shacke

That explains alot...... Evan

I think being able to see the chef is key. I've been to Isobune in SF many times, especially when I was younger and so impressed with those water boats, and when Pod opened it immediately struck me as lower quality because I could not see the chef working. While this may not in fact be accurate--quality may not be highly associated with visibility of a sushi chef--I suspect others would make the association in their minds. Thus here in Madison, when a new takeout sushi place recently opened, there is a mini camera trained on the hands of the chef, so that those sitting in the waiting area can watch him work (5 ft away, in front of them, but not with hands visible minus the camera). Love the cocktails idea, btw! Using those riedel glasses without legs might work! ← Thats the name! Isobune. I went there a few times when I lived in SF. Cute place - not the best sushi but it had that edge of the boats floating by with food on them. The memories..... Evan

Are they listed as "soup dumplings" on the menu? I don't recall seeing them at sang kee before. Do they have another name? Evan

Thanks for the tips on this and other links. I just got back from Wellfleet today and despite the red tide, the food was great. Of course, sadly, there was no local clam steamers or oysters to be had. We went to Arnolds 3 times - I just love the concept of clam shack - ice cream joint combo. The mint chocolate chip was terrific with those little mint candies strewn amongst the chips. Had lots of lobster there (cheap by my standards!) along with onion rings and fried goodies. For our nice meal alone, we tried to go to Ciro and Sals but they are closed Wednesday so we stumbled upon Chester which was excellent! A great find with terrific food and friendly service. Casual dress was a plus as we were in sweatshirts (it was coold!). Lots of by the glass selections which was a nice touch. We ate at Marconi Beach restaurant for ribs (only so so) and also at PJ's (not Finely JPS) which was no match for Arnolds. We hit Moby Dick's with the kids using a tip on one of the links given above. It was good for the kids to be able to scream and run around. We also got to Emack and Bolio (?sp) which was very good if not a bit pricey. I had the chocolate chocolate chip which was my 3rd ice cream scoop of that day alone - yikes! We hit the lobster pot for a snack just because it got a lot of play on this board and has a lot of history. We had steamers and mussels only and the server was the best of the trip. We also went to Mac's seafood a few times and it was a nice setting to enjoy lunch by the water. Thanks for all the info here in this forum. I already have withdrawals for fried seafood and Arnold's mint chip ice cream. Boo hoo! I managed to get in a couple of lobster rolls too during the week but to me its not the same as cracking 'em open and doing the dirty work yerself. Granted, I didnt have net access to this thread so I am not sure I tried the best ones around. Now to shut my own trap for a bit. Thank goodness I exercised daily up there! Nice part of the country for sure. Evan

I go away for onnnne week and you road trip without us Fenton - you're a loner Dotty, a rebel. Evan

What a faboo night it looks like. While you wined and dined, I sat home - on call I was just there recently and still green with envy. The dessert sounds like the one I had - made us all giggle too that night. Flavors matched only by portion size. I see some familiar faces too in them there pics! Look forward to seeing them again in the near future. Evan

You are presumably not trying to tell us that many PA restaurants arent making a killing on the wine mark ups. High end or not, many places' markups seem unconscionable (Starr, Lacroix.....) and thats not including a $14 martini at Barclay Prime. I have no sympathy for gougers. Granted thats certainly not confined to PA! Evan

I had my 35th at tre scalini on 11th and Tasker and they gave us the entire upstairs. It was memorable, very reasonably priced, great folks and BYO. I can get more specifics from my other half if you would like. Evan

I'll second that! I got goosebumps just reading about them... ← Ditto. (cue Righteous Brothers music....)

I blanch for 10 seconds and place in cold water. Then I sautee with garlic and oil. Before all that, I also defrizz them in cold water to get rid of the brown little leaves. You can probably find more recipes on google Evan

La Colombe - 19th just between walnut and sansom. Coffee and pastry items and a few sandwiches. No meal service. Very European feel and the best coffee in the city (IMHO of course). There is one in Manayunk too. Evan

From the Citizen Information Service website of the great state of Massachusetts: Who knew? Not I, that's who. ← Nice scruffy detective work - and Yo Fenton! What's with the new signature? Can you decode it for us? Evan

They had kegs when I was at Penn and I can't imagine they went out of the keg biz . I would make that my first stop although I can't vouch for selection. They stopped carrying my fave (Dixie blackened voodoo) and thus I have not been there for a while.... Evan

As far as I know - yes. This was as of Feb of this year unless he recently departed. Evan

Went there tonight. I tried to scope out any reviews and on another board there was not much good to say about it. The bottom line is that I concur and I recommend you skip it. Although a nice atmosphere as it is set up in a converted home with comfortable surroundings, the service was poor and inattentive. I had a good salad of spinach with warm bacon and gorgonzola dressing that was a bit oil laden but tasty nonetheless. For dinner, I had the zuppa di pesce which was on the dry side. The pasta it lay upon was obviously older - having the tell tale dried tips of having sat around too long. My wife's tilapia dish was uninspiring (although that in and of itself is not an inspiring fish imho). I skipped dessert and settled for coffee - served lukewarm at best. Not cheap by any means. Abd entree mid $20s. Apps in the 8-12 range by and large. The BYOB and the great company made it sting less. All in All - egulleteer emptor and avoid Max's. Evan

I too am no marketing guy but in my opinion, it can be called She Sells Sushi by the Seashore for all I care. The trick is having good high quality fish et al but I presume you have your sources lined up already. You can probably answer this question but I always wonder why Philadelphia lags behind other cities in sushi quality. I lived in SF and NYC and despite a great food city, Philly sushi aint where its at. It's not meant to open a can of worms - there are some OK places but nothing sensational by and large. As a matter of fact, I think my sushi palate has dulled here to the point where mediocre stuff tastes very good to me now. I remember lamenting my move back from SF after having the local fare. Do we not have access to the fish distributors that, say, NY has? Half this stuff is jet flown in anyway I assume - perhaps incorrectly. Evan

Bring a camera or have Shola take the pics! What a treat.... Evan

Thanks for bumping the thread. I didnt know Le Bus was sold. I had boycotted it for years because of Braverman's background (think Tom cruise and aliens). I will now happily return. I was recently at Jake's and must lament that that place is still quite good but the area really has dwindled into despair. Evan

Going there tomorrow with some friends - anybody been there? Evan

I had heard Buon appetito was moving but then it closed and never re-emerged. I wonder if it was YOU who told me that when we dined there? Looking forward to returning. Ah those squash blossoms.... Evan

Let's start planning an e-gullet dinner - LOL. It would be a fitting end to this interesting thread. Evan

Sounds like an interesting idea for a egullet road trip. I would be interested in visiting. I know so little about cheese but after perusing the site and seeing friendly posts from them, perhaps some planning is in order? I have a big SUV and its probably about an hour's drive outside of the city. Could arrange details with someone at the farm in advance. If there is interest, let me know. You can PM me to keep this thread clean. I couldn't possibly go until July, FYI. Evan

I am very interested in finding out how he made that "foam". I emailed him about it since I have a 'whipper without a cause' at home. It was a great consistency and seems versatile since someone recently had a peanut butter one there. Evan

I finally made it to Studiokitchen which is in my opinion the best table in Philadelphia and for certain the most interesting dining experience I have ever had. The praise I had heard of Shola and Studiokitchen were well deserved and the evening turned out to exceed my expectations. I have passed by the apartment over a thousand times and never knew what lay inside. We were greeted in a cozy apartment with scented candles burning and background music emanating from an interesting CD contraption on the wall which had a slideshow of his food as the music played. Maybe it was just a plain old Mac but who knows. I had heard of Shola’s hospitality and he certainly is a terrific host. He explained the meal beforehand and then proceeded to make us feel at home while he brought forth multiple courses from a very small kitchen! We brought more wine than we could possibly handle and he gave his suggestions for what kind of wine would go best with each course as it can be difficult to judge based on the descriptions. The evening proceeded at a relaxed and measured pace. I forgot my camera (Fenton remains king of all media here) and Shola was nice enough to document everything and email the pics to me. The amuse was a tall shot glass of Jerusalem artichoke soup topped with pistachio oil. First: lemongrass scented corn broth Black truffle,leek and lobster dumpling poached quail eggs Morel mushrooms This reminded me of the fabulous meals I had at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago. The bright creative flavor combination was a thrill. It went down just too easy and fast. Trotter is one of the king’s of creative and original flavor medleys. Shola clearly has keyed in on this as a prime directive with this dish. Simple galette of lobster, quail egg and a lone morel. Second: goat cheese Blintz carmelized onions and figs mezza arugula Truffle vinaigrette I don’t eat goat cheese and sighed when I saw the menu. I did figure that I would eat it no matter what, thinking that if Shola couldn’t make it taste good, I really didn’t like it. Why am I not surprised that it was so delicious? It gave me incentive to eat the goat cheese later on in the cheese course. The blintz was filled with a great preparation of sweetened onions that was just to die for. The truffle was a great flavor combination. The bitterness of the arugula and truffle dressing was perfect. Third: Grilled Pistachio scented hamachi Eggplant ,pistachio and golden raisin caponata Cipollini onion and Kobe beef stew Curry leaf jus mushroom emulsion This course was a trip. The yellowtail lay on a mixture of raisins, nuts and eggplant. A single onion and cube of kobe beef lay at the other end of the plate. The mushroom emulsion was light and fabulous. Although on paper the combo may seem disjointed and confusing, in execution it was perfect. I am glad he helped with the wine choice here. Fourth: "California poulet bleu" herb crusted breast of bluefoot chicken Thigh confit and duxelle ravioli yellowfoot chanterelles Corn polenta cake Truffle-almond milk. I had thought that Shola got his hands on a real Poulet Bresse from France but this chicken is raised in California in the style of the legendary bluefoot chicken. Although still “chicken”, the dish was a smash and my fave of the lot. It was roasted and had a pesto of sorts under the skin. It lay near a wonderful oversize ravioli filled with mushrooms and a slice of fried corn polenta and the whole dish was accompanied by a wonderful brown sauce. I did not detect much of truffle or almond but I happily ate half my wife’s plate since she was beyond full at this point. The small chanterelles were a real treat. One of the diners brought a ‘90 Chateau Montrose which we drank with this dish and I just about flew away to la-la land. Cheese course followed and I must admit I know so little about cheese. I will say that he offered a plate of four different cheese, each with an individual accompaniment. It was crazy good and I ate them all – goat with a truffle vinagrette, stinky blue with a pear mustard and extra pear mustard juice, epois (spelling?) with arugula as well as wacky spicy pickled grape that was ultra-interesting to eat. The spanish cheese, the variety of which I can't recall, lay aside yellow pea shoots. Dessert: Chocolate amarena cherry ganache chocolate coffee sorbet Foamed butterscotch candied puffed rice. By this point we were all beyond happy, stuffed and well drinked. The dessert was a hoot. Shola brought out what looked like a tenderloin – actually it was a flourless chocolate cherry cake that he sliced and placed into oversized goblets. On top of the cake he put a scoop of chocolate espresso sorbet and a scoop of chocolate cherry. A huge slather of butterscotch foam (think whipped cream without all the air) followed and ended with candy rice krispies. The portion was massive and he plopped down the containers for anyone wanting seconds. Uh – hell yeah I did. We enjoyed some good dessert wine with it – Chateau Haut Bernasse Monbazillac being the crowd favorite. Afterward we chatted with Shola for some time about his travels, food, previous jobs and plans for the future. What a well traveled, interesting and intelligent guy. He is looking for a space in CC for a restaurant. Nothing this good can last forever and I wish him all the best. I will always happily recall my time there when it is long gone. I will be back for my birthday dinner end of July with immediate family and I cannot wait. I convinced my bro to fly in from LA for it. After about 3 1/2 hours, we made our leave – leaving Shola with much more coin than requested (actually he never gave any bill) and a bit less cellar room than he started the night with. Phenomenal experience. Evan

I'm on call next weekend. Have fun! Evan