Jeff L

I'm hoping you folks can assist me with this one. I 've been asked by a large client to help arrange a surprise wine tasting/appetizer affair close to Trenton to take place the last week of March for a guy who is leaving for a new job. The honoree (like me) is a big red wine fan, particularly higher end cabs. They think there will be between 50-75 people coming from all parts of NJ and Delaware (this is why Trenton or immediate vicinity is needed) They envision either a private room or taking over the place on an off night. As this is E-Gullet, quality food goes without saying, but do you know of any place that can pair great wines with appetizers for a group this size???

even non gulleteers gotta eat every now and then...

Wow, Jeff that pizza looked great. Gotta get over there, preferably mid week. What's on top of that pizza? BTW, everything else looked equally good, nice pics, thanks

And here Gale and I were thinking we'd like to live like you Jeff!

Thanks for the report, doesn't seem stoopidly cheap at all does it? Wanna weigh in Rich? You'd think lunch would be even stoopider cheap wouldn't you? It also seems like speaking Spanish is a real plus, memo to Joey Vento Rich, I think we're going next week mid week and if it doesn't disappoint, what about this place for the next DDC dinner? We could take Pedro and have a translator on the team and all. Anyway, Porfiirio's is a classic really great little Italian deli in the 400 block of Anderson. You can't eat there although they have opened a cafe somewhere in Hamilton and I suspect the food would be great tho I've not been. I will put Porfirio's homemade lasagna and marinara sauce next to any restaurant on the planet. I take great pride in my tomato sauce as I've mentioned on this forum somewhere, but really go get some. If you're having people over for dinner, pick up a 4 lb lasagna with 2 quarts of sauce and a loaf of the semolina bread from Brooklyn and you are good to go. I bet you the cost of the lasagna at least 2 people will ask you for the recipe and of course you don't share recipes right?

Knowing firsthand this hotel chain's quest for excellence, I suspect that the database program you saw was customized specially for them. Of course I don't know this to be true but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I mentioned on another topic how eery I felt whenever checking in to Four Seasons around the world and how much they knew about me, no reason to think this wouldn't extend to their dining rooms.

Just up the road some from my favorite deli, Porfirio's. Now I know what it's like to be from Pittsburgh in the PA forum!

Great food writer terminology Rich, stoopidly chaep, I love that! Seriously, I was hoping you'd spot this thread and post. Thanks much, I'll report back to the 2 other people not from northern jersey who might be interested!

Some friends and I are thinking of going to this place but none of us have tried it before. I know this forum tends to be about northern NJ restaurants and such, but surely some south and central jersey folks are out there who might give us a heads up on this joint. What I do know is that it's in the burg (Chambersurg) and mainly caters to locals. I'd like to know about the quality of the food as it appears to be a dump of a place, and I say that in the nicest possible way.

I don't really think this service will work in Philly. First, as already mentioned, too few higher end places where this would even have a prayer of working, and secondly, I think too few people would part with the $50 to make it a success even if there were enough restos. I think it's obnoxious and hope that everyone else will too. We all know how frustrating it is to wait weeks, sometimes even a month, for a table at an in demand place (This is why I still haven't been to Vetri) Imagine sitting next to someone who paid for their res that day after you waited for weeks to get in. OK, it's a free market society lest I piss off the libertarians (where have they disappeared to?) so let's just let it fail on it's own.

Just click on the link for Jimano's Pizza Franchise and take a look at their pizza if you think V is kidding. Who would eat that thing? Most people don't get why I (and many others on this forum) would travel over an hour or two to eat DiFara's or Spumoni Gardens pizza. To me it's worth a little inconvenience to sample something truly great, an artisinal product, be it cheese from Hendricks Farms, or driving to Berks Co. for some amazing pork products from Country Time Farm. I do it all the time because I always appreciate people who have taken their passions and translated them into amazingly high quality food or food products. My question is, given that you have the time occasionally, why wouldn't you want to do it too?

V, I agree completely with your points. The differences between dining in say Paris, Provence or Tuscany really zero in on the passion of the chef, local ingredients, and commitment to quality. This is not to say that we don't have a few of these type places here, but they are the exception rather than the rule. In the smaller places (generally mom and pops) that I tend to enjoy, there are usually just a few employees and service is nicely paced - not rushed as we tend to have here. This speaks to European food culture and their slow food approach in general. You are dead on regarding Italian-American or Chinese American food dominating the local scene and most of the country. It indeed has become the standard to which most American subscibe/aspire to in their dining choices. I am sure that the explosion of chains is in direct response to this. It can be that way here if enough people clamor for it as evidenced apparently by Marc's new place. Speaking for myself, I would gladly pay more for a meal that is simply not the same thing as a dozen other places, byo or not.

Let me throw in my vote for Sweet Lucy's slaw as well. Jan, just try going there and only buying cole slaw to go, I dare you

And this is the main reason we don't go out to dinner for Valentines Day, Mother's Day, and any other holiday, especially New Years Eve. It seems that otherwise great restaurants simply can't get it right on these ridiculously busy nights and I choose not to participate.

Pretty decent food but romantic Rich? ← Jeff, we had a DDC dinner there quite a ways back, and we all found the place very very romantic in a Soprano's kind of way. Old school Italian vibe. ← Oh, thanks for the clarification. I do in fact like this place and you reminded me I should get back there soon. Last time we were there was on a clients recommendation. We ended up closing the place way after normal closing time. I must confess when he suggested we all go to Macaroni's I thought my wife and I would be in for an uneventful chain meal but as you know that was not the case at all.

I will concur about the cheesesteak and fries here, they are both exceptional. I got the feeling the OP was looking for a center city place though. BTW, the dart players are downstairs at the Tap and they can indeed be annoying at times but that's part of the vibe there.

Pretty decent food but romantic Rich?

This is true, upstairs at the Tap for sure. Love this place

Just after they first opened, I tried the ribeye. One word really, probably the most overused word but heck, awesome!

Doc, which vintage did you pick up the 04 or 05? That is an amazing value at $4.99.

I would add Smoking Loon Viognier to your list of whites. Although I'm not usually a white wine drinker, this is lovely for about 8 bucks at Canals in Lawrenceville.

Stan, thanks for this fascinating peek inside a world that I suspect most of us have little knowledge of. I think it's pretty cool of you to share this with us - keep the posts coming and good luck with the USDA

Great, first my kid brings home a book about how cows are slaughtered and now this - she only eats chicken, I'm not letting her anywhere near this thread

I'd stay clear of Roy's personally. It's a chain, albeit a high end one that I just don't see what all the fuss is about. We entertained some clients there a while back and it was just mediocre but the bill was ridiculous, $600 for 4 people. Granted we had some wine and a few cocktails and a little port, but really, $600? Our waiter was really pushing the premium wines all night which was off putting and the food just wasn't all that remarkable, my yellowfin tuna was dry and lacking in flavor and my wife's salmon was off as well. The desserts however were great.

That's right. The BBQ store I went into had several and I liked the Tejas because it would go into our diswasher and clean up easy. I hadn't thought about it yet, but we just got a new Bradley smoker. I'll have to try the two together. How much smoke do you think would be nice? ← That's a whole other thread but I ususally smoke several birds and a pork butt at a time using Kingsford charcoal and a mix of hickory and alderwoods. The chicken doesn't take too long, maybe 4-5 hours with full water/beer pan. Check out Weber's site here http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/grilling101/smoking.aspx and there's a great thread on the EGCI board by Colonel Klink here http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...8501&hl=smoking - great information here by a master for sure.