zeffer81

Dined there Friday night. Great food, awful service. In fact, service was so poor that I would hesitate to go back, regardless of the food. We waited half an hour for our reservation, which can be out of their control and would be forgiven. My mom ordered calf's liver rare. She cut into it and said that it was medium to medium well. They took it back to cook another one without an apology. Then the (I think) owner who was one of the many people waiting on us came back out to argue with her about what was and was not rare--" we cut into it in the kitchen and it looked rare. Maybe you need some more light." Seriously? Was she supposed to say "OK, fine, I'll take the original piece of liver that you were all examining in the back there." They ended up bringing out the rare piece of liver, as ordered, and she reported that it was delicious. In fact, despite the entire evening, Mom loved all of her food! That was the most egregious display of poor service. Others include getting the yummy olive oil with ricotta for bread dipping after we were finished with the bread. When out dessert was delivered, they made a mistake with the order (nothing major, just brought out the wrong thing) and again argued that we must have been wrong. Wow, we must have been a group of really uninformed diners. AND, for the icing on the proverbial cake, it was my sister's 21st birthday and they did not include the candles I asked for. None of these would have been a major problem on its own, but they all added up for an unpleasant experience for my entire family. However, food was good. We all got the turista menu and highlights included my agnolotti (with a gorgonzola cream, maybe? my frustration clouded the memory of the food); frog's legs (as reported by mom); mom's 2nd order of liver and dad's mussels. I enjoyed my tuna after switching with my sister because they confused our orders--mine rare with no pancetta in the green beans, hers medium with pancetta. The two pieces of tuna were completely different sizes and I was less than happy that I had pancetta in my beans, but didn't want to bother/argue with the waiter and ate it silently. Sorry for the rant, but this experience has been simmering inside of me since Friday and I felt the need to report back. If nothing else, the experience has taught me that I shall never again (repeat, NEVER AGAIN) leave South Philly for a good Italian meal.

Anyone had this week's lobster menu? I'm bringing my fiancee for his 30th tomorrow. Katie (or anyone) any wine recs for the menu? He's a bubbly or white wine kinda guy. I'll report back!

Haha, they look like they're BOXING with one another! Love it!

black bean burritos. make it fun (and colorful) with the addition of fresh corn, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, etc. In fact, you could grill the peppers and corn before putting them in, rather than just sauteeing them with the beans. You could also do veggie fajitas with lots of fixins (I LOVE fixins!)

use wayyy more cheese than you think is humanly possible. a little extra sauce keeps it from drying out, too. I use fresh (when I can) Italian spices to pump up the flavor and plenty of freshly ground s&p. even still--sometimes it's awesome, sometimes it just kinda is.

Those "complaints" made me seriously wonder if she was a paid actor...

Check out O Sandwiches on 1205 s. 9th Street--a much better bet than either Pat's or Geno's, which it's right next to (and shorter lines, too)

So it sounds like you're looking to do an upscale dinner? Philly has lots of great BYOBs that turn out delicious food but don't have the LaCroix atmosphere. Philly is also great for ethnic dining; are there any cuisines you don't get the chance to experience where you live? Vietnamese? Mexican? Italian? For lunch I would recommend a roast pork sandwich (or brisket, my new favorite!) at DiNic's at the Reading Terminal. The above mentioned Amada or Tinto are also nice if you're looking for a nicer atmosphere, but I daresay that nothing beats the atmosphere of the Reading Terminal.

YES! I LOVED watching Ripert keep peeking over at Richard. Even though he didn't win (and I felt sooo bad looking at his sad little face,) he definitely displayed his culinary prowess, which is sure to help his career. I think this is the first time I didn't have a definite favorite--I was pulling for Richard AND Stephanie. I didn't think they would really let Lisa win, but I started getting nervous towards the end, especially with Steph's dessert snafu.

L'Angolo!!! Although I'm not sure how early they open...You might need to burn some time, which you can do at McFadden's at the ballpark, or maybe Chickie's and Pete's a few blocks away. Or, you can drive (or walk) a few blocks north of L'Angolo to Passyunk Avenue where you can grab a post-game margarita at the Cantina and then an early dinner at Le Virtu. Go Phils!

Also, if you can't find parking, there's a lot on 12th street that it only $3 if you get it validated by one of the merchants. You have to spend $10 but that's never been a problem for me

kabobs of cherry or grape tomatoes, mozzarella balls and basil. use looong kabob stick and drizzle some good olive oil and balsamic over them. Finish with freshly ground salt and pepper. Arrange them nicely and you might just get accused of being a caterer! Enjoy your party. if you're looking for grill ideas and want to go simple you could make some hamburgers and then put together all sorts of fun toppings (i.e. blue cheese, carmelized onions, avocado slices, sauteed wild mushrooms, etc.)

BOOOOO!!!!!

Stopped in for a late dinner tonight. Food was decent was service was blatantly lacking. And, because there were five of us, they tacked on an automatic 20% gratuity to boot... To begin, we were waiting for our fifth person and wanted to order appetizers. Apparently they must take the entire order together because "the kitchen" likes it that way because they take papers orders. Well, for a place with a rather substantial small plate menu, there's got to be a better way. And it might have been ok had we been told that in a more apologetic tone. In addition, we had to flag our waiter down to add more ice to the ice bucket for the wine--there were about three pieces, no joke. In general, it seemed as if we had to flag our waiter down more often than he checked in on us. On a more positive note, our water glasses remained full the entire night--something I'm fanatical about because I'm a big water drinker. The good was up and down. We had the flatbread roti, bibb lettuce wraps (with some sort of meat in them) and the samosas to start. The roti was good with a variety of grilled vegetables, but exceptionally spicy. I didn't mind but it was unbearable for some of my dining companions. I would suggest that they give the diners a heads up when they are ordering something that spicy. I hear the lettuce wraps were good, but I don't eat red meat so that's just hearsay... My favorite appetizer had to be the samosas which were fava bean and ???. They came with what seemed to be a fruity chutney and a deliciously cool and smooth raita. The raita was probably my favorite part, and I ate that plain after all was said and done. For entrees two of us, myself included, got the vegetable curry. It was solid but nothing earth-shattering. My friend's father got the lamb, which I would have warned him against had I read the above review. He reported that it was surprisingly bland (although he finished the entire portion so it must have had *something* he liked ) My friend and her boyfriend got the braised shortribs, which they both seemed to enjoy. The meat was tender and falling off the bone and the spices were evident yet not overpowering. Overall, would I return to Bindi? Possibly. With some serious overhaul of the waitstaff (and the bathroom was a little funky, although we were there on the late side so I'll give them a pass for that) the place definitely has potential. Is it three bell worthy? Well, I don't deliver the edict but I went to Osteria last week, another three bell winner, and it was head and shoulders above Bindi in every facet.

Shola will be doing a Plate Presentation class at Foster's on May 7. $65/pp. I would do a hyperlink but...I don't know how!!

You may be thinking of Starbucks? The salaried managers were taking part (or all??) of the tips along with the employees who were paid hourly. That was in the news recently. I am all for an equal allocation of the tips a la Keller, as I know the back of the house often makes out worse than the FOH. However, I agree with you entirely that the customer should be aware of whatever is being done.

WOW! The owner even tried to defend their practice. What a way to #1 Have high turnover and zero staff loyalty; and #2 Lose business. Hmmm...

Ouch. You were *really* bored. While I agree with you on many of the items, let's hope the food speaks for itself. Perhaps they will take note and make adjustments accordingly, but in the meantime--best of luck to Jason and Delphine!

You definitely could have done much worse. Darn them for closing at four and FORCING you to get Capogiro instead

DiNic's definitely has options available on the early side, although definitely no brisket or greens. My vote would be for you to check out the Reading Terminal...there's just so much to see and do...and finish up your visit with a DiNic's sandwich, yum!

Bumping this thread back up for some help. I'm making the herb-stuffed leg of lamb for Easter tomorrow and was wondering if anyone else has made this recently and has any pointers. I'm lucky enough to have an incredibly nice butcher who stuffed the herbs for me so I can pretty much start at the browning step. Help!

I thought I had commented on our visit a few months back but I guess not. In short, food and service was lacking--not horrible but just not up to par. I got the pan roasted gnocchi and did not like it at all. I think it was a matter of personal taste so I didn't send it back but I just couldn't get it down, which is a shame because I love gnocchi AND mushrooms! I also got a soup special (leek, maybe?) that I asked our waitress a question about. I don't remember the details of the exchange but she was condescending with me in her response. It also didn't help that we had am extremely loud and obnoxious group behind us. The only thing that saved our evening was a very pleasant exchange with the owner near the end. In short, we live in South Philly and have had numerous amazing meals at l'Angolo, including one last month. We thought we'd check out Salento to see what it was all about but there is no reason for us to go back. l'Angolo, on the other hand, remains consistently delicious.

I know Z is brisket (I learned the hard way; I conceitedly thought it stood for Zoe!) Joe--what letters stand for cheese and greens, hold the pork please? Is it a hoagie if you use mayo, and not oil/vinegar? I say not--it's a sandwich on a hoagie roll. ← I say YES. A hoagie is cold with any combination of meat/cheese/veggies and either mayo or oil & vinegar. I get the vinegary flavor from the hot or banana peppers.

Thanks for the update, David. I appreciate your taking the time to report Ellen's professional response. While my two experiences at Fork have been ok but not great, I appreciate what she does for the community (one lunch was compliments of a gift certificate that she donated to a fundraiser) and now know that she truly cares what her customers think.

This is a secondhand rec because I haven't been there yet but a couple of my friends went last week and said the small plates were better than the entrees. Again, not my opinion, just passin' on the word.