shacke

I bought the choc pan that Vadouvan posted about and made the most ethereal soft shells in there for lunch - first of the season. Thanks for the tip! Evan

Maybe this has been covered elsewhere in this enormous thread but it seems to me a "danger" would be the cooking of foods at lower temperatures for extended periods of time in addition to the generation of the botulinum toxin in a anaerobic environment. The most robust culture temperature for bacteria lies between 40-140 degrees. You may cook a lamb in an oven to 130 degrees but it doesnt necessarily stay in this range for a long time to give bugs a chance to grow. How do you get around that potential problem in terms of proper preparation? Perhaps you can avoid botulism with proper technique but isnt the temperature range another issue? Just curious.....

Pif holds only 8-12 in the back. Can't imagine L'angolo holds 20 people - period!

Tre Scalini in South Philly has an upstairs room that I used for a brithday party of that size. It is BYO andI always enjoy their food. They are really good people and will set a tailored menu. That's my vote! Evan

While I am not a big fan of this particular wine, I see that the Louis Latour Beaune Rouge 1999 has resurfaced again. I know it was popular amongst folks here the first time around. Evan

Whose job is it to update the inventory and at which end of the shipment? Is it a two step process that also tracking shipments and deliveries (which would make sense)? If the 20 cases of Chateau Mysterioso leave Harrisburg headed for Delaware Avenue is is punched in there and then doesn't queue to update until it's marked as "received"at the other end? Finding out where the breakdown in the process happens is the first step to correcting it, I'd imagine. I've seen certain stores that are run with the efficiency of a Swiss train and others that are absolutely maddening to deal with. Perhaps better employee training on inventory and receiving procedures would help the ones lagging behind catch up? ← Since inventory is clearly on the premises and not on the site, I presume that means that local employees are missing the boat. As Capaneus said, if most people don't care, there is no flak for the lapse. Evan

It's a long thread but I think somewhere she said that it updates every 24 hours? There was one bottle there according to the site when I checked yesterday. Zero today. So unless they got a boatload on a Sunday, it doesn't check out. Another example is that the Cakebreads at Ardmore never showed up on the site at all. I have taken to snooping when I am in the neighborhood. I use the site mainly as a tool to see if shipments I am waiting for have hit the state in general. There was also talk of eventually being able to use the online inventory for web ordering order and subsequent in store pickup. That obviously can't work well with the way the current system operates. I wonder if it's an issue with the individual store folks not getting the inventory into the system? Dunno. Evan

Too true. To balance my Kaiken purchase, I grabbed the 2003 Orenos in Ardmore today. Wallet ying-yang. Incidentally, the PA website inventory is not reliable as has been said before. I happened to stop by today and found them. That's what I get for snooping. Evan

I don't usually buy many bottles at a time anymore but when I first sipped the Kaiken as the grill was heating, I put on my sneakers and ran out to buy what was left at City Ave. $8 is a fabulous price point for this and I will make quick work of them. Having said that, $8 seems to be it's everyday price so if you don't get these in time, you can enjoy it at a friend's house over in NJ, if he/she has any. Evan

Eeks - hope this not a bad sign. I can hear Jim Morrison now.... "This is the end, beautiful friend...."

I was at the Feudi di San Gregorio dinner last night as I was interested in sampling some of the local grape varieties. Notwithstanding the painfully slow pace (4 hours+ and we left early), the food at Penne was good and the pasta, which is apparently Chef Roberta Amaro's specialty, was particularly excellent. Orechiette with wild boar ragu and locatelli. On the wine side, I was really looking forward to trying the monster Serpico of Feudi's but it was not poured. This is a controversial wine with people taking both sides of the taste issue. The WA gave the 2001 serpico (a blend of aglianico, cab and sangiovese I think) a 98 rating and some people think he is mad while others heartily concur. What was poured was the FEUDI DI SAN GREGORIO TAURASI SELVE DI LUOTI 1998, 100% aglianico, which was interesting. I had not tried this grape before. Some of these aglianicos need aeons to calm the eye popping tannins but this does not seem like one of them. Good drinking now if anyone is interested in sampling the varietals of southern Italy. Goes for $40 range. The Campanian "cult" wines are typically aglianico based and can go for a lot more than that. The other wine that may be appealing to zin fans is the "primitivo". This grape is believed to be a long lost ancestor of the zinfandel and it has similar characteristics - a couple of notches below the hot and bold domestic offerings. Think of it as an old world zin. That goes for about $20. The whites of the region, to me, are not as interesting although they are eminently quaffable characters and pretty good value (greco, falanghina) IMHO, FWIW ... etc Evan

Just got a shipment at ************. Got 1 to try finally. What, you think I'lll let you steal em again?

Thanks Vadouvan. Looking forward to trying it. Evan

What kind of curing do you recommend? Evan

Not at the moment. Our server mentioned the menu changes frequently. The other interesting pasta, if anyone goes soon, was saffron gnocchi with lamb sugo and fresh peas. That both sounded and looked superb. Thanks for that tip BTW, rlibkind. Evan

I went to Sovalo last night on BYO Monday and had a great meal. Terrific service and Napa style food that made me nostalgic for Tra Vigne. I started with buccatini alla matriciana with guanciale which was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I then ordered the osso bucco with mashed chick peas and dandelion greens. This plate was really terrific. The table also ordered a shared plate of marscapone risotto with scallops and mushrooms. Wow, was that good also. This was a wine oriented bunch so the staff was really accommodating with all the glasses lying everywhere. We were by far the last folks in the place and we were not rushed at all. I plan on returning ASAP, without a doubt. The first couple of times I tried to go, it didn't work out. Third times the charm. Not only that but many good quality BYO places are closed on Monday so this is an extra plus. Evan

Sovalo it is. Will report back. Thanks for that tip! Evan

Thanks everyone. I will try and grab a table at Matyson and if that fails, I will perhaps try Sovalo as well upon confirmation. Radicchio is great but no reservations makes it tough. Evan

Was planning for some time to go out to Fayette St Grill tomorrow and found out they are not open mondays. I am hoping to salvage the dinner date on the main line somewhere, center city if I have to. 3 people. Called Sola - closed Monday. Pif/Django - same. Anything worthy on the mainline preferably or CC open mondays? I didn't think that would be so hard. I was hoping to be able to take a cab home from wherever we go and that's why CC is not as good an option. Must be BYOB. Thanks. In the meantime I will do some digging too.... Evan

Good advice. Another good question for Deidre as to how many the state is getting. I will keep a watchful eye out. Evan Spoke to PLCB rep today - very helpful. Philadelphia is hung up with the teamster strike so new orders not getting to the stores. Philly to get bulk of Oreno shipment.

Not where I was. The strike apparently affects delivery from the "warehouse" whatever that means (according to a store manager) and whether that is a local phenomenon or not I just don't know. I was curious that only one store in the state had the 03 Oreno for a while and it never expanded out from there. Maybe this is the reason? I assume if it is affecting online orders, then the website would have said something. All I know is that when I asked when a certain selection was coming in, the woman at the store said that nothing has arrived at all tp the store for some time now. Yoohoo... Deidre? Evan

What's up with this strike? City ave store looks like the acme the day before a blizzard. Where's my stuff?! Evan

translation?

Now that's a gulleteer. Sounds tough, but tasty Evan

Damn that post was fast mrbigjas! Well, crisis averted. The portion size was back to normal for sure. Sounds like it was a staff education issue and no way intended as a slight to the customer. Holly, maybe the staff "retraining" happened after you left. The portions may have been supranormal tonight. John obviously valued a customer's opinion and corrected the problem. Philadining has the photo proof. Today I had dark chocolate and cashew. That mint was fresh and tingly and oh so very happily minty, like rolling around in a fresh mint patch (like someone would actually do that but y' got the imagery I hope). Evan