjoyed the final night of the white truffle omakase last evening. Percyn took the pics and hopefully will add them to the menu descriptions. While it seems perhaps far fetched to concoct a white truffle japanese omakase, it was all delicious and presented beautifully. Two in our party were brave enough to get the wine flight on a "school night". Percyn and I were not among them. The menu...... Yuzu Margarita "shooter" with Caviar: Yuzu frozen and liquid combined in glass rimmed with truffle salt, malden sea salt and dried yuzu. Served with ossetra caviar. Down the hatch! Truffle butter poached Kinme-dai (golden eye snapper) served with Moromi miso, micro scallion, soy dashi foam and espresso reduction. This was the crowd favorite. "Yana Gawa Nabe": Fresh sea eel simmered with sweet japanese fumet, burdock root and mitsuba, white truffle and wild chicken egg. Lamb carpaccio served with sudachi juice, yuzu pepper paste, salt and micro shiso. Roasted golden tilefish, white truffle chawan mushi (eggs,dashi,light soy and truffle oil), a broth made with dashi, clams, lemon verbena, ginger, lemon zest, celery tops and white soy. served with ravioli stuffed with oxtail, white truffle, foie gras over a bed of julieened beets. Kobe Shabu Shabu: sliced kobe placed in dish with quail egg, scallion,ginger,truffle,truffle oil served with lemongrass broth. Temari sushi: Sashimi of bluefin tuna and fluke wrapped around sushi rice and white truffle served with house brewed soy sauce. White truffle sweet potato cake, asian pear, chestnut ice cream, cranberry puree, wasabi candy. Overall a leisurely, luxurious and over the top experience. The goldeneye snapper and lamb carpaccio were particularly thrilling. I had been for lunch there before but was still alarmed at how good the fish is at Morimoto. I did not remember the quality of the fish being so high but it shouldn't surprise me. I will absolutely return for the traditional omakase. Now to get those pictures..... we refrained from flash so hopefully Percyn was able to capture the beautiful presentations. Evan

With the full disclosure that I am a bread snob, I will say that if you are a great baker, you will hopefully succeed wherever you choose. The most popular bakery is Metropolitan but its not "great bread". Same with the other giant, Le bus, although it's better. Having said that, if your customers don't know the difference, then it would certainly be wise to plan location accordingly. Still, it's good to know that from a quality standpoint, you have great potential if you are truly a talented baker. The best bread in the city, in my view, is the sourdough baguette found at Artisan Boulanger Patisserie. That is a lesson in what artisan baking truly is. Sarcone's is very good too. They stick to the basics, and other than maybe a biga here and there, are straightforward straight dough good tasting loaves. Please keep us posted. I wish you all the best and warmly welcome more great bread bakers to our wonderful city! Evan EDITED TO ADD: Not to shoo anyone away from the city but there is a general lack of great bread in South Jersey and I have always wondered why the big Philly retail shops don't branch out. Maybe it is the geography (strip malls and generally poor foot traffic) or perhaps because people on both sides sometimes see the bridge as an object not to cross? Not the folks in here, mind you. Many of us would pole vault across the frozen deleware on news of a good piece of stinky cheese. Seems like a great market and if you wind up being successful in PA, keep it in mind.

You want that, head over to the Reading Terminal Market. Unfortunately, it's not convenient to Rittenhouse Square, but this is a great town to walk around, and it's not all that far a walk. Since you're on vacation, you should have the time. Salumeria, the store referenced in menton1's post, is located there. Harry G. Ochs is the best butcher in town, and Martin's two stalls down carries lots of freshly made specialty sausages. If you go on a weekend, there's also a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty meat vendor (Dutch Country Meats) open. John Yi and Golden Sea Food can take care of the fish. Downtown Cheese is almost as good as DiBruno's in the cheese department. You won't find all the unusual packaged goods you will at Zabar's, but DiBruno's has some of that territory covered. ← I will echo Sandy here. The terminal market is worth the walk. I routinely walked there weekly when I lived on the square - even in the dead of winter. It's especially worthwhile if you can get there when the amish vendors are there. Having lived in both cities, I can also say that there is really nothing like Zabar's (at least in terms of an appetizing counter) here but nothing like the R.T.M. in NYC. Try to go. Get a Dinic's sandwich while you are browsing.... and a Fischer's pretzel.... oh and an apple dumpling..... Enjoy yourself here and report back to us. Evan

Those look awesome. I feel like yoda - now you are the sprout master.....

Santa gave me a "defrayment" for Meritage. I will have to start planning when the eggnog wears off Evan

Well spoken. If it aint real garbage, it's just trash..... Evan

Went back last night, mercifully on the corporate dime. I had the lobster bisque this time with Kobe sliders as my "entree". Both were excellent. I wound up sharing some of a G-G ribeye with a friend and it was really really good and I am not a huge steak person. I think I'll get that should there be a next time. Evan

If you need a home fix, this is my go-to stuff. Potent and sinful. Nothing better when its cold out.. in a demitasse...... ooh yeah. I like the dark myself. Its not hot cocoa but the european style hot chocolate "mud". Last year I did a taste test of Jacques torres, mariebelle and La Maison du Chocolat. A few pounds (of flab) later, this was my personal preference. http://www.mariebelle.com/category.cfm?showCategoryID=11 Evan