KatieLoeb

Gerhard: Hearty congratulations on the new venture.! It seems so right for you. Anyone that could write a foodblog as glorious as yours really needs to channel all that energy productively. Your guests will be fortunate indeed. I remain available for adoption...

Hi Ali girlfriend! I've edited above answer to include two questions. Are you sure that maybe one of the Lebanese markets down at 9th or 10th and Federal don't have preserved lemons? Chef tells me Assouline & Ting has them. The Bass used to purchase them from there. We have some housemade ones here and could spare a bit, but I don't know how much you need. Call me...

Ali: No go. Soy is a legume. Unless you're Sephardic, in which case it might be OK depending on your family. You could kill two birds with one stone and add finely chopped broccoli or spinach to the matzoh ball dough. The balls come out flecked with green and they taste really good too. I've done this as a variant several times. I also separate the eggs and beat the whites semi-stiff first. And don't forget the club soda in the matzoh ball mixture to replace the bit of water the recipe always calls for. Those two tricks make the balls light and fluffy rather than heavy and leaden.

Um - yeah. This was kind of the point of writing the article.

Regardless of whether the owner was in fact, aware of the discrimination, I think he'll be the one to pay the possible $50,000 fine as the owner of record, won't he? The manager should be blackballed from the business. The bad publicity alone will probably cause enough of a downturn in business to shut the doors soon enough.

Gabrielle: The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival is at the Fort Washington Expo center right outside of Philly this weekend. Starts on Friday and goes through Sunday. I might be there on Saturday myself. Check THIS link for hours, directions, downloadable admission coupons, etc.

I thought this was made from "uve fragole" which are dessert grapes that (naturally) taste of strawberry. The Fragolino di Nemi with which I am familiar, is a sweet liqueur made of wild strawberries from the area surrounding Lake Nemi. There are actual small wild strawberries in the bottle as well. Alcohol ranges from about 20%-35%, depending on where it's made. It's delicious and mixes well into cocktails. Good in sparkling wine as a "Strawberry Royale", or mixed into a weissbier for a "Strawberry Blonde".

My article, Savoir Pair: Matching Great Kosher Wine and Food appears in today's Passover Palate supplement to the Jewish Exponent. Unfortunately, there is no link since the supplement section is not available on their website, however, as soon as I get the edited text back in its entirety, I'll cut and paste it and pin it in the PA forum. With many thanks to my editors, Barbara and Greg, the article reads far better than I wrote it. It came out very well, and I'm quite pleased wih the end result. Although the recommendations are specific to one wine shop here in the Philaldelphia area, I think the text of the article mentions enough producers to be helpful to anyone seeking out some higher quality kosher wines for the holidays. There are also several great Passover friendly recipes that I weaseled out of some of Philadelphia's better chefs, so I hope that willl be useful to everyone as well. Will post as soon as I'm able...

... as compared to just being a way of life.... Pathetically sad, but true in many of these cases.

I'm thinking we should organize a septathalon of equally disparate activities that isn't a guaranteed win for the former KGB agents. 1) Synchronized Spatchcocking 2) Chef's Knife Mumbleypeg 3) Advanced Garnishing - extra points for degreee of difficulty and artistic expression 4) Individual Rhythmic Hacky Sack played with various fruits, vegetables and small game birds. Extra points for creative use of the ribbon while keeping the food items constantly aloft. 5) Frozen Trussed Chicken Water Polo (full contact protective gear required) 6) Ice Sculpting 7) Short track tray service. Must get around the track with a full banquet tray of entrees, soup ( no spilling), and overfilled champagne flutes. One can specialize in any of the given events, although there should be an all-around champion named as well.

I'll second that advice. At forty per bottle it far outclasses any of the brands mentioned as its "competition". That's an excellent price and I'd snatch up as much of it as you have room to store. It makes a great gift. BTW - my birthday was just a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah - that'd be them. The very morons to whom I referred earlier. What a bunch of jackasses. As if being a publicly drunk and disorderly spectacle were a means of showing your ethnic pride. Double ditto.

Jas.: Sorry - I just found out last week that my buddy is NOT the bar manager there any longer. I met the new fellow, but his name excapes me at the moment. It was at a wine tasting and you know how fuzzy around the edges I can get at those affairs... Nonetheless - Adriatica is a nice spot. Unless something has radically changed, Kisso is indeed BYOB. Forgot about St. Patty's Day, or as I like to call it, Amateur Night in Green. Plough & the Stars would be out of the question tonight. Either Irish Pub, Fado, Fergie's, any Irish bar would be off my list tonight. I hate the drunken morons that are invariably out tonight. Horrible patrons. Had one of the worst nights of my life working on a St. Patty's Day at a pub where I was the night manager. I had 103 degree fever and was sick as a dog and my asshole boss wouldn't let me go home to bed because he wanted to party with his buddies and didn't feel like closing. That experience alone turned me off to St. Patrick's Day for life.

All excellent suggestions so far. The foodstuffs thing is great if you know that Auntie is a foodie or cook that would appreciate such a thing. American wines or spirits also great if you are certain they'll be well received. I like to give people "crafty" tablewear items as hostess gifts, particularly if I've been invited to a meal. Perhaps something uniquely American like a set of quilted placemats, or a trivet or unique bowl or honey jar with a dipper, a small woven basket - something like that. That way your hostess will think of you whenever they use the item again with other guests or family. I often go to the Sugarloaf Craft shows listed HERE. This website is particularly helpful since it has items well categorized and sorted.

I always thought that Brett smelled "like Band-Aids". Am I the only one that's come across this particular descriptor?

Good call. I neglected to mention Adriatica. I still forget it's there sometimes, but it's a nice room, good wine selection and they mix a decent cocktail. I attending a wine dinner there and although the hors d'oeuvres and our menu weren't regular menu items, I was impressed with the caliber of the food.

I'm a fan of Sassafrass on the block of 2nd Street between Market and Chestnut. Good bar, good food, not too pricey and very comfortable. Burgers are great and it's a nice sort of place for a plate of escargot and a glass of wine. Serrano is also a fun option on that block, as is Plough & the Stars. Cafe Spice has very good Indian food but the drink bill can get pricey pretty quickly. IIRC they did, at one time, have certain cocktail specials that were very budget friendly for those of us frugal souls looking for a $4 drink special.

Come west, young girl, come west! Margaret: I would, but by my calculations I could sell my three bedroom house in a great neighborhood in Philly and just barely be able to afford to share a refrigerator carton with another homeless guy under the Golden Gate Bridge. It's all a tradeoff.

Any list that doesn't include the Reading Terminal or the Italian Markets in Philadelphia is incomplete.

Gah! My mom used to love those square Violet breath candies. To me, it was like drinking cheap perfume. BLECH! It reminds me of that scene in Gone With the Wind where Scarlett is gargling with the cologne to get the brandy off her breath when Rhett stops by unexpectedly. The "Universal-Yuck-Face" (that look of utter disgust that is understandable in any culture and in any time period since the dawn of Man) that Scarlett makes while gargling is priceless. Didn't fool Rhett either.

Actually, I quite enjoyed this article on BYOB's. There were a few mentioned in there I didn't know about or had slipped my mind. The restaurateur's take on it was interesting as well. I'm not so sure I necessarily think it's taking business away from licensed establishments. It's just fulfilling a different niche. Then again, I don't own Panorama or have 120 wines-by-the-glass available in my restaurant (I can dream though... ) and don't see it putting such a dent in our business. I also work at a silly busy place during 7-8 months of the year and not much except truly foul weather effects our business. Between the BYOB "trend" and Stephen Starr opening three restaurants in the next six months I'm not sure this would be a time that I'd want to be opening a restaurant in Center City Philadelphia. I think there really is a saturation point for the public where too many new restaurants all at once just become a blur and it's difficult to distinguish one from another. All interesting conjecture. Curiously, I've had a least a few people ask me if it was me Mr. Laban was referring to when he said his e-mail box was full of folks complaining about the four bell Django review. Actually, I posted my opinion in this very forum first and Mr. Laban then contacted me via e-mail to explain his position. Why do my friends think I'm such an instigator? Nonetheless we appreciate the plug for eGullet.

I've secured reservations at Amma for a few weeks hence. I can hardly wait. They were so nice on the telephone when I called to increase the number of people in our party, I can barely imagine the level of customer service on a more personal basis. I already feel like a long lost friend.

Indeed, it was that "sameness" that made me stop bothering with the Wine Brats events here in Philly. I didn't need to pay admission to try the refinery style bulk wines they were often pouring. I could have bought a bottle of each and done it at home if I'd wanted to at those prices. It's a shame, because Mondavi at least has some really good higher end wines that are made in collaboration with other wineries, or that are made in places other the Central Coast of California. Their Australian "exchange" program that has California wine makers producing the line of Kirralaa wines in Australia is just one example of their better product lines. That stuff was never at those tastings though.

rlibkind - an excellent post! You've basically said it all, but I'll add a few things of my own. The pretzel place is Fisher's and the pretzels are divine. Real butter and coarse salt on them - yummmmmm. I don't even normally like soft pretzels but these are awesome. I like them with the squeezy cheese sometimes too. Iovine's does indeed have excellent produce. I often check for the "big bag bargains" on the rack off to the side closest to the rest of the market for excess or already ripened stuff if I'm planning to use it right away. I've gotten some fierce bargains there from time to time. Sang Kee (I think) Peking Duck is very good. So is 12th Street Cantina for Mexican food. The cookbook stall has an amazing selection of hard to find books. Harry Och's is an excellent butcher. Downtown cheese also has a great selection of cheeses. Godschall's poultry has fresh goose in the winter time and really great chickens and ducks all year around as well as eggs. The Amish stand on the Arch Street side has amazing fresh dairy products like really heavy cream, buttermilk and fresh eggs. I'm certain there's other things I've forgotten, but the best thing to do is just wander around. Parking at the lot for the gallery on Filbert St. is pretty cheap and is better than rushing back to a one hour space. Perhaps that would allow you the time you need to give the RTM a really good once over!

Excellent! Oscar's is the quintessential neighborhood dive, but it's a great bar. A real throwback. Glad we could show you some "kul-chah" Brotherly Love style!