Rich Pawlak

My physical therapist is a close friend of Prentice Cole, and tells me that Ze ke's should reopen soon, perhaps January, as soon as he can hire reliable help. It's been a rough year for Zeke's , 3 gunpoint robberies, unreliable help and the resulting inability to open, he tells me.

It certainly cant hurt.

People sure know how to ruin a good thing. Live and let live, I always say.

Freta's? Who/what/where is Freta's? I would also add Chink's on Torresdale Ave, Frusco's on Frankford Ave and the Grey Lodge on Frankford Ave as purveyors of some of the very best cheesesteaks in the city. Grey Lodge's steak is amazing.

This places ROCKS, and just 11 miles from my home! Best scrapple I've found anywhere in NJ, including Cartlidge's Butcher in the Trenton Farmers Market.

2005 Sierra Nevada Celebration! As always, fantastic.

Oh God, killer pies! Looks like I missed a great outing. Wow. Looks like you all had a serious sausage jones on Saturday.

I'm sure they were meticulous with that one! ← Actually, and surprisingly, it became quite competitive between merchants, and most of them couldn't wait to show how they were capitalizing on their new notoriety. Bragging rights became a huge motivator, especially at monthly merchant meetings. You had to be there, but they were exciting times.

When I began my tenure as Dir of PR and Marketing at The Bellevue back in '99, we faced the same issues of retail hours and reporting, especially with the Downstairs Food Court. It was the wild, wild west. I had to play the bad cop and enforce hours, signage, revenue reporting, etc. But after some PR initiatives and some real publicity for those Food Court vendors especially, and the attendant increases in traffic and revenue, it was easy to convince them to stay open for the advertised hours. I suspect Paul Steinke will need to do something similar, generating positive stories and PR tidbits for both the new and existing merchants. Nothing like positive publicity to get everyone on the same page. It sounds trivial, but it is not.

Beaujolais Nouveau, hands down. Terrifically versatile, and light enough to work with all of the hefty portions of food on Turkey Day.

Alec: Glad you're still enjoying everything. I did create the beer list, but didn't order the Blue Moon. It's probably a sample from an overzealous vendor that asked them to "see how it would sell". I assure you I didn't order it. ← M Blue Moon. Ick. You know Katie wouldnt do dat!

I like to start dinner with a light, fizzy aperitif, like Yards Saison or Saison Dupont (for those outside of Philly). With dinner, Flying Fish ESB, or a similar British ESB, like Fuller's, would be a great complement to the bird and side dishes. For dessert, blue label Chimay, or better yet, Ommegang brown ale go really well with pumpkin, apple, rhubarb or similar turkey Day pies.

I like that idea, as the wait at Delorenzo's hamilton Ave. can be excessive., and Conte's does have a liquor license. ← Cool. Glad I'm making sense (for once). So the plan is still to meet at DeLorenzo's at 3:30 PM, no? What order should the subsequent pizza venues be taken in? And are you leading the caravan, Rich? Maybe we can all print out a Yahoo map from location A to B and then location B to C in case we get separated. And I might have missed this part of the discussion earlier, but what makes Conte's unique? Looking forward to trying something new. ← Well, once I'm there at 3:30, I suppose I know the way to everything, so no problemo. Conte's is just exceptional thin crust pizza, in a cool retro atmosphere.

I like that idea, as the wait at Delorenzo's hamilton Ave. can be excessive., and Conte's does have a liquor license.

It's the project of one of the founders of Meritage (the wine one, I think). Michael Klein had a short mention in Thursday's Inky: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertain...ng/13130480.htm ← Barnaby would be the NON-wine one.

So how many are we on Saturday? And are we visiting all 4 places?

Your daughter allergic to pizza? Bring her and the wife along! ← Rich, funny you ask this, my daughter is not allergic to pizza but my wife is! She has pretty extreme food allergies wheat being a big one. Believe me, I'd bring them if we could get something for Gale to eat! Jeff ← Funny you should mention THAT; my S.O. has the same allergy, but Delorenzo's doesnt even bother her, I swear.

Your daughter allergic to pizza? Bring her and the wife along!

A tad harsh, Greg. What I like about Sweet Lucy's is that they draw upon several different BBQ traditions rather than just one style. Those baked beans are a South Carolina style, with onions and peppers, which I remember eating as a child in Columbia. The pulled pork is derived from eastern North Carolina, a bit drier than normal Carolina 'cue, but it works better as a sandwich with some of their red barbeque sauce, than as a stand-alone meat entree IMHO.

Enjoyed at this month's dinner of the Dangerous Dining Club in the Philadelphia area, a beer dinner at Ortino's Northside in Zieglerville, PA, about 40 or so miles northwest of the city (ortinosnorthside.com): Casco Bay Oktoberfest, rich, malty, with a decent caramel edge and an estimable hop bite; Harpoon's Octoberfest, slightly metallic, with less malt and more hop prescence; Maredsous Triple, a big ballsy tripel, strong at the first sip, with lovely sherry-like aromas and flavors; Lagunitas Cappucino Stout, a beer that comes so close to the taste of a hot cup of cappucino, it messes with your head!

Do you get to tour the crab stables? See the crabs running free in the pasture? I mean, they are free range crabs, aren't they? ← my favorite is the crab milking. teeeeeeny tinnnnnny littttttle stoooools and buckets. ← The insurance company made them close the crab petting zoo. ← You people are sick. Sick! SICK! Please continue.

OK, we are set to meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson Street in Trenton at 3:30 on Saturday, 11/19. So far we have: Rich, Diann, Charlie, Chris, Katie?, Aaron? and myself. Will Katie and Aaron pm me if you are planning to go? Also if anyone needs directions please pm me for them. Anyone else interested should let me know Jeff ← I'm in? OK, I'm in. Are you setting things up with the other stops, Jeff? I did that the last time, so they knew we were arriving, and approximately when; I budgeted 90 min per stop. Last time we had 19 people. ← I hadn't thought about that, I guess I'll wait until we get nearer to the date for a final count. BTW, I thought you were in after your post stating it's about time Pizza Club was back. ← I would strongly suggest telling each of the places that you're bringing a dozen or more people, and approximately when you're arriving, so, hopefully, as we experienced two years ago, they set some tables aside for us, and are ready for us. It IS after all, a Saturday.

OK, we are set to meet at Delorenzo's on Hudson Street in Trenton at 3:30 on Saturday, 11/19. So far we have: Rich, Diann, Charlie, Chris, Katie?, Aaron? and myself. Will Katie and Aaron pm me if you are planning to go? Also if anyone needs directions please pm me for them. Anyone else interested should let me know Jeff ← I'm in? OK, I'm in. Are you setting things up with the other stops, Jeff? I did that the last time, so they knew we were arriving, and approximately when; I budgeted 90 min per stop. Last time we had 19 people.

Correct about Conte's. Delorenzo's is open Sunday, closed Monday. Our last Pizza Club excursion we started at Delorenzo's on a Saturday at 3:30pm; that seemed to help us avoid tghe really bad crowds later in the day. We could hit all 4 places on a Saturday, I am confident. It's all about pacing ourselves and not gorging at any one place.

It's about damn time we rev PIZZA CLUB back up! I would, however, like to add CONTE'S in Princeton to that grouping; recently both Delorenzo's of Hudson St and Conte's made the distinction of rated 2 of the best pizzerias in the country in a new book out of Chicago: Nation's Best Pizza ← Love Conte's and love the fact you can get draft beer to wash down the great bar pies. I'm game. Driving wise might be a hassle to get to Princeton from the burg but we'll figure it out. Jeff ← There is no draft beer at Conte's, only bottles.