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Sounds like a great place to try. Thanks. Evan

Hey, there isn't any butter on it! ← That's the low fat version in the picture , silly!

Well if you drink only wine, that ought to do it - as long as you take vitamin B pills you will survive I also see the Newton puzzle is out - gonna try that too. Evan

Opened tonight. I agree - excellent value and a real easy to quaff wine. Smooth and restrained tannin. I love the leather notes. I shall get some more of this stuff. Thanks. Evan

Crab fries at Chickie and Pete's....... secret phillyphile phood. Evan

Thanks to Seth for those comments. I am headed to Rome and Naples in September and while we will be with native friends in Naples, we are on our own in Rome for 4 days. Any specific non touristy restaurant recommendations are welcome! We both speak italian (or should I say my wife does and I can get by with mine although I am frantically studying more food vocabulary over the summer). We would love gems away from the throngs of visitors! We will be at the sofitel BTW but plan to cover the city as much as possible. Evan

Went back last night and brought my parents and this time it was nowhere near the same experience as last. Two of us had the veal sirloin with porcini and pasta sarda which I thought was excellent. Two had lamb steak with artichoke tomato and couscous. Both were unhappy with it. There was no spark in it and certainly no interesting flavor. The soft shell for appetizer was very artfully pan seared although the sweet and sour sauce was just sugar. The grilled quail - which I tasted and liked - was not well received. Extreme smokiness in the eggplant ragout beneath that was not hinted on the menu. I liked the flavor but it was overpowering with smoke hues. Goat cheese and roasted figs appetizer was delicious. Desserts did not look thrilling and so we opted to hit capogiro for gelato instead - GOOD CHOICE! Although maybe it was an off day, to me, inconsistency is a kiss of death. In my prior review I had mentioned that the food was cooked well even if it was devoid of extreme creativity. This time it seemed that much of the meal was an attempt at such creativity and it didnt work. Sorry such a downer report but "it is what it is"...... My parents are insisting next time they go back to Pif and I can't argue...... Evan

Took folks to Pumpkin last night instead of Pif. Next time we will not stray from this gem.... see Pumpkin thread a bit later for details... Evan

Pif is our favorite restaurant and I find myself purposefully avoiding it so I can get to other places for a change. It has been a while though and this thread may change that. The bread is from right nearby called Artisan Boulanger Patisserie. As a bread baker I tend to look down on commercial breads but he is sensational! A vietnamese baker who is classically french trained in bread baking. Try their sourdough baguette (not sour tasting but uses a natural yeast) and then post back when you come back to earth! The salt is hawaiian alaean pink salt. I had called Chef David Ansill one night because my wife always talks of that pink salt and got the info. It's baked in red clay and is available at amazon believe it or not at this link. Guests at our place love it. It tastes light and is a nice pink color. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...t-food&v=glance Evan

Did you get the menu in advance for the pairings or did you wing it? Was this tasting menu set up in advance for you guys or that was what was being served that night to all? Evan

Confirming: cut "horizontally" a la steak at IHOP or denny's - the kind you would get with your eggs. Mind you that example is for visual analogy not taste! I agree that it takes a bit away from the experience - like sinking your teeth into a slab of steak. Maybe people would complain if they received an anemic 1/2 piece of a 20 oz ribeye cut vertically? Dunno. Your point is well taken however as this cut on one side is different from the other. A rim of fat lines one half and not the other (where the bone in a rib steak would be were it still attached to the "eye") Evan

yup- what he said

Deja Vu Tim! I went there tonight with a friend and we had a similar meal. First off, let's dispense with the obvious. It's expensive but it was good and not a rip off. $275 for two - total (included 2 glasses of wine). OK. I had the sliders and they were a nice idea and very flavorful. 2 mini 2 oz kobe burgers, one topped with onion and tomato and the other with cheese (can't remember the kind). I enjoyed them a lot although I am not sure I could tell the difference between kobe and any other meat in this preparation. My friend had the chopped salad which was fresh and contained an advertised 12 ingredients finely minced to bits - like I could verify? I liked it. Frankly, I could have have the sliders and a salad at the bar and gone home. Although I eyed the 16 oz kobe strip steak (never had a cut of kobe), I passed knowing it was just "too much", not because of the price tag but it seemed like a awfully big slab of marbled rich beef. We shared a surf turf like Tim had each getting 1/2 the butter poached lobster and 10 oz of the ribeye. Sadly, it was cut horizontally instead of vertically and felt a bit cheap although the flavor was quite good. Truth be told, I am not a huge steak fan so gulleteer emptor here. I was pleased with the combo and still had a doggy bag to bring home. For sides, I ordered the tater tots (yes) for the peasant food contrast and they tasted like -uh - well - y' know - tater tots. For dessert, I forwent the banana on banana item to take Rich's rec of the cheesecake truffles which were cheescake bits rolled in a cookie crumb dough and fried. 4 were served atop different sauces - banana, chocolate, pineapple and strawberry. They were interesting and light enough not to feel guilty. They were not crunchy as I had hoped they would be - more like a dunkin munchkin texture. As a fan of creativity, I enjoyed the concept. Service was attentive and yes they are "starr"pford wives, drolling on in starr-ese but it was friendly, helpful and unrushed. The standard hot Starr babe in the front greets you as in all the other places. BTW - The cheesesteak is still on the menu sans foie gras (now with lobster meat along with black truffle shaved kobe and teleggio cheese for $100). But wait - it comes with a split of veuve cliquot. This does not sound the least but intriguing to me. I liked it. I would go back. I still have a soft spot i my heart for Morton's and I imagine that this does not crush the steakhouse competition in the city although have yet to go to the other biggies. If you are the steakhouse kind of person - its worth a try. Evan

I am likely going tomorrow for dinner. If anyone knows of any don't miss things, speak to me, please! Evan ← Dont pass up: Lobster bisque the Kobe sliders Sauteed spinach sauteed mushrooms the Gachot & Gachot ribeye the deep-fried cheesecake bon bons ← Duly noted. I hear lots of the ribeye but kobe hangar steak sounds wild - if its still there. besides - 20 oz? talkin doggy bag city. Evan

It got mention in the NY times dining section today. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/dining/06stuf.html Evan

I will report back - have a gift certificate to soften but not deflect the financial blow. Evan

I am likely going tomorrow for dinner. If anyone knows of any don't miss things, speak to me, please! Evan

I have had it on my list to try a tempranillo. Picked up a sample bottle along with a couple of the last remaining newton merlots in Ardmore. What the hey.... Thank Evan

As someone who has dealt repeatedly with citysearch on the issue of allowing suspect "reviews" written by people with axes to grind, allow me to add a few thoughts on this, especially for Ian, if you are reading this. If you find yourself questioning the veracity of the poster, click on his/her profile to see how many other restuarants they have reviewed. If your restaurant is the only one lucky enough to have been reviewed by the user, odds are you have been targeted for one reason or another (in my case, it appeared to be because I had the gall to open up a place that charged more than $10 for an entree in University City). Reversing the posts is far from easy, but it is possible. If you want to know how, I would be happy to share. The one thing you won't get is the satisfaction of confronting your detractors, because they are allowed to remain anonymous while slandering your restaurant and, quite likely, dissuading potential customers from trying your place. Citysearch is fine for basic info most of the time, although six months of repeated emails still has not resulted in getting my reservations policy correct. As for the user reviews, caveat lector. ← Not to comingle threads but if the same malarkey truly happened to Rx in citysearch, then I wouldnt even bother looking there (I personally never have). As an unbiased gulleteer, I thought Rx was terrific, Greg, and so have many on this board. I also seriously question a "scathing" review of pumpkin. If its not your thing fine - but downright awful reviews? cumon..... I didnt like Django and Vetri but they also dont deserve "bad reviews" - they just werent my style. Evan

Agree. thats a shame particularly if it closed because of employee problems Evan

Just called - 6 bottle minimum. I would happily share and order with anyone. 6 is too much for a "test drive" - for me at least. Evan

Hi Katie, I was hoping you'd reply to me :) Thank you for your detailed list. I'm not sure I'd be a fan of the Big House Pink based on the description the winery gives for that vs the Vin Gris de Cigare (although then again, I haven't disliked any of Bonny Doon's wines yet!) but I could give it a try. You have me very much interested in your favorite, though. I think I'll ask my mom if she wants to split a case with me :) Now I have to go find that thread I saw before about how to do the special ordering thing (that's what SLO is, right?), and maybe send it to a different place than Conshy... thanks very much! And if you do find out where they have that by the glass, I'd be interested. -hillary ← I am up for sharing a case of the L'Alycastre Rose given the effusive review from Katie. If some peeps want to order a case, I would be in for say - uh - 4? ← That assumes you ahve to order a case at a time. I will call them ans ask..... Evan

Hi Katie, I was hoping you'd reply to me :) Thank you for your detailed list. I'm not sure I'd be a fan of the Big House Pink based on the description the winery gives for that vs the Vin Gris de Cigare (although then again, I haven't disliked any of Bonny Doon's wines yet!) but I could give it a try. You have me very much interested in your favorite, though. I think I'll ask my mom if she wants to split a case with me :) Now I have to go find that thread I saw before about how to do the special ordering thing (that's what SLO is, right?), and maybe send it to a different place than Conshy... thanks very much! And if you do find out where they have that by the glass, I'd be interested. -hillary ← I am up for sharing a case of the L'Alycastre Rose given the effusive review from Katie. If some peeps want to order a case, I would be in for say - uh - 4?

As for shopping - I love foodsource but its very costly and I dont buy everything there by a longshot - tey do have hard to find items though. Whole Foods is my staple although we often hit genuardis too. Seems like in order to get everything we need, we have to go to more than one place. Evan

Produce Junction on Bryn Mawr Ave in Bala about 1/2 mile south of City Ave. Its very cheap and its sold kinda in bulk - only catch is fruit is usually pretty ripe so it wont very long. Crowded on weekends - cheap flowers. You can't miss it, there is always a trafiic jam there from the shoppers. Nothing too fancy mind you but it has its strengths for sure. Try it out! Evan