serpentine

I've had servers do the courtesy rounding my bill down to a dollar amount, and I've been returned change that was rounded up to the nickel. I've never, anywhere, seen a 'no change' policy. That's asinine. Especially since the cash register does the math for the server.

I bet they'll still lose their color, but would dye any other more-absorbent veggies in the same bath purple. Similar to what happens with radishes. However, you might get to keep some color if you slice them in half and put them skin-side up on a grill. They should cook through quickly without turning, since they're so little.

Ava is convenient for my work-neighborhood. I like them a lot as a Center City place for the homemade pastas and generally not-too-fussy, not-too-expensive Italian food I'd usually get closer to where I live in South Philly. That said, the service tends to be friendly but scattershot.

Re: Whole Foods and Ninth Street as competition Ninth Street isn't really competition, as the merchants also shut down around 5 pm or earlier. (Except the new little Mexican groceries, bless them.) Whole Foods is competition because they are actually open when I get home from work and egads! even when I work late. That said, they're terribly expensive and I find the lack of ripeness of the fruit, in particular, to be deplorable. The most frustrating thing about trying to buy decent produce and meat in this city, if you have a day job, is finding someone to sell it to you.

Their hot chocolate is a good rendition of the "drinking chocolate" variety. I prefer RosaLena's, though.

Meanwhile, someone should put some red ink on a copy of that menu and slip it in their mailbox.

"Market regulars" who have time to adhere to the unwritten rule of lunch hours are undoubtedly appreciated by the merchants, but there are plenty of people who live in the city who just don't bother with RTM because of the (often accurate) perception that it closes early and the lunch merchants are always running out of food. Myself included, to some extent -- I get tired hiking eight blocks to the market at noon to find out that once again, DiNic's is out of roast pork. (Which is my only complaint about DiNic's very wonderful sandwiches.) The Market is situated right behind the Convo. Ctr. and an ever-expanding clutch of hotels. Having attended my fair share of conventions, I'll tell you that attendees eat lunch when they get the chance to eat, be it 10:30 am, 1:00 pm, or 3:30 pm. As it stands, of course, there's no way for me to demonstrate this assertion regarding the feeding habits of conventioneers. The current post-lunch traffic is based on the current status quo. And if the lunch merchants decided en masse to extend their hours tomorrow, it would still take a couple of years for momentum to build. I think that the RTM's actions regarding Rick Oliveri's lease are pigheaded (pun sorta intended.) But if the merchants want people to bother to eat and shop at the Market, there needs to be a critical mass of vendors open during the posted hours.

Because the powers-that-be remain weirdly tone-deaf about such issues.

I attended an event for about 100 at Positano Coast last year and I'm sorry to say that it was really, really terrible. The menu was very "generic catered event" and the servers and kitchen were completely unprepared for the (admittedly) challenging logistics of a large party. Fork may be small for 70, but they have handled events for me really beautifully. Panorama also did a beautiful job, though their menu isn't exactly breaking new ground. I'd actually recommend Cuba Libre, though. You can rent just the upstairs, or I believe they will curtain off the back dining area. They do a nice job with food and service for groups.

No, it's not. It is, as previously mentioned by Mr. Brightman, a main tenet of journalism that editorial and advertisting are separate entities. Your opinions, they are not actual facts. Obviously.

I've had it at Southwark, last year I believe. And on the old-school tip, I think Shank & Evelyn's does liver n' onions.

Well, it's legal to hysterically plead with me to not damn myself to hell while showing me pictures of aborted fetuses while I'm trying to enter a clinic for my annual ladyparts check-up. So I think that picketing a restaurant is well within established free speech rights. The animal-rights groups are using a smart strategy. Protesting a luxury organ-meat product allows the general public to feel that they're doing some sort of great moral good with a ban, without actually asking them to change how they get dinner on the table every night. (This is why protesters don't focus on factory-farmed chicken.) The success of such bans/pressure on restaurateurs gives the groups "proven results" that help them attract support and funding. Sigh.

Well said, chowfun. Sara, you seem as if you have common sense. The problem with babies in restaurants is largely because of folks who do not. (Count me in as charmed by a happy baby, not so much by the general shrieking and yelling-instead-of-talking habits of a subset of tipsy twenty-somethings.)

Well, not RIGHT NOW, since it's currently out of stock at D'artagnan.

This is what is so frustrating to me. Hey, I'd like some non-food-writers to cover this issue. I'd like to see something besides PETA & Friends vs. Foodies. I'd love for an ordinary-guy columnist to see the protest literature, think that it sounds pretty egregious, and do a little research. A little research on where our food comes from would not lead to the assertion of "A slow-dawning enlightenment birthed the idea that brutality to animals is wrong." wkl, goose foie gras is more expensive. And very little fresh goose foie is exported to the US anyway. Fresh duck foie is much easier to get, whether from domestic sources (isn't all US foie gras from ducks?) or Europe. However, much of the pate de foie gras I see in restaurants is indeed from goose.

And...Bkyofsky has apparently taken some protest-propaganda to heart for his latest column. I would be kinder, but there's an awful lot of italics going on to clue readers in as to when to be shocked.

Um, isn't this what "having a different opinion" means? I don't think that anyone said that LaBan shouldn't be permitted to have opinions.

My usual policy, particularly when dining with fellow food-sharers, is to err on the light side when ordering, with the full acknowledgement that if it turns out that there's not enough food, we'll order something else. I say "particularly when sharing" because this maximizes tasting -- I find that I'm happily overwhelmed and drunk on flavors and textures well before I'm actually full. Only once, to my recollection, was it decided to order more food, and that was just to order a second plate of something that was particularly delicious but a bit small for everyone to get a taste. More often, even the skeptics find themselves pleased to be able to order dessert if they wish and still not feel so full as to be uncomfortable for the rest of the evening. One does not need to be stuffed to be sated.

This issue was brought up when the sale happened -- I thought Russ Cowen promised that this time he was planning to stick around? Who's the new owner?

Please make it stop. That video was really embarrassing, in my opinon. And what happened to his precious protection of his anonymity? Backlit or not, it gives a pretty good idea of what he looks like.

Not the same thing, but I get a fix for my tartare cravings by getting kitfo whenever I go to Dahlak.

!! Hadn't heard that it sold. To whom?

Weird. I would've thought that the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine would be able to afford to do a little research. And seriously, Craig LaBan weighed in? I'd be surprised if he didn't bring RTM, Farm-to-City, and the new crop of gourmet markets in the vein of Fork, etc. to her attention, not to mention roast pork Italian and the rest of our awesome lowbrow. Oh wait, she doesn't think that street food is an important part of being a great food city.

Happy one year anniversary (last Monday) to Taqueria Taquitos de Puebla! They've re-printed their menus acknowledging the anniversary, and posted a list of specials on the door. From what the owner said, though specials are not necessarily specials so much as they are highlighted menu items. (That may be a little special, depending on what they feel like doing that night.) Anyway, we decided to branch out and try some new things, as we frequent the the place for tacos or cemita al pastor or longaniza tacos. Last night I had the arrachara tacos, which were very tender steak (I would've said marinated flank, except that there was no obvious marinade flavor?) No gristle, trimmed lean, and lots of it. To my delight, it was served with a pile of grilled cactus and sauteed onions, with avocado, tomatoes, and some queso fresco on the side. Thumbs up. My SO had the tacos with chuleta ahumado (smoked pork chop.) Excellent, smoky cubes of meat. I shared my copious accompaniments, since his tacos didn't come with all of that. Also thumbs up.

The SO and myself took an out-of-town foodie friend there last Thursday. The bar area wasn't too crowded, so we sat at the corner of the bar. For Dining Out For Life, there were a few slightly-higher-end specials (Kip mentioned that Sheri did this specifically to up the total cost of the donation) most notably, the outrageously rich, meaty smoked boar chops. About which my friend is still raving. And I loved the proscuitto-wrapped poke appetizer. My SO got the rabbit. I was too busy nibbling on the boar bones to analyse it more than to say that it was excellent. I got their wonderful, classic escargot in chartreuse butter with hazelnuts and an intensely lamb-y lamb dish that also included goat cheese and mint ravioli and duck/fig sausage. I find the trend in lamb in restaurants to be so mild as to be bland, so I was thrilled that the lamb was so full of flavor.