KatieLoeb

I'm told by a reliable source with an excellent palate that Marigold Kitchen does a fine brunch. Sundays only though.

I just checked out Dad's stuffings a few weeks ago for the first time and was blown away by the place. Got some great pasta to go (gnocchi with broccoli rabe and sausage - it was delicious!), some good scamutz (marinated mozzarella balls) and some of the best Italian Wedding Soup I've ever had. Their soups are amazing, and the prepared meats looked fabulous. Definitely going to go back and check out some more of the specialties there. I was very pleased with everything I got. DiBruno Pronto also has quality product. I'm particularly fond of the rotisserie chicken, but thats something that every supermarket and Boston Chicken has too, so that's usually a convenience thing for me. I really enjoy the prepared salads there too. But I find it far more economical to go to the regular DiBruno's store and pick up the olives and stuffed grape leaves and other marinated and prepared veggies and a few kinds of cheese make a meal of that. Bobby Chez offends me deeply on their prices. There's no way I'll pay what they're asking per piece for their stuff - I don't care how good it is. $4.00 EACH for the coconut shrimp. At those prices I want it cooked and served to me. I guess for folks that really can't cook and have way too much disposable income it's a decent alternative, but I think their prices are just outrageous. The little market (GardenFresh?) on the Southeast corner of 23rd and Fairmount always had some prepared things in there and makes a really fine hoagie. Used to get stuff from them when I worked across the street. And of course there's always the Whole Paycheck...the original Yuppie supermarket.

Thanks, Greg. I'll definitely let y'all know when I'm coming in. Definitely check out Bell's; there are all kinds of crazy Eastern European foods there that I've never seen. I'd love to see what Tim would do with, say, kvass. (And, frankly, to see if it could be turned into something potable or edible: my take is that hey, you can't say "kvass" without "ass". But then, I'm just an amateur. ← OK, now there's an invitation you can't refuse. I have visions of Tim, wearing a lab coat, rubbing his hands together with glee and snickering over some odd ingredient he's about to mess around with for the first time. This could be very interesting... Oh Andrew - you're such a rogue.

Seconded! If this takes off move plans to the Pizza Club thread.

I inquired about dinner with the manager on my way out. It's $14.95 and he said there are four other meats on the dinner buffet that weren't in evidence today. Great food, great conversation and the joy of watching Herbacidal practically put them out of business singlehandedly. What's not to love? I will say I wish they had the larger rounder grills I've seen at International Smokeless BBQ. The grill surface is a bit small for more than 3 or 4 folks. I really liked the pork belly and the spicier marinated meats. The thinly sliced garlic and big layers of onion were really good too. Hit of the day was the incredibly sweet pineapple they had cut up for dessert that got even sweeter when you grilled it. Yum!! I think I'm going back next week with two of my girlfriends.

Diann: Chairman Newman will be joining us for a Chat April 24-28th. You can ask him yourself!

As Katie said in another thread of this one.... "This wine was fabulous. All about the dark berries and an almost sweet background of vanilla, mocha and caramel. Incredibly well made wine that will undoubted age into something more spectacular, if that were indeed possible. This wine could compete with the finest Bordeaux and knock it off the playing field. Any Bordeaux this young would likely be far less drinkable." So there you go. The "boss" speaks but maybe I was drinking something else! ← Evan: I'm only the boss of my own palate. I stand by my original comment that this wine is far more drinkable at 5 years old than virtually any Bordeaux I can think of. It's that New World Big-Assed-Fruit-in-Your-Face thing instead of austerity and subtlety. I happen to love Bordeaux blends/Meritage but at this age the California is waaayyy better. This will undoubtedly improve with age as well. Put that other bottle away for future reference. Maybe you got a bad bottle? Maybe you didn't have it with the lovely Filet Mignon with Cabernet, Raspberry Port Wine reduction I did? Certainly the lovely dinner, fabulous surroundings and nice company I had at Panorama might have influenced my overall experience.

My restaurant just hosted Gail Uglesich and her son John who authored the cookbook of their restaurant's fabulous recipes for Philadelphia's Book and the Cook festival. Two of the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet and their food is incredible. Sadly, father Anthony Uglesich is planning retirement soon and the restaurant will be closing. I'd go there before this institution shutters it's doors. It's lunch only, the line is around the block and it's well worth the wait from what I'm told and certainly if the recipes I tasted are any indication.

Diedre: Rose and ham is just about one of the best combinations in the whole world. And particularly timely for the Easter holiday. One of the most delicious things I ever served was a baked ham and a Rose Chinon that was the exact same color as the ham. It was as if the wine and the main course had been cosmically meant for each other. So when's the Trilogy 2001 and the next Burgess Library Selection (1993?) going to hit the stores? And more importantly - when the official opening date for the South Philly Outlet store? When I had dinner with the Chairman the other night he implied it was about two weeks out. Is there a ribbon cutting or something sometime soon? I can hardly wait since it's a mere 5 minutes out my front door.

Discussion of the 3/26/05 lunch has been moved to the ISO thread pinned to the top of the forum.

In fact I had that very same meal, and the cheese plate for dessert. Here's the low down with retail prices of the Chairman's Selections in parenthesis: Parmeseano Souffle with micro greens and truffle oil Rutherford Hill Chardonnay 2001 ($18) Wine was well matched with this. A bit oakier of a chard than I'd normally pick for myself, but it worked well here. Pappardelle with slow cooked Ragout of Duck Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 1999 ($42) This was probably my favorite pairing of the evening. Fabulous pasta, great sauce and the wine is just delicious. Silky smooth with a glorious finish and lots of subtlety. It's 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet. Just enough to give it some cojones. Damned tasty. This wine got a 94 rating in the Wine Spectator. Easy to see why. Filet Mignon with Cabernet, Rapberry and Port wine sauce on a bed of root vegetables Meritage Pine Ridge Andrus Reserve 2000 ($125) This wine was fabulous. All about the dark berries and an almost sweet background of vanilla, mocha and caramel. Incredibly well made wine that will undoubted age into something more spectacular, if that were indeed possible. This wine could compete with the finest Bordeaux and knock it off the playing field. Any Bordeaux this young would likely be far less drinkable. Assorted Cheeses Zinfandel Ravenswood Teldeschi Vineyard 2001 ($42) I've waxed poetic in the past over the Ravenswood Zinfandels, the Teldeschi Vineyard in particular, so I needn't heap more on now. But this wine is really good with cheese. All told there are 23 Chairman's Selection wines being currently featured at Ristorante Panorama. Since everything there is available by the 3 oz. "taste" or 5 oz. "glass", you could easily check out many of these wines before dropping the coin to purchase them. The "tastes" range in price from $4 to $15 (for the Andrus Reserve - well below retail!) and are a great way to test drive some wines before committing to the unknown juice in the bottle. I'd highly recommend this approach to anyone. The Chairman was jovial and taking questions from the crowd. It was nice to see him in warm up mode for our Chat with him here in the PA forum in April. I did discuss that with him briefly and should be getting solid dates for that from his Communications office in the next few days. He spoke very highly to some of the other guests at the dinner of our thread here regarding the Chairman's Selections, which was very kind of him. It was a very interesting evening and a great opportunity to have a wonderful meal paired with some wonderful wines.

Yeah - OK. So Delaware Avenue is the new "in town" version of Route 202. Yes it's an incredibly non-distinctive stretch of multi-lane "not-quite-highway" punctuated by far too many traffic lights to ever get out of third gear. But it's here to stay and has jacked up property values tremendously in the 'hood. I ain't got no problem with that since it's MY 'hood. I've already figured out the alternate transportation route down Moyamensing Ave. or straight down 2nd Street to avoid the weekend traffic jams outside the new "mall area" that's sprung up. And BTW. Direct from Chairman Newman himself, the new PLCB Outlet store down there will be open in about 2 weeks so we can all avail ourselves of the Chairman's Selections and the liter bottle deals on spirits that we used to have to drive up to Franklin Mills for. And this is all 5 minutes from my front door. I couldn't be happier!

fchrisgrimm: What a fabulous story! What a wonderful experience. Sometimes the planets and culinary gods are all in alignment and we are pleasantly surprised by the generosity of others. I had a similar experience recently at a local restaurant here in Philadelphia. I had been booked for a special event with a guest and the dinner was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with the guest chef that evening. I'd received a very apologetic phone call from the public relations firm that represented the restaurant and was told the owner would still like to have me as his guest that evening. I chose to honor the reservation because my guest had never been there before and it remains one of my favorite restaurants. I thought it would be a night out with great food and fabulous wine and perhaps a comped course or round of drinks. After feasting and having each course expertly paired with different wines by the sommelier we asked for our check and were told "There is no check"! Over the top generosity and good will for all eternity. There's nothing that can describe how special that makes you feel. It's just an awe inspiring experience. My guest and myself are cooking up some sort of thank you for the sommelier that was kind enough to both pay inordinate amounts of attention to us and comp our check. We're thinking a gift certificate to a spa or something that a busy guy with a stressful job would appreciate on a rare day off. It's the least we can do in return for the hospitality and graciousness we were afforded.

They're opened finally? Cool! Who wants to go check this out with me? I've been eagerly anticipating the door opening, since I've been looking at the signage passing by on Washington Ave. for months now, waiting for an actual opening.

For those of you that may not have plans this evening, please check out my post about Chairma's Selection Dinner at Panorama. Hope to see some of you there!

Yeah - except then you get the asshat that wants "the Seven Grain Bread with no oats, please", or the guy that wants the server to pick out just the kidney beans in the 15 bean soup! I've seen and heard ludricrous requests of this sort. Really. The world would be a happier place if people simply chose between dishes. But often they don't and feel it's the restaurant's responsibility to pander to their severe dietary restriction (which can be well handled in advance with a phone call, as fifi suggested) or worse, their food neuroses that have no basis in need, just desire. The same obsessive compulsive fool that can't urinate unless the towels are hung straight in the bathroom thinks we have time to make sure his veggies don't touch his protein.

What time were you there? I know that the other eGulls I knew were in attendance around 8PM or so. Myself and guests, Rich Pawlak and guests and Cherie Vallance and fiance were all there up on the left riser area as you enter. Gary Bredbenner was on the floor with a few friends and then at the bar below my table chatting with my friends and I. I had been hoping to meet you, but I guess next time we should all arrange to wear red carnations or something, a la Looney Tunes, so we can recognize each other. I really enjoyed the dinner immensely. Had a really nice chat with Waldy, who is very charming and fun to talk to. I thought the oysters were really good. Sort of a twist on a standard Oysters Rockefeller recipe. I thought the presentation on the rock salt and peppercorns was beautiful visually. That Smoked Pork Chop had to have been the best pork chop I've ever tasted. I wasn't so crazy about the pickled veggies that accompanied, but the pork was astounding. Moist and incredibly smoky. Yow! And well paired with the Gewurztraminer they offered as a beverage pairing option. Dessert was good. Not so sure about the shortbread/cookie underlayer that seemed a bit hard and dry, but the blood oranges, carmelized bananas and blood orange sauce were very tasty and mingled well with the vanilla ice cream on the side. The real fun started at the Book & the Cook after party that followed dinner. All of the participating chefs and restaurants were invited, and several local wine & spirit purveyors made donations that kept the libations flowing free and freely until the wee hours. Met and chatted with a few of my Food TV faves including Mark Silverstein and Jill Cordes of The Best of, Tyler Florence (he's so dreamy ) and Giada DiLaurentiis. There was a Karaoke DJ in attendance and suffice to say that a few Food TV celebs got into singing after enough drinks. Also managed to catch Waldy downing some Irish Car Bombs at the bar with local bad influence Chef Guillermo Pernot of Pasion. Much drinking and wild singing and dancing followed. The Smoked Joint and especially our own Ali Waks were wonderful hosts.

Rabbit cacciatore... anyone else serve this, do you know? I don't think I've had this since I ate coelho a cacadora (the Portuguese take on this dish), as a kid... ← I had it at Gnocchi (on Passyunk near South) a couple years ago, but i don't recall if it was a special or on the menu. Or if that place is even still there! ← Gnocchi is definitely still there. Can't speak for the Rabbit Cacciatore. Sounds yummy though!

You've brushed up against something close to my heart on this subject: the American obsession with hiding the "perils" of alcohol from its youth. A country that can send you to war to kill and/or be killed but that doesn't allow you to drink a glass of wine in public is one that is hard for me to get my head around sometimes. I just remember so well all of my peers at a certain age getting away from their parents and learning to drink the hard way: with a bunch of other kids who didn't know what the hell they were doing. Learning to be responsible with anything almost always is easier the earlier you start it. While I'm not suggesting that five year old children be attaching bottles of gin to their belts, I am saying that the gut-level reaction most Americans have to a fourteen year old enjoying half a glass of wine with a nice dinner and surrounded by adults is, frankly, absurd... and it's my belief that it creates more problems than it solves. The National Youth Rights Association is one of the few folks I can even find on the web that dedicates any real ink to this. (I also fall into the bottle-ish per day category, so maybe the demons in that glass of wine I'll have later tonight are the real culprits. ) ← Amen. Ours is sadly a culture which demonizes wine, rather than considering it the quenching beverage and superlative food partner that it's recognized to be in every other country that produces it. It becomes the "forbidden fruit", almost literally, and is then the subject of freshman drinking binges and bad experiences that will forever mar the experience for the unfortunate fool that's binging. I came late to wine, not for lack of trying on my mom's part. I just didn't have a sophisticated enough palate for it until I was a bit older. The tannin was "yucky" to me. I've made up for lost time, however. Now I suggest leaving a wide berth between me and the bottle. I've often thought it would be a far better idea to lower the drinking age to 16 and raise the driving permit age to 17 or 18. Get a few years drinking experience under your belt before getting behind the wheel of a car and the world would be a safer place.

Hi everyone: My apologies for the short notice. I just found out about a wonderful wine dinner that will be taking place on Monday evening, March 21, 2005 at Ristorante Panorame, located in the Penn's View Inn on North Front Street just above Market. Chairman Newman will be attending the reception and dinner which begins at 6:00 PM. A Chairman's selection wine will be featured during the reception. A four course dinner will be served at 6:45PM and will feature the following: Marinated Shrimp over Tuscan Bean Salad -or- Carpaccio of Beets with Gorgonzola Cheese -or- Parmesan Souffle ****************** Lobster Ravioli -or- Gnocchi with Fontina Cheese and Basil -or- Pappardelle with Duck Ragout ****************** Salmon with Mushrooms and Herbs -or- Veal with Prosciutto, Peppers and Provolone -or- Filet Mignon with a Cabernet, Raspberry and Port reduction ****************** Cheese Plate -or- Tiramisu Dinner is $55 per person, not including wines (excepting the reception wine). There will be about 20 or so different Chairman's Selection wines available, suggested parings, a suggested flight of wines if you prefer or whatever size portion of wines of your choosing you'd like. Since Panorama has the benefit of that lovely 120 bottle cruvinet, wine selections and pour sizes can be as free form as you like. Sommelier Bill Eccleston will be on hand to do what he does best. Chairman Newman will be in the house too, so if you'd all like to come out and meet our new cyber friend, this is your opportunity. If you are interested in attending this dinner, please call Ristorante Panorama directly at 215.922.7800 and make arrangements directly with the restaurant. I believe a credit card is requested to hold your space. Space is limited, but I'm told they could squeeze in a few eGulleteers if we promised to behave. I'm definitely going, so if anyone else wants to join me, call the restaurant and send me a PM! Hope to see you there!! In Vino Veritas, Katie

I have to respectfully disagree. Allowing drunken louts (employees OR customers) to wander about your restaurant menacing other diners says a lot about the standards in a place. I don't care how great the food is, I don't pay my hard earned money to be treated with that level of disrespect. The owners of the restaurant should be mortified and doing everything they possibly can to track down Sartain (perhaps through eGullet?) and write an eloquent apology. That the meal wasn't comped on the spot is appalling. The offer of a gift certificate a band-aid on a gaping wound. Comping the meal AND offering a gift certificate would be adequate, but nothing will ever give back that time wasted in that restaurant, and I doubt any diner present at that table can spit on the ground enough times to get the unpleasant taste out of their mouths that the experience left.

I respectfully submit a new entry in the sweepstakes: the top sirloin cheesesteak at the Grey Lodge Kitchen, 6235 Frankford Ave. As good a chessesteak as I have ever had anywhere. Beefy, full of flavor and generous, with nicely sauteed onions if you ask for them. A very strong contender for best in the city. ← I'll second that. One of the best I've had. And I'm not a big cheesesteak fan, as I've made no secret of in the past. But this was a sandwich I'd order again. For myself. Really beefy and much more "steak-like" than most of its genre.

Sly Fox Royal Weisse is flowing....

Well then! Doesn't that sound like a lovely meal! I'm attempting to plan a group outing to Marigold for a large party soon myself, so I hope some of those yummy items are still on the menu in early April. Glad you liked the wine too! I thought it was a spectacular deal for the quality. I had visited Saintsbury when driving through Carneros en route to Sonoma from Napa a few years ago and was mightily impressed both with the caliber of their wines and with the caliber of the folks making them when I had the pleasure of spending a few hours there. They were awfully nice and showed me around a few of the vineyards and explained a lot of viticultural stuff to me in greater detail than I'd ever known about before. My visit to Saintsbury was also an epiphany for me when I finally grasped the concept of "microclimate" there. I always thought that was a bunch of hooey until I literally drove 15 minutes and about 8 miles and the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees and it was much breezier and more humid than where I'd been just a few minutes before. I had a great big "A-HA!" moment over that and the concept has made a great deal more sense to me ever since.

There were definitely some omissions, but that's to be expected. And Mrbigjas is correct when he points out that most of west of Broad Street was ignored. In fact, other than L'Angolo which is barely west of Broad I can't think of anything that's mentioned on the west side. No Dad's Stuffings? None of the Ritner Street bakeries? No Melrose Diner?? Even though the song says so, apparently not EVERYONE goes to the Melrose. At least not Mr. Laban. There's a WINE BAR in South Philly?? How could I not know about that? Brick Oven baked Arugula Pizza at Ristorante Pesto???!!!??? I smell a Pizza Club stop in the near future.