KatieLoeb

Very cool!! Since pipe organs are obviously a specialty, while you're in the area you might wish to check out the Curtis Organ at Irvine Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania. Interesting article about it HERE When I was a lowly work study student as a freshman undergraduate at Penn, my office was in Irvine Auditorium and I used to get to listen to the music students practicing on the Curtis Organ. It's quite an impressive instrument and it was so wonderful to hear it so often. I'll bet most Penn students and Philadelphia residents don't even know it's there. But once you've heard it, you'll never forget that breathtaking and haunting sound ever again. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. It's spectacular.

Thanks Spoonbread. I received the menu via e-mail recently (and it looks delicious!) and I'm working on some wine list advice for my friend. Unfortunately since what's available to me here in PA may be unavailable in TX and vice versa, I'll just be making "categorical" suggestions. But I hope it's useful to them and helps with the merciless reviewers!

Sorry Gary, it's only on Tuesdays for the Center City Sips stuff on the links I posted. However, many places have their own Happy Hours daily so you should check with them individually. I availed myself of the McCormck & Schmick's late night Happy Hour (10:30PM-midnight) last night with two friends. Drinks are not inexpensive. Beer is your best bet at around $4.50. Glass wines are around $8-11 depnding on what you order. I will say that I was very impressed with the wine list there. Wide ranging selection, well chosen and some real gems on the list. Actually buying the by-the-glass wines by the bottle seems to be the best deal since it brings the glass cost down to around $6.50-7/glass. They give a bit of a price break on buying the bottle of by-the-glass wines. If you're sharing with someone it's a good deal. I had a few glasses of the Ironstone "Obsession" Symphony, which is made in California from the hybrid Symphony grape, a cross between Muscat and Grenache Gris. Very fruity, aromatic and fresh, and a bit on the sweet side like a nice riesling. Very tasty with the spicy mussels! I'd like to find that wine for Rouge - I think it'd be a big seller here. We had an order of spicy mussels, two burgers and fries and shared a really yummy quesadilla and an order of Tuna Bites. all at $1.95/order. So our total food bill was just under $10! Such a bargain!

since both are completely good explanations, this sounds to me like a situation possibly similar to the meaning of mysterious Owen Sullivan's puzzling BSH blend. they decided its true meaning would not likely pass muster with the wine cops. I checked the website and see no mention of the BSH wine, other than the fact that it's sold out! What's the mystery? Now I'm intrigued...

There are some excellent restaurants in West Chester, not too far away. Cafe Spence, Gilmore's and Avalon come to mind. There's also Krazy Kats Restaurant in Montchanin, DE which isn't very far from there. Any plans on coming to the city (Philly, not Wilmington) while you're here? Plenty of suggestions as well as two awe inspiring recent Cheesesteak Pilgrimages in the PA Forum lately. What will you be doing at Longwood Gardens, if we might ask? edited for sloppy link

Don't you suppose that most superstition was initially grounded in practical reality? and that, over time, it became more simply a matter of tradition, and the original roots were lost in the mists of time ... the final product being much more interesting when repeated over and over ... An example which comes to mind: a daughter questions her mother about why she always cut the ends off of her loaf cakes ... the response was "I don't know but that it the way we always do it in this family." Turns out that the great-grandmother had a serving plate for loaf cakes that was considerably shorter than the finished cakes and the ends were always trimmed! No big mystery after all ... A handshake originally showed that you weren't wielding a weapon. I think this only works for right handed people though...

Somehow I knew that was going to get me in trouble! Which is exactly why I only like to use the vibrate function with pockets. My phone takes enough abuse without falling on the floor any more than it has to. However, the little shriek I make when it goes off unexpectedly is probably a bit disturbing as well.

I have no problem whatsoever with hands free devices. I use one myself and get quite a lot of work done on the drive in to work (call in orders, set up appointments, etc.). I also have voice dial on my cell for important numbers. It's the idiots that have the phone tucked between their chin and shoulder, the stick shift in the other hand and the one remaining hand on the wheel that are weaving all over the road that I give the sign language show for. I almost always put my phone on vibrate when I'm in a restaurant unless I'm expecting an important call and don't have pockets! Then I answer as quickly and quietly as possible and go out the door immediately to conduct my business, after politely excusing myself from my dining partners.

Gaige House was my splurge nights whist honeymooning in Sonoma. It's fabulous. But it's in SONOMA, not in NAPA. In Napa I'd highly recommend The Ink House B&B which is quite centrally located in St. Helena. Very much like being a guest in an Edith Wharton novel. Antique filled guest rooms. A lovely cupola with a 360 degree view of the surrounding vineyards atop the house. Sherry and port in the parlor in the evening, visiting winemakers, fabulous breakfasts and the kindest and most helpful proprietors. And actually not so outrageously expensive by comparison with other places I'd looked into. It's what a B & B is really about - being a guest in someone's home. Lovely and I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

My favorite game of Charades with drivers talking on their cell phones is: HANG UP!!! (thumb and pinky pointing downward and gesturing downward) AND DRIVE... (Hands at 10 and 2 o'clock on imaginary steering wheel, steering) YOU ASSHOLE!!! (forefinger curled inward toward thumb like a tightened up OK sign. Looks like a small orifice)

Gary: It may depend on whether the restaurant is a "member" of CCD or Center City District, not just geographically, but perhaps an active participant, dues paying member, whatever...

That's not the story I heard from my wine purveyor. He tells me the "Fly Over" are the tiny narc planes (as depicted on the label) from the DEA trying to locate the amateur botany projects featuring Cannabis Sativa in between the grape vines.

I hadn't even noticed how funny that is!

Hi All: Not that I'd ever wish to be accused of encouraging any imbibing (at least while I'm not there to help ) but a recent e-mail really struck me as something I ought to post for general consumption, so to speak. Center City District is sponsoring Happy Hour specials on Tuesdays through August 24, 2004. Many of the restaurants are featuring half price drinks, free appetizers, etc. and include some of this city's better watering holes. An excellent example are the $5 martinis and free pizza and cheesesteak springrolls at Davio's from 5-7 PM on Tuesdays. The complete list of participants is HERE and the specific specials and times available are listed HERE Have fun, don't forget to tip your bartenders and be safe! Cheers, Katie

I have a cookbook called Patisserie of the Mediterranean that really illustrates this point quite well. Although most of the pastries are made with phyllo or that shredded stuff whose name now escapes me, the variations in Baklava alone (cinnamon or not, rosewater in the honey syrup or not, walnuts or pistachios, etc.) are mind boggling and indicative of precisely which culture can claim origin of the recipe. Really interesting stuff.

My very first "serious" boyfriend (for whom the phrase Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll was coined ) was from an Armenian family. I recall his aunts and his mom cooking up all manner of delicious things in the kitchen from what were very exotic (at least to me at that time) ingredients like eggplants and sesame paste, chicken with almonds and making stuffed grape leaves and pilaf. I can still recall those intoxicating aromas and the use of spices I'd certainly never seen in my mother's kitchen. Meanwhile the men would be out in the living room drinking shots of Arak (a rocket fuel like substance similar to raisin grappa) and playing loud and brutally competitive games of Backgammon that you'd have thought were for the Championship-of-the-Free-World-as-We-Know-It. It was a cultural experience and a budding Foodie experience like none other. Armenian food, like Albanian food is a "crossroads cuisine" that is directly traceable to it's geographical placement and it's historical place as a true crossroads between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Wow - Chase's description of Bistro Maison has had an oddly Pavlovian effect on me... I'd also recommend Foris Vienyards as I'm a big fan of all of their wines. The "Fly Over Red" could pass for Bordeaux if you had your eyes closed and the Gewurztraminer is heavenly and in a much more restrained style than most overblown Alsace Gewurz for example. Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are also very elegant and delicious. The Klipsun Vineyard Cab/Merlot blends are better than most grossly overpriced California Cabernets too. Nice folks that produce a consistent high quality product year after year.

Except that corks are the bark of cork trees, no? Does all tree bark or trees have tannin? If so then that would make a bit more sense than anything else so far...

and the recipes say either red or white wine corks are fine .. EXACTLY!! This makes no sense WHATSOEVER... I do love me some tender octopus though...

My theory is that the octopus has been tenderized with the empty bottle who's wine in now in the pot, boiling with the cork of coarse, waiting for the octopus. One pot cookery. I'd buy that theory, except that none of the recipes I've read say "add wine to pot" And all the recipes I've read just say "add a cork" not "add a RED wine cork" to the pot, so the tannin theory is blown too. I think the wine might be in the chef's gullet, in which case anything would taste good after a whole bottle of wine

Apparently not. This is something I've read about/heard about in many different sources. It's said that there's some sort of chemical reaction between the cork and the water that tenderizes the normally bicycle-tire-textured octupus flesh and makes it better once cooked further either by grilling or braising. I think there might be some connection between the fact that the cultures that claim this works are also wine producing nations. HERE'S an interesting link that also suggest doing the same. And Another. Can this many generations of Mediterranean chefs be wrong?

Wow - those are early! I usually don't begin to feed my Jersey Tomato Jones until at least mid-July. Must have been the unusually warm weather in early spring... But now that I know they're in, I'll have to get some this week and make a killer Greek salad with crumbled Bulgarian feta from Bitar's and some good looking cukes from the Head House market. Yummmmm....

Can anyone confirm or deny that boiling wine corks with octopus makes them more tender? I think this is a pretty wide spread custom/superstition amongst Mediterranean peoples that eat a lot of octopus (i.e. Greeks, Spaniards, Portugese). I guess in the end it's kind of like of like what Grandma used to say about chicken soup, "It couldn't Hurt!"

Isn't that just 'cuz it'll make you fat?

My Huevos Mexicanos were scrambled eggs with lots of onions, tomatoes and jalapenos. Ordered a side of chorizo per Holly's instructions and the crumbled sausage was a delicious addition. The boys Rancheros looked really good too, with squiggles of Salsa Verde all over the top. I just don't groove on runny eggs, so Sunny Side Up wasn't for me. The Mexicanos were a great alternative for someone like myself. The tamales were the Rojo which was red and pork based and the Raja which was white corn, chicken and jalapeno. I really liked the tamales. The tacos were a mixed bag as Herb mentioned. The Enhchilada (spicy pork) and the Picadillo (ground meat) tacos were definitely the better of the four. The Barbacoa (goat) and the Lengua (tongue) were both sort of lacking in flavor and were kind of a disappointment. But the platter they made for us with all four tacos and cucumbers, radishes and limes was a thing of great beauty. It's a shame we didn't have a camera as I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of our food today. Everything was very attractively plated. I know that bad service has been a real issue for some folks at La Lupe but our service today was excellent as well. We were brought "real" menus to the table fairly quickly after our arrival. Big root beer mugs of coffee were constantly refilled and sides of chorizo and extra Ranchero sauce were not forgotten. The only thing we never got were the glasses of water we'd asked for. It was a truly gorgeous afternoon for sitting outside and eating like Mexican farmhands for breakfast. (of course after that big breakfast and a stroll through the Pine Street Food Festival with Herb and Andrew I came home and crashed like a disabled aircraft. The food was delicious, but definitely nap inducing!)