Bluehensfan

Have you tried the Sea Salt flavor? FWIW it is my current favorite - that sweet and salty dance is a beautiful thing. I've only had it at the 20th St. location though, not sure if they offer it at 13th St. ← I have not but will try it the next time I am there. My last visit to Capogiro was a bit miffling. Despite being close to the 20th St. location earlier in the day, I was still full from lunch so I figured I would time it out so I would be by the 13th St. location in time for dessert (bacio). As it turns out, I get to 13th St, no bacio. I asked if they knew if the 20th St store had it (and after one employee told me to "it's online") another was nice enough to call the other location..sure enough! At least I walked off some of the calories!

Wishful thinking? ← Ay. See how gelato-obsessed I am? It leaks out in everything I say, do, and feel. ← Just so you know (IMO) not everything is exactly the "Holy Grail" at Capogiro. While I wholeheartedly endorse the bacio, other flavors have not done it for me in the past, so sample before you decide on a flavor (or two, three, or four).

It's good to know that I'm in good company. See my confusion?! ← I guess it depends on what type of cuisine you're after. Honestly I know of no other place in Philly serving Israeli cuisine in a setting like Zahav, so in that respect it's unique and much different than your other choices. But it has been getting mixed reviews on other sites as has James. And the food at James is more like your other choices that have been more reliable, so maybe I'd suggest axing that one? Maybe I should be asking you if I made the right choice booking at Gotham Bar and Grill for lunch in NYC for an upcoming trip.

I know that none of the places under "other considerations" are open for lunch on Saturday if it helps and quite possibly are closed on Sunday as well. Zahav just got a rocking review in Philadelphia Magazine and Matyson's been good for years. Cochon seems to be the "hot" BYO these days and Ansill is always reliable. And then there is James.

I'm going to look silly if this is wrong, but didn't the Swiss Pastry Shoppe reopen? ← They have reopened and have damn good pink iced butter cookies.

Eileen, I'm not implying that the Flying Monkey uses lard, but rather stating that is how their icing tastes. But then again, since Twinkies have no butter in them whatsoever, anything's possible!

Flying Monkey will likely be a disapoointment if you ask me. The icing on their products tastes very redolent of lard. Think of how sweet the icing is at Magnolia in NYC, and switch the word lard for the Flying Monkey. If you want a great moist cake with a sweet but not lardy icing, try Brown Betty Desserts in Northern Liberties. As far as prepared foods go, all seem to be hit and miss. Some things at DiBruno's are good but others are not...it depends on their supplier. The same goes for say, cookies at Whole Foods. The cookies in Philly Whole Foods are well, horrible, while the ones at Chicago Whole Foods (thanks to Carol's Cookies) are great. Even big chains like Starbuck's use different local suppliers for things like blueberry muffins, so that's why the same labeled product tastes different in different regions of the country. Also, as an aside, when you have big catered affairs, the food is never as good as when you go to a restaurant and order a single meal.

Watch out about coming to Capogiro too early in the day. Today I stopped in at high noon for my bacio fix and was left hanging. (And my second choice, the hazelnut was too frozen for them to scoop out). I feel like Seinfeld and his marble rye about now.

We locals ought to, but the area gets a larger-than-normal share of visitors from beyond, "beyond" here defined as anything you can't get to with a plain-vanilla TransPass and no zone fare. It's sort of like having those guys who toss the fish right underneath the giant neon sign and clock at the Pike Place Market. The only problem with this logic is that the Rick's Steaks space is not the first thing many, or even most IMO, visitors to the RTM see. It's my impression that the most heavily used entrance to the RTM is the one at its southwest corner, on 12th just north of Filbert -- it's where the market's bulletin board and information booth are located. The entrance next to Rick's is the second-closest to the Arch Street entrances to the Convention Center, though, and the closest one that can handle heavy traffic -- it's more visible than the one that leads to the market's NW corner up a couple of stairs -- so maybe some of the folks attending conventions or gate shows might do a double-take to see produce, fresh fish, or meats in the display windows at this point -- but how many conventioneers cook? (Gate-show patrons are a somewhat different story; you might be able to capture some of them, as they're usually local in origin.) ← If you ask me (but I'd ask Paul Steinke if you really want the truth), the most heavily traveled entrance to RTM seems to be the one on the corner opposite from the Convention Center. It seems to be perpetually clogged with hungry tourists entranced by the aroma of Beiler's cinnamon buns and made immobile.

No breakfast? Or do you have another commitment? If you've never had scrapple, you must take breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market. Either the Down Home Diner or the Dutch Eating Place . I tend to eat it plain, but others top with ketchup or syrup. Great side dish for eggs. The Down Home Diner does a wonderful job with pancakes. Overall I prefer the Down Home Diner to the Dutch Eating Place (the quality of the ingredients isn't as good at the latter), but it's a matter on which honest people can disagree. The Down Home Diner also serves incredibly good biscuits. (Should you stop by for breakfast Saturday, you'll probably find me schmoozing with Tommy or Joe at DiNic's soon after the market opens at 8 a.m.; yes, you can get a pork sandwich for breakfast!) ← As an addendum, if you stop by for breakfast on Saturday, you can see me giving much deserved additional flack to rlibkind (whilst schmoozing with Tommy or Joe at DiNic's) for even suggesting the Down Home Diner over the Dutch Eating Place. But then again, rlibkind knows how I feel about the Diner... Granted, while the atmosphere of the Dutch Eating Place is not that of the Down Home Diner (the DEP's all counter service), the food is all very fresh, top-notch, and much more tastier than at the Down Home Diner, which if you ask me has seen much, much better days. While they try to make breakfast a bit fancier at the Down Home, the execution just is not there according to my tastebuds. Also, while you can get roast pork for breakfast, you may want to wait until later in the morning (at least 10 or 10:30) because the rabe is not ready until that time, and a roast pork sandwich without rabe is like....well...use your imagination.

Gotta hit DiNic's at Reading Terminal Market for roast pork (not pulled) with provolone and broccoli rabe. While in the market, also get a hot pretzel out of the oven from Fisher's pretzels. Also, if you get there early enough, the pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place are avatar-worthy. As an aside, there's a lot to photograph at the market, including interesting food, food stalls, merchants, and customers. And if you want to photograph the best chocolate in Philly, visit the Naked Chocolate Cafe on Juniper and Walnut Sts. Finally, when hitting Capogiro, make certain to try the bacio.

The RTM Board is swallowing the legal fees. ← Vince Fumo's gonna open a casino in center court to recoup the costs. Oh wait, he and Sprague had that falling out. Maybe not. Either way, that's a lotta toilet tissue.

The lamb was like $17 a shot. Well worth it though. The soulvaki was a steal at $6 though so it all evens out! Too bad they don't do it more often.

Regardless of which party is at fault on this issue, I get the sick feeling that RTM has probably in essence funded another full-time butler for Dick Sprague's mansion because of how much they probably spent in legal fees. And I'm sure that Rick's legal representation was not exactly pro-bono either.

Since one of the butchers in RTM is unfortunately closing, I thought this might be a good time to do an informal "eGullet survey" to ask what type of merchant the market might benefit from having should another butcher not materialize. Some thoughts I have: 1. A fish monger who can grill up some of the fresh fish they sell. 2. A decent BBQ joint. 3. Capogiro or some other very high quality Philadelphia-based gelato company. 4. A produce vendor that stocks more upscale items (such as those little red bananas and the like that I can't seem to find in RTM so I have to get them at WFM). 5. Someplace that serves wicked burgers and fries. 6. An outpost of Tartes or Brown Betty Desserts. 7. A fresh popcorn vendor like Garrett Popcorn in Chicago. 8. A creole/cajun place. 9. A really good raw bar. Just my two cents.

We're gonna hit it again this year. I hope they do the goat this year. It was pretty darned good last year (albeit a bit sick to look at).

I think it was in a little box next to the letters to the editor where they added a few to the list like the muffellatta at Centeral Grocery in NOLA. If I only knew where the issue went, I'd give you a more definitive answer!

Esquire made an addendum to the list of sandwiches in this month's issue (apparently based on readers letters). For the local establishments, I seem to remember that they added Tony Lukes. Don't kill the messenger...

Reminds me of that old SNL skit..."New Shimmer is both a floor wax and a dessert topping!"

Ahh, the confusing world of the Philly sandwich slang. People often confuse "wit" with "whiz," not understanding that the "wit" is with onions, and that the term only makes sense when ordering a cheesesteak. You can't get a hoagie wit. And I think the reason that "sub" sounded so strange used to describe a cheesesteak or roast pork is because, as mentioned above, we don't consider those a type of "hoagie." Most places call anything on the same shape roll a "sub" or "zep" or whatever, but "hoagie" is more about the dressing than the roll. Although the long Italian roll is required. It's not a hoagie if it's on a kaiser roll. But it's also not a hoagie if it's got cheesesteak stuff in the roll, unless it's a cheesesteak hoagie. Crazy. I've been musing about the terminology a little on my blog so it would have a permalink, and wouldn't get lost in this more general discussion. Any more tips or tricks for ordering like a native? ← At DiNic's they have alphabetic designations for the food. If I weren't too busy salivating at the meat when I order, I should know this by now. I seem to remember the following: P stands for roast pork (or is it R?) C is for cheese G is for greens Anyway, I think most stuff can be ordered by simply blurting out a few letters. (If you remember what they stand for...)

Come on now Bob, you should know better... are you making this fatal error here on purpose, or did I miss something? They aren't hoagies or subs, they are sandwiches. Just sandwiches. Roast pork sandwiches. The person that stands in line and asks for a roast pork hoagie is the same person that asks for mayo, or american cheese. Heaven help them. ← Or worse, as culled from another food posting site: "Sunday Brunch - Reading Terminal Market. (Mrs. _____ is not a giant fan of greasy, cheesy, meaty sandwiches, so a pilgrimage to Steve's would be a chore for her. At RTM I figure I can get a DeNics Roast Pork Wit and we can find something that appeals to her)" This post makes roast pork with american cheese seem appetizing. Hopefully he got my response in time what to ask for...or in this case what not to not ask for.

We tried a number of the soups (after a delicious, DiNic's sandwich dripping with juice I might add) and particularly enjoyed Tommy DiNic's pasta fagiole. The matzoh ball soup was pretty good as well, as was Mezze's pasta fagiole. The cabbage soup seemed a bit more sour than version my mother makes, so perhaps I am biased there. I can't remember the "missing" soup but seem to remember something else with steak in it. It was indeed a great event, and hopefully they will do it again next year! Unfortunately I was too stuffed to try one of the delicious looking waffles that they were cooking up. By the way, even Bob got a plug from Paul Steinke as a "market regular" during the event!

It's well worth the drive and food's generally a lot better than most places in Wilmington but can get a bit pricey. Make sure you sit upstairs though. It's airy and plant filled up there but downstairs is just too smoky for me. Service is decidedly hit-or-miss. They do have a website Half Moon Saloon.

The burgers at the Half Moon are excellent. We've had buffalo (which is always on the menu) and elk, bison, kobe beef and probably a few others (that rotate as the wild game burger of the day). They also have buffalo ribs that are very good, buffaloaf (think like meatloaf) which is good also. My favorites there are the crab nachos and desserts from Sweet Somethings bakery in Wilmington (especially the chocolate silk cake). Upstairs is nice and airy but downstairs can get downright smoke-filled.

Aha! No wonder there were no doors on the stalls in the men's room this week at the Market (seriously...look for yourself!)