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Of all the Starr restaurants, I like Buddakan each time I go. Yes it is noisy and a tad high on itself as all his places are heavy on kitsch and flash but the food is always good and if you haven't gone - try it. Been there about 5-6 times. Service has always been friendly for us. I am sorry to here of Andrew's poor experience there. There is a plan for buddakan NYC and AC so that should tell you how successful it has been of all his places. I go for the grub and not the atmosphere. With two little kids I need to go to a noisy trendy spot like I need a hole in the head. I have been to Fork a couple of times as well and it is very good. Different style for sure. No flash. Less costly but not cheap. In fact I will be there next week for the book-cook dinner and can't wait. Can't go wrong with either but my vote is Buddakan given the choice. Heck, go to the other another time so it's a win-win sitch! let us know how it goes.... evan

Thanks for posting that, Mike. That will be the next bottle I will try to sample while it is still on many store shelves. I opened the Ravenswood Zinfandel yesterday as that seemed to be the going "ode to clancy" . Very nice - was at the Franklin Mills outlet today for the first time and picked up a couple more bottles. My wife is partial to Zinfandel it seems and she enjoyed it alot. I also picked up a couple of bottles of D'anenberg Coppermine Road Cab 1999 from the ecommerce website. I had heard some nice things about it. Not an every day bargain wine by any means but maybe for a nice dinner with friends at a BYOB at some point in the future that calls for a "big" full bodied wine. If anyone has had this particular cabernet, I would be eager to hear your impressions. Evan

Lakeside deli has great snow pea leaves. They call them "bean leaves". I will be having them tonight! evan Evan, thanks for the Hahn Ah Rheum heads-up. I'm going to head over there this week (spring break road trip: woo hoo!) and we'll see what we find. The leaves are on the regular menu (and at $10.50 or so are the most expensive of the vegetable dishes), so they must have them year round. It's easy to believe that they'd be best seasonally- early to mid spring, I'd guess? But these were pretty damn good. ← Yeah, they are definitely seasonal: late Winter to early Spring (*snow* peas, after all). They've been available in Chinatown for a long time (I first had them at Sang Kee in the early '90s), but only recently made the leap onto the Caucasian Menu. Until now, you had to ask, and even then often got the blank-stare brushoff. I always wonder what other wonders are being kept from me for my own good. ←

Andrew - aren't those snow pea leaves awesome! Unfortunately they are seasonal and not available all times of the year. I routinely get them in Cherry Hill at Hahn Ah Reum behind the Korea Garden restaurant on 70, about 10 minutes from Ben Fran. Bridge. I have also gotten them in chinatown markets. It can be tough to ID veggies in the markets in Chinatown but the trick to these leaves are the little curly-cues that eminate from the stems. That's them! Incindentally, there is a secret gem for Korean BBQ off Roosevelt Blvd at the adams ave exit. $12.50 bul ki all you can eat - all BBQ meats(raw beef short rib,marinated beef, pork chicken, gizzards, squid, fatty bacon and tripe, some kimchi and condiments - no dishes on the menu. Great people - they know me well. I have been going there for years since I was a poor medical resident. Korea Garden is not authentic wood BBQ at your table - this place is and it's called Kuk Il. You will smell for days of smoke - beware! It would be a great cheap place for PA gulleteers to meet up one day. Evan

Congrats on your first web post Mr Newman and welcome to cyberspace. I second the warm thoughts and hellos to the "Boss" and also must say that my attitude toward the PA system has had a 180 degree turnaround. As little as 5 years ago I prayed for a quick end to the state run system and now I must say I feel lucky to have it - with its mega bargaining power, great local service, improved ecommerce and an eminently component chairman at the helm. I look forward to even more great things to come and am glad to see you pop your head in here. Soon I will need the chairman's purchasing clout for more wine cellars after discovering all the great people and wines in this thread!! Evan

That is a dish that I grew to love in San Francisco. It is a baked chicken with a sweet marinade served over bed of sticky sweet rice. It is served room temp so you go in there and take it off the counter. So easy and so good. If you try it, report back. I get it at Ba Le whenever I go, although with vietnames coffee - now THATS a hyper-sweet buzz, a concoction of strong coffee and sweetened condensed milk! evan

I am going to Mark Bittman's dinner at Fork. He is the author of the "minimalist" column in the NY times every week and publishes great easy to use cookbooks. He is terrific and I am looking forward to it. I don't even know what book its about - just being released now. evan

This thread sent me to Washington Ave today. I needed fix. I went to Ba Le and got that great sweet chix with gluten sweet rice (xoi ga). I picked up a tapioca drink too. Walked up to Taqueria veracruzana for tacos. I have an aversion to cilantro so they went into the trash - evne though in my ok spanish I asked for none. Oh well. Then I drove to nearby Artisan Boulanger Patisserie for some truly great bread. Sourdough baguette. Best bread in the city by far - the only place I think I would buy bread from in the future. I always make my own. I picked up the traditional baguette as well as a first timer and obviously it is not as complex as the natural yeast sourdough baguette. Now I can fixate on another junket for my next day off. this thread is fueling such thoughts! Never heard of soup dumplings...... need to google..... evan

Thank you to Deidre for checking on the 2002 cakebreads! I look forward to buying some. Mike, please do report on the nardi brunello - I bought a bottle and have yet to try it. I am still working on my bottle of Hanna cab after 2 days - I use the greg moore method of pouring left over into containers that juuust fit to keep the oxidation at a minimum. Seems to work. I got my shipment today of the pine ridge andrus and am trying a bottle of the hanna chardonnay for yucks too. There isnt enough time to drink all that I want to is there?! evan

And what about general suggestions for Chinese food? Where do you go, and what do you get? Doesn't have to be in Chinatown, but I don't want Joseph Poon/Susanna Foo, either. Thanks! ←

Thanks for your heads' up Deidre! I opened the hanna cab last night and it was very nice indeed. At $20, a super deal. Much more balanced to my taste compared with the St francis merlot I had earlier in the week. I am glad I bought more than one! evan

I opened my bottle of St Francis merlot reserve. FWIW, and I am no expert here, I thought that it was fairly tannic and had very rich, strong fruit and a short finish. Very nice bouquet - jumps out at you upon corking. Not my style but a good buy I agree. I have not tried a california merlot in ages. In that store run, I also bought the St Francis Cab reserve as well along with hanna bismarck cab 99, nardi brunello and the ravenswood teldeschi. I am awaiting my bottles of the pine ridge andrus and hanna chardonnay from the ecommerce site. Tonight I will try the hanna cab - looking forward to it!

Might as well ask here. Does anyone know any good tex-mex joints in the city? I am sure they exist somewhere among the latino populations. I lived on that stuff from the Mission district in San Francisco but havent found anything remotely similar since I moved back in '97. evan

I just wanted to pop my head in and say I am glad I found this forum. I have read through it all and what a fantastic wealth of info here, particularly from Katie and Deidre. I luckily have a premium store behind my house and was able to pick up some of the talked about wine bargains tonight as well as some other great buys. My cellar space issues just got worse! Anyway, look forward to more helpful posts. I have utilized the central ecommerce shipping and its been great. I hope to try the hanna 2002 chard and 2000 pine ridge andrus via the website. I am also looking forward to the new 2002 cakebread cabs when they show up here in Philly. They usually start showing up around March and they are a nostalgic fave of ours since the time I lived in the bay area. Evan