KatieLoeb

Wawa coffee is very good. I drink it with some frequency myself. If the retail space Buckethead suggested is the former hoochie mama boutique that was on the corner of 4th & Bainbridge, I'm not sure that it's outfitted for a bakery/restaurant. Might be costly to get vents and hoods and all that stuff installed. Perhaps a retail space that was already a restaurant or bakery in a past life would be better. There's a little space on Passyunk Ave. just below Bainbridge that says "Hip Hop Cafe" or some such nonsense on it that I don't recall ever having actually opened after their renovations. That seems to have been lying fallow for quite some time and is also still in the 'hood.

I'm still recovering. That was a truly outstanding and over the top meal. It's good to be the last customers of the year. When I clean out my refrigerator it's like an archeological expedition. When Shola cleans out his fridge, delicious things happen. My thanks to James, for posting the wines for me. After dinner Miss Claire, Curlz and I went down to Rouge for a glass of wine and then my car wouldn't start again so I've been dealing with that for the last day and half. All's well now and I have time to post. I really enjoyed the little shot of kohlrabi soup that started the meal. Kohlrabi is a much underutilized veg and makes for a delicious soup. Who knew? I really loved the Asian pear that came with the hamachi. It proves that my favorite fruit can go anywhere and do anything. And again, the textures were a wonderful contrast. The pea shoots tasted so fresh and "vegetably" for lack of a better phrase. The butter sauce was sublime. The "surf n turf" (Andrew - ) was awe inspriring. The sudden silence around the table when everyone tasted the foie gras and shime saba was like walking into a church. The reverence. The serene smiles. Amazing. Shola is definitely giving his new toys a workout. The sous-vide-a-thon was just beginning. The langoustine has the most perfect texture. It had turned almost gelatinous (in a very good way) and the flavor was quite concentrated. My thanks to Shola for remembering his promise to me of a Porkapalooza worthy dish. The "72-72" pork belly was insanely good. Perfectly cooked throughout but with crunch on both sides. Oh yeah! That was soooo good. The lamb was probably my favorite course if I were forced to just pick one, which is neither fair nor possible to do. I normally love lamb anyway, but this was soooo tender and flavorful, I've never tasted anything quite like it before. And the tomato-chamomile broth is just brilliant. I mean, who'd have thought to put those two flavors together? We know that lamb and tomato are a natural flavor combination because so many different cuisines pair those flavors together, but this was so much more subtle and elegant. Hard to really describe it, but like any good pairing of food or wine, the sum was greater than its parts. I have a soft spot in my heart for cheese course as well. I love soft spreadable young goat cheese in any form. Queso di Cabra from Spain is my latest addicition that way. The cheese went so well with the No'lives that were the very concentrated essence of each fruit. I was thinking about using the No'lives as cocktail garnishes too. The blueberries would be delicious at the bottom of a blueberry-pomegranate mimosa, or the cherries would be an interesting addition to an Old fashioned or a Manhattan. The mind reels with possibilities. Someday Shola and I are going to have to play mad scientist together behind a bar. I think that has a lot of potential for both fun and interesting drinks resulting. I really laughed out loud when Shola showed me the "terroir" under our dessert. Such outright pretension is so unlike Shola, and then I realized that that was the joke right there. Great contrast of sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy with the ice cream on top. My thanks to all of my dining companions for a fantastic evening with lots of laughter and good cheer. Thanks to Curlz for driving all the way to Philly for dinner and for being such a menschette and waiting with me for the tow truck! My thanks to James for the Brunello. It was fabulous, wet dogs be damned. I loved it! A lovely meal with great company, amazing food, fabulous wine and a charming host. What more could one ask for to end the year with?

Most folks would tell you that Rittenhouse Square or thereabouts would be the place to open an artisan bakery but there's already Miel and Metropolitan Bakery covering that ground. You need to come where there is no competition. PLEASE move to Queen Village/South Street. I promise you there will be a line of PhilleGulleteers waiting for you that will line up right behind me. There's nothing close by that either isn't resting on it's laurels (Pink Rose Pastry) or keeps irregular hours (Sud Bakery) that could compare to having our very own bakery. And folks would come here from across town to purchase your wares, just as those of us that live on this side of town are now forced to do. Did I mention that there's a wonderful Farmer's Market at 2nd and South Street every Saturday from May-November?? If you opened nearby you'd have built in business from the market goers. Is any of this sounding appealing yet?? Moving from San Francisco you'll love the (comparative) affordability of housing in Philly. I considered moving to SF but realized I could only trade in my three bedroom house with parking for a refrigerator box under the Golden Gate I'd have to share with a roommate. Let us know when you come to town for your reconaissance mission. Perhaps we can show you around.

Never judge us by our fan behavior at a sporting event. This is the town that booed Santa Claus.

I'll second this notion. UP at its peak with Rocco was one of the best and most creative restaurants in the country IMO. ← I totally, totally agree. Irregardless of his annoying media persona, the guy knows how to cook. He could certainly redeem his current prima donna image and his culinary career quite easily if he were to have another sustained success in the back of the house in a challenging fine dining environment. If Rocco wants to be a superstar he has to show he is still capable to putting out consistently good food -- not preening his looks and chatting with fawning women. He should seek to emulate someone like Mario Batali, who still busts his ass in the kichen each and every day. ← While I agree that Mario is a far better role model than whatever lecherous jackass Rocco seems to have chosen to emulate in the recent past, you can't unring the bell. He's still always going to be vain, smarmy and narcissistic as far as I'm concerned. He'll just be a vain, smarmy and narcissistic asshole that can cook. He could do that before all this, so I'm not sure "redemption" is the right word. Perhaps if he shows a little personal growth and gains some maturity from this debacle of his own making he might come a bit closer to something resembling redemption.

Bring a cooler! If you make it to all of the fine suggestions you've gotten here you'll find stuff you want to bring home with you too. Zabar's be damned! There's definitely stuff here that's unique that you'll make edible souveniers of. Don't miss having a Fisher's soft pretzel at Reading Terminal, try some fresh mozzerella at Claudio's Caseificio in the Italian Market and definitely avail yourself of some of the fine sandwich culture we have here with either a Roast Pork Italiano or a tripe sandwich on one of those food gathering missions.

Dean Martin had a lot more going for him than my parasitic unemployable ex.

Gin's "after scents" are pretty nasty when oozing through every pore. I used to kick the ex out of bed when he smelled like that. It was nauseating.

While Sandy has covered all the bases and sent a hearty welcome I'm certain we'll all second, I want to put in a personal plug for my 'hood, Queen Village. There are so many restaurants within a six block radius of my house it's an embarassment of riches. If I walk out my front door and turn left there's everything from a Belgian bar, upscale Chinese, Middle Eastern, sushi and a diner (and that's just on the first block) to any of the hip Old City bars and restaurants and all of South Street. If I turn right there's all of the great places around the Italian Market (Villa di Roma, Ralph's, Meze) as well as Dmitri's, New Wave Cafe and Pif as well as all of the ethnic eateries on Washington Avenue that encompasses everything from Mexican and Vietnamese to Hoagies, Lebanese and Korean BBQ. There's also a post office, dry cleaners, Wawa, pharmacy, bank and everything else you might need within two blocks. There's quick access to I-95 for travel north or south, I'm a 15 minute drive from the airport and New Jersey shopping is 6 minutes away over either the Benjamin Franklin or Walt Whitman bridges. Queen Village rocks. I love where I live. It's residential and relatively quiet (except for about 15 minutes right when the bars close on Friday and Saturday nights) and everything you might need is right here handy. And there's plenty of good eats.

I can't wait. The Downingtown store is currently the closest and it's an HOUR drive! Cherry Hill will be 10 minutes from my front door, and until then Mount Laurel isn't too far to go.

I haven't gotten any good loot (yet) but I gave some of my foodie friends bags of Hawaiian Alaea Salt.

This is undoubtedly one the finest tales I've ever read on eGullet. Love it! Guess you showed them (or not!)

I had some. (I didn't do the hacking. Rachel did) It was delicious. It's Jello! There's Always Room for Jello! (this is what my friend Jane says every time she shows up at a party with Jello shots. She's famous for her Jello shots. She's also famous for having caused numerous hangovers amongst the uninitiated )

If it's cold enough outside, the back patio just outside the back door works fine. Even though I live in the city, I have a walled in "slab" out back that is great for holding the big stock pot to chill and degrease, or the big pans of whatever. I also have a couple of large covered Rubbermaid containers out there just in case the neighborhood cats are feeling ambitious enough to get into my backyard, which is over a couple of brick walls. In the dead of a colder winter that works pretty well. Otherwise, I'm layering stuff all through the drawers and such. My refrigerator normally looks like an archaelogical dig, so I try my best not to add more until the last thing has been tossed.

Melissa: Yum!!! That looks like a lovely holiday meal. The salmon roulade is particularly pretty. Care to share how you made that one?

Matt: Thanks for the clarification. Nice to have an "insider" answering our questions for us. Welcome. Glad you decided to come out of "lurkdom" and post! You've got some catching up to do on posting so keep us informed about Gayle and about your other favorites around town. I'm always happy to see more professional voices in our forum.

You don't mean that old-timey heinous beer do you? J. Roget is cheap French brut. There is I'm certain, some variant on the same theme that's available in your area. Since I don't know where you are I can't really suggest a better alternative. One way to find out what the inexpensive bubbly in your area is, is to go to the restaurant that serves the most popular brunch and find out what they're mixing their mimosas with. That is likely to be your best bargain choice that is sold in your area.

Zuke: Have I told you lately that I love you? This blog has been such a pleasure to behold and read. And each and every one of us, regardless of our family beliefs and traditions, sees just a little bit of something familiar along with all we are learning from you. Thanks for that.

I think the orange color is from annato oil. I had my leftover bacalaito for lunch today. Yum! The plantain fritters were true tostones - crisp underripe plantains. The ones you like are the maduros, or the sweet ripe ones.

Wow - Wednesday evening's dinner was even more crowded than Tuesday! Hard to believe but we crammed 36 humans into that tiny little restaurant. We even had to set up a "kids table" in the corner by the restrooms to fit the last four Dangerous Diners. Dinner on Wednesday was another success. Everything was delicious and again, the Principe family could not have been kinder or more accomodating. This time they made us chicharrones! Yum. Imagine the roast pork then deep fried. Oh yeah baby! Very tasty. Sadly, there were no photographers in the crowd for our second dinner so you'll just have to believe me. We've been promised an even bigger and better feast for next year. They're already expecting us! Not sure how many nights we can fill the place, but I suspect they'll take us however they can manage to. What a nice bunch of folks. I think we're all family now. My dear friend Danielle managed to dig up a recipe for Coquitos, the proper name for the delicious Puerto Rican egg nog concoction we were drinking. I will post it to eGullet tomorrow and leave a link here for any of you that wish to try making that at home.

Yeah, for mixing, I suppose it might be OK, especially at that $2 a bottle price point. Anyhoo, at home, I like to get something I don't mind drinking by itself, if folks get tired of adding the liqueur, or there's some leftover after everyone has left. J. Roget doesn't fill that bill. YMMV ← I'm purchasing for a restaurant, so I'm looking for good bang-for-the-buck when serving a few cases of this stuff every Sunday brunch. Definitely not what I'd buy for at home recreational use, but I suppose I should have qualified more in my original post. J. Roget is considerably more expensive than $2 in PA. More like $5.30/bottle with no break on a case.

That's nice! Sounds like an attractive looking, as well as tasting cocktail. Seriously, don't spend too much money on a sparkling wine you intend to adulterate with a sweet liqueur. It's a waste of money. Kind of like using the really expensive gin or vodka for a Bloody Mary instead of a martini. I've most certainly served that J.Roget myself as a mixer for mimosas or kir royales. It's not the best choice at that price point on it's own, but once you've mixed it it's just fine. :she and runs: Most low end sparkling wines that are dry will be fine once you add the liqueur of choice to it. I wouldn't try and save money on the liqueur since that will definitely make a difference in the taste of your final cocktail. Use real Chambord - a little goes a long way - not Razzmatazz or something like that. Buy decent Creme de Cassis, an imported one like Marie Brizard if you can find it. That will make the difference.

Find something inexpensive ($7-10 should do you fine for this purpose) that is marked Brut. Once you add the cassis (or Chambord if you prefer) the drink will get much sweeter. Any of the suggestions Carswell made should be fine. I'd personally go for something French and sparkly that isn't Champagne proper like the Cremant or Blanquette. They tend to have a higher acidity than some of the other choices and balance better with the sweet liqueur.

A good guideline is between 2.5 to 3 times the cost of the average entree in that particular establishment. If it's a steakhouse and the average entree is $30, then going for a bottle that's around $75 won't raise too many eyebrows. If the average entree is $20 then pick something around $50. This keeps the wine in line with the dinner costs and presumably the restaurant will have a winelist that reflects their pricing structure appropriately. And of course ask your host what they like. That goes without saying.

Where do I send my resume?