skulky

the fountain

what about braised cabbage or stuffed cabbage

delilah's

you gotta get south of washington for good pizza.

man this shit was crazy crowded, it was more packed than when i went to see kurt vonnegut there like 8-10 years ago. i thought he was pretty funny, smart, honest, all the stuff that makes his show good. some of the questions were a bit painful, like do you like cheesteaks? yawn. and the previously mentioned i go to culinary school and whats your advice on becoming rachael ray, i wish he would have just told her to kill herself. i did like that someone brought up that awful sitcom based on kitchen confidential. i kind of always like him how he just seems like a real dude how he could be working the line next to you making jokes about abortion or whatever horriblly offensive topic, but in the next breath be talking about some raymond carver short story.

had a way overcooked burger, asked for medium, what's the temp after well done called? fries i don't know maybe sat in the window too long either that or fried the life out of them, they were completely cooked through, thought i chipped a tooth. oh yeah and chicken pot pie, which was hot, served on top of a cold mixed green salad, maybe i didnt eat it fast enough but the greens got all wilted. all this and 2 drinks for over $40 plus tip, i guess thats why i dont go out to eat much.

this article was a big yawn, filler crap, terrible research, what i could surmise vetri invented cooking in philadelphia, i can't believe laban's james reiview came out the same week, the fountain isn't a "destination" restaurant, and apparently matt levin's pr people don't have food and wine in their back pocket. other than that go philly.

bump best veggie burger in town.

the trestle inn at 11th and callowhill.

if it's just drunk munchies i'm trying to satisfy and not a full meal, on my bike ride home i like to make the detour to the soft pretzel place at 8th and washington, so much better than those cheesesteaks, and for like $2 you get all the pretzels you could eat for a week. plus they're so freaking hot right of the oven you practically get a steam burn reaching in the bag.

sounds like someone has a case of the i should have just gone to vietnam blues.

i always approach it as meat that wants to be butter.

so that whole other thread is about chef retiring and the boohooing woe is me the sky is falling, philadelphia fine dining is dead, negative everything, and it seems like more than one person worked for chef at some point. so why not share stories about chef and why you're a better cook because of it. so it's a saturday night and i'm in the shit, i know this going in, i'm literally running everywhere in the kitchen, i'm finally working a station all my own, trying to do my best, trying to prove myself, no more prep i'm on pantry, on my own on a busy saturday night! i have an insane amount of work to get done, but i'm on top of it, cause i couldnt't sleep cause i was nervous and anxious and thinking of all the shit i had to do, planning every move. so then it's getting close to service and i'm there i see the light at the end of the tunnel, i'm ready a double shot of espresso and the orders start coming in, ok let's go, let's kick some ass, first order osetra caviar, an add on that costs more than a 5 course dinner, ok time to make the blini, the batter which i saved from last night cause everyone swore up down that i could keep, and i was so in the shit and everyone told me it would work, so i had to believe them, guess what it doesn't work, it's not setting, and orders are coming in, greens, greeens, greens, and guess what else i have on my station oysters, and there is plenty of orders for them coming in. so i eventually get the blini to work with chef coming over and flipping out we put in more flour, but kind of toast it in the salamander, needless to say i'm not starting off well. so i play catch up bang out a few orders see the oysters on the ticket are a different name and i'm like what the hell is this, aperently all the oysters i have ready to go are not what's on the nights menu and i had spent my entire previous evening cleaning oysters that were destined for brunch. meanwhile tickets keep coming in 4 and 6 tops pretty much first 2 courses all pantry i'm shitting my pants at this point, when the old man comes over to bail me out, i have like 6 orders of oysters up, so i need 3 dozen cleaned, and opened like now, or in like 2 minutes most, i'm so nervous with chef there i'm shaking and trying to open the oysters as fast as i can, without horriblly maming myself, and he tells me to stop and take care of everything but the oysters, and he yells at a few of the foodrunners get this plate and that, and i' suddenly like that not in the shit, but i'll never forget the sound click, click, click of chef opening oysters, i was like what the hell is that, and it's the old man flawlessly popping the oysters open, click, click, click.