Bluehensfan

Estia does a good job with banquets. Everyone who has had rehearsal dinners, etc, there seems to be very pleased. http://www.estiarestaurant.com/banquets.asp

Estia on Locust across from the Academy of Music is open for lunch on Saturday. They are a Greek restaurant and the whole grilled fish and grilled octopus are fabulous there. They also have lamb and chicken and the food's not spicy. They do have validated parking at the Bellevue. http://www.estiarestaurant.com

We were there for lunch too this Saturday and all in all it was very good. When we got there it was a bit of a wait for a table so we walked around, sampling some olive oils. The olive oils were nice to try but they ran out of the bread to try the oils with. I see that Garces stole one of the cheesemongers from DiBruno's and he recognized us and gave us some cheese to sample as well, and then we sampled some type of sausage that was sitting out on the counter that was excellent. When we got seated a few minutes later, we tried the monte cabra cheese along with yummy jamon iberico, eggplant, and roasted pepper antipasti. I had the Moroccan sandwich which was good (albiet a bit bland), but the lamb was rare and delicious. Also good was the Margherita pizza with sweet tasting cheese and baby basil leaves which was crisp on the bottom and quite good, better than Stella's droopy pie, if you ask me. The desserts were good but not great. I had part of a chocolate mouse cake, a Marjolaine (almond daquoise, chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream), and a few cannelles. The bread and olive oil they served with the meal was great, and they have that same sparkling water from the Garrotxa region of Spain that I really like. The service was a bit harried and our waiter was in desperate need of a breath mint, but I wasn't bent out of shape figuring it was the opening weekend and they did not know what to expect. Our meal did take over an hour and a half though, but it was enjoyable just to sit and watch what people were eating. At the end of the meal we tried to get some of the sausage to go but the line was just moving too slowly with people asking to sample this and that and too little help. All in all it was a good lunch and I look forward to returning. I just worry that the place is too popular from the get-go, and with the narrow aisle around the restaurant, people will get frustrated.

As others have pointed out, Texans very much prefer an expertly smoked beef brisket to southern-style pulled pork. And you very rarely (if ever) find sweet baked beans with that brisket. It's soupy pintos for us, spiked with jalapenos or other chiles, and slurped up from a bowl or cup with a spoon. Our sauce isn't particularly sweet either. We do like smoked ribs and pork chops, but as far as flavors go, think more about chuckwagons and cowboys out on the open range and less about brown sugar and molasses. I guess Texans aren't big on cornbread (or sweet potato fries...chuckle) either? And I was born in Texas...you'd think I'd know these things having lived there the first few months of my life.

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

Granted I have not tried anything at Beck's yet, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. My beef with the jambalaya is that it did not even look remotely like it should when we walked by. It actually looked more like the rice that they serve as a side dish at most Mexican places with tomato sauce glopped on in places...not at all appetizing. Where was the shrimp or the andoille sausage? I don't know. Granted my expectations may be too high because my wife makes a wicked jambalaya whose recipe is from a relative of mine who is the spouse of a former restaurant owner in New Orleans, but just the look of it made me wince. Anyway, I am looking forward to trying the beignets, since that is something we don't cook up at home. Hopefully Beck's machine part will arrive soon (where's it coming from anyway?) and they will model their recipe on either Cafe Du Monde or Morning Call in NOLA so it is decent. I guess their plate is too full to attempt a debris sandwich from Mothers or a burger from Camellia? I do think that Beck's is a unique and great addition to the Market and I hope to satisfy my beignet craving soon.

While wandering around with son in halloween costume last week around Rittenhouse in the rain, we were in need of a quick bite and stopped into the Kibitz Room on Locust. My wife and son split a pastrami sandwich and found it to be delicious. It was very good IMO and we all found it to be less salty than say Katz's or Hershels. I saw a glaring hunk of rare roast beef, so I ordered a sandwich and found it to be very good as well, although not quite as good as when you get rare roast beef at DiNic's prior to entering the dunking tank (Bob can explain this one...) The potato pancakes with the sandwiches were tasty and I picked up a few decent rainbow cookies on the way out. They also had a lot of mammoth looking desserts in the case but thankfully I passed on them. All in all it was very good and I would not hesitate to return.

Bob, Since you are doing a cheesesteak taste test at Reading Terminal, I nominate you to be the one to try the bacon fries (thick-cut fries served with cheese, bacon pieces and sour cream) at Barb and Suzy's Kitchen while you are at it!

I tried Jimmy's and found the BBQ to be ok overall. The brisket and pulled pork were decent but the sauces were a bit too sweet that they serve on the table. The big question I have about Jimmy's is how they can possibly make cornbread so dry. It's amazing actually...but not in a good way!

Mark is going out of town to help out a relative build a deck in Alaska. Because of this, Bebe's will only be open from Thursday through Saturday for the next few weeks or so and someone else will be handling the cooking. We stopped in again last week and took out some fabulous pulled pork and juicy brisket. They did have the mini chocolate pies but unfortunately none of the out-of-this-world banana pudding because of the upcoming vacation.

I wonder if that was me who philadining was referring to who ate both of the pies over the weekend? I agree with Holly. The banana pudding at Bebe's is to die for. Better than Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Even after two pies, a BBQ pork sandwich, half of a brisket sandwich, a little mac and cheese, part of a biscuit, and a piece of cornbread. You can always find room for something good. Mark and Tamara are great people, always giving you a bite of this or a rib to try (oh yeah I ate part of one of those too). And the food (with the exception of the cornbread which does not seem quite sweet enough for me) is really top notch. Much, much better than anything else in town from where we've tried thus far and just as good as the Smoked Joint (RIP).

For those cost-conscious BBQ afficionados, Bebe's now has gift certificates at restaurant.com They run you $10 for a $25 certificate or $4 for a $10 one.

Rumor has it that the best cheesestaks at Reading Terminal Market are at By George. I have never tried them personally, though, as I am more of a roast pork fanatic...

Actually the gelato case at 13th St. is a temporary one (it's one big straight one where two curved ones used to be). The bad news is this results in about six fewer flavors to choose from...

Just so you know, Fisher's pretzels are now Miller's Twist. Same pretzels...just across the aisle. My recommendations at the market include pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place, cinnamon buns or strawberry cream donuts at Beiler's, chocolate peanut butter pretzels at DiNic's, a cannoli (or if you're lucky a slice of raspberry pound cake) at Termini's, peanut butter ice cream from Bassett's, a roast pork sandwich with provolone and broccoli rabe from DiNic's, double chocolate chip cookies from 4th St. Cookies, and some random piece of fruit that looks good from Iovine's (gotta have something healthy...)