shacke

That actually would be pretty funny, to document the legendary Philly addytude: that special mix of lack-of-interest and hostility that grows so well in this soil! ← Agree with Philadining. I love Lakeside and have for years. I go to Hymie's frequently but I live around the corner. It's not that great - it's mediocre. Don't know of the others.

Welcome back Andrew! The strawberry thingybob rides again! Evan

I appreciate the tip off, Bob. They are near me and I am itching for some of them "dinosaur bones". I will definitely be checking them out raaaght soon.

Thanks to the wealth of information in this thread, I confidently made my first boatload of duck confit today for a dinner party in a few weeks - plus some extra for a rainy day. I used a crock pot and it was really easy.

I got some beautiful squash blossoms yesterday but don't recall the vendor. Next to Dinic's, smack in the middle of the sitting area.

O DEVILED EGG! O LAME SAINT MAUR!

Got to stop by after an evening meeting and it was not crowded at 9:00. Anyway, the place is like the louvre. If you are going to look around and see it all, you need more than one trip. 125,000 sqft - holy cow.

I bought the book in anticipation of hosting a bordeaux wine dinner next month. I am trying to figure out a menu whereby I can miminize the work needed in the kitchen at dinner time and prepare as much as possible in advance. I will get to work on the confit soon. Suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am aiming for a soup and salad course, followed by 2 hearty red wine friendly dishes. Dessert and cheese are obviously done in advance. Thanks Evan

I have been eyeing that Cherry Hill store daily as it's on my way to work. I will likely wait a little while before going. The Moorestown store was apparently mega mega crowded for a while after it's recent opening. Lucky you Eileen. Evan

Oh Vadouvan.....?

It's conveniently in today's NYT Minimalist column. Sticky rice with mango

Dark chocolate and strawberry - great combo. Most of my little one's peanut butter and fiore di latte - a nice chaser Found out from John Reitano if anyone cares (I do).... sorbetto 3 Weight wachers points gelato is 4 points A sensible piece of my gluttonous existence. I guess this stuff is indeed less evil than ice cream....

Sounds good, Eileen. BTW, great site you have - definitely going to make those marshmallows.

Thank you for the link and the recommendations. Alison at Blue Bell has a distinctly southwestern tint. I had the duck tacos which, as Philadining likes to say, were solid. Not incredible, but very tasty and that was a good recommendation. I will say that the scallop entree I had was one of the best entrees I have had in a very long while. It was a "meated up" seafood preparation that was a marvel. Seared sea scallops atop of bay scallop shaped potato gnochhi mixed with diced squash, leeks and smalls chunks of prosciutto. The sauce was a rich foie gras sauce. I told Alison Barshak that she hit that one out of the park. She is very present in the room, circulating constantly. The other fish entrees at the table were a bit too busy for me, sort of the opposite of keeping something simple. The flavor combinations consisting of a bit too many parts. Can't even remember what was in every dish. While the scallops could be accused of the same thing, that one worked and worked well. Dessert was good. Upside down mango cake, chocolate bread pudding and lemon pudding cake. Overall a good meal for me. On a return visit out there, I would personally choose more uncomplicated preparations, of which there were several. That, of course, is only my opinion. Evan

Stephanie is overwhelmed at the moment but is really interested in putting this event together. It's looking like August at the earliest. Stay tuned. Evan

I will be going there tomorrow for dinner. Has anyone been recently and, if so, any particular stand outs one way or the other? Also, it's cash only - what does it run a person as I have to hit the ATM prior. Evan

I got my reservation today after 30 minutes of 3 line redialing and look forward to trying the pasta tasting - 1 month from now. Will report back.

I have been intermittently in contact with Stephanie Reitano who makes/owns Capogiro Gelato in the hopes of getting an egullet gelato "tasting menu" going, with accent on interesting, even unusual flavors. Wouldn't that be interesting? She has been swamped and I have been lax too but if anyone would be interested in doing that, PM me so I can gauge interest levels. Would probably be a weekend morning to give her the opportunity to sell off what we don't wind up consuming. Evan

I finally made it to Raw tonight with a friend and once again egullet scoops another terrific new restaurant in the city. I will definitely be back. The service was courteous and efficient. I was able to meet Greg Ling and chat with him a bit too which was nice. We started out with the now famous gyoza which was terrific - crunchy outside and ultra rich inside. I asked if Greg would send out whatever he thought was particularly interesting and out things came. We had a velvety corn chowder topped with seared foie gras and a pinch of tingly sichuan peppercorns. A sampling of shrimp tempura was perfectly cooked using the KISS technique (Keep It Simple Stupid). There is an entire submenu of a la carte tempura should you have the desire for it. We opted for a chopped salad of tomato,cukes,avocado,asparagus and shrimp in a lightly sweetened vinaigrette. Not terribly interesting but a lighter counterpart to some of the more forceful dishes. We had a sharing size portion of rock shrimp tempura served with 3 dipping sauces. I wanted to at least try to order some sushi since this is a sushi place too so I ordered a small sampling of very fresh fish serve with freshly grated wasabi. Nice touch. Honorable mention goes to bluefin toro - how can that ever be bad? There was a large array of rolls and sushi options which I chose to leave for next time. When we were wrapping things up, I realized I had not had any oysters which have gotten some good play on this thread. The kitchen sent out an oyster smapler. A baked oyster topped with curried dungeness crab, oyster tempura and two raw pups - one topped with wasabi tobiko and the other with chopped melon. I am not the reigning expert but thyy were perhaps kumomoto? They were small and sweet with a touch of ocean kissed brine. We skipped dessert at the table as my friend wanted to try Capogiro. Our server told us they serve capogiro there. Good to know should you want to save the 20 paces it takes to get there - right next store. I was really focused on trying the hot preparations and look forward to returning for a sushi laden meal soon. No omakase on Wednesday which wasn't a bad thing as my fellow diner did not share my gulletine appetite tonight. We came in at 5:30 and the bar was getting pretty crowded when we left a couple hours later. Thanks for the tip about Raw. Continued good luck and more to Greg, a gracious and hospitable host. Evan

Too bad. I was starting to jones for the 'cucarache-omakase' at Morimoto.

I finally plan on going tomorrow. A old NYC buddy is stopping in town to meet for dinner and I think it will be perfect to take him to Raw. Called to confirm omakase is available tomorrow - it apparently is. Who knows what will actually happen given the posts above and the fact that my friend may not be up for anything whirlwind anway. Regardless, I am really looking forward to dinner..... Evan

Just got back from LA and it reminds how wonderful a system they have where every establishment has a letter grade posted outside the front window (A,B,C,etc) regarding there inspection history. These grades really affect business if they screw up. Would love to see something similar here.

It's easy and popular to bring up this issue since most people don't like foie gras and its a folly of the well to do by and large. I figure zapping an electric charge on a duck's head with a stun bolt and flipping it upside down as you slit it's throat is a much more cogent argument against cruelty in general but that's what they do to get the "steak" part of your cheesesteak. Try banning that. You think getting overfed a lot of grain through a tube is beyond the pale? Ever read about steer feedlots? Want a link? Anyway, I am developing a secret knock. If you want to sip a secret sauternes shipped in from out of state and a slab of foie gras in my basement - you better know it and not let the cops follow you, man.

Tried it tonight and it worked out really well.

Went today to the Chesnut Hill Coffee Co. Terrific shots (had 3 - buzz buzz - made for an easy 60 minutes of cardio after ) and John Hornall is a nice guy. Learned a lot of interesting coffee facts from him. His old roaster from Seatlle (the person not the machine) is going to start working there this week. Thanks for the tip. Next stop - High Point cafe Evan