Andrew Fenton

Well, I wouldn't, a lot of those places are excellent restaurants. Unless you mean you just want to sacrifice the me-too imitators. And of course, the main reason we have so many BYOBs is the high cost of a liquor license, which is a huge expense for a husband-and-wife operation. It's certainly not because restaurant owners hate charging 400% markups on wine. Oh, I don't object to BYOB per se (and let's be honest, even an all-powerful deity couldn't break the almighty power of the PLCB); my problem is with the mass of cookie-cutter BYOBs serving very similar, and similarly unexceptional, food. Not that there aren't standouts, but I wouldn't mind seeing that herd culled a bit. As to small-plates: I can think of maybe three that I'd consider really good, and several more that just aren't all that interesting. It's those others that I'd like to see replaced by regional Chinese, or French, or Italian, or what have you. Of course, the above is just a combination of personal preference and idle fantasy, to take it for what it's worth.

Agreed with Katie, and with the article, about the lack of Italian restaurants in Philadelphia. But I'd make one change to her formulation. She says, "the city needs more good Italian restaurants." That's kind of vague-- she's basing it on price, which isn't useful IMO-- and I'd say, instead, that Philly needs more regional Italian restaurants. (If Osteria has a regional focus-- on any region-- I'll be there every week.) As to the current dining scene, White mentions the stereotypical Yet Another BYOB; I'll see that and raise her Yet Another Small-Plates Restaurant. If I were the all-powerful restaurant deity, I'd happily sacrifice both of those in favor of a focus on less creative food-- that is, on traditional, regionally- and culturally-based food traditions from all over. And yeah, Italian would be a good place to start.

That was impressive...I'm sure Mrs. mrbigjas is proud of you. Indeed. Do you give lessons? Maybe next time... I'm sorry I missed out!

I agree that the Thai at Aqua is no great shakes-- though as I've written earlier, the Malaysian side of things is pretty darn good. Which makes sense, as it's the real focus there. Do you remember what you ordered? I don't get the sense that the belacan fish or some of the other really shrimp paste-y dishes are watered down. I also agree that I've never had really first-rate Thai food in Philadelphia. One of these days, I'll have to try the super sekret Erawan dinner, though...

Sorry, Dianne, Gottlieb's has closed. I agree that the food there was excellent. On the other hand, it was pretty expensive; more expensive than the Savannah market was willing to bear, I'm afraid.

Hmm, seems like a Victorian/English version of a couscousiere. Convergent culinary evolution at work?

I've been way too swamped to do much cooking-- or even read eGullet-- but I was drawn in by Emilia-Romagna, which is just such a wonderful part of Italy... I made tortellini in brodo the other day, which given that I didn't make the tortellini, hardly counts as cooking. But still.. One of the things that really strikes me about E-R is that it realy is two regions rolled into one, and the natives won't let you forget that. Back in the spring I was in a wine bar in Ravenna and asked for a bottle of local wine, "from Emilia-Romagna". The waitress clearly had to restrain herself from smacking me upside the head; when she calmed down, she explained that, around there, they served vino romagnolo. That was a lesson in Italian hyper-regionalism... Elie, that's a beautiful mortadella! But so small... one of the things that cracks me up about mortadella is just how BIG they can be! It's like somebody's compensating for something... Here's a mortadella in Rome: And a couple of tourists admiring it. Hard to tell from the photo, but it's about the size of a telephone pole, or maybe a meat version of one of the columns from the Pantheon, not far away... On the Silver Spoon: I think that the cookbook lost something in translation. I have a copy of the most recent Italian edition, and while I haven't gone through it systematically, it's pretty good. But I've heard lots of people tell me that the English version is only so-so.

Wow, what a great service! If I worked in one of their delivery areas, I'd totally sign up for that for lunch.

Yeah, sharing etiquette is all about the company. Hathor and her husband are lovely people (as anybody who has interacted with her on this site can attest), and we had a great time. But it's a little awkward eating from the same bowl when you've only met somebody for the first time... Next time, I'm sure we'd just lap it up like pigs at a trough. Glad to hear that they've reduced the size of the pork belly pieces. That's the sort of thing that will benefit from some tweaking. Once they hit their stride, I think the place could be really good. At the moment, I see some flashes of greatness, but there are still some kinks to be worked out.

I'll add some more praise for New York Bagels. If you live in Center City, it's a schlep out there, but it's worth it. I've been a couple of times now, and been very impressed. Most recently, I arrived at 6:45 AM, right after they opened (don't ask) and scored a dozen hot bagels: crusty and tough, but oddly light-textured. Good stuff.

I went to Snack Bar recently with eG poster hathor, Mr. Hathor, and Mrs. Fenton. In theory, I think we were going to practice our Italian-- in practice, it was mainly about the food... I was glad to see that, after all the kerfuffle, getting a table was easy and quick. The service was as friendly and solicitous as could be, and we had no trouble finding a very good bottle of Malbec to go with the meal. Now, on to the food! Most of these have been mentioned before, so I'll keep my thoughts brief: Brussels and truffles were wonderful; that richness of truffle flavor complements the sprouts so well. Absolutely a lovely dish, and it gave hathor the chance to sigh about missing the truffles of Umbria... Which made me sigh, too. Ahhhhh... All of the flavors of the pork belly were terrific-- pork, egg, broth. It's a wonder what sous vide'ing can do for an egg, infusing it with a subtle taste. That said, it's an awkward dish to eat, served with a fork and knife, in a bowl full of broth. The awkwardness is exacerbated if you're sharing-- the egg dissolves when it's cut, making it hard to divide, and you're left with eggy broth. Tough to know what to do with, unless you know your dining partner very well. I suppose the dish is designed for one person, but the nature of a place like Snack Bar is such that people will be sharing dishes. The tallegio polenta is a great flavor combination, but I wasn't crazy about the gluey texture. I'd have preferred either a traditional polenta or something more like a polenta custard. Like the pork, it's a dish designed for one person. It's served in a bowl, with a fork; we had to ask, and wait, for separate plates to share the dish. At some point around here, we had the mackerel... I actually don't remember much about that dish. I think I liked it... Foie gras was perfectly done, lovely and rich. I was less crazy about the serving of the broth-- the broth itself was intense and ducky, but the dab of bun in it was, well, soggy bread, and not that appetizing. I guess it's tough to figure out a way to show off broth if you aren't going to serve a soup-- I'm not sure that this is the best way to do it, though. We ended with a Portugese cheese (Toledo?), well presented and very tasty. All in all, I enjoyed the things Snack Bar is doing with tastes. I do think that some of the dishes could do with some more thought in terms of texture, or how they'll change as they come out of the kitchen (e.g. soggy bread) or even just how they're going to be experienced by their diners. But it's an interesting place.

Not balderdash, exactly. Restaurants have a certain number of expenses that aren't food or employees-- consultants, advertising, printing, legal representation, et cetera. A local restaurant will employ those services locally; a chain will probably find them in the city where they're based. So that's money not spent in the local city. But whatever; this discussion has been done to death, and isn't relevant to Oceannaire, where the food, at least, is certainly not evil. For specifics, I can't do much more than echo what Katie said. The food is pretty good. I liked the clams, and thought that prosciutto was a nice variation on the more classic preparation of shellfish with bacon/salt pork (in clam chowder) or sausage (in Iberian cooking, or, I guess, gumbo). Treyfalicious! The escargot weren't quite as exciting; not rubbery (good!) but not more than, well, buttery snails with puff pastry. The fish dishes I saw looked nice, and if, as advertised, they're super-fresh, flown in daily, et cetera, I suspect that they're quite good. It's a nice place. Not cheap, but not outrageous either; not breaking any barriers, but as far as I can tell, serving a quality product. They picked a target, and they nailed it.

Ha! Maybe. Still, even if that's true, it just means the restaurant is getting their patrons to do what most restaurants hire somebody to do. When I go out to eat, I'm all in favor of experimental food. Social science experiments? Not so much. Anyway, Vadouvan's point is well taken. It's early, and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they're experiencing first-week chaos rather than implementing a deliberate and misguided policy. But I will say, V, that this: is a straw man. The alternative to survival-of-the-fittest seating isn't sycophantic reservationists. It's a transparent reservation or list policy. As you mention, that's not a radical solution, even for that space.

If that's correct, it's one of the most ridiculous policies I've heard of. They may make more money this way, but it's incredibly disrespectful to their clientele. I don't want to stand around like a schmuck waiting to pounce on an open table, and I want to be able to enjoy my food without people peering over my shoulder.

Yeah, this is a question I'd like to throw out to the group generally. Lord knows I don't have enough time to watch the TV I do like, let alone the TV I hate. There seem to be a lot of eGulleteers who spend a lot of time hating Food TV personalities; I'm not sure why they spend so much time watching them rather than, say, cooking...

Isn't there some Calvin Trillin line about how if you see spaghetti on the menu at a restaurant where you wouldn't expect it (like a Mexican restaurant), you should always order it, because it's guaranteed to be really really good?

That's the space that was formerly occupied by Hoa Sen (vegetarian Vietnamese). It's been closed and empty for five years or so; I was happy to see that it's been reoccupied. And happier to learn that Molcajete Mixto is good. I'll have to give it a try. I seem to remember reading that it's intended as a "European" Mexican place; the dishes you've described (with the possible exception of the crepe) sound pretty much straight Mexican to me. Any European influence that you remember?

Believe me when I tell you not to watch Deadwood. Other than that, great stories; it sounds like you've really earned your cracklings. Kudos!

Yes, Shola has been a lot harder to track ever since he got that magic truffle that turns him invisible.

I want Russ's friends. That said, when I want some music when cook, I tend to like some funk, soul or R & B: Lee Dorsey, the JB's, Irma Thomas, etc. If it gets me moving, it gets me cooking. But I confess, on an average night, when I'm making dinner, it's probably gonna be NPR in the background. (God, I'm square.)

Problem is, Pontormo, that the sort of people who work in coffee houses are, for the most part, underemployed hipsters. Who are also the sort of people who want to show off how much cooler their taste in music is than yours. In other words, this is irresolvable dilemma.

Simply fantastic, both the brain and the fingers. Kudos. I'd like to see recipes, too; in the meantime, we zombie-cuisine wannabes can order a braiiiiin mold from its manufacturer-- who else-- Archie McPhee. edit: though if my knowledge of zombie canon is accurate (and I do think it is), the brain-eating thing didn't come in until "Return of the Living Dead", not "Night of the Living Dead". Come ON, Archie!

Rich, I thought you might find this interesting-- a ghost of tomato pies past: This is at about 50th and Lancaster. It's a good reminder of how that neighborhood has changed- presumably, Vincent was Italian, but now the area is overwhelmingly African-American. The cafe is long gone; the sign now overlooks a school playground. (One of the teachers was very suspicious of this weirdo taking pictures; I explained that I was interested in Philadelphia history and deleted any of the photos that had kids in them. You can never be too cautious these days, I guess.)

That actually sounds OK to me, what does it take to get somebody to hold a Locatelli to my head?I know a place in Vegas where you can... uh, never mind.

Interesting. I've found that, for the things I've bought there-- e.g. prosciutto, bread, cheese-- Carlino's prices are comparable to anywhere else I've been. $16-20 per pound for imported prosciutto is expensive, but the good stuff isn't any cheaper anywhere else. And the service has been courteous and helpful. It's not going to replace DiBruno's, the Reading Terminal, or other places in the city for me. But it's nice to have another option.