Rich Pawlak

Yes, I've been (see the new Philly STYLE mag for my quick take on the place---sorry, I cant help the shameless plug---it's a GOOD magazine! And it even has a Katie Loeb wine article!!!!!), and the food was surprisingly good, but yowza-baby-expensive, especially when you add up the sides and the sauces and oils that you can play with. Wines by the glass were decently priced, but the wine list as a whole was expensive, and the cocktails were astronomically priced. Good lounge-y vibe, strange low-rider seating, cold marble table tops and yet it all comes together and seems to work. Waitstaff is a bit TOO friendly and familiar, but they seem well-trained for Starr Stepford waiters. The Kobe sliders are worth the 10 bucks, really, a really cool appetizer. And all of the sides I tried (hash browns, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus were flawless, and the Gachot & Gachot ribeye was quite good, exceptional really, one of the best steaks I've had in a log while. Desserts are worth it too.

We ARE missing a good Sicilian restaurant, aren't we? And I'd surely like to see more Portuguese and Spanish places, as well as more rodizio than just at Samba. Don't thin k Brasil does it anymore.

Monk's has SOME of the Belgian ouvre down, like the mussels and the frites and the lapin, but there just aren't enough of those dishes on the menu. Eulogy does nothing with its Belgian "pedigree" and some of its food is downright awful. The Abbaye sounds Belgian in name, but they are more flexitarian than anything else, and their kitchen is pretty inconsistant.

You have about a month to get it at The Marker at the Adams Mark hotel, before it all closes down, but I'd call before I went out there. Just in case they've changed things for the last month.

I agree with the Samba idea. Dont know if they're open on Sunday, though. It's a fabulous place.

Here's the draft beer list of a place near here (Yard House, Glenview IL): Abita Brewing Purple Haze Allagash White Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale Anderson Valley Hop Ottin I.P.A Amstel Light Bass Ale Beamish Irish Stout Bear Republic Racer 5 I.P.A. Becks Belhaven Scottish Ale Bells Amber Ale Bells Porter Bells Seasonal Bitburger Pilsner Blue Moon Boddingtons Pub Ale Bud Light Budweiser Coors Light De Koninck Ale Delirium Tremens Dogfish 60 Minute I.P.A. Dos Equis Amber Dos Equis Lager Erdinger Hefetrub Weisse Fosters Lager Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Fullers E.S.B. Strong Ale Fullers London Pride Pale Ale George Killian Irish Red Goose Island 312 Wheat Goose Island Honkers Goose Island I.P.A. Goose Island Seasonal Gosser Dark Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager Grolsch Guinness Stout Gulden Draak Harp Lager Heineken Hobgoblin Ale Hoegaarden White J.W. Dundee Honey Brown Lager John Courage Kirin Ichiban Labatt Blue Labatt Blue Light Leffe Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss Leinenkugel’s Lager Leinenkugel’s Red Lager Lindeman’s Framboise Löwenbräu Magner’s Irish Cider Maredsous Maudite McEwan’s Export Ale McSorley’s Irish Ale Michelob Amber Bock Michelob Ultra Miller Genuine Draft Miller Lite Molson Canadian Moosehead Lager Newcastle Brown Ale North Coast Red Seal Ale Old Style Paulaner Hefeweizen Paulaner Premium Pilsner Paulaner Salvator Pilsner Urquell Piraat Pyramid Apricot Ale Pyramid Hefeweizen Radeberger Pilsner Red Hook Black Nitro Red Hook Blonde Red Hook E.S.B. Red Hook I.P.A. Red Hook Seasonal Rogue Dead Guy Ale Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale Rogue Red Rolling Rock Sam Adams Boston Lager Sam Adams Seasonal Sand Creek Brewing Vienna Lager Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Sierra Nevada Seasonal Smithwick’s Spaten Pilsner Spaten Premium Lager Sprecher Black Bavarian Lager St. Pauli Girl Staropramen Stella Artois Stiegl Pils Summit Brewing Extra Pale Ale Summit Brewing I.P.A. Summit Brewing Porter Tennent’s Lager Three Floyds Alpha King Three Floyds Robert The Bruce Two Brothers Brewing Domaine DuPage F.C.A Two Brothers Brewing Seasonal Wittekerke Woodchuck Amber Cider Wyder’s Pear Cider Young’s Chocolate Stout Young’s Oatmeal Stout Of course, that's just what's on tap. If you include what's available in bottles, the selection gets more interesting. ← Now THAT's what I was looking for when I started this topic! But seriously,is there enough business there to keep the kegs turning over?

I find that Magic Hat Blind Faith is also quite a good beer, an IPA by any other definition, and yet with a mellower, less citrus fruit note than in other IPAs. Had one the other night during the Eagles game, along with some very spicy grilled hot wings, and it was a very good pairing.

I don't think that an ideal gastronomy can exist. Too many variables, too many different palates, too many diverse sensibilities and perspectives on food. But to me, the closest we can come to an ideal gastronomy is the one that excites and surprises, that takes us on a roller coaster ride, and like a roller coaster ride, thrills us and shocks us, and stays with us in memory. Another aspect of an ideal gastronomy, to me, would be its ability to evoke a distinct but unexpected memory, whether in its deconstruction and re-assembly, or with a flavor that, like Proust's madelline, brings forth a flood of memory, unexpectedly.

Stopped in while shopping to the Iron Hill Brewery in North Wales, PA, and had an absolutely spectacular Bourbon Harvest Ale, aged in Jim Beam barrels, 8.0 % abv, and as smokey sweet and deliciious as any bourbon-tinged beer I've ever had. Larry Horowits, the brewer there, is one talented fella.

A pumpkin beer beer float! What a terrific idea! And Jason: Buffalo Bill's and a plate of hot, cheesy nachos and salsa. A preeminent pairing.

I had a writer for me relate a similar experience; her evaluation was that it was one of the worst meals of her life.

"There is a cheese steak in our future on Saturday - hmmm - Pat's or Geno's??? One of each? " Absolutely the way to go.

That place on 40th near Sansom was Audrey's. One of the best off-campus Penn places ever. God, I miss that place.

I am so glad i consistently stayed in the background, or, luckily, TOOK the pics. Can't be blowing my cover, Hol. Cmon, let me enjoy the gig for a little while!

Frankford? It's near the corner of Robbins and Frankford. ← yeah, i guess. it also might be tacony or wissinoming, depending on where the lines are. i don't know that area of town well enough to know what they consider themselves. ← It is Wissinoming, just steps from the legendary Grey Lodge Pub.

After several recommendations, I finally found myself in Malvern, PA, and made my way to the Flying Pig Saloon. Had a great burger with horseradish cheddar, but what really blew me away was the beer lineup at this little-known (outside of Chester County) beer bar: Southern Tier Old Man Winter Bells Winter White Victory Hop Wallop Petrus Troegs Toegenator Doublebock Bluebird Bitter Widmer Hefeweizen Dock Street Bohemian Pilsner along with some more usual suspects like Victory Hop Devil, Harp, Guinness and others. The featured new bottle offerings included, amazingly: St Bernardus Stone Smoked Porter Mad River Steelhead IPA Three Floyds Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale and Christmas Porter Stoudts Triple and Double IPA and Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout I wanted to spend days there. Anybody else run into some good tap and bottle lineups at their local tavern?

Stopped in last week to the The Grey Lodge for a special promotion with Dogfish Head beers, "Minute By Minute" a vertical tasting of DFH's 60 Minute, 90 Minute and 120 Minute IPAs, as well as its Old School barleywine. Impressive stuff. The 60 Minute is an almost perfect ale, good balance, great aroma and good hop character. The 90 Minute is so much more assertive, pretty ballsy, with huge gobs of hops (the 90 Minute was actually served thru DFH's Randall The Enamel Animal, its last minute dry-hopping tap attachment), but an alluring quality that made it a fascinating glass of beer. The 120 Minute IPA , at a whopping 21% ABV, was syrupy sweet with a open-faced slap of hops that seemed to go right to my head-ouch. A beer worth sipping slowly and a challenge to savor in a busy bar. The Old School , however, at a mere 15% ABV, was quite nice, if anti-climactic after the 120 Minute, but it was a really terrific barleywine, raisiny and mellow, with great hops sitting in the back, so to speak. But what really was impressive about the Grey Lodge that night was the REMAINING taps of beer, a really strong lineup including 2004 Sierra Nevada Celebration, Grolsh, Magic Hat Participation Ale, Lancaster Alt, Troegs Oatmeal Stout, Red Hook Hoptoberfest, and a gravity pour cask of Flying Fish Grand Cru, and the usual Yuengling and mass beers. But Jesus Christmas, how's a guy supposed to enjoy all that in one brief visit (I live 40 miles away, mind you)?!?!?! Kudos to the Grey Lodge!

Glad to see your new book is out, and I cant wait to get it, Arthur. Tell me, what struck you most about New York food as you compiled and wrote the book, and what, for you, was the most inspirational/unexpected story you encountered?

Could you trouble yourself to tell us where this Capriotti's place is?

And I might add, DFH Liquor de Malt pairs beautifully with Malaysian (and probably Thai and Indian) food very well!

Al was a fixture on campus as far back as 1975, when I came to Penn!

I remember the Le Bus bus! Looked a refugee transport vehicle from a Partridge Family road tour. Do you remember Eddie Eggroll at 36th & Locust, or do I precede you by too much? ← The original Le Bus, Eddie Eggroll! , the white panel truck at 37th and Locust with hot soft pretzels in the morning on the way to class, and (sigh) Al The Fruit Man.

Ok, I'm thirsty now.

Yeah, sorry to behind on this, but an excellent write up of what sounds like a great beer event! But tell us, WEER most of the beers hoppy?