Bluehensfan

He lives... Rick's Steaks Coming to the Bellevue

Holly, now that Rick has been exiled, maybe they will let you open up a stall in Reading Terminal

You must eat breakfast the Dutch Eating Place at the Reading Terminal Market on Wednesdays through Saturdays. Also the Market has great hot pretzels at Fisher's and roast pork sandwiches at DiNic's.

I have not even heard of it (maybe because it's in MD) but will check it out. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah, some of our meal was pretty good (especially the fish and the desserts) but not worth rushing back for, especially with Sovana around the corner. And thanks for coming to my rescue in the other site! It was rather annoying to post about our visit only to have one newbie after another miraculously appear on the site to tell me about how wrong I was with the interior decorating or whatever I found fault with. My fave was when someone posted: "Anyone who has not been to Twelves Grill yet is missing out. The food is great- the chef obviously wants the taste of the actual food to stand out; nothing is drowned in heavy sauces. I really like that they use as much local, organic and/ or natural products as possible. They have a wonderful little cafe that has all house made baked goods- great for morning coffee and reading the paper. There are also salads to take if you are shourt on time. The buttermilk ranch dressing is by far the BEST dressing I have ever had (made in house)- and I don't normally like ranch dressing (they should bottle and sell it!). My only advice is to try to go on a week day for dinner- Friday and Saturday nights are hard to get in without a reservation!" ...and it turned out to be from one of the owners. I knew something was up when we showed up on a Friday and it was dead as far as being crowded. Honestly this whole thing with all of the "ghost posters" turned me off so much that I'd probably pass on returning.

Admittedly with Sovana Bistro down the street (and the fiasco with at least one of the owners covertly posting about how good some of the food is on another Chow-worthy site), I have not returned.

What's that smell?

I noticed the bags too and asked Joe if they were changing bakeries for their bread. Dashed were my hopes of having pork and cheese on a certified kosher roll (yikes).

Estia has a great lunch special for $17 whereby you can enjoy the fresh fish for a fraction of the price! Specials at Estia

Anyone else get a weird vibe visiting RTM since Rick's closed? Seeing the empty stall and the holes where the fixtures used to be make me think of NYC after 911 for some reason.

We actually tried Twelves a few weeks back. Not bad but nowhere near Philly standards sans a few exceptions (the whole fish and the pound cake dessert). The place itself is in a nice old bank building that has been renovated. You can see the vault when you enter (very neat to see the inside...) and then you are seated in a long dining room that is an expanse of neverending shades of browns and beiges. The floors are brown tile, the walls are a lighter brown, the furniture is dark wood. The only thing on the wall are some mirrors above eye level (all you see is brown reflected). In fact the only color whatsoever in the room (aside from the bright red fire extinguisher at the end) are the small purplish candles on the table. While I'm no interior designer by any stretch of the imagination, I fould the room to be rather stark and depressing. While they do have a few windows (that open up to an alley), these were covered by beige shades so there's not much to look at. Anyway, the food was definitely hit-or-miss. We tried the g's bread appetizer which was just so-so despite heirloom tomatoes on it, and had fried oysters which were small and not all that exciting. For entrees, we tried the rainbow trout which was pretty plain and served over an expanse of butter-laden mashed potatoes. The asparagus served with the fish was good though. We also tried a whole fish entree (a dorade) that was excellent. I could see getting the whole fish again (if they decide to serve it again) but would pass on the trout. The desserts were also hit-or-miss. We tried a chocolate cake that was mediocre and had a grilled piece of pound cake with peaches over it that was very good. The service was fine, and they do have a few things in the counter up front to take home like sticky buns and cookies (we tried the latter and they were very good). There were only a few other diners when we were there and most of the dining room was empty. All in all, it seems to be a work in progress. Some things are hits while others are misses. I think the problem with the misses lies not in the execution of the dishes (all were cooked perfectly) but the recipes themselves.

Since I've probably over-stated my enthusiasm for il Capogiro, I wasn't going to say it. But, I'm glad you did. No. ← You gotta try the pancakes your next visit...they are the best. Also, next visit you may want to try a bun from Beiler's Bakery Hopefully the 13th St. location of Capogiro will have bacio this Saturday (conspicuously missing the past two weeks). I want to avoid having a conniption.

Now that you mention it, I do recall members of this forum referring to the rabe. We definitely got baby spinach. It won't be hard to convince me to circle back to try it again. ← I was told DiNic's now had both options available on an ongoing basis. I've gotten rabe pretty much every time I've been there in the last few months. Personally, I've never understood the appeal of Bassett's: it's not bad ice cream, usually, but that's all it is: not-bad ice cream. If r+d is unavailable next time, I suggest you go across the aisle to the Pennsylvania General Store and get some Jubillee/John&Kira chocolates. Best mint anywhere. As to the "real" RTM thread, you can find it here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=303 ← Not to disappoint you, but the PA General Store has Asher's Chocolates. The one John and Kira's store that had it in the market (Caviar Assouline) closed a while back. Personally, I never liked John and Kira's chocolates (except for the mint ones that tasted like fresh mint) or the r+d ones that I have tried. I prefer those hazelnut Neuhaus bars (found at DiBruno's), the marquis chocolates at the Naked Chocolate Cafe or the mik chocolate peanut butter covered pretzels at Mueller's Chocolates in the market. Bassett's is ok, especially the cinnamon and pumpkin combo I get this time of year. The problem is, with the Capogiro addiction, I'm usually saturated by the time I hit Bassett's in the afternoon. Chalk my vote up for the rabe (also made fresh every day). UE, You did try the pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place, right?

Last week the 13th St. location had basil gelato. All they need now is a mozzarella, basil, and tomato combination, seeing that the latter's already been made.

I was reading the article's comment about the hot steam vent in front of the store on 13th St. and wondered if that was being repaired last Saturday (necessitating the construction site feel and detour to get in the store?). It was weird sitting and eating gelato while watching people measuring pipes and excavating all sorts of things a few feet away.

Maybe time to do some Capogiro artwork. That's what we need in Philly...good gelato art!

FYI... For fans of Capogiro in NYC, it seems that it's starting to infiltrate the Big Apple

Yeah, there are just too many good flavors that I didn't get to see. Yeah, I'll just chalk this one up as taking a bullet for the team. BTW, slightly off-topic: has anyone ever noticed the oddly wallpapered apartment entryway just catty corner across 13th and Sansom from the Capogiro (on Sansom)? Here's a picture to help jog your memory. Naturally, walking by that street corner nearly twice a day for a week, I happened to notice it - especially at night, when the garish pattern was lit up. The apartment entryway is right next to a dog/pet (?) store that manages to stay open until 10pm. I don't think we have that kind of pet store in the Midwest. ← I wonder if that is one of Virgil Marti's wallpapers. He did a neat neon one for the Fabric Workshop and Museum men's room in Philly that was lit by black lights called Bullies

At least you didn't make a comment about the airport or lost luggage. That's usually the norm for people's first perceptions of Philly. We recently had the pleasure of returning from vacation at 1:00 AM a few weeks ago and our plane went to Terminal A. For some unknown reason our luggage (at least it was all there) went to the baggage claim in Terminal C. But nobody told us this was the plan because nobody was around the baggage claim in Terminal A. Welcome to Philly. If you wound up going to DiNic's, you probably can't blame weight gain on them. A whole roast pork sandwich with rabe and provolone is all of 1200 calories. And (the best for last) one more reason to go back to Wharton: Another Capogiro

I assumed you liked the Bacio the best?

I was thinking of recommending Tria but thought it may be too casual and crowded. The food's light and very good though. None of Garces' joints (including Distrito) are open for lunch on Saturday. Why? Who knows... RTM does have those r+d chocolates at the Fair Food Farmstand (all of two varieties) but I was less than impressed with them. The previou RTM recommendations are pretty sound. Do make sure to try a soft pretzel at Fisher's or a cinnamon bun (not the iced ones though) at Beiler's. I'd skip the cupcakes at the Flying Monkey unless you have a like for lardy, bland icing that tastes like crisco...and the service there is pretty lousy. Hard to achieve for a food stand but they've managed. You could always do a late breakfast of pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place though on Saturday.

Kanella is absolutely worth the trip. ← Just take into account that Kanella serves brunch on Saturday so it may not be exactly what you're looking for. You could get really good fresh fish at Estia (another Greek place) on Saturdays at lunch and really good octopus (almost as good as at Gotham in NYC) if that's what you were looking for.

You just insert an allen wrench in the shell and after a few dozen turns...

Smart move...be sure to get the chocolate bento box for dessert!

Well I was in NYC over the weekend and tried a few items at City Bakery, and if this is the best the Big Apple can do as far as a cookie or a scone, all things considered I'd much rather be in Philadelphia!