Rich Pawlak

Run with it! I LOVE this place. And I'll bet the owner would love a crowd on a Monday or Tuesday night.

Well, it was bound to happen. Prior to Monday night, this had never happened in either of the two incarnations of the DDC. At any event that I have ever hosted, or have helped to host, I have never agreed to a minumum number, and always prepared the restaurant for a few no-shows. And, invariably, there have always been no-shows, and never enough to trigger any sneaky stuff from a restaurant. Dirty pool by the staff of Baewon. When I heve ever arranged DDC gatherings I have always used the phrase "we average 30-50 people or so for these things, but I will give you a final number by this date..." and when I've phoned in the final RSVP number, I've always added that "there could be a couple of no-shows, or a couple of additions, it's that kind of group, but we'll be at that number." Never ever signed a contract either, never been asked to. And when I collect all the money, I hand it over to the restaurant immediately, so we can eat in peace. That's not to say that Herb didnt get royally screwed. And he has every right to ask for the money from the rude no-shows. I now wish we hadnt left so quickly. I think the twins may have helped our cause had we stayed a few cranky minutes more.

Saranac Black & Tan. For my money, the best bottled Black & Tan made. Rich, creamy, with just enough hop bite to make it interesting.

As reported in Michael Klein's column last week, they have closed, to be replaced by a Vietnamese place.

Huge kudos to Herb "herbacidal" Lau for hosting and executing (without a firing squad) a terrific Korean repast for the Dangerous Dining Club at Beawon in Cherry Hill last night. Item for item the menu ROCKED, from 3 kinds of seaweed salad to killer kimchee to a proper rendition of bulgogi, the often-ruined marinated beef dish. Awesome sweet and spicy chicken, as well as an equally, but differently piquant seafood melange, my favorite dish of the night. Expert veggie pancakes and dumplings as well. All in all a screamin good deal at a very good place. Y'all missed a good gathering.

At his Penn bookstore appearance, he wore a wizard's cape, cowl and zorro-like mask, and a grey fright wig, so no chhance he'll play it straight at the Free Library either. Weird.

Oh, it's all stoopidly cheap in context. That $12 soup (it used to be $9), is STILL worth it, and it serves more than one; there is no cup or bowl option, and you surely could have taken the leftovers home. Sorry that there wered no arepas, they were sensational. Ive thought about Quetzal for a DDC dinner, but wasnt sure I couold pull it off without a translator to help explain the concept to the owner, so Ive passed on the idea persoanlly. If anyone else with better linguistic skills thnks they could pull it off, God bless you.

Surely we don' t need to rely on STYLE for analysis now, do we?

For years, Liberties restaurant at 2nd & Fairmount has hosted an Oscar Night party, replere with red carpet, celeb lookalikes, etc., so you might want to give them a call.

It would be a safe bet that the Grey Lodge would have the Oscars on some of their TVS, especially in the upstairs dining room. Just a hunch, but I'll betcha. Long drive from D-town. Closer to you, I'd bet the Drafting Room in Exton would also, with an excellent beer and food selection as good as the GL's.

Its address is 1122 Anderson St in the 'Burg

I still recommend the : Melrose Diner Shank & Evelyn's Grace Tavern Monk's Cafe McGillin's Old Ale House (very very good food) McMenamin's Tavern The Grey Lodge Chickie & Pete's Tony's Place Philly Felafel

It's a great restaurant, a bit on the quirky side, but only to us gringos. For one, they tend to play the background music LOUD, so once you get past that, the food is terrific. Arepas, and another dish of cornmeal cups filled with meat are spectacular. But what really stands out is the chicken soup, served in a sort of deconstructed way, and designed as a build-your-own-soup kind of soup. Absolutely one of the greatest soups on earth. The weather right now is so right for that soup. The marinated skirt steak is also good, as are the chicken, shrimp and seafood dishes. There may be a bit of a language barrier, but the menu is full of helpful photos so anyone can easily order a fabulous meal. The beer is Famosa from Guatemala and Presidente, if I recall correctly. And the prices are stoopidly cheap. Bottom line, it's a very good restaurant.

I woulkd guess that the meat in the sandwich is sirloin, but not expesnive sliced strip steak. I read Laban's sidebar the same way that you did, save the quibble about the strip and the salad, but if he didnt EAT the strip, he should write a correction, as any professional would do. I think CHOPS is a VERY good restaurant, offering very good value,with a top notch waitstaff and a very affordable and interesting wine list.

Inqwaster Dan Gross is using a term that his predecessor and mentor, Stu Bykofsky, used in his column for years.

Yeah, but how hard is it for him to REMEMBER WHAT HE ATE AT Chops?!?!?!? FWIW, I enjoyed my dinner at Chops recently, and said so in my review forMAINLINE Magazine. And I actually remembered what I ate.

[/quote rlibkind] That would be Rick's. While hardly up there in the Pantheon of Cheesesteaks, it's okay, so if you must have a cheesesteak but can't get out of Center City it will do. I actually think Rick's gets a bad rap; someone decided that it wasn't a good steak and people, whether they have eaten there or not recently, carry on the bad review. A few weeks back I sampled a "cheez wit" there, and it was every bit as good as a steak at Geno's, Pat's, Steve's and Tony Luke's. Really. After that experience (which I forgot to post about due to a flurry of other writing assignments), I think Rick deserves the benefit of the doubt and a re-visit by anyone who's criticized his product in the past. I say give Rick's a do-over.

1.Kaiken Ultra Malbec 2. Poggio Del Papa 3. Sette Ponte Oreno 4. Beringer Reserve Cab 5. Grand Archer Chardonnay

Saranac Mocha Stout tonight: lovely dark khaki pillowy head, nice coffee and cocooa notes, nice body too.

The Wegman stuff is displayed and served up at the cooked-to-go counter, where you'd find their meatloaf, chicken, salmon and other entrees and sides to go. NOT at their deli counters.

I have found that the potato salads and slaws at Wegman's are eerily close to my mom's recipes, and she is an absolute authority on potato salad and cole slaws. They are my go-to side dishes when I grab a roast chicken or two at Wegman's.

Hands down, Mandoline.

This is true, upstairs at the Tap for sure. Love this place ← Upstairs at the Grey Lodge, too: quieter, no screaming dart teams, and killer bar food, mussels in red curry, spinach salad, cioppino, Scottish style fish and chips, spicy tilapia sammies, maybe the best cheesesteak in town and very good fries,among other good things.

Pretty decent food but romantic Rich? ← Jeff, we had a DDC dinner there quite a ways back, and we all found the place very very romantic in a Soprano's kind of way. Old school Italian vibe.

1. Grey Lodge Pub 2. Standard Tap 3. Johnny Brenda's 4. N. 3rd 5. Panorama